Sinaitic Palimpsest

The Syriac Sinaiticus or Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus (syr^s), known also as the Sinaitic Palimpsest, of Saint Catherine's Monastery (Sinai, Syr. 30), or Old Syriac Gospels is a late-4th- or early-5th-century manuscript of 179 folios, containing a nearly complete translation of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament into Syriac, which have been overwritten by a ''vita'' (biography) of female saints and martyrs with a date corresponding to AD 697. This palimpsest is the oldest copy of the Gospels in Syriac, one of two surviving manuscripts (the other being the Curetonian Gospels) that are conventionally dated to before the Peshitta, the standard Syriac translation.

Text

Both the Syriac Sinaiticus (designated syr^s) inai, Syr 30and the Curetonian Gospels (designated syr^cur) ritish Library, Add 14451; Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Orient Quad 528known as the Old Syriac version contain similar renderings of the Gospel text; its conformity with the Greek and the Latin has been debated. Additional passages of the Old Syriac version were discovered among the New Finds (1975) of Saint Catherine's Monastery (Sinai, Syr. NF 37, 39). Even so, syr^s retains some readings from even earlier lost Syriac Gospels and from the 2nd-century Septuagint manuscripts, which brought the four Gospels into harmony with one another through selective readings and emendations.

It had been ascertained that the Diatessaron, or Harmony of the Four Gospels, composed by Tatian in the second century, had to be supplanted in the Syrian churches. There was a promulgation by Bishop Rabbula of Edessa in between AD 411 and 435, that four separate Gospels come into being in use in Syriac churches.

The importance of such early, least conforming texts is emphasized by the revision of the Peshitta that was made about 508, ordered by bishop Philoxenus of Mabbog. His revision, it is said, skilfully moved the Peshitta nearer to the Greek text; "it is very remarkable that his own frequent Gospel quotations preserved in his writings show that he used an Old Syriac set of the four Gospels".

History

The palimpsest was identified in the library at Saint Catherine's Monastery in February 1892 by Agnes Smith Lewis, who returned with a team of scholars in 1893 that included J. Rendel Harris, F. C. Burkitt, and R. L. Bensly to photograph and transcribe the work in its entirety. It is still kept by the Saint Catherine’s Monastery (Sinai, Syr. 30).

The German theologian Adalbert Merx devoted much of his later research to the elucidation of the Sinaitic Palimpsest, the results being embodied in (1897–1905).

The Sinaitic Palimpsest immediately became a central document in tracing the history of the New Testament. The palimpsest's importance lies especially in making the Greek New Testament manuscripts understandable to Aramaic speaking communities during that period.

Notable readings

The palimpsest lacks the last 12 verses of Mark, Christ's agony (), the Pericope Adulteræ (), and the reconciliation of Pilate with Herod ().

In , it contains "Joseph, to whom was betrothed Mary the Virgin, begat Jesus, who is called the Christ"

In , it contains a singular reading reflecting the Greek ('get you behind' or 'get behind you').

is omitted, as in א*, B, L, Γ, 1009, ℓ ''12'', ff¹, k, syr^c, cop^sa.

In , it reflects ('corpse') with א B C D L Θ ''f''¹ ''f''¹³ 33 565 700 892 1241 1424 e k ℓ ''844'' ℓ ''2211'' syr^{c, p} cop^bo

In , it reflects ('leaven') with D, Θ, ''f''¹³, 565, a, b, ff²

is omitted, as in 𝔓¹⁰⁴, D, 33, it^a.b.d.e, ff¹, ff², r¹, Irenaeus^lat, Origen, Eusebius

In , text reflecting ('Jeremiah') is omitted, as in Φ 33 it ^a it ^b syr^p cop^bo

In , it reflects ('Jesus the Barabbas') with Θ ''f''¹ 700* arm geo²

In , the phrase ''when Abiathar was high priest'' is omitted, as in D, W, 1009, 1546, it^{a.b.d.e.ff2.i.r1.t}

In , the phrase ''the Pharisees came'' is omitted, as in D, it^a.b.d.k.r1, (syr^cur)

In , the phrase ''and be joined to his wife'' is omitted, as in א, B, Ψ, 892*, 2427, ℓ ''48'', goth.

