Minuscule 28 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε 168 (in the Soden of New Testament manuscripts),[1] formerly known as Colbertinus 4705, 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 11th-century.[2][3] It contains marginal notes (marginalia), and has several gaps.

Minuscule 28
New Testament manuscript
TextGospels
Date11th-century
ScriptGreek
Now atNational Library of France
Size23.1 cm by 18.7 cm
TypeCaesarean text-type, Byzantine text-type
CategoryIII / V
Handcarelessly written
Notemarginalia

Description edit

The codex contains the text of the four Gospels on 292 parchment leaves (23.1 cm by 18.7 cm), with numerous gaps. The text is written in one column per page, 19 lines per page.[4] The words are written continuously without any separation. Biblical scholar Frederick H. A. Scrivener describes the letters as "written carelessly by an ignorant scribe... but has many unique readings and interpolations",[5] a sentiment echoed by biblical scholar F. G. Kenyon: "[Min. 28 is] carelessly written, but containing many noticeable readings".[6] The initial letters are written in red ink.[4]

The text is divided according to chapters (known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia), whose numbers are given at the margin, and the titles (known as τιτλοι / titloi) written at the top of the pages. There is also a division according to the Ammonian Sections (in Mark 234, the last section in 16:9), with references to the Eusebian Canons added by later hand (these were an early system of dividing the four Gospels into different sections).[4] It contains the tables of the κεφαλαια / tables of contents before each Gospel (however these are inaccurate), and subscriptions at the end of each Gospel. It also contains the Synaxarion (an index to the weekly lessons to be read out in a church).[4] The manuscript was extensively altered by a later hand.[5]

A collation of the manuscript was published by biblical scholars Kirsopp Lake and Silva Lake.[7]

Gaps in the manuscript

Matthew 7:19-9:22, 14:33-16:10, 26:70-27:48, Luke 20:19-22:46, John 12:40-13:1; 15:24-16:12, 18:16-28, 20:19-21:4, 21:19-end). John 19:11-20:20, 21:5-18 were added by a later hand in the 15th century.[4]

Text edit

 
Beginning of Mark's Gospel in Minuscule 28

The Greek text of this codex is considered a representative of the Caesarean text-type in the Gospel of Mark, and the Byzantine text-type in rest of the Gospels. 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.[8]: 205–230  Textual critic Kurt Aland placed it in Category III of his New Testament manuscript text classification system, but only in Gospel of Mark, and in the rest of the Gospels placed it in Category V.[9]: 129  Category III manuscripts are described as having "a small but not a negligible proportion of early readings, with a considerable encroachment of [Byzantine] readings, and significant readings from other sources as yet unidentified",[9]: 335  and Category V manuscripts are "Manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text."[9]: 336  The manuscript is described as containing "many noteworthy readings, especially in Mark[.]"[8]: 87 

According to the Claremont Profile Method (a specific analysis method of textual data), it represents the textual family Kx in Luke 10 and Luke 20. In Luke 1 it has mixture of the Byzantine families.[10]

It contains the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53–8:11).

Some Notable readings

Matthew 10:34

μάχην καὶ μάχαιραν (warfare and a sword) : 28
μάχαιραν (a sword) : Majority of manuscripts[11]: 26 

Mark 1:1

Ἰησοῦ (Jesus) : 28*
Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ (Jesus Christ) : 28c א* Θ 2211 sams
Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ θεοῦ (Jesus Christ, Son of God) : אc1 B D L W Γ sy co
Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ, υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (Jesus Christ, Son of [the] God) : Majority of manuscripts[12]

Mark 9:49

πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται (for all shall be salted by fire) : 28 א (εν πυρι) B L W Δ ƒ1 ƒ13 565 700 260 sys sa
πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται, καὶ πᾶσα θυσία ἁλὶ ἁλισθήσεται. (for all shall be salted by fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt) : Majority of manuscripts[13]: 162 

Mark 10:19

μη αποστερησης (do not defraud)
omit. : 28 B* K W Δ Ψ ƒ1 ƒ13 579 700 10 950 1642 1761 al sys arm geo
incl. : Bc2 Majority of manuscripts[13]: 165 

Mark 10:47

Ναζωρηνός (Nazorine) : 28 D l* qc
Ναζαρηνός (Nazarene) : Majority of manuscripts[13]: 169 

History edit

The manuscript is dated by the INTF to the 11th-century.[3]

It was added to the list of the New Testament manuscripts by biblical scholar Johann Jakob Wettstein, who gave it the number 28.[9]: 72  It was examined and described by biblical scholar and theologian John Mill, Wettstein, biblical scholar Johann M. A. Scholz, and Paulin Martin.[14] C. R. Gregory saw the manuscript in 1885.[4]

It is currently housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gr. 379) at Paris.[2][3]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 49.
  2. ^ a b Kurt Aland; M. Welte; B. Köster; K. Junack (1994). Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 48.
  3. ^ a b c "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes. Vol. 1. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs. p. 135.
  5. ^ a b Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. Vol. 1 (4 ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 194.
  6. ^ F. G. Kenyon, Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, London2, 1912, p. 132.
  7. ^ Lake, Kirsopp; Lake, Silva (1941). Family 13 (The Ferrar Group): The Text According to Mark with a Collation of Codex 28 of the Gospels. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 117–154.
  8. ^ a b Metzger, Bruce Manning; Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516667-1.
  9. ^ a b c d 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. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce M.; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1981). Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (26 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung. ISBN 3-438-051001. (NA26)
  12. ^ ECM online
  13. ^ a b c Aland, Kurt; Black, Matthew; Martini, Carlo Maria; Metzger, Bruce Manning; Wikgren, Allen, eds. (1983). The Greek New Testament (3rd ed.). Stuttgart: United Bible Societies. ISBN 9783438051103. (UBS3)
  14. ^ Jean-Pierre-Paul Martin, Description technique des manuscrits grecs, relatif au Nouveau Testament, conservé dans les bibliothèques des Paris (Paris 1883), p. 40-41

Further reading edit

External links edit