The Codex Sinaiticus (;

Shelfmark A shelfmark is a mark in a book or manuscript that denotes the cupboard or bookcase where it is kept as well as the shelf and possibly even its location on the shelf. The closely related term pressmark (from press, meaning cupboard) denotes only t ...

: London,

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 ...

, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian

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 a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the

Greek Old Testament The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

, including the

deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books, meaning 'of, pertaining to, or constituting a second canon', collectively known as the Deuterocanon (DC), are certain books and passages considered to be canonical books of the Old Testament by the Catholic Chur ...

, and the Greek

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 ...

, with both the

Epistle of Barnabas The Epistle of Barnabas () is an early Christian Greek epistle written between AD 70 and AD 135. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus, where it appears at the end of the New Testament, following the Book of Revelati ...

and the

Shepherd of Hermas A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of pastoralist animal husbandry. Because t ...

included. It is designated by the

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 ...

[Aleph] or 01 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and δ 2 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It is written in

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

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 one of the four

great uncial codices The great uncial codices or four great uncials are the only remaining Uncial script, uncial codex, codices that contain (or originally contained) the entire text of the Bible (Old Testament, Old and New Testament) in Koine Greek, Greek. They are ...

(these being manuscripts which originally contained the whole of both the Old and New Testaments). Along with

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

and

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 is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, and contains the oldest complete copy of the

. It is a historical treasure, and using the study of comparative writing styles (

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

), it has been dated to the mid-fourth century. Biblical scholarship considers Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the most important Greek texts of the New Testament, along with

. Until German Biblical scholar (and manuscript hunter)

Constantin von Tischendorf Constantin is an Aromanian language, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian language, Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See ...

's discovery of Codex Sinaiticus in 1844, the Greek text of Codex Vaticanus was unrivalled. Since its discovery, study of Codex Sinaiticus has proven to be useful to scholars for critical studies of the biblical text. Codex Sinaiticus came to the attention of scholars in the 19th century at

Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...

in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

, with further material discovered in the 20th and 21st centuries. Although parts of the

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 ...

are scattered across four libraries around the world, most of the manuscript is held today in the

in London, where it is on public display.

Description

The manuscript is a codex (the forerunner to the modern book) made from

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

parchment, originally in double sheets, which may have measured about 40 by 70 cm. The whole codex consists of

quires Various measures of paper quantity have been and are in use. Although there are no S.I. units such as quires or bales, there are ISO''ISO 4046-3:2002 Paper, board, pulps and related terms – Vocabulary – Part 3: Paper-making terminology'' (20 ...

of eight leaves (with a few exceptions), a format which came to be popular throughout the Middle Ages (this being eight parchment pages laid on top of each other, and folded in half to make a full block (also known as a

folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

); several of these were then stitched together to create a book). The folios were made primarily from calf skins, secondarily from sheep skins. Tischendorf thought the parchment had been made from

antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

skins, but modern microscopic examination has shown otherwise. Most of the quires (or signatures) contain four sheets, save two containing five. It is estimated that the hides of about 360 animals were employed for making the folios of this codex. Each line of the text has some twelve to fourteen Greek

letters, arranged in four columns, 48 lines per column, with carefully chosen line breaks and slightly ragged right edges. When opened, the eight columns thus presented to the reader have much the same appearance as the succession of columns in a papyrus roll. The poetical books of the Old Testament are written stichometrically (writing each new poetic phrase on a new line), in only two columns per page. The codex has almost 4,000,000 uncial letters.It was estimated by Tischendorf and used by Scrivener in his ''Introduction to the Sinaitic Codex'' (1867) as an argument against authorship of

Simonides Simonides of Ceos (; ; c. 556 – 468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Kea (island), Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets esteemed by them as worthy of criti ...

‘‘Christianity’’, p. 1889.
Each rectangular page has the proportions 1.1 to 1, while the block of text has the reciprocal proportions, 0.91 (the same proportions, rotated 90°). If the gutters between the columns were removed, the text block would mirror the page's proportions. Typographer

Robert Bringhurst Robert Bringhurst Appointments to the Order of Canada (2013). (born 1946) is a CanadianWong (1999). poet, typographer and author. He has translated substantial works from Haida and Navajo and from classical Greek and Arabic. He wrote ''The El ...

referred to the codex as a "subtle piece of craftsmanship". The cost of the material, copying time required for the scribes, and binding, is estimated to have equalled the lifetime wages of one individual at the time. Throughout the New Testament portion, the words are written in ''

scriptio continua (Latin for 'continuous script'), also known as or , is a style of writing without spaces or other marks between the words or sentences. The form also lacks punctuation, diacritics, or distinguished letter case. In the West, the oldest Greek ...

'' (words without any spaces in between them) in the hand-writing style that came to be called "biblical uncial" or "biblical majuscule". The parchment was ruled with a sharp point to prepare for writing lines. The letters are written along these lines, with neither breathings nor polytonic accents (markings utilised to indicate changes of pitch or emphasis). A variety of types of punctuation are used: high and middle points; colon; diaeresis on initial iota and upsilon; a few

ligatures Ligature may refer to: Language * Ligature (writing), a combination of two or more letters into a single symbol (typography and calligraphy) * Ligature (grammar), a morpheme that links two words Medicine * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture us ...

are used, along with the paragraphos: initial letter into margin (extent of this varies considerably). A plain

iota Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and J ...

is replaced by the epsilon-iota diphthong almost regularly (commonly though imprecisely known as

itacism Iotacism (, ''iotakismos'') or itacism is the process of vowel shift by which a number of vowels and diphthongs converged towards the pronunciation in post-classical Greek and Modern Greek. The term "iotacism" refers to the letter iota, the orig ...

), e.g. instead of , instead of , instead of , etc.

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 ...

with

overline An overline, overscore, or overbar, is a typographical feature of a horizontal and vertical, horizontal line drawn immediately above the text. In old mathematical notation, an overline was called a ''vinculum (symbol), vinculum'', a notation fo ...

s are employed throughout. Some words usually abbreviated in other manuscripts (such as and ), are written in both full and abbreviated forms. The following

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 written in abbreviated forms (nominative forms shown): ( / ''god''), ( / ''lord''), ( / ''Jesus''), ( / ''Christ''), ( / ''spirit''), ( / ''spiritual''), ( / ''son''), ( / ''man''), ( / ''heaven''), ( / ''David''), ( / ''Jerusalem''), ( / ''Israel''), ( / ''mother''), ( / ''father''), ( / ''saviour''). The portion of the codex held by the British Library consists of 346½

s, 694 pages (38.1 cm x 34.5 cm), constituting over half of the original work. Of these folios, 199 belong to the Old Testament, including the

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

(

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books, meaning 'of, pertaining to, or constituting a second Biblical canon, canon', collectively known as the Deuterocanon (DC), are certain books and passages considered to be Biblical canon, canonical books of the Old ...

), and 147½ belong to the New Testament, along with two other books, the

and part of

The Shepherd of Hermas ''The Shepherd of Hermas'' (; ), sometimes just called ''The Shepherd'', is a Christian literary work of the late first half of the second century, considered a valuable book by many Christians, and considered canonical scripture by some of the ...

. The apocryphal and

present in the surviving part of the Septuagint are

2 Esdras 2 Esdras, also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra, is an apocalyptic book in some English versions of the Bible. Tradition ascribes it to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the fifth century BC, whom the book identifies with the sixth-ce ...

, Tobit,

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

, 1 and

4 Maccabees 4 Maccabees, also called the Fourth Book of Maccabees and possibly originally known as On the Sovereignty of Reason, is a book written in Koine Greek, likely in the 1st or early 2nd century. It is a homily or philosophic discourse praising the s ...

Wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

, and

Sirach The Book of Sirach (), also known as The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus son of Eleazar, or Ecclesiasticus (), is a Jewish literary work originally written in Biblical Hebrew. The longest extant wisdom book from antiqui ...

. The books of the New Testament are arranged in this order: the four

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 ...

, the

epistles of Paul The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest exta ...

(

Hebrews The Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which pre ...

follows 2 Thess.), the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

,Here and in

Minuscule 69 Minuscule 69 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 505 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), known as the ''Codex Leicester'', or ''Codex Leicestrensis'', is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the ...

Minuscule 336 Minuscule 336 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 500 ( Soden), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on paper. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 15th century. Formerly it was labelled by 45a, 52p, and 16r. Descri ...

, and several other manuscripts, the Pauline epistles precede Acts. the

General Epistles The catholic epistles (also called the general epistles) are seven epistles of the New Testament. Listed in order of their appearance in the New Testament, the catholic epistles are: Naming The use of the word ''catholic'' in the term catholic' ...

, and the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

. The fact that some parts of the codex are preserved in good condition while others are in very poor condition suggests they were separated and stored in several places. While large portions of the Old Testament are missing, it is assumed the codex originally contained the whole of both Testaments. About half of the Greek Old Testament (or ''

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

'') survived, along with a complete

, the entire

Deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books, meaning 'of, pertaining to, or constituting a second canon', collectively known as the Deuterocanon (DC), are certain books and passages considered to be canonical books of the Old Testament by the Catholic Chur ...

, the

and portions of

Text

The text of the Old Testament contains the following passages in order: The text of the New Testament is arranged in the following order: The codex includes two other books as part of the New Testament: :*

Text-type and relationship to other manuscripts

For most of the New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus is in general agreement with '' Codex Vaticanus (B)'' and '' Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C)'', attesting the

Alexandrian text-type In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Alexandrian text-type is one of the main text types. It is the text type favored by the majority of modern textual critics and it is the basis for most modern (after 1900) Bible translations. Over 5,8 ...

. A notable example of an agreement between the text in Sinaiticus and Vaticanus is they both omit the word εικη ('without cause', 'without reason', 'in vain') from Matthew 5:22: "''But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement''".The same variant is present in the Greek manuscript , noted in the margin of

Minuscule 1424 Minuscule 1424 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 30 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on parchment. Using the study of compara ...

, present in manuscripts of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

, the Ethiopic version, and attested by the early

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

and Jerome - NA27 p. 10. In

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 ...

1:1–8:38, Codex Sinaiticus differs from Vaticanus (B) and all other Alexandrian manuscripts. It is in closer agreement with '' Codex Bezae (D)'' in support of the

Western text-type In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Western text-type is one of the main text types. It is the predominant form of the New Testament text witnessed in the Old Latin and Syriac translations from the Greek, and also in quotations from ...

. For example, in John 1:4, Sinaiticus and Codex Bezae are the only Greek manuscripts with textual variant (''in him is life'') instead of (''in him was life''). This variant is supported by

Vetus Latina The ''Vetus Latina'' ("Old Latin" in Latin), also known as ''Vetus Itala'' ("Old Italian"), ''Itala'' ("Italian") and Old Italic, and denoted by the siglum \mathfrak, are the Latin Bible translations, translations of biblical texts (both Old T ...

and some

Sahidic Coptic () is a dormant Afroasiatic language. It is a group of closely related Egyptian dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third century AD in R ...

manuscripts. This portion has a large number of corrections. There are a number of differences between Sinaiticus and Vaticanus; Textual critic

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 ...

enumerated 3036 differences: ::::Matt: 656 ::::Mark: 567 ::::Luke: 791 ::::John: 1022 ::::Total — 3036. According to textual critic

Fenton Hort Fenton John Anthony Hort (23 April 1828 – 30 November 1892), known as F. J. A. Hort, was an Irish-born theologian and editor, with Brooke Foss Westcott of a critical edition of '' The New Testament in the Original Greek''. Life He w ...

, ''Sinaiticus'' and ''Vaticanus'' were derived from a much older common source, "the date of which cannot be later than the early part of the second century, and may well be yet earlier". Example of differences between Sinaiticus and Vaticanus in Matt 1:18–19 (one transposition difference; two spelling differences; one word substitution difference): Biblical scholar B. H. Streeter remarked there was a great agreement between the codex and the

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

. According to him,

brought the

that was used in this codex to

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

, and it was subsequently employed by Jerome for his Latin revision. Between the 4th and 12th centuries, seven or more correctors worked on this codex, making it one of the most corrected manuscripts in existence. During his investigation in Petersburg, Tischendorf enumerated 14,800 corrections in the portion which was only held in Petersburg (2/3 of the codex). According to textual critic David C. Parker, the full codex has about 23,000 corrections. In addition to these corrections some letters were marked by dots as doubtful (e.g. ṪḢ).

Notable omissions

The New Testament portion lacks the following passages: : Omitted verses :* Gospel of Matthew - * B L Γ ff k sy sa ::: Matthew 16 - B ƒ

157 Year 157 ( CLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Civica and Aquillus (or, less frequently, year 910 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 157 for this ye ...

sy sa bo ::: Matthew 17 - * B Θ 0281 33

579 __NOTOC__ Year 579 ( DLXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 579 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

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 ...

* e ff sy sa bo ::: Matthew 18 - B L* Θ* ƒ ƒ 33

* e ff sy sa bo ::: Matthew 23 - B D L Θ ƒ 33

* a aur e ff g vg sy sa bo :*

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

- B L Δ* ::: Mark 9:44 - B C W k sy sa ::: Mark 9:46 - B C W k sy sa ::: Mark 11:25 - B L W Δ Ψ

565 __NOTOC__ Year 565 ( DLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 565 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

700 The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Avar and Slavic tribes co ...

k l sy sa bo ::: Mark 15:28 - A B C D Ψ k sy sa bo ::: Mark 16:9–20 (Long ending of the Gospel Mark) - B k sy arm :*

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

Luke 10:32 - * (Likely omitted due to

haplography Haplography (from Greek: haplo- 'single' + -graphy 'writing'), also known as lipography (from Greek: lip- from leipein 'to leave/to omit' + -graphy 'writing'), is a scribal error, scribal or typographical error where a letter or group of letters th ...

resulting from

homeoteleuton Homeoteleuton, also spelled homoeoteleuton and homoioteleuton (from the Greek , ''homoioteleuton'', "like ending"), is the repetition of endings in words. Homeoteleuton is also known as near rhyme. History Homeoteleuton (homoioteleuton) was first ...

; the verse was added by a later corrector in lower margin) ::: Luke 17:36 - A B L W Δ Θ Ψ ƒ 28 33

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 ...

- B C* D W

Minuscule 33 Minuscule 33 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 48 ( Soden), before the French Revolution was called ''Codex Colbertinus 2844''. It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated palaeographically to the 9th century. ...

d l q vg sy sa bo ::: John 7:53-8:11 (Pericope adulterae) - B L N T W X Y Δ Θ Ψ 0141 0211 22 33 124

209 Year 209 ( CCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Lollianus (or, less frequently, year 962 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 209 for this y ...

788 __NOTOC__ Year 788 ( DCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 788th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 788th year of the 1st millennium, the 88th year of the 8th century, and ...

828 __NOTOC__ Year 828 ( DCCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Siege of Syracuse: The Muslims under Asad ibn al-Furat defeat a Byzantine relief army sent from Paler ...

1230 Year 1230 ( MCCXXX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 9 – Battle of Klokotnitsa: Byzantine forces under Theodore Komnenos (Doukas) invade Bulgaria, breaking ...

1241 Year 1241 ( MCCXLI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events * March 18 – Battle of Chmielnik ( Mongol invasion of Poland): The Mongols overwhelm the feudal Polish armies of Sandomierz and Kraków provinces ...

1253 Year 1253 ( MCCLIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 18 – King Henry I of Cyprus ("the Fat") dies and is succeeded by his son Hugh II, who is only a few months ol ...

2193 (see Image "John 7:53–8:11"); :* The Book of Acts - A B C 33 81

614 __NOTOC__ Year 614 ( DCXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 614 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

vg sy sa bo

eth Eth ( , uppercase: ⟨Ð⟩, lowercase: ⟨ð⟩; also spelled edh or eð), known as in Old English, is a letter used in Old English, Middle English, Icelandic, Faroese (in which it is called ), and Elfdalian. It was also used in Sca ...

::: Acts 15:34 - A B E L Ψ 81

1505 __NOTOC__ Year 1505 ( MDV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 14 – Pope Julius II issues the papal bull ''Cum tam divino'', decreeing a reform in the Roman Catholic ...

Byz ::: Acts 24:7 - A B H L P 049 81

1175 Year 1175 ( MCLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Britain * King Henry II begins living openly with his mistress Rosamund Clifford, raising suspicions about their relationship and ali ...

p* s vg co ::: Acts 28:29 - A B E Ψ 048 33 81

1739 Events January–March * January 1 – Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, in the South Atlantic Ocean. * January 3 – A 7.6 earthquake shakes the Ningxia Hui Autonomou ...

2464 s vg sy co :* Epistle of Paul to the - A B C 81

2464 b vg co : Omitted phrases :* Matthew 5:44: (''bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you'') - B ƒ

205 Year 205 ( CCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 958 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 205 for this year h ...

k sy sa bo BS3/ref> :* Matthew 6:13: (''For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.'') - B D Z 0170 ƒ

l547 a aur b c ff b 1 vg

meg Meg is a feminine given name, often a short form of Margaret, Megan, Megumi (Japanese), etc. It may refer to: People *Meg (singer) (born 1980), Japanese singer *Meg Baird, American musician *Meg Bateman, Scottish writer * Meg Bellamy, British ac ...

bo diat :* Matthew 10:39: (''Ηe who finds his life will lose it, and'') - * (singular reading) A26/ref> :* Matthew 15:6: () (''or (his) mother'') - B D a c sy sa :* Matthew 20:23: (''and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with'') - B D L Z Θ

084 Area codes 084 and 086 are Nigerian telephone area codes serving the cities of Port Harcourt and Ahoada in Rivers State. They fall under the Southeast Zone in the National Numbering Plan (NNP) restructured in 2003. When in Port Harcourt or Ahoad ...

ƒ ƒ lat sy sa bo :* Matthew 23:35: (''son of Barachi'ah'') - 59* ℓ ''6'' ℓ ''13'' ℓ ''185'',

Eus Eus ( in both French and Catalan) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the Occitania region in Southern France. Located just northeast of Prades, it had a population of 380 in 2021. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages d ...

:*: (''the Son of God'') - Θ 28 ℓ ''2211'' sy sa arm geo :* Mark 10:7: (''and be joined to his wife'') - B Ψ

ℓ ''48'' sy goth :* Luke 9:55-56: (''and He said: "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives but to save them'') - B C L Θ Ξ 33

sy bo :* John 4:9: (''Jews have no dealings with Samaritans'') - * D a b e j fay ( includes the phrase) Some passages/phrases were excluded by the correctors: :* Matthew 24:36: (''nor the Son'') - included by the original scribe (as also in B D ƒ 28

ℓ ''547'' a aur b c d f ff ff h q r vg sy arm

geo Diat), marked by the first corrector (a) as doubtful (omitted also in L W Δ ƒ 33

1424 Year 1424 ( MCDXXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 23 – William Cheyne becomes the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, replacing the late William Hankford. ...

and majority of manuscripts), but the second corrector (b) removed the mark. :* Mark 10:40: (''by my Father'') - included by the original scribe (as also in Θ ƒ

1071 Year 1071 ( MLXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 26 – Battle of Manzikert: The Byzantine army (35,000 men) under Emperor Romanos IV meets the Seljuk T ...

a r1 sy bo

), marked by the first corrector as doubtful (omitted also in A B C D L W Δ Ψ ƒ

and majority of manuscripts), but the second corrector removed the mark. :* Luke 11:4: (''but deliver us from evil'') - included by the original scribe (as also in A C D W Δ Θ Ψ ƒ 28

and majority of manuscripts), marked by the first corrector as doubtful (omitted also in B L 1

1342 Year 1342 ( MCCCXLII) was a common year starting on Tuesday and current year of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 21–June 27 – An-Nasir Ahmad, Sultan of Egypt, rules prior to being deposed by his hal ...

vg sy sa bo arm geo), but the third corrector (c) removed the mark. :* Luke 22:43-44: (

Christ's agony at Gethsemane The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is an episode in the life of Jesus, which occurred after the Last Supper and before his betrayal and arrest, all part of the Passion of Jesus leading to his crucifixion and death. This episode is described ...

) – included by the original scribe (as also in D L Δ Θ Ψ 0233 ƒ

and majority of manuscripts), marked by the first corrector as doubtful (omitted also in A B N T W

f sy sa bo arm geo), but the third corrector removed the mark. :* Luke 23:34a: ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν Πάτερ ἄφες αὐτοῖς οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν τί ποιοῦσιν (''Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do) – included by the original scribe (as also in A C D L Ψ 0250 ƒ 33 and majority of manuscripts), marked by the first corrector as doubtful (omitted also in B D* Θ 070

a sy sa bo), but a third corrector removed the mark.

Additions

Matthew 8:13: : (''and when the centurion returned to the house in that hour, he found the slave well'') - C ( N) Θ ( 0250) ƒ ( 33

) g sy Matthew 10:12: : (''say peace to be this house'' - the reading was deleted by the first corrector, but the second corrector restored it) - D L W Θ ƒ 22

1010 Year 1010 ( MX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Africa * The Nile river in Egypt freezes over. Asia * The Lý dynasty is established in Vietnam (or 1009), and moves the capital to Thăn ...

(

) it vg. Matthew 27:49: : (''the other took a spear and pierced His side, and immediately came out water and blood'') - B C L.

Unique and other textual variants

Matthew 7:22 : (''numerous'' - "and cast out numerous demons in your name?") - (singular reading) Matthew 8:12 : (''will go out'') - 0250 k sy arm

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 ...

. Matthew 13:54 : (''to his own

Antipatris Antipatris (, ) was a city built during the first century BC by Herod the Great, who named it in honour of his father, Antipater. The site, now a national park in central Israel, was inhabited from the Chalcolithic period to the Late Ro ...

'') - (singular reading) Acts 8:5 : Καισαριας (''to the city of

'') - (singular reading). Matthew 16:12 : (''leaven of bread of the Pharisees and Sadducees'') - ff sy Luke 1:26 : (''Judaea'') – (singular reading) Luke 2:37 : (''seventy'') - (singular reading) John 1:28 : (''Betharaba'' - a correction by the second corrector; originally reads Βηθανια (''Bethany'') ) -

sy John 1:34 : (''chosen one'') - b e ff sy John 2:3 : (''they had no wine, because the wine of the marriage feast was finished'') - a j John 6:10 : (''three thousands'') - * (singular reading). Amended to (''five thousand'') by the second corrector. Acts 11:20 : (''Evangelists'') - (singular reading) Acts 14:9 : (''not heard'') - (singular reading) Hebrews 2:4 : (''harvests'') - (singular reading) 1 Peter 5:13 : (''Church'') - vg sy 2 Timothy 4:10 : (''Gaul'') - C 81

104 104 may refer to: *104 (number), a natural number *AD 104, a year in the 2nd century AD *104 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 104 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *Hundred and Four (or Council of 104), a Carthaginia ...

326

436 __NOTOC__ Year 436 ( CDXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Isodorus and Senator (or, less frequently, year 1189 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...

Variants in agreement with the "majority text"

Mark 10:19 : (''do not defraud'') ::incl. - B Majority of manuscripts ::omit - B* K W Ψ ''f'' ''f'' 28

1010 1079 1242 1546 2148 ℓ ''10'' ℓ ''950'' ℓ ''1642'' ℓ ''1761'' sy arm geo. Mark 13:33 : (''and pray'') ::incl. - Majority of manuscripts ::omit - B D. Luke 8:48 : (''daughter'') - Majority of manuscripts : (''daughter'') - B K L W Θ.

Orthodox-Belief supporting reading

1 John 5:6 : δι' ὕδατος καὶ αἵματος καὶ πνεύματος (''through water and blood and spirit'') - also in A

424 Year 424 ( CDXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Castinus and Victor (or, less frequently, year 1177 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 424 for this ...

2412 2495 ℓ ''598'' sy sa bo

. For other variants in this verse see: Textual variants in the First Epistle of John.

Bart D. Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books ...

says this was a corrupt reading from a proto-orthodox scribe, although this conclusion has not gained wide support.

History

Early history

Provenance

Little is known of the manuscript's early history. According to Hort, it was written in the West, probably in Rome, as suggested by the fact that the chapter division in the Acts of the Apostles common to Sinaiticus and Vaticanus occurs in no other Greek manuscript, but is found in several manuscripts of the Latin

Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...

countered this argument, suggesting that this system of chapter divisions was introduced into the Vulgate by

himself, as a result of his studies at

. According to Kenyon the forms of the letters are Egyptian and they were found in Egyptian papyri of earlier date. Gardthausen, Ropes and Jellicoe thought it was written in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Biblical scholar

J. Rendel Harris James Rendel Harris (27 January 1852 in Plymouth, Devon – 1 March 1941) was an English biblical scholar and curator of manuscripts, who was instrumental in bringing back to light many Syriac Scriptures and other early documents. His contacts ...

believed that the manuscript came from the library of Pamphilus at Caesarea Maritima. Streeter, Skeat, and Milne also believed that it was produced in Caesarea.

Date

The codex can be dated with a reasonable degree of confidence between the early fourth century and the early fifth century. It could not have been written before about 325 because it contains 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 ...

, which is a ''

terminus post quem A ''terminus post quem'' ('limit after which', sometimes abbreviated TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ('limit before which', abbreviated TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest date t ...

''. The ''terminus ante quem'' is less certain. Milne and Skeat relied on small cursive notes to assert that the date of the production of the codex was not likely to be much later than about 360. More recent research suggests that these cursive notes could be as late as the early fifth century. Tischendorf theorized that Codex Sinaiticus was one of the fifty copies of the Bible commissioned from

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

by Roman emperor

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

after his conversion to Christianity (''De vita Constantini'', IV, 37). This hypothesis was supported by

Pierre Batiffol Pierre Batiffol (27 January 1861, in Toulouse, France – 13 January 1929, in Paris, France) – was a French Catholic priest and prominent theologian, specialising in Church history. He had also a particular interest in the history of dogma. Bat ...

. Biblical scholars

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 ...

and T.C. Skeat believed that it was already in production when Constantine placed his order, but had to be suspended in order to accommodate different page dimensions. Biblical scholar

Frederic G. Kenyon Sir Frederic George Kenyon (15 January 1863 – 23 August 1952) was an English palaeographer and biblical and classical scholar. He held a series of posts at the British Museum from 1889 to 1931. He was also the president of the British Academy ...

argued: "There is not the least sign of either of them ever having been at Constantinople. The fact that Sinaiticus was collated with the manuscript of Pamphilus so late as the sixth century seems to show that it was not originally written at Caesarea".

Scribes and correctors

Tischendorf believed four separate scribes copied the work (whom he named A, B, C and D), and five correctors amended portions (whom he designated a, b, c, d and e). He posited one of the correctors was contemporaneous with the original scribes, and the others worked during the sixth and seventh centuries. After Milne and Skeat's reinvestigation, it is now agreed Tischendorf was incorrect, as scribe C never existed. According to Tischendorf, scribe C wrote the poetic books of the Old Testament. These are written in a different format from the rest of the manuscript – they appear in two columns (the rest of books is in four columns), written stichometrically. Tischendorf probably interpreted the different formatting as indicating the existence of another scribe. The three remaining scribes are still identified by the letters Tischendorf gave them: A, B, and D. There were in fact more correctors, with at least seven (a, b, c, ca, cb, cc, e). Modern analysis identifies three scribes: * Scribe A wrote most of the historical and poetical books of the Old Testament; almost the whole of the New Testament; and the Epistle of Barnabas * Scribe B was responsible for the Prophets and for the Shepherd of Hermas * Scribe D wrote the whole of Tobit and Judith; the first half of 4 Maccabees; the first two-thirds of the Psalms; and the first five verses of Revelation Scribe B was a poor speller, and scribe A was not much better; the best scribe was D. Metzger states: "scribe A had made some unusually serious mistakes". Scribes A and B used ''nomina sacra'' in contracted forms most often (ΠΝΕΥΜΑ contracted in all occurrences, ΚΥΡΙΟΣ contracted except in two occurrences), whereas scribe D mostly used the uncontracted forms. Scribe D distinguished between sacral and nonsacral uses of ΚΥΡΙΟΣ. His spelling errors are the substitution of ΕΙ for Ι, and Ι for ΕΙ in medial positions, both equally common. Otherwise substitution of Ι for initial ΕΙ is unknown, and final ΕΙ is only replaced in the word ΙΣΧΥΕΙ. The confusion of Ε and ΑΙ is very rare. In the Book of Psalms, this scribe has ΔΑΥΕΙΔ instead of ΔΑΥΙΔ 35 times, while scribe A normally uses an abbreviated form . Scribe A made the most phonetic errors: confusion of Ε and ΑΙ occurs in all contexts. Milne and Skeat characterised scribe B as "careless and illiterate". Caesarea Maritima BW 2010-09-23 09-26-26 stitch

Caesarea Maritima BW 2010-09-23 09-26-26 stitch

A paleographical study at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in 1938 found the text had undergone several corrections. The first corrections were done by several scribes before the manuscript left the scriptorium. Readings which they introduced are designated by the siglum ^a. Milne and Skeat have observed the superscription to 1 Maccabees was made by scribe D, while the text was written by scribe A. Scribe D corrects his own work and that of scribe A, but scribe A limits himself to correcting his own work. In the sixth or seventh century, many alterations were made (^b) – according to a colophon at the end of the book of

Esdras The name "Esdras" is found in the title of four texts (entitled Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras in most English versions) attributed to, or associated with, the prophet Ezra. The naming convention of the four books of Esdras differs betwee ...

and

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

, the source of these alterations was "a very ancient manuscript that had been corrected by the hand of the holy martyr Pamphylus" (

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

ed in 309). If this is so, material beginning with

1 Samuel The Book of Samuel () is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological ...

to the end of Esther is Origen's copy of the

Hexapla ''Hexapla'' (), also called ''Origenis Hexaplorum'', is a Textual criticism, critical edition of the Hebrew Bible in six versions, four of them translated into Ancient Greek, Greek, preserved only in fragments. It was an immense and complex wor ...

. From this colophon, the corrections are concluded to have been made in

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea () also Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Palaestinae or Caesarea Stratonis, was an ancient and medieval port city on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. It was the capital of Judaea (Roman province), ...

in the sixth or seventh centuries. The pervasive

iotacism Iotacism (, ''iotakismos'') or itacism is the process of vowel shift by which a number of vowels and diphthongs converged towards the pronunciation in post-classical Greek and Modern Greek. The term "iotacism" refers to the letter iota, the orig ...

, especially of the diphthong, remains uncorrected.

Discovery

The Codex may have been seen in 1761 by the Italian traveller Vitaliano Donati, when he visited the

at Sinai in

. His diary was published in 1879, in which was written:

In questo monastero ritrovai una quantità grandissima di codici membranacei... ve ne sono alcuni che mi sembravano anteriori al settimo secolo, ed in ispecie una Bibbia in membrane bellissime, assai grandi, sottili, e quadre, scritta in carattere rotondo e bellissimo; conservano poi in chiesa un Evangelistario greco in caractere d'oro rotondo, che dovrebbe pur essere assai antico.

''In this monastery I found a great number of parchment codices ... there are some which seemed to be written before the seventh century, and especially a Bible (made) of beautiful vellum, very large, thin and square parchments, written in round and very beautiful letters; moreover there are also in the church a Greek Evangelistarium in gold and round letters, it should be very old.''

The "Bible on beautiful vellum" may be Codex Sinaiticus, and the gold evangelistarium is likely Lectionary 300 on the Gregory-Aland list. Tischendorf um 1870

German Biblical scholar

wrote about his visit to the monastery in ''Reise in den Orient'' in 1846 (translated as ''Travels in the East'' in 1847), without mentioning the manuscript. Later, in 1860, in his writings about the Sinaiticus discovery, Tischendorf wrote a narrative about the monastery and the manuscript that spanned from 1844 to 1859. He wrote that in 1844, during his first visit to the Saint Catherine's Monastery, he saw some leaves of parchment in a waste-basket. They were "rubbish which was to be destroyed by burning it in the ovens of the monastery", although this is firmly denied by the Monastery. After examination he realized that they were part of the Septuagint, written in an early Greek uncial script. He retrieved from the basket 129 leaves in Greek which he identified as coming from a manuscript of the

. He asked if he might keep them, but at this point the attitude of the monks changed. They realized how valuable these old leaves were, and Tischendorf was permitted to take only one-third of the whole, i.e. 43 leaves. These leaves contained portions of 1 Chronicles, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and Esther. After his return they were deposited in the

Leipzig University Library Leipzig University Library (), known also as ''Bibliotheca Albertina'', is the central library of the University of Leipzig. It is one of the oldest German university libraries. History The library was founded in 1542 following the Reformation b ...

, where they remain. In 1846 Tischendorf published their contents, naming them the 'Codex Friderico-Augustanus' (in honor of Frederick Augustus and keeping secret the source of the leaves). Other portions of the same codex remained in the monastery, containing all of Isaiah and 1 and 4 Maccabees. In 1845,

Archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

Porphyrius Uspensky Bishop Porphyrius (; secular name: Konstantin Aleksandrovich Uspensky; ; 8 September 1804 – 19 April 1885) was a Russian traveller, theologian, orientalist, archaeologist and byzantinologist, founder of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in ...

(1804–1885), at that time head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem and subsequently Bishop of Chigirin, visited the monastery and the codex was shown to him, together with leaves which Tischendorf had not seen.Uspienski described: "Первая рукопись, содержащая Ветхий Завет неполный и весь Новый Завет с посланием ап. Варнавы и книгой Ермы, писана на тончайшем белом пергаменте. (...) Буквы в ней совершенно похожи на церковно-славянские. Постановка их прямая и сплошная. Над словами нет придыханий и ударений, а речения не отделяются никакими знаками правописания кроме точек. Весь священный текст писан в четыре и два столбца стихомерным образом и так слитно, как будто одно длинное речение тянется от точки до точки." (Порфирий (Успенский), ''Первое путешествие в Синайский монастырь в 1845 году'', Petersburg 1856, с. 226.) In 1846, Captain C. K. MacDonald visited Mount Sinai, saw the codex, and bought two codices (

495 __NOTOC__ Year 495 ( CDXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Viator without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1248 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...

and 496) from the monastery. In 1853, Tischendorf revisited the Saint Catherine's Monastery to get the remaining 86 folios, but without success. Returning in 1859, this time under the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of Tsar

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Grand Du ...

, he was shown Codex Sinaiticus. He would later claim to have found it discarded in a rubbish bin. (This story may have been a fabrication, or the manuscripts in question may have been unrelated to Codex Sinaiticus: Rev. J. Silvester Davies in 1863 quoted "a monk of Sinai who... stated that according to the librarian of the monastery the whole of Codex Sinaiticus had been in the library for many years and was marked in the ancient catalogues... Is it not likely... that a manuscript known in the library catalogue would have been jettisoned in the rubbish basket." Indeed, it has been noted that the leaves were in "suspiciously good condition" for something found in the trash.Davies' words are from a letter published in ''The Guardian'' on 27 May 1863, as quoted by Elliott, J.K. (1982) in ''Codex Sinaiticus and the Simonides Affair'', Thessaloniki: Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies, p. 16; Elliott in turn is quoted by Michael D. Peterson in his essay "Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus: the Saga Continues", in ''The Church and the Library'', ed. Papademetriou and Sopko Boston: Somerset Hall Press (2005), p. 77. See also notes 2 and 3, p. 90, in Papademetriou.) Tischendorf had been sent to search for manuscripts by Russia's

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Alexander II, who was convinced there were still manuscripts to be found at the Sinai monastery. The text of this part of the codex was published by Tischendorf in 1862: * Konstantin von Tischendorf: ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus.'' Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig 1862. This work has been digitised in full and all four volumes may be consulted online. It was reprinted in four volumes in 1869: * Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 1. Prolegomena.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.). * Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 2. Veteris Testamenti pars prior.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.). * Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 3. Veteris Testamenti pars posterior.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.). * Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 4. Novum Testamentum cum Barnaba et Pastore.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.). The complete publication of the codex was made by

Kirsopp Lake Kirsopp Lake (7 April 187210 November 1946) was an English New Testament Biblical scholar, scholar, Church history, Church historian, Palaeography#Greek Palaeography, Greek palaeographer, and Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard ...

in 1911 (New Testament), and in 1922 (Old Testament). It was the full-sized black and white facsimile of the manuscript, "made from negatives taken from St. Petersburg by my wife and myself in the summer of 1908". The story of how Tischendorf found the manuscript, which contained most of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, has all the interest of a romance. Tischendorf reached the monastery on 31 January; but his inquiries appeared to be fruitless. On 4 February, he had resolved to return home without having gained his object: Sinai litografia

On the afternoon of this day I was taking a walk with the steward of the convent in the neighbourhood, and as we returned, towards sunset, he begged me to take some refreshment with him in his cell. Scarcely had he entered the room, when, resuming our former subject of conversation, he said: "And I, too, have read a Septuagint" – i.e. a copy of the Greek translation made by the Seventy. And so saying, he took down from the corner of the room a bulky kind of volume, wrapped up in a red cloth, and laid it before me. I unrolled the cover, and discovered, to my great surprise, not only those very fragments which, fifteen years before, I had taken out of the basket, but also other parts of the Old Testament, the New Testament complete, and, in addition, the Epistle of Barnabas and a part of the Shepherd of Hermas.

After some negotiations, he obtained possession of this precious fragment. James Bentley gives an account of how this came about, prefacing it with the comment, "Tischendorf therefore now embarked on the remarkable piece of duplicity which was to occupy him for the next decade, which involved the careful suppression of facts and the systematic denigration of the monks of Mount Sinai." He conveyed it to Tsar Alexander II, who appreciated its importance and had it published as nearly as possible in facsimile, so as to exhibit correctly the ancient handwriting. In 1869 the Tsar sent the monastery 7,000

ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s and the

monastery of Mount Tabor The Abbey of Mount Tabor was a Benedictine monastery on the shrine of Christ's Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Background Christian tradition has identified Mount Tabor in Galilee as the site of the miraculous Transf ...

2,000 rubles by way of compensation. The document in Russian formalising this was published in 2007 in Russia and has since been translated. The codex is regarded by the monastery as having been stolen, which is proven by a receipt given by Tischendorf to the authorities at the monastery promising to return the manuscript from St. Petersburg 'to the Holy Confraternity of Sinai at its earliest request', a copy of which is on display in the publicly-accessible area of the monastery. This view of Tischendorf's role in the transfer to Saint Petersburg has been contested by several scholars in Europe. New Testament scholar

Bruce 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 th ...

wrote:

Certain aspects of the negotiations leading to the transfer of the codex to the Tsar's possession are open to an interpretation that reflects adversely on Tischendorf's candour and good faith with the monks at Saint Catherine's Monastery. For an account intended to exculpate him of blame, see Erhard Lauch's article 'Nichts gegen Tischendorf' in ''Bekenntnis zur Kirche: Festgabe für Ernst Sommerlath zum 70. Geburtstag'' (Berlin, c. 1961), pp.15-24; for an account that includes a hitherto .e., before 1964unknown receipt given by Tischendorf to the authorities at the monastery promising to return the manuscript from Saint Petersburg 'to the Holy Confraternity of Sinai at its earliest request,' see Ihor Ševčenko, "New Documents on Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus", published in the journal ''Scriptorium'', xviii (1964), pp. 55–80.

Simonides

On 13 September 1862

Constantine Simonides Constantine Simonides (1820–1867) was a Greek palaeographer and dealer of icons, with knowledge of manuscripts and calligraphy. He was one of the most versatile forgers of the nineteenth century. Life He was born on the small Greek island of Sym ...

(1820–1890), skilled in calligraphy and with a controversial background with manuscripts, made the claim in print in ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that he had written the codex himself as a 19-year-old boy in 1839 in the Panteleimonos monastery at Athos.

, who worked with numerous Bible manuscripts, was known as somewhat flamboyant, and had ambitiously sought money from several royal families for his ventures, who had indeed funded his trips. Simonides had a somewhat obscure history, as he claimed he was at Mt. Athos in the years preceding Tischendorf's contact, making the claim at least plausible. Simonides also claimed his father had died and the invitation to

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

came from his uncle, a monk there, but subsequent letters to his father were found among his possessions at his death. Simonides claimed the false nature of the document in ''The Manchester Guardian'' in an exchange of letters among scholars and others, at the time. Henry Bradshaw, a British librarian known to both men, defended the Tischendorf find of Codex Sinaiticus, casting aside the accusations of Simonides, which later have been disproved. Since Bradshaw was a social 'hub' among many diverse scholars of the day, his aiding of Tischendorf was given much weight. Simonides died shortly after, and the issue lay dormant for many years. In answer to Simonides in ''

Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Allgemeine Zeitung'' was the leading political daily journal in Germany in the first part of the 19th century. It has been widely recognised as the first world-class German journal and a symbol of the German press abroad. The ''Allgemein ...

'' (December 1862), Tischendorf noted only in the New Testament were there many differences between it and all other manuscripts. Henry Bradshaw, a bibliographer, combatted the claims of Constantine Simonides in a letter to ''The Manchester Guardian'' (26 January 1863). Bradshaw argued that Codex Sinaiticus brought by Tischendorf from the Greek monastery of Mount Sinai was not a modern forgery or written by Simonides. The controversy seems to regard the misplaced use of the word 'fraud' or 'forgery' since it may have been a repaired text, a copy of the Septuagint based upon Origen's Hexapla, a text which has been rejected for centuries because of its lineage from

who introduced Arian doctrine into the courts of Constantine I and II. Not every scholar and Church minister was delighted about the codex find. Burgon, a supporter of the

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

, suggested that Codex Sinaiticus, as well as codices Vaticanus and

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. It is designated by the siglum D or 05 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and � ...

, were the most corrupt documents extant. Each of these three codices "clearly exhibits a fabricated text – is the result of arbitrary and reckless recension." The two most weighty of these three codices, and B, he likens to the "two false witnesses" of Matthew 26:60. However, independent discoveries of other fragments of the codex in recent history (see below) prove its authenticity, and disprove all theories of it being a forgery.

Recent history

In the early 20th century

Vladimir Beneshevich Vladimir Nicolayevich Beneshevich (; August 9, 1874 – January 17, 1938) was a Russian scholar of Byzantine history and canon law, and a philologer and paleographer of the manuscripts in that sphere. Beneshevich was a corresponding-member of the ...

(1874–1938) discovered parts of three more leaves of the codex in the bindings of other manuscripts in the library of Mount Sinai. Beneshevich went on three occasions to the monastery (1907, 1908, 1911) but does not tell when or from which book these were recovered. These leaves were also acquired for St. Petersburg, where they remain. Russian National Library building

For many decades, the Codex was preserved in the

Russian National Library The National Library of Russia (NLR, , ''РНБ''), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first, and one of three national public libraries in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked among the world's major libraries. It has the second biggest libr ...

. In 1933, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

sold the codex to the

(after 1973 part of it was separated to become the

) for £100,000 raised by public subscription (worth £ in ). After coming to Britain it was examined by Skeat and Milne using an

ultra-violet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of the ...

lamp. In May 1975, during restoration work, the monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery discovered a room beneath the St. George Chapel which contained many parchment fragments.

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 ...

and his team from 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 ...

were the first scholars who were invited to analyse, examine and photograph these new fragments of the New Testament in 1982. Among these fragments were twelve complete leaves from the ''Sinaiticus'', eleven leaves of the

Pentateuch The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...

and one leaf of the

. Together with these leaves 67 Greek Manuscripts of New Testament have been found (uncials 0278 – 0296 and some minuscules). In June 2005, a team of experts from the United Kingdom, Europe, Egypt, Russia and United States undertook a joint project to produce a new digital edition of the manuscript (involving all four holding libraries), and a series of other studies was announced. This will include the use of

hyperspectral imaging Hyperspectral imaging collects and processes information from across the electromagnetic spectrum. The goal of hyperspectral imaging is to obtain the spectrum for each pixel in the image of a scene, with the purpose of finding objects, identifyi ...

to photograph the manuscripts to look for hidden information such as erased or faded text. This was done in cooperation with the British Library. More than one quarter of the manuscript was made publicly available a
The Codex Sinaiticus Website
on 24 July 2008. On 6 July 2009, 800 more pages of the manuscript were made available, showing over half of the entire text, although the entire text was intended to be shown by that date. The complete document is now available online in digital form and available for scholarly study. The online version has a fully transcribed set of digital pages, including amendments to the text, and two images of each page, with both standard lighting and raked lighting to highlight the texture of the parchment. Prior to 1 September 2009, the

University of the Arts London The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of ...

PhD student, Nikolas Sarris, discovered the previously unseen fragment of the Codex in the library of Saint Catherine's Monastery. It contains the text of Book of Joshua 1:10.

Present location

The codex is now split into four unequal portions: 347 leaves in the

in London (199 of the Old Testament, 148 of the New Testament), 12 leaves and 14 fragments in the Saint Catherine's Monastery, 43 leaves in the

, and fragments of 3 leaves in the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Saint Catherine's Monastery still maintains the importance of a letter, handwritten in 1844 with an original signature of Tischendorf confirming that he borrowed those leaves and that they would be returned from Russia if requested.Ο Σιναϊτικός Κώδικας
However, Russian scholars contend that recently published documents, including a

deed of gift A deed of gift is a signed legal document that voluntarily and without recompense transfers ownership of real, personal, or intellectual propertysuch as a gift of materialsfrom one person or institution to another. It should include any possibl ...

dated 11 September 1868 (four years after the removal of the manuscript from the monastery) and signed by Archbishop Kallistratos and the monks of the monastery, amount to a proof that the manuscript was obtained legally.''"История приобретения Синайской Библии Россией в свете новых документов из российских архивов"''
А.В.Захарова, ''Монфокон: исследования по палеографии, кодикологии и дипломатике'', Ι, Москва—С.-Петербург, 2007, 209–266 This deed, which agrees with a report by

on the matter, has now been published. This development is not widely known in the English-speaking world, as only German- and Russian-language media reported on it in 2009. Doubts as to the legality of the gift arose because when Tischendorf originally removed the manuscript from Saint Catherine's Monastery in September 1859, the monastery was without an archbishop, so that even though the intention to present the manuscript to the Tsar had been expressed, no legal gift could be made at the time. Resolution of the matter was delayed through the turbulent reign of Archbishop Cyril (consecrated 7 December 1859, deposed 24 August 1866). Skeat in his article "The Last Chapter in the History of the Codex Sinaiticus" concluded in this way:

This is not the place to pass judgements, but perhaps I may say that, as it seems to me, both the monks and Tischendorf deserve our deepest gratitude, Tischendorf for having alerted the monks to the importance of the manuscript, and the monks for having undertaken the daunting task of searching through the vast mass of material with such spectacular results, and then doing everything in their power to safeguard the manuscript against further loss. If we accept the statement of Uspensky, that he saw the codex in 1845, the monks must have worked very hard to complete their search and bind up the results in so short a period.

Impact on biblical scholarship

Along with

, Codex Sinaiticus is considered one of the most valuable manuscripts available, as it is one of the oldest and likely closer to the original text of the

Greek New Testament Greek New Testament refers to the New Testament in Koine Greek. It may also refer to the following texts: * ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' * ''Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts ...

. It is the only

manuscript with the complete text of the New Testament, and the only ancient manuscript of the New Testament written in four columns per page which has survived to the present day. With only 300 years separating Codex Sinaiticus and the lifetime of Jesus, it is considered by some to be more accurate than most New Testament copies in preserving readings where almost all manuscripts are assumed by them to be in error. For 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 ...

s, Sinaiticus is considered among some people as the second most reliable witness of the text (after Vaticanus); in the

, its text is equal to that of Vaticanus; in the

Epistles An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

, Sinaiticus is assumed to be the most reliable witness of the text. In the

, however, its text is corrupted and is considered of poor quality, and inferior to the texts of

, , and even some minuscule manuscripts in this place (for example, Minuscule 2053,

2062 In contemporary history, the third millennium is the current millennium in the ''Anno Domini'' or Common Era, under the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001 ( MMI) and will end on 31 December 3000 ( MMM), spanning the 21st to 30th ...

Notes

References

External links

Codex Sinaiticus Project

BBC video clip
handling Codex Sinaiticus at the British Library

Facsimiles of Codex Sinaiticus

Codex Sinaiticus
at the ''Center for the Study of NT Manuscripts'' (JPG)
Codex Sinaiticus
digital reproduction at ''A.P. Manuscripts'' *
Codex Sinaiticus: Facsimile Edition
' ()

Articles

Differences between the Sinaiticus and the KJV

at the ''Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism''

Codex Sinaiticus Project at the British Library website

Codex Sinaiticus entry for the British Library collection

* ttps://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/ptr/departments/theologyandreligion/research/projects/codex-sinaiticus.aspx Joint project managed by ITSEE for digitizing the codex
E. Henschke, The Codex Sinaiticus, its History and Modern Presentation

Who Owns the Codex Sinaiticus
Biblical Archaeology Review Library
The Codex Sinaiticus and the Manuscripts of Mt Sinai in the Collections of the National Library of Russia
The National Library of Russia, 2009

The Telegraph {{Authority control 4th-century biblical manuscripts British Library additional manuscripts

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 deuterocanonical ...

Saint Catherine's Monastery Septuagint manuscripts