Patrictic Writings
I need all the Greek ANF texts I can get my hands on. If you know of any text that I do not have, please send me an e-mail with the text or a link to its location.
General Issues
The apparatus is not in a very machine-readable format. It will take a while to parse and re-package in a way that makes sense. Sigh...
Good news
Interlinear manuscript view is now working. A la Swanson! :) Except, the apparatus needs to be better parsed.
I want...
A good Koine treebank would be nice to have. Does one exist? I sincerely doubt it. I will need to make my own training set, that could take a while.
Kephalaia, Titloi and Eusebian Canon
with supplementary data from minuscule 669
On these pages we will examine the use of Κεφαλαια and Τιτλοι as well as the Eusebian Canon. We will also be looking at scribal errors and corrections. For the purpose of illustration we will be seeing examples from A (02) Alexandrinus and minuscule 669. The examination will progress step by step with clear examples along the way.
We shall be using the Gospel of Mark as our example with a look at other gospels as necessary.
Κεφαλαια and Τιτλοι from Codex Alexandrinus and minuscule 669
On this page we will examine the use of Κεφαλαια and Τιτλοι as well as the Eusebian Canon. For the purpose of illustration we will be seeing examples from A (02) Alexandrinus and minuscule 669. The examination will progress step by step with clear examples along the way. The use of Κεφαλαια and Τιτλοι supposedly dates back to Tatian but the fact that the first time we see them is in Codex A in the fifth century this is unlikely. It should also be noted that Sinaiticus and Vaticanus do not use this system.
We shall be using the Gospel of Mark as our example. We will start with the Κεφαλαια and Τιτλοι page immediately preceeding the Gospel of Mark.
Below we see the page immediately preceeding the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. The top left column shows the ending of the Gospel of Matthew. This is followed by some decorative markings, the words ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝΚΑΤΑΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ another decorative marking, the words ΤΟΥΚΑΤΑΜΑΡΚΟΝΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΥΑΙΠΕΡΙΟΧΑΙ and then the list of κεφαλαια and τιτλοι.
The κεφαλαια are the list of numbers preceeding each of the τιτλοι. They are in standard Greek numerals. Do not get tripped up by the use of the digamma. A good overview of Greek numerals can be found here. The last entry is marked with μη which corresponds to the number forty-eight.
For our example, we will be taking a look at the fourth entry named ΠΕΡΙΤΟΥΛΕΠΡΟΥ and marked with a delta, i.e. the number four.
Here we have a close-up of that particular section. Notice that the third entry runs out of space. It uses a small horizontal line over the last letter (omega), which indicates a letter Ν and continues on the next line. This means that the fourth entry actually starts on the fifth line. Also, notice that almost all the τιτλοι start with the word ΠΕΡΙ. Since they didn't use page numbers it will take a little more effort to find the entry than we are used to. In this case we need to scan through the codex and look for our τιτλος along the tops of the pages. In the case of Codex A many have, unfortunately, been damaged. We can find our entry, though.
Here is what it looks like. This indicates that we are on the correct page. Now we need to scan down and find the specific marker. We may have more than one marker per page, so it might be necessary to inspect several places before we find the one we are interested in.
And this is what it looks like. It is the one that looks like a "7" with an underscore. Some think it looks like the letter "Z" in other places. This mark will look different from manuscript to manuscript. This is the mark from Codex A. Later we will see a mark from minuscule 669. Notice that the section we are looking for does not start at the beginning of the line. In this case our scribe has indicated where we are to start by inscribing a small horizontal line over the first letter of the first word. If you look to the right of the mark you will see a the line of the word ΚΑΙ just after the space.
This is a similar example from minuscule 669 from the 10th century. In this case I don't have a photograph of the fourth entry, just the last two. The fourth would look the same as these, so they can serve as an example. Notice that it has the same number of entries as Codex A.
Here is the corresponding τιτλος for our leper entry. Notice that it is marked with the number delta. Again, seeing this entry means that we are on the correct page. Now, we will look for the mark.
It's big and red, hard to miss. Notice that there are no Eusebian Canon (more later). Also notice that the scribe did not indicate where on the line we should start. There is, however, a convenient space which is plenty of indication.
The Eusebian Canon in Codex A
Next we will look at the Eusebian Canon and how it is used. It is essentially a cross-reference system allowing the reader to find parallel sections in the other gospels. Eusebius had a copy of a gospel harmony showing the parallels written by Ammonius the Alexandrian and was quite displeased with the resulting mess. Eusebius then designed a new system which is the Eusebian Canon which can still be seen in NA27. The system is based on ten tables. Next to a section of a gospel is written two numbers. Look at the picture below and notice the two entries in the left margin. Those are two separate Eusebian Canon references.
We shall use the top of the two entries shown above. It shows the particular entry on top (iota or 10) and the table to consult (beta or 2.) So we consult table number two (see below for a link to the Eusebian Canon tables) and look for the number ten. We find it in the second entry and can see that the corresponding entries are 21 in Matthew and 32 in Luke. In order to find the actual entry one would then scan, for example, Matthew and look for the Eusebian Canon entry in the margin that reads κα written above the letter β. κα is the number 21 which we got from the table and β is the table. The system is not perfect but it does work and can still be used when looking at old manuscripts.
Here is what we see when we look up our entry in Luke. Remember, we are looking for number 32 from table 2, which means we are looking for λβ over a β. Unfortunately, Luke has gotten a little torn right there but we can still make it out.
For the actual tables, go here.
For further information on the Eusebian Canon, see here.
Scribal errors and corrections in Codex A
The purpose of this page is to take a look at some of the scribal errors in Codex A and how they have been corrected. This is not a comprehensive list, it should merely serve to illustrate examples. It will mostly feature errors from the Gospel of Mark.
The first example is from Mark 1:16, a portion of which I have reproduced below. In line three we find the following: ΑΜΦΙΒΑΛΛΟΝΤΑΣΑΜΦΙΒΛΗΣΤΡΟΝ (αμφιβαλλοντας αμφιβληστρον) The scribe had originally written ΑΜΦΙΒΑΛΛΟΝΤΕΣ but the corrector changed the last Ε to Α.
Our next example is a clear correction. It is from Mark 2:5. In the third line below we see that the original scribe had written ΑΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑΙ. The corrector then came in and crossed out the offending ΥΡ. Unfortunately, he seems to have gotten a bit carried away as he also crossed out the tau which definitely needs to be left. Giving the corrector the benefit of the doubt, working in a world without coffee, the correction leaves only the correct ΑΜΑΡΤΙΑΙ.
This next example is from Mark 5:13. In this case the original read τα πνευματα εισελθον. Luckily for the corrector the scribe had a line break just at the right spot enabling the corrector to insert the words τα ακαθαρτα in the margin making the passage read ΤΑΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΑΤΑΑΚΑΘΑΡΤΑΕΙΣΕΛΘΟΝ. Not pretty but it works.
Acknowledgements
Page created by Julian Jensen. Any suggestions, comments and corrections are greatly appreciated. Thanks must go to Stephen C. Carlson, Phlox Pyros, Roger Pearse and Buster Daily.
It is with their help that I learned much of the above. Also thanks must go to Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts and Daniel B. Wallace for their
kind permission to use the images on this page.