Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus
Encyclopedia
Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus, designated by N or 022 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 19 (Soden), is a 6th century Greek
New Testament codex
gospel book
. Written in majuscules (capital letters), on 231 parchment leaves, measuring 32 x 27 cm. Paleographically
it has been assigned to the 6th century.
Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus, along with the manuscripts Φ
, O
, and Σ
, belongs to the group of the Purple Uncials
. The manuscript is very lacunose
.
s with a large number of lacunae
. The manuscript
text is in two columns, 16 lines, 12 letters in line, in large uncial letters. The lettering is in silver ink on vellum dyed purple
, with gold ink for nomina sacra
(ΙΣ, ΘΣ, ΚΣ, ΥΣ, and ΣΩΤΗΡ). It has errors of iotacism
s, as the change of ι and ει, αι and ε.
It can be calculated that the original codex contained 462 leaves.
Before each Gospels, the tables of κεφαλαια (tables of contents) were placed. The text is divided according to the κεφαλαια (chapters), whose numbers are given at the margin. At the top of the pages τίτλοι (titles of chapters) are preserved. The Ammonian sections and the Eusebian Canons are presented in the margin.
1:1-24, 2:7-20, 3:4-6:24, 7:15-8:1, 8:24-31, 10:28-11:3, 12:40-13:4, 13:33-41, 14:6-22, 15:14-31, 16:7-18:5, 18:26-19:6, 19:13-20:6, 21:19-26:57, 26:65-27:26, 26:34-end;
Gospel of Mark
1:1-5:20. 7:4-20, 8:32-9:1, 10:43-11:7, 12:19-24:25, 15:23-33, 15:42-16:20;
Gospel of Luke
1:1-2:23, 4:3-19, 4:26-35, 4:42-5:12, 5:33-9:7, 9:21-28, 9:36-58, 10:4-12, 10:35-11:14, 11:23-12:12, 12:21-29, 18:32-19:17, 20:30-21:22, 22:49-57, 23:41-24:13, 24:21-39, 24:49-end;
Gospel of John
1:1-21, 1:39-2:6, 3:30-4:5, 5:3-10, 5:19-26, 6:49-57, 9:33-14:2, 14:11-15:14, 15:22-16:15, 20:23-25, 20:28-30, 21:20-end.
, with numerous pre-Byzantine readings. According to Scrivener "it exhibits strong Alexandrian forms."
According to Streeter
in some parts it has the Caesarean redings
. Aland
placed it in Category V
, and it is certain that it is more Byzantine than anything else.
The texts of Luke 22:43-44
, and John 7:53–8:11 are omitted.
In John 1:27 it has additional reading εκεινος υμας Βαπτιζει εν πνευματι αγιω και πυρι.
It is understood that the manuscript originated in the imperial scriptorium of Constantinople
and was dismembered by crusader
s in the 12th century. In 1896 Nicholas II of Russia
commissioned Fyodor Uspensky
's Russian Archaeological Institute of Constantinople to buy the greater part of it for the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg.
The codex was examined by Lambeck
, Montfaucon
, Hermann Treschow, Alter
, Hartel, Wickholf, Bianchini
, and Duchesne
.
Wettstein
in 1715 examined 4 leaves housed at London (Cotton Titus C. XV) and marked them by I. Wettstein cited only 5 of its readings. According to Scrivener it has 57 various readings.
Bianchini described portions housed at the Vatican Library. The same portions examined and collated for Scholz Gaetano Luigi Marini.
Vienna fragments, Codex Vindobonensis, were examined by Wettstein, who marked them by siglum N. Treschow in 1773 and Alter in 1787 had given imperfect collations of Vienna fragments. Peter Lambeck
gave the wrong suggestion that Vienna fragments and Vienna Genesis
originally belonged to the same codex.
Tischendorf published fragments of this manuscript in 1846 in his Monumenta sacra et profana. Tischendorf considered it as a fragment of the same codex as 6 leaves from Vatican, and 2 leaves from Vienna.
Louis Duchesne
described the Patmos portions (1876). Athens and New York portions were edited by Stanley Rypins in 1956.
A facsimile of all fragments was published 2002 in Athens
.
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
New Testament codex
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
gospel book
Gospel Book
The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
. Written in majuscules (capital letters), on 231 parchment leaves, measuring 32 x 27 cm. Paleographically
Palaeography
Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...
it has been assigned to the 6th century.
Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus, along with the manuscripts Φ
Codex Beratinus
Codex Purpureus Beratinus designated by Φ or 043 , ε 17 , is an uncial illuminated manuscript Gospel book written in Greek. Dated palaeographically to the 6th century, the manuscript is written in an uncial hand on purple vellum with silver ink. The codex is preserved at the Albanian National...
, O
Sinope Gospels
The Sinope Gospels, designated by O or 023 , ε 21 , also known as the Codex Sinopensis, is a fragment of a 6th century illuminated Greek Gospel Book. Along with the Rossano Gospels, the Sinope Gospels has been dated, on the basis of the style of the miniatures, to the mid-6th century...
, and Σ
Rossano Gospels
The Rossano Gospels, designated by 042 or Σ , ε 18 , at the Cathedral of Rossano in Italy, is a 6th century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book written following the reconquest of the Italian peninsula by the Byzantine Empire...
, belongs to the group of the Purple Uncials
Purple parchment
Purple parchment or Codex Purpureus refers to manuscripts written on parchment dyed purple, originally restricted for the use of Roman or Byzantine Emperors. The lettering may be in gold or silver. Later the practice was revived for some especially grand illuminated manuscripts produced for the...
. The manuscript is very lacunose
Lacuna (manuscripts)
A lacunaPlural lacunae. From Latin lacūna , diminutive form of lacus . is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a musical work...
.
Description
It contains text of the four GospelGospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s with a large number of lacunae
Lacuna (manuscripts)
A lacunaPlural lacunae. From Latin lacūna , diminutive form of lacus . is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a musical work...
. The manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
text is in two columns, 16 lines, 12 letters in line, in large uncial letters. The lettering is in silver ink on vellum dyed purple
Purple parchment
Purple parchment or Codex Purpureus refers to manuscripts written on parchment dyed purple, originally restricted for the use of Roman or Byzantine Emperors. The lettering may be in gold or silver. Later the practice was revived for some especially grand illuminated manuscripts produced for the...
, with gold ink for nomina sacra
Nomina sacra
Nomina sacra means "sacred names" in Latin, and can be used to refer to traditions of abbreviated writing of several frequently occurring divine names or titles in early Greek language Holy Scripture...
(ΙΣ, ΘΣ, ΚΣ, ΥΣ, and ΣΩΤΗΡ). It has errors of iotacism
Iotacism
Iotacism is the process by which a number of vowels and diphthongs in Ancient Greek converged in pronunciation so that they all sound like iota in Modern Greek....
s, as the change of ι and ει, αι and ε.
It can be calculated that the original codex contained 462 leaves.
Before each Gospels, the tables of κεφαλαια (tables of contents) were placed. The text is divided according to the κεφαλαια (chapters), whose numbers are given at the margin. At the top of the pages τίτλοι (titles of chapters) are preserved. The Ammonian sections and the Eusebian Canons are presented in the margin.
Lacunae
Gospel of MatthewGospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
1:1-24, 2:7-20, 3:4-6:24, 7:15-8:1, 8:24-31, 10:28-11:3, 12:40-13:4, 13:33-41, 14:6-22, 15:14-31, 16:7-18:5, 18:26-19:6, 19:13-20:6, 21:19-26:57, 26:65-27:26, 26:34-end;
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
1:1-5:20. 7:4-20, 8:32-9:1, 10:43-11:7, 12:19-24:25, 15:23-33, 15:42-16:20;
Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
1:1-2:23, 4:3-19, 4:26-35, 4:42-5:12, 5:33-9:7, 9:21-28, 9:36-58, 10:4-12, 10:35-11:14, 11:23-12:12, 12:21-29, 18:32-19:17, 20:30-21:22, 22:49-57, 23:41-24:13, 24:21-39, 24:49-end;
Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
1:1-21, 1:39-2:6, 3:30-4:5, 5:3-10, 5:19-26, 6:49-57, 9:33-14:2, 14:11-15:14, 15:22-16:15, 20:23-25, 20:28-30, 21:20-end.
Text
The text of the codex is a representative of the Byzantine text-typeByzantine text-type
The Byzantine text-type is one of several text-types used in textual criticism to describe the textual character of Greek New Testament manuscripts. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts, though not in the oldest...
