Codex Bezae
The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis, designated by siglum Dea or 05, δ 5, is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century written in an uncial hand on vellum. It contains, in both Greek and Latin, most of the four Gospels and Acts, with a small fragment of 3 John. Written one column per page, the codex contains 406 extant parchment leaves measuring 26 x 21.5 cm, with the Greek text on the left face and the Latin text on the right.
A digital facsimile of the codex is available from Cambridge University Library, which holds the manuscript.
Description
The first three lines of each book are in red letters, and black and red ink alternate the title of books. As many as eleven people have corrected the manuscript between the sixth and twelfth centuries. The text is written colometrically and is full of hiatus. The Greek text of the codex has some copying errors, e.g., errors of metathesis: in, ΕΓΕΝΕΤΟ was changed into ΕΝΕΓΕΤΟ; in, ΥΠΕΛΑΒΕΝ into ΥΠΕΒΑΛΕΝ.Some from the nomina sacra are written in an abbreviated form: ΙΗΣ, ΧΡΣ, ΠΑΡ, ΣΤΗ, but not for μητερ, υιος, σωτηρ, ανθρωπος, ουρανος, δαυιδ, Ισραηλ, Ιηρουσαλημ, which are written fully.
History
The place of origin of the codex is still disputed; both Gaul and southern Italy have been suggested.The manuscript is believed to have been repaired at Lyon in the ninth century, as revealed by a distinctive ink used for supplementary pages. It was closely guarded for many centuries in the monastic library of St Irenaeus at Lyon. The manuscript was consulted, perhaps in Italy, for disputed readings at the Council of Trent, and was at about the same time collated for Stephanus's edition of the Greek New Testament. During the upheavals of the Wars of Religion in the 16th century, when textual analysis had a new urgency among the Reformation's Protestants, the manuscript was stolen from the monastic library in Lyon when French Huguenots ransacked the library in 1562. It was delivered to the Protestant scholar Theodore Beza, the friend and successor of Calvin, who gave it in 1581 to the University of Cambridge, in the comparative security of England, which accounts for its double name. It remains in the Cambridge University Library.
John Mill collated and Johann Jakob Wettstein transcribed the text of the codex. Both did their editions of the Greek Testament, but both did their work carelessly. A much better collation was made about 1732 by John Dickinson.
The University of Cambridge in 1787 appointed Dr Thomas Kipling to edit a facsimile edition which appeared in two volumes in 1793.
The English cleric Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener edited the text of the codex in 1864 and in 1899.
The importance of the Codex Bezae is such that a colloquium held at Lunel, Hérault in the south of France in 27–30 June 1994 was entirely devoted to it. Papers discussed the many questions it poses to our understanding of the use of the Gospels and Acts in early Christianity, and of the text of the New Testament.
Codex contents
The manuscript presents the gospels in the Western order Matthew, John, Luke and Mark, of which only Luke is complete; after some missing pages the manuscript picks up with the Third Epistle of John and contains part of Acts.; Lacunae:
; Omitted verses:
; Supplementations :
Text type
The Greek text is unique, with many interpolations found nowhere else, with a few remarkable omissions, and a capricious tendency to rephrase sentences. Aside from this one Greek manuscript it is found in Old Latin versions — as seen in the Latin here — and in Syriac, and Armenian versions. Bezae is the principal Greek representative of the Western text-type. The manuscript demonstrates the latitude in the manuscript tradition that could still be found in the 5th and 6th centuries, the date of this codex.There is no consensus on the many problems the Greek text presents. Since the Latin text occasionally agrees with Codices Bobiensis and Vercellensis against all others, it "preserves an ancient form of the Old Latin", and is a witness to a text which was current no later than 250 CE. Issues of conformity have dogged the usage of the Codex Bezae in biblical scholarship. "In general the Greek text is treated as an unreliable witness," but it is "an important corroborating witness wherever it agrees with other early manuscripts."
Some of the outstanding features: is present and not marked as doubtful or spurious. One of the longer endings of Mark is given. Luke 22:43f and Pericope de adultera are present and not marked as spurious or doubtful. John 5:4 is omitted, and the text of Acts is nearly 8% longer than the generally received text.
Notable readings
Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis contains some extraordinary readings. Below is a comprehensive enumeration of those readings, with text and translation.Gospel of Matthew
reads διὰ Ησαιου τοῦ προφήτου with itmss vgmss syrs,,h,pal copsams arm Diatessaronsyr Irenaeuslatreads ὑπὸ κυριου διὰ Ἰερεμίου with itaur
reads θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολύς with C K L P W 0233 f13 33 892 1071 Byz syrs,c,h Origen
omits text ποταμῷ with Cc K L Π f13 892 Byz lat mae-1
reads καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς περιστερὰν with it vgmss syr
omits text ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος with ita, b, g1
appear in reverse order, as in 17 33 130 lat syrc Clement Origen Eusebius
omits text ψευδόμενοι with itb, c,d,g1h, k syrs Tertullian Augustine
reads ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης with itmss
omits text ὃς δʼ ἂν ποιήσῃ καὶ διδάξῃ, οὗτος μέγας κληθήσεται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν with א* W copboms
is omitted.
