List of New Testament uncials

From Textus Receptus

Codex Sinaiticus, Luke 11:2

John 1:1-7 Codex Alexandrinus

A New Testament uncial is a copy of a portion of the New Testament in Greek or Latin capital (or majuscule) letters, written on parchment or vellum. The style of writing called Biblical Uncial or Biblical Majuscule.

New Testament uncials are distinct from:

• New Testament papyri — written on papyrus and generally more ancient;
• New Testament minuscules — written in minuscule (small, connected) letters and generally more recent; and,
• List of New Testament lectionaries — usually written minuscule (but some in uncial) letters and generally more recent.

Classification of uncials

Wettstein in 1751 knew of only 23 uncial codices of the New Testament, Tischendorf knew — 64 uncials. Gregory in 1909 enumerated 161 uncial codices. Aland, in first edition of his Kurzgefasste Liste (1963), enumerated 250, in 1989 — 299 uncials. Wettstein inaugurated the modern method of classification. He used capital Latin letters to identify the uncials. Codex Alexandrinus received letter A, Codex Vaticanus — B, Codex Ephraemi — C, Codex Bezae — D, etc. The last used by him letter was O. Succeeding generations used this pattern, but newly discovered manuscripts exhausted the Latin alphabet.<ref name = Aland>Kurt Aland, and Barbara Aland, "The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism", transl. Erroll F. Rhodes, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995, p. 72-73, 104, 106. </ref> In result were used letters of Greek alphaber and Hebrew. Tischendorf assigned Codex Sinaiticus by symbol א. Uncial 048 received symbol ב, Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus received symbol ג, Codex Macedoniensis - ו, etc. On account of lack Greek and Hebrew letters Grefory assigned uncials by numerals with an inicial 0 (for distinguishing from symbols of minuscule manuscripts). Codex Sinaiticus received number 01, Alexandrinus — 02, Vaticanus — 03, Ephraemi — 04, etc. The last known for Gregory uncial manuscript received number 0161.<ref>C. R. Gregory, "Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments" (Leipzig 1908). </ref>

Now 318 sigla for uncial codices have been catalogued by the (INTF) in Münster.<ref> Eberhard Nestle, Erwin Nestle, Barbara Aland and Kurt Aland (eds), Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th edition, (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2001).</ref>

The number 318 does not provide a precise count of NT Greek uncials. Uncial 0168 has been lost. There is no fewer than thirty manuscripts are associated with a smaller set of designations: 074, 084, 090, 0110, 0112, 0113, 0117, 0119, 0123, 0124, 0125, 0137, 0138, 0139, 0149, 0179, 0180, 0190, 0191, 0193, 0194, 0195, 0202, 0215, 0224, 0235, 0285, 0293. On the other hand, sometimes one number applies to two separate manuscripts, f.e. uncial 092a and 092b, uncial 0121a and 0121b, uncial 0278a and 0278b. Some other numerical designations should be reallocated to other lists: 055 (commentary), 0100 (lectionary), 0129 (lectionary), 0152 (talisman), 0153 (ostracon), 0192 (lectionary), 0195 (lectionary), 0203 (lectionary). Uncial 0212 from the 3rd or 4th сentury is more properly a witness to the Diatessaron than to the NT itself. So, the number 318 is merely nominal, the actual figure should be somewhat lower.<ref name = Aland/><ref>J. K. Elliott, "The citation of manuscripts In recent printed editions of the Greek New Testament", Novum Testamentum XXV, 2 (1983), pp. 103-104; T. Wassermann, "Some Bibliographic Notes on Greek New Testament Manuscripts", Novum Testamentum 49 (2007), pp. 291-295. </ref> On the other hand minuscule 1143, known as Beratinus 2, in some parts was written in semi-uncial letters.

List of all registered New Testament uncial codices

• The numbers (#) are the now standard system of Caspar René Gregory.
• Dates are estimated to the nearest 50 year increment (except Codex Vaticanus 354 where the scribe gave a date — 949).
• Content generally only describes sections of the New Testament: Gospels (Gosp), The Acts of the Apostles (Acts), Pauline Epistles (Paul), Catholic epistles (CE), and so on. Sometimes the surviving portion of a codex is so limited that specific books, chapters or even verses can be indicated. Linked articles, where they exist, generally specify content in detail, by verse.

Only one uncial, Codex Sinaiticus has a complete text of the New Testament. Codex Alexandrinus has an almost complete text. It contains all books of the New Testament but lacks some leaves of Matthew (25), John (2), and 2 Cor (3). Codex Vaticanus lacks the four last books, and the Epistle to the Hebrews is not complete. Codex Ephremi has 2/3 of the New Testament. Uncials with designations higher than 046 typically have only one or two leaves.

Uncials with sigla

Many uncials (about 45 of 300) are so often cited as important witnesses to the text of the New Testament that they have not only names, but a single letter code called a siglum, for concise reference in textual apparata and in academic writing.

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Other uncials

See also

Other lists of NT manuscripts

• List of New Testament papyri
• List of New Testament minuscules
• List of New Testament lectionaries
• List of New Testament Latin manuscripts
• List of New Testament Church Fathers
• Categories of New Testament manuscripts

Other articles

• List of Egyptian papyri by date
• Novum Testamentum Graece
• Palaeography
• Biblical manuscript
• Textual criticism

Notes and references

Bibliography

• Aland, Kurt and Barbara Aland. "The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism". William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995.
• Aland, Kurt, M. Welte, B. Köster and K. Junack. "Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments". Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1994.
• Gregory, Caspar René, "Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments" (Leipzig 1908).
• Hatch, W.H.P. "The Principal Uncial Manuscripts of The New Testament". University of Chicago Press, 1939.
• Kenyon, Frederic. "Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts". Eyre & Spottiswoode: London, 1895, 1896, 1898, & 1939.
• Krodel, G. "New Manuscripts of the Greek New Testament". JBL" 91/2 (Jun., 1972): 232–238.
• Scrivener, F. H. A. "A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament". Fourth edition. Cambridge 1861, London 1894.
• Soden, Hermann von. "Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments, in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte". Berlin 1902–1910.

External links

Lists of manuscripts

• A Table of Greek Manuscripts
• Greek Codices of the Bible
• Majuscule Edition - Summary of Manuscripts
• New Testament Greek MSS ordered by century (Compiled by Maurice Robinson)
• Greek Manuscript Quick Reference - The Life Foundations Nexus
• "Continuation of the Manuscript List", INTF, University of Münster

Collections

• The Schøyen Collection
• State Museums of Berlin
• Institut für Altertumskunde