In , it reflects ('opened') with A, B, L, W, Ξ, 33, 579, 892, 1195, 1241, ℓ ''547'', syr^{h, pal}, cop^{sa, bo}

In , it reflects ('Elect One') with 𝔓⁴⁵ 𝔓⁷⁵ א B L Ξ 892 1241 it^a.aur.ff2.l vgst cop^mss

In , the phrase ''you are worried and being troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed'' is omitted, as in it^{a.b.d.e.ff2.i.l.r1} Ambrose

In , the phrase ''And Jesus said: Father forgive them, they know not what they do'' is omitted, agreeing with 𝔓⁷⁵, א¹, B, D*, W, Θ, 0124, 1241, a, Bezae^lat, cop^sa, cop^bo.UBS4, p. 311.

is omitted, as in D it^{a.b.d.e.ff2.l.r1}, syr^cur

In , the phrase ''after worshiping him'' is omitted, as in D it^{a.b.d.e.ff2.geo2.l} (syr^cur)

In , it reflects ('blessing') with 𝔓⁷⁵ א B C* L

In , it reflects ('the Elect One') with 𝔓⁵ 𝔓^106vid א* it^b.e.ff2* syr^cur

In , the phrase ''the Lord having given thanks'' is omitted, as in D 091 it^a.e syr^cur

In , the phrase ''and his mother'' is omitted, as in א* W it^b syr^cur

In , it contains a singular reading reflecting the Greek ('God the Father').

In , it reflects ('he who is believing in God has life everlasting') in agreement only with syr^cur.

In , it reflects ('my bread') with א it^a.e.r1

In , the text ''who they are who are not believing, and'' is omitted, as in 𝔓^66* it^e syr^cur

In , the phrase ''the chief priests and the Pharisees'' is omitted, as in 118 it^b.e

In , text reflecting ('father') is omitted, as in א* D 1655* it^d syr^cur

In , the phrase ''our father'' is omitted, as in D W it^{a.b.c.d.e.ff2.j.l} cop^pbo

In , the phrase ''had been blind and had received sight'' is omitted, as in 𝔓^66* ''f''¹ 565 it^mss cop^bo

In , it reflects ('Son of Man') with 𝔓⁶⁶ 𝔓⁷⁵ א B D W cop^mss

In , the phrase ''and the life'' is omitted, as in 𝔓⁴⁵ it^l Diatessaron^syr Cyprian

In , the phrase ''the sister of the deceased'' is omitted, as in Θ it^{aur.b.c.e.ff2.l} ac²

In , the phrase ''of that year'' is omitted, as in 𝔓⁴⁵ it^e

is omitted, as in D it^d

In , the phrase ''If God has been glorified in him'' is omitted, as in 𝔓⁶⁶ א* B C* D L W X 579 it vg^mss syr^h ac² mf co^bomss

In , the phrase ''And he said to his disciples'' starts the passage, as in D it^a.aur.c

is omitted, as in X Λ* 0141 ''f''¹ 565 it^b vg^ms arm

is omitted.

In , the phrase ''I came forth from the Father'' is omitted, as in D W it^b.d.ff2 ac² cop^pbo

In , the phrase ''just as I am not of the world'' is omitted, as in 𝔓^66* D ''f''¹³ it^b.c.d.e.r1

In , the phrase ''the one betraying him'' is omitted, as in 𝔓^66*vid

In , the verse order is 13, 24, 14–15, 19–23, 16–18

In , the text reads ''from the opening of the tomb'' with א W ''f''¹ 22 565 579 it^d.f.r1 vg^ms cop^bo cop^pbo

contains an interpolation (in bold): ''Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you seeking?'' This reading is supported by A* D 579 1424

contains a singular reading (in bold): ''And after eight days, on the first day of the Sabbath (week?)''

In , the passage concludes with ''yet, they knew not'' as with 𝔓⁶⁶ א L Ψ 33 844 lat

In , it reflects ('upon giving thanks, he gave it to them') as with D it^f.r1 vg^mss

See also

* Aramaic New Testament
* Codex Sinaiticus
* Saint Catherine’s Monastery

References

Further reading

* Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1893)
How the Codex was Found. A Narrative of Two Visits to Sinai from Mrs. Lewis’s Journals. 1892–1893
(Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes).
* Agnes Smith Lewis (1898)
In the Shadow of Sinai. A Story travel and Research from 1895 to 1897
(Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes).
* Sebastian P. Brock (2016), Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, ''Δελτίο βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν'' 31A, pp. 7–18.

External links

{{Commons category
* Agnes Smith Lewi
''Catalogue of the Syriac mss. in the Convent of S. Catharine on Mount Sinai''
(1894)
* Sebastian P. Brock unde
Sinai Palimpsest Project
* A translation of the four Gospels, from the Syriac of the Sinaitic palimpsest (1894)
* A translation of the four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic palimpsest (1896)

4th-century biblical manuscripts
Syriac manuscripts
Saint Catherine's Monastery