, with numerous pre-Byzantine readings. According to Scrivener "it exhibits strong Alexandrian forms."
According to Streeter
Burnett Hillman Streeter
Burnett Hillman Streeter was a British biblical scholar and textual critic.-Life:He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford. Streeter was ordained in 1899 and was a member of the Archbishop’s Commission on Doctrine in the Church of England...
in some parts it has the Caesarean redings
Caesarean text-type
Caesarean text-type is the term proposed by certain scholars to denote a consistent pattern of variant readings that is claimed to be apparent in certain Greek manuscripts of the four Gospels, but which is not found in any of the other commonly recognized New Testament text-types; the Byzantine...
. Aland
Kurt Aland
Kurt Aland was a German Theologian and Professor of New Testament Research and Church History. He founded the Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung in Münster and served as its first director for many years...
placed it in Category V
Categories of New Testament manuscripts
New Testament manuscripts in Greek are categorized into five groups, according to a scheme introduced in 1981 by Kurt and Barbara Aland in Der Text des Neuen Testaments. The categories are based on how each manuscript relates to the various text-types. Generally speaking, earlier Alexandrian...
, and it is certain that it is more Byzantine than anything else.
The texts of Luke 22:43-44
Christ's agony at Gethsemane
Christ's agony at Gethsemane is a passage in the Gospel of Luke , describing a prayer of Jesus, after which he receives strength from an angel, on the Mount of Olives prior to his betrayal and arrest...
, and John 7:53–8:11 are omitted.
In John 1:27 it has additional reading εκεινος υμας Βαπτιζει εν πνευματι αγιω και πυρι.
History
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
and was dismembered by crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s in the 12th century. In 1896 Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
commissioned Fyodor Uspensky
Fyodor Uspensky
Fyodor Ivanovich Uspensky or Uspenskij was the preeminent Russian Byzantinist in the first third of the 20th century. His works are considered to be among the finest illustrations of the flowering of Byzantine studies in Tsarist Russia....
's Russian Archaeological Institute of Constantinople to buy the greater part of it for the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg.
The codex was examined by Lambeck
Peter Lambeck
Peter Lambeck was a German historian and librarian. He was born in Hamburg on April 13, 1628.In 1644 he entered in the gymnasium where he came under the influence of his mother's brother, Lucas Holstenius, the most distinguished philologian, antiquarian, and critic of his time...
, Montfaucon
Bernard de Montfaucon
Bernard de Montfaucon was a French Benedictine monk, a scholar who founded a new discipline, palaeography; an editor of works of the Fathers of the Church; he is also regarded to be one of the founders of modern archaeology.-Early life:Montfaucon was born January 13, 1655 in the castle of...
, Hermann Treschow, Alter
Francis Karl Alter
Francis Karl Alter , a Jesuit, born in Silesia, and professor of Greek at Vienna, was an editor of the Greek text of the New Testament. His edition was different from those of Mill, Wettstein, and Griesbach, because he used only the manuscripts housed at the Imperial Library at Vienna...
, Hartel, Wickholf, Bianchini
Giuseppe Bianchini
Giuseppe Bianchini was an Italian Oratorian, biblical, historical, and liturgical scholar. Clement XII and Benedict XIV, who highly appreciated his learning, entrusted him with several scientific labors...
, and Duchesne
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
.
Wettstein
Johann Jakob Wettstein
Johann Jakob Wettstein was a Swiss theologian, best known as a New Testament critic.-Youth and study:...
in 1715 examined 4 leaves housed at London (Cotton Titus C. XV) and marked them by I. Wettstein cited only 5 of its readings. According to Scrivener it has 57 various readings.
Bianchini described portions housed at the Vatican Library. The same portions examined and collated for Scholz Gaetano Luigi Marini.
Vienna fragments, Codex Vindobonensis, were examined by Wettstein, who marked them by siglum N. Treschow in 1773 and Alter in 1787 had given imperfect collations of Vienna fragments. Peter Lambeck
Peter Lambeck
Peter Lambeck was a German historian and librarian. He was born in Hamburg on April 13, 1628.In 1644 he entered in the gymnasium where he came under the influence of his mother's brother, Lucas Holstenius, the most distinguished philologian, antiquarian, and critic of his time...
gave the wrong suggestion that Vienna fragments and Vienna Genesis
Vienna Genesis
The Vienna Genesis , designated by siglum L , is an illuminated manuscript, probably produced in Syria in the first half of the 6th Century. It is the oldest well-preserved, surviving, illustrated biblical codex.- Description :The text is a fragment of the Book of Genesis in the Greek Septuagint...
originally belonged to the same codex.
Tischendorf published fragments of this manuscript in 1846 in his Monumenta sacra et profana. Tischendorf considered it as a fragment of the same codex as 6 leaves from Vatican, and 2 leaves from Vienna.
Louis Duchesne
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
described the Patmos portions (1876). Athens and New York portions were edited by Stanley Rypins in 1956.
A facsimile of all fragments was published 2002 in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
Present location
The 231 extant folios of the manuscript are kept in different libraries:- 182 leaves in the National Library of Russia in Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, - 33 leaves in the Library of the Monastery of Saint John the TheologianMonastery of Saint John the TheologianThe Monastery of Saint John the Theologian is a Greek Orthodox monastery founded in 1088 in Chora on the island of Patmos. UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage site. It is built on a spot venerated by both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox as the cave where St...
on the Island of PatmosPatmosPatmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Mark 6:53-7:4; 7:20-8:32; 9:1-10:43; 11:7-12:19; 14:25-15:23; - 6 leaves in the Vatican LibraryVatican LibraryThe Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Matthew 19:6-13; 20:6-22; 20:29-21:19 - 4 leaves in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, British Library, Cotton Titus C. XV; Matthew 26:57-65; 27:26-34; John 14:2-10; 15:15-22; they were named the Codex Cottonianus; - 2 leaves in the National Library of Austria in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, - 1 leaf in the Morgan Library in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, - 1 leaf in the Byzantine Museum in AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, - 1 leaf in the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki
- 1 leaf in the private collection of Marquis А. Spinola in LermaLermaLerma is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 90 km southeast of Turin and about 30 km south of Alessandria....
(1), Italy.
See also
- List of New Testament uncials
- Textual criticismTextual criticismTextual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
- Purple parchmentPurple parchmentPurple parchment or Codex Purpureus refers to manuscripts written on parchment dyed purple, originally restricted for the use of Roman or Byzantine Emperors. The lettering may be in gold or silver. Later the practice was revived for some especially grand illuminated manuscripts produced for the...
- Uncial 087Uncial 087Uncial 087 , ε 27 ; is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated paleographically to the 6th century. Formerly it was labelled by Θc.- Description :...
Further reading
- Constantin von TischendorfConstantin von TischendorfLobegott Friedrich Constantin Tischendorf was a noted German Biblical scholar. He deciphered the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, a 5th century Greek manuscript of the New Testament, in the 1840s, and rediscovered the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th century New Testament manuscript, in 1859.Tischendorf...
, „Monumenta sacra inedita“ (Leipzig, 1846), pp. 15–24. - S. P. TregellesSamuel Prideaux TregellesSamuel Prideaux Tregelles was an English biblical scholar, textual critic, and theologian.- Life :Tregelles was born at Wodehouse Place, Falmouth, of Quaker parents, but he himself for many years was in communion with the Plymouth Brethren and then later in life became a Presbyterian...
, "An Introduction to the Critical study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures", London 1856, pp. 177–178. - F. H. A. Scrivener, A Full and Exact Collation of About 20 Greek Manuscripts of the Holy Gospels (Cambridge and London, 1852), p. XL. (as j)
- Louis DuchesneLouis DuchesneLouis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
, Archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires (Parigi, 1876), vol. 3, pp. 386–419. - H. S. Cronin, "Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus. The text of Codex N of the gospels edited with an introduction and an appendix", T & S, vol. 5, no. 4 (Cambridge, 1899).
- C. R. GregoryCaspar René GregoryCaspar René Gregory was a American-born German theologian theologian.-Life:Gregory was born in Philadelphia. He studied theology at two Presbyterian seminaries: in 1865-67 at the University of Pennsylvania and at Princeton Theological Seminary...
, "Textkritik des Neuen Testaments", Leipzig 1900, vol. 1, pp. 56–59. - S. Rypins, Two Inedited Leaves of Codex N, JBL Vol. 75, No. 1 (Mar. 1956), pp. 27–39.
External links
- Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus N (022) at the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism
- Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus at the National Library of Russia, 2007