is omitted, as in itd vgms syrs copboms
omits text καὶ ὃς ἐὰν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ, μοιχᾶται with ita,b,d,k Origenmss
is omitted, as in ita,k syrs Juvencus Hilary
omits text ἢ κώμην with f1 700 ita,b,d,ff1,h,k syrs
adds text λέγοντες, Εἰρήνη τῷ οἴκῳ τούτῳ with א* L W Θ 0281vid f1 22 346 517 1010 itmss vgcl arm
omits text τῆς οἰκίας ἢ with arm
reads ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνων σταθήσεσθε with 0171 itmss syrs
omits text δοθήσεται γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ τί λαλήσητε with L itmss vgmss Epiphanius
is omitted, as in 19 B* 983 syrh Codex Schøyen and the Hebrew Shem Tov Matthew manuscript.
is omitted.
omits text καὶ χωλοὶ περιπατοῦσιν
adds text Πορεύθητι, καὶ εἰπὲ τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ with itmss mae-1 Eusebius
omits text ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς with itd, syrs,c Codex Schøyen
reads οὗτος ἐστιν Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστής ὃν ἐγὼ ἀπεκεφάλισα with ita,b,ff1,h vgmss
omits text Φιλίππου with itmss vgmss Augustine
omits text ἐπὶ πίνακι
omits text Ἰησοῦς with א* Zvid 579 1424 ite,k syrs,c,p cosa,bo
omits text ὀ Ἰησοῦς with א* and 073 892 itff1 syrc cosa,bo Eusebius
omits text ὁ Ἰησοῦς with Γ syrs,c cosamss
omits text κωφούς
adds text πάντας to read and he healed them all with itmss cosamss,boms
omits text μήποτε ἐκλυθῶσιν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ
omits text καὶ μοιχαλὶς with itmss
reads ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ σῴζοντος against all other mss.
(οὕτως καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μέλλει πάσχειν ὑπʼ αὐτῶνbibleref2|Matthew|17:20|NASBlang\|el|ἀπιστίανlang\|el|ὀλιγοπιστίανbibleref2|Matthew|17:21|NASBbibleref2|Matthew|17:26|NASBlang\|el|ὁ Πέτρος
Gospel of Mark
omits text καὶ ζώνην δερματίνην περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ with ita,b,d,ff2,r1,t vgmsomits text κύψας with Θ f13 28* 565 ℓ844,2211 itmss
it has απεκριτη. The other manuscripts have:
In, D contains a unique verse order of 23, 25, 24, 26.
In it has ὠνείδισάς με, supported by Old Latin itc,, k and by syrh. The ordinary reading here is ἐγκατέλιπές με supported by Alexandrian mss, or με ἐγκατέλιπες supported by Byzantine mss.
Gospel of Luke
In the codex contains unique textual variant ἁπτύξας, corrected by a later hand into ἀναπτύξας. The other manuscripts have in this place:is omitted, as in ita, b, c, d, e, ff2, 1, r1
In Bezae contains an interpolation:
In επειδη επληρωσεν παντα τα ρηματα αυτου εις τας ακοας του λαου εισηλθεν ] και εγενετο οτε ετελεσεν ταυτα τα ρηματα λαλων ηλθεν
In δουλος ] παις
In it contains the unique variant ἐφ ἡμᾶς ἐλθέτω σου ἡ βασιλεία. Comparatively, others read:
is omitted
is omitted
is omitted, as in ita, b, d
is omitted, as in W, 221, 384, 387, 770, 773, 1780, itb, d, e, ff2, syrc, s, copboms, Lucifer
is omitted
In it reads ηγγισεν for εγγιζεν long with Codex Regius.
b and are omitted, as in ita, d, ff2, i, l
omits text ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς, οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν τί ποιοῦσιν with 75 אa B W Θ 0124 31* 38 435 597* 1241 1808* ita,bc,d syrs copsa,bo.
omits text ἀρώματα with itmss syrs,c cosa
omits text ἐλθοῦσαι δὲ εὗρον with 070 itc cosa
omits text τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ with ita,b,d,e,ff2,l,r1
omits text οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἀλλὰ ἠγέρθη with ita,b,d,e,ff2,l,r1 armmss geomss
omits text ἁμαρτωλῶν with ita,b,d,e,ff2,l,r1
omits text ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου with ita,b,d,e,ff2,l,r1 arm geo
omits text ἦσαν δὲ with A W Γ 788 1241 ℓmss itd,e syrs,c
is omitted, as in ita,b,d,e,l,r1
reads Ουλαμμαους for Εμμαους.
omits text καὶ ἐστάθησαν with Cyril
omits text καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς εἰρήνη ὑμῖν with ita,b,e,ff2,l,r1
reads φαντασμα rather than πνευμα with MarcionTert.
is omitted, as in ita,b,d,e,ff2,l