A Study of the Gospels in Codex Alexandrinus: Codicology, Palaeography, and Scribal Hands

395 Pages·2014·5.392 MB·English

by  W. Andrew Smith

A Study of the Gospels in Codex Alexandrinus
New Testament Tools,
Studies and Documents
Editors
Bart D. Ehrman, Ph.D. ( James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious
Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Eldon J. Epp, Ph.D. (Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature Emeritus and Dean
of Humanities and Social Sciences Emeritus, Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, Ohio)

VOLUME 48
New Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents (NTTSD) combines two series, New Testament
Tools and Studies (NTTS) and Studies and Documents (SD). The former was founded by Bruce
M. Metzger in 1965 and edited by him until 1993, when Bart D. Ehrman joined him as co-editor.
The latter series was founded by Kirsopp and Silva Lake in 1935, edited by them until the death
of Kirsopp Lake in 1946, then briefly by Silva Lake and Carsten Høeg (1955), followed by Jacob
Geerlings (until 1969), by Irving Alan Sparks (until 1993), and finally by Eldon Jay Epp (until 2007).
The new series will promote the publication of primary sources, reference tools, and critical
studies that advance the understanding of the New Testament and other early Christian writings
and writers into the fourth century. Emphases of the two predecessor series will be retained,
including the textual history and transmission of the New Testament and related literature,
relevant manuscripts in various languages, methodologies for research in early Christianity. The
series will also publish a broader range of studies pertinent to early Christianity and its writings.
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ntts
A Study of the Gospels in
Codex Alexandrinus
Codicology, Palaeography, and Scribal Hands
By
W. Andrew Smith
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, W. Andrew.
 A study of the Gospels in Codex Alexandrinus : codicology, palaeography, and scribal hands / by
W. Andrew Smith.
  pages cm. — (New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents ; 48)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-26783-1 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-27485-3 (e-book) 1. Bible. Gospels—
Criticism, Textual. 2. Bible. Gospels. Greek—Versions—Codex Alexandrinus (Biblical manuscript) 3. Codex
Alexandrinus (Biblical manuscript) I. Title.
 BS2555.52.S66 2014
 226’.0486—dc23
2014016760
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 0077-8842
isbn 978 90 04 26783 1 (hardback)
isbn 978 90 04 27485 3 (e-book)
Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
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Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
Acknowledgements  vii
Abbreviations  viii
Abstract  x
Introduction  1
Objective  1
Overview of the Following Chapter  3
Manuscript Page Notation  5
A Note on the Manuscript Images  6
1 Codex History  7
Codicology and the History of Codex Alexandrinus  7
1627 to Present  8
Codex History Prior to 1627  12
2 Codicology  35
The Codex  38
Materials  38
Composition and Binding  40
Dimensions and Formatting  48
Contents  60
Ordering of the New Testament Books  70
Numbering  74
Closing Remarks on the Codicology of Alexandrinus  100
3 Palaeography and Paratextual Features of the Gospels  102
The Hands  102
Use of Color  122
Superscriptions, Subscriptions, and Tailpiece Designs  127
Eusebian Apparatus  139
Kephalaia and Titloi  156
Conclusion  179
4 Scribes  182
Overview of the Scribal Hands  182
Unit Delimitation  190
Nomina Sacra  219
vi contents
Other Abbreviations and Ligatures  225
Orthography  225
Conclusions  244
Conclusion  247
Creation of the Codex  247
The Eusebian Apparatus and Use of Numbers  248
Palaeography and Statistical Analysis  249
Updating the Alexandrinus Knowledge Base  250
Final Words  252
Appendix A. Tables of Concordance  255
Appendix B. Orthographic Data  303
Appendix C. Statistical Analysis  327
Appendix D. Eusebian Apparatus Data  333
Appendix E. Unit Delimitation Data  347
Works Cited  368
Index: Name and Subject  379
Manuscript Index  382
Index of Biblical References  383
Acknowledgements
When I was exploring the possibility of pursuing Ph.D. work, I met with Prof. Larry
Hurtado for the first time at the SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego in 2007. It was
apparent from that meeting that I would enjoy working under his direction, and the
experience met my expectation. Prof. Hurtado provided an excellent model for deliv-
ering helpful, critical feedback on research and writing. I have always felt assured that
when my written work has passed his inspection it can be presented with great confi-
dence. Additionally, his congeniality, humor, and encouragement made the disserta-
tion process as painless as such an intense labor can be.
In manuscript studies, one may find oneself wading into deep and uncharted
waters. I would like to thank those who shared their wisdom and experience when the
waters seemed darkest: Prof. Pat Easterling at Cambridge University, for her time and
interest; Dr. Christian Lange at the University of Edinburgh, for his skills in Arabic;
Dr. Paul Parvis at the University of Edinburgh, for his expertise in neo-Latin; and
Dr. Roger Woodard at North Carolina State University and Valerie H. Smith, M.Stat., for
their expertise and guidance in statistical analysis. I am grateful to the scholars and
staff at Tyndale House for a most productive and encouraging summer of research.
Also, for providing access to manuscript information otherwise unavailable, I would
like to thank Dr. Kathleen Doyle and Dr. Philippa Marks at the British Library.
Additionally, I appreciate the accommodation provided by the Special Collections
librarians at the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Finally, for her long-suffering patience, love, and support, I would like to thank my
wife, Valerie. Without her, this Ph.D. work would have been impossible. She went far
beyond the call of spousal love and duty by sharing me with this research, which—
all-consuming as it was—often sat at our dinner table as an uninvited phantom.
Abbreviations
AJP American Journal of Philology
BASP Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists
BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
BNP Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Ed. H. Cancik et al.
Leiden, 2006–2011
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers
ExpTim Expository Times
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JGRChJ Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism
JR Journal of Religion
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
LL Lower left
LM Lower middle
LR Lower right
LSJ Liddell, H. G., R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon. 9th ed. with
revised supplement. Oxford, 1996
LXX Septuagint
MT Masoretic Text
NA27 Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland, 27th ed.
NovT Novum Testamentum
NT New Testament
NTS New Testament Studies
Orig. Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Etymologiarum Sive Originum Libri XX
OT Old Testament
PW2 P auly, A. F. Paulys real-encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft,
Zweite Reihe. Stuttgart, 1914–.
RFNT The Codex Alexandrinus (Royal MS. 1 D v–vii) in Reduced Photographic
Facsimile: New Testament and Clementine Epistles
RFOT The Codex Alexandrinus (Royal MS. 1 D v–vii) in Reduced Photographic
Facsimile: Old Testament
SBL Society of Biblical Literature
SD Standard Deviation
SE Studia evangelica
SPap Studia papyrologica
st. n. stilo novo
abbreviations ix
st. v. stilo vetere
SwJT Southwestern Journal of Theology
UL Upper left corner of a folio
UR Upper right corner of a folio
ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
ZPE Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik