Vindobonensis Suppl. Gr. 52, also known as Minuscule 3 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), or δ 253 (in von Soden's numbering of New Testament manuscripts),[1] is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on vellum. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 12th century.[2][3] It was one of the manuscripts used by biblical scholar Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus in his edition of the Greek text of the New Testament.

Minuscule 3
New Testament manuscript
Beginning of the Gospel of Mark in Minuscule 3
Beginning of the Gospel of Mark in Minuscule 3
NameCodex Vindobonensis Suppl. Gr. 52, or Codex Corsendocensis
TextNew Testament (except Rev)
Date12th century
ScriptGreek
Now atAustrian National Library
Size24.5 cm by 17.5 cm
TypeByzantine text-type
CategoryV
Notemarginalia

It was formerly known (and is perhaps better known) as Codex Corsendocensis, because it was previously kept (and possibly written) at the Augustinian monastery at Corsendonck, near Turnhout, Belgium, midway between Antwerp and Eindhoven.

Description edit

The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book), containing the entirety of the New Testament except the Book of Revelation. The order is as follows: Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, General epistles, and Pauline epistles. The manuscript is made of 451 parchment leaves, sized 24.5 cm by 17.5 cm. The text is written in one column per page, 24 lines per page (16.3 cm by 10.2 cm),[2] in black ink. It uses iota adscript (the addition of the smallest Greek letter at the end of certain words to indicate a diphthong which is now no longer pronounced).[4]

The text is divided according to the chapters (known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia), whose numbers are given in the margin, with the titles of chapters (τιτλοι / titloi) at the top of the pages. The text of the Gospels has also another division according to the smaller Ammonian Sections (an early division of the Gospels into sections). The codex has 234 sections in Mark, ending at 16:19. There are also references to the Eusebian Canons (another early division of the Gospels into sections, and where they overlap).[4]

It contains the Letter to Carpian, Eusebian Canon tables, tables of contents (also known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia) before each book, Prolegomena, pictures (in John with Prochorus), and the Euthalian Apparatus to the Acts and General epistles (an early division of the rest of the books, similar to the Ammonian Sections).[5] Subscriptions at the end of each book were added by a later hand.[4]

Text edit

The Greek text of the codex is considered a representative of the Byzantine text-type, with the exception of the Catholic epistles (James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude). The text-types are groups of different New Testament manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups. These are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine.[6] Biblical scholar Hermann von Soden classified it to the textual family Family Kx.[7] Biblical scholar Kurt Aland placed it in Category V of his New Testament manuscript text classification system.[8]: 138   Category V is for "Manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text."[8]: 336 

According to the Claremont Profile Method (a specific analysis method of textual data), it represents Kx in Luke 1 and Luke 20. In Luke 10 no Profile was made.[7]

The text of the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53–8:11) is omitted without any mark.[4]

History edit

The historian Radulph or Roland de Rivo presented this manuscript to the monastery of the Virgin Mary in the village Corsendonck near Turnhout. Later it belonged to the monastery of Dominican Order in Basel.[9]

It was used by Erasmus in his second edition of Novum Testamentum in 1519.[4] It had been collated by J. Walker for biblical scholar Richard Bentley. This collation was never published.[5] It was also collated by biblical scholar Johann Jakob Wettstein. Wettstein charges it with being altered from the Latin.

The manuscript was also examined by Herman Gerhard Treschow,[10] biblical scholar Francis Karl Alter and biblical scholar John Wordsworth.[11] The manuscript has not been cited in the Nestle-Aland editions of Novum Testamentum Graece.

Alter used it in his edition of the Greek text of the New Testament.[11]

The codex is located now at the Austrian National Library (Cod. Suppl. Gr. 52) at Vienna.[2][3]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 48.
  2. ^ a b c Aland, Kurt; M. Welte; B. Köster; K. Junack (1994). Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments (2 ed.). Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 47. ISBN 3-11-011986-2.
  3. ^ a b "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 2013-05-01.
  4. ^ a b c d e Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments. Vol. 1. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs. p. 128.
  5. ^ a b Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. Vol. 1 (4th ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 191.
  6. ^ Metzger, Bruce Manning; Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 205–230. ISBN 0-19-516667-1.
  7. ^ a b Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for the Classification and Evaluation of Manuscript Evidence, as Applied to the Continuous Greek Text of the Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 53. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4.
  8. ^ a b Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
  9. ^ Thomas Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study of the New Testament, p. 238
  10. ^ H. G. Treschow, Testament Descriptionis codicum veterum aliquot Graecorum Novi Foederis manuscriptorum (Copenhagen, 1773), pp. 85-88
  11. ^ a b F. C. Alter, Novum Testamentum Graecum, ad Codicem Vindobonensem Graece expressum: Varietam Lectionis addidit Franciscus Carolus Alter, 2 vols. 8vo, Vienna, 1786-1787.

Further reading edit

External links edit