Lectionary 150, designated by

siglum Scribal abbreviations, or sigla (singular: siglum), are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mecha ...

ℓ ''150'' (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), is also known as Codex Harleianus. It is a Greek

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, on vellum leaves and one of four extant Greek lectionaries with explicit dates from before 1000.

Description

The manuscript is written in compressed Greek

Uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

letters, on 374 parchment leaves (35.2 cm by 26.7 cm), in 2 columns per page, 21 lines per page, with ornaments. The capital letters and

nomina sacra In Christian scribal practice, (singular: , Latin for 'sacred name') is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A consists of two or more letters from the original w ...

are in red ink. The codex includes ten leaves of paper containing a series of Lessons from the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, Matthew and the Luke

lectionary A lectionary () is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity, Christian or Judaism, Jewish worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, ...

(''Evangelistarium''). The image shows the text of John 1:18. It is one of the most beautiful lectionary codices, with a scribal date of 27 May 995 A.D. 'It is a most splendid specimen of the uncial class of Evangelistaria, and its text presents many instructive variations.' It also contains

musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...

History

According to the colophon it was written by a presbyter called Constantine. The manuscript came from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. In 1677 John Covel, chaplain of the English embassy in Constantinople, purchased this manuscript. It was shown by him to John Mill (1645-1707), in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. From Covel it was purchased – together with other manuscripts – by Robert Harley,

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. De Vere family, His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half cen ...

. It was collated by Bloomfield and examined by Woide. The manuscript is often cited in the critical editions of the Greek New Testament (UBS3). It is not cited in UBS4.''The Greek New Testament'', ed. B. Aland, K. Aland, J. Karavidopoulos, C. M. Martini, and B. M. Metzger, in cooperation with INTF, ''United Bible Societies'', 4th revised edition, (United Bible Societies, Stuttgart 2001), p. 21, . The codex is now located in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

( Harley MS 5598).

Notes and references

Bibliography

* F. H. A. Scrivener
''An Exact Transcript of the Codex Augiensis, to which is added a full Collation of Fifty Manuscripts''
London 1859, pp. 47–50. * Henri Omont, ''Notes sur les manuscrits grecs du British Museum'', Bibliothèque de l’École des Chartes, 45 (1884), p. 337. * Edward Maunde Thompson
''An introduction to Greek and Latin palaeography''
Clarendon Press: Oxford 1912, p. 216.

External links

Harley MS 5598
at the ''British Library'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lectionary 0150 Greek New Testament lectionaries 10th-century biblical manuscripts Harleian Collection

Description

History

See also

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links