Lectionary 303 (Gregory-Aland), 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 ''303'' in the Gregory-Aland numbering, is a 12th-century

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

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 parchment. The manuscript has complex contents.

Description

The original codex contained lessons from the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

, Matthew, and

Luke Luke may refer to: People and fictional characters * Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name * Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...

(''Evangelistarium''), on 340 parchment leaves. The leaves measure (). The text is written in Greek

minuscule Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing system ...

letters, in two columns per page, 22–23 lines per page. The manuscript contains weekday Gospel lessons.''Handschriftenliste''
at the ''INTF'' It also contains

Synaxarion Synaxarion or Synexarion (plurals Synaxaria, Synexaria; , from συνάγειν, ''synagein'', "to bring together"; cf. etymology of '' synaxis'' and ''synagogue''; Latin: ''Synaxarium'', ''Synexarium''; ; Ge'ez: ሲናክሳሪየም(ስንክ� ...

and

Menologion A menologium (, pl. menologia), also known by other names, is any collection of information arranged according to the days of a month, usually a set of such collections for all the months of the year. In particular, it is used for ancient Roman ...

, both written in one column per page, 20 lines per column. The Menologion follows the civil calendar month by month.

Bruce M. Metzger Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the ...

, ''Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography'', Oxford University Press, Oxford 1981, p. 124 In Mark 6:33 it has textual reading ἐκεῖ καὶ προῆλθον αὐτούς along with

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

, 0187 (omit εκει),

892 Year 892 (Roman numerals, DCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 892nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 892nd year of the 1st millennium, the 92nd year of the 9th century, a ...

, ℓ ''49'', ℓ ''69'', ℓ ''70'', ℓ ''299'', ℓ ''333'', ''ℓ'' ''1579'', (ℓ ''950'' αυτους), it^aur, vg, ( cop^{sa, bo}).

History

Caspar René Gregory Caspar René Gregory (November 6, 1846 – April 9, 1917) was an American-German theologian. Life Gregory was born to Mary Jones and Henry Duval Gregory in Philadelphia. He was the brother of the American zoologist Emily Ray Gregory. After comp ...

dated the manuscript to the 12th or 13th century. It is presently assigned to the 12th century on

palaeographic Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic discipline of historical writing systems. It encompasses the historicity of manuscripts and texts, subsuming deciphering and dati ...

grounds by the

Institute for New Testament Textual Research The Institute for New Testament Textual Research ( — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its Greek initial text on the basis of the entire manusc ...

. In the 14th century it was presented by Presbyter Abul Fath, son of Presbyter Abul Badr, to the Church of

Mar Saba The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba (; ; ; ) and historically as the Great Laura of Saint Sabas, is a Greek Orthodox monastery overlooking the Kidron Valley in the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in th ...

in the Alexandrian diocese. Then it belonged to the

Iviron monastery The Monastery of Iviron ( ka, ათონის ივერთა მონასტერი , tr; ) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic community of Mount Athos in northern Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, ...

on the Athos peninsula. It was brought to Paris by the Russian general and art collector Count (Sebastianoff); and in 1885 it was brought to America. A colophon in Greek and Arabic on folio 1 verso declares: "No one has authority from God to take it away under condition, and whoever transgress this will be under the wrath of the eternal Word of God, whose power is great. Gregory, Patriarch by the grace of God, wrote this." The manuscript was added to the list of New Testament manuscripts by

Scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who, before the advent of compulsory education, could literacy, read and write or who wrote letters as well as court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying w ...

(491^e) and by Gregory (number 303^e). It was examined by

and was the subject of his Ph.D. dissertation at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1942, "Studies in a Greek Gospel Lectionary (Greg. 303)." The manuscript is cited in the critical editions of the Greek New Testament (UBS3).''The Greek New Testament'', ed. K. Aland, A. Black, C. M. Martini, B. M. Metzger, and A. Wikgren, in cooperation with INTF, ''United Bible Societies'', 3rd edition, (Stuttgart 1983), p. XXIX. Currently the codex is housed at the

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

(Speer Library, 11.21.1900) in

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

Notes and references

Bibliography

* * K. Clark, ''Descriptive catalogue of Greek New Testament manuscripts in America ''(1937), pp. 175–176. * Caspar René Gregory, ''The Independent'' (New York, 15 October 1888), 111. *

, ''Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography'', Oxford University Press, Oxford 1981, p. 124, 125 (Plate 38). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lectionary 0303 Greek New Testament lectionaries 12th-century biblical manuscripts

Description

History

See also

Notes and references

Bibliography