Minuscule 157 is a

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

, written on

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...

. It is designated as 157 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε207 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. According to the colophon it is dated to the year 1122. The date had been wrongly deciphered formally as 1128 (Gregory, Thompson). It has complex contents and full marginal notations.

Description

The manuscript is a

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

(precursor to the modern

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

) containing the complete text of the four

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 ...

s on 325

leaves (sized ). The text is written in one column per page, with 22 lines per page. The text is divided according to the chapters (known as / ''kephalaia''), whose tables of contents are given before each Gospel (also known as / ''kephalaia''), the chapter numbers are noted in the page marginss, and their titles (known as / ''titloi'') are written at the top of the pages. There is no division according to the

Eusebian Canons Eusebian canons, Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus, also known as Ammonian sections, are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The divisions into Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapters ...

(an early system of dividing the four Gospels into different sections), though the Eusebian Canon tables are placed at the beginning. Corrections in the manuscript can be mostly ascribed to the original copyist, who upon noticing a mistake whitened it out with paint, and then continued on with their copying of the correct letter or word. Any remaining "glaring" errors are likely a reflection of the manuscript which was being copied from (known as the ''exemplar''). It contains the Epistle to Carpian, prolegomena, lectionary equipment, subscriptions at the end of each Gospel, ornaments and pictures in vermilion and gold. The Gospel of John is preceded by a portrait of

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

with Prochorus. It has the famous Jerusalem Colophon ("copied and corrected from the ancient manuscripts of Jerusalem preserved on the Holy Mountain"), at the end of each Gospel. According to biblical scholar Frederick H. A. Scrivener, it is very beautifully written. This sentiment is echoed by Biblical Scholar

Herman C. Hoskier Herman Charles Hoskier (1864–1938), was a biblical scholar, British Textual Criticism, textual critic, and son of a merchant banker, Herman Hoskier (1832–1904). As a textual critic of the New Testament, Hoskier generally but not entirely suppo ...

, who describes it as a "most beautiful manuscript" and which was "prepared with the utmost care".

Text

Although the manuscript was made for the Byzantine Emperor, its text is not considered to be the standard

Byzantine text-type In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. ...

, but appears to be a mixture of text-types with a strong Alexandrian element. The text-types are groups of different New Testament manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups. These are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

. Its readings often agree with Codex Bezae (D), with some affinities to the

Diatessaron The ''Diatessaron'' (; c. 160–175 AD) is the most prominent early gospel harmony. It was created in the Syriac language by Tatian, an Assyrian early Christian apologist and ascetic. Tatian sought to combine all the textual material he fou ...

(an early harmonisation of the four canonical Gospels into one continuous work), and to the

Gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

Heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

Marcion Marcion of Sinope (; ; ) was a theologian in early Christianity. Marcion preached that God had sent Jesus Christ, who was distinct from the "vengeful" God ( Demiurge) who had created the world. He considered himself a follower of Paul the Apost ...

's text of Luke (see

Gospel of Marcion The Gospel of Marcion, called by its adherents the Gospel of the Lord, or more commonly the Gospel, was a text used by the mid-2nd-century Christian teacher Marcion of Sinope to the exclusion of the other gospels. The majority of scholars agree t ...

). Textual critic

Hermann von Soden Baron Hermann von Soden (16 August 1852 – 15 January 1914) was a German Biblical scholar, minister, professor of divinity, and textual theorist. Life Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 16, 1852, Soden was educated at the University of Tübinge ...

lists it among the group I (along with codices 235, 245,

291 __NOTOC__ Year 291 ( CCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Tiberianus and Dio (or, less frequently, year 1044 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomin ...

, 713, and 1012). Textual critic

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and Biblical studies, biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the ''Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Institut für neutest ...

placed it in Category III of his New Testament manuscript classification system. Category III manuscripts are described as having "a small but not a negligible proportion of early readings, with a considerable encroachment of yzantinereadings, and significant readings from other sources as yet unidentified." According to the

Claremont Profile Method The Claremont Profile Method is a method for classifying ancient manuscripts of the Bible. It was elaborated by Ernest Cadman Colwell and his students. Professor Frederik Wisse attempted to establish an accurate and rapid procedure for the classi ...

(a specific analysis method of textual data), it represents K in Luke 1; in Luke 10 it is mixed with some relationship to the Alexandrian text; in Luke 20 it has the Alexandrian text. In it has an unusual ending to the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...

: This ending is only found in two other manuscripts: Minuscule 225 and 418. In it reads: Ἰωσῆ (''Joses''); the reading is supported by the manuscripts Minuscule 118 700* 1071 syr bo. It does not include the text of Matthew 16:2b–3 (UBS3) or of the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11).

History

It was written in 1122 for the Byzantine Emperor John Porphyrogenitus (1118-1143). The manuscript belonged to the Ducal Library at

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

, and was brought to Rome by

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

(1523-1534). In 1788 scholar Andreas Birch made a facsimile of the manuscript. According to Birch, it is the most important manuscript of the New Testament except for

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 ...

. It was examined by scholar Johann Scholz, and collated by biblical scholar

. Biblical scholar Caspar René Gregory saw it in 1886. Scrivener noted that this codex often agrees with codices Vaticanus (B), Bezae (D), Regius (L), 69, 106, and especially with Minuscule 1. It is currently housed at the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

(shelf number Urbinas gr. 2), in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

References

External links

Minuscule 157
at the ''Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism''
Online images of minuscule 157
( Digital Microfilm) at the CSNTM.
Online photographic images of minuscule 157 at theVatican Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minuscule 0157 Greek New Testament minuscules 12th-century biblical manuscripts Manuscripts in the Vatican Library

Description

Text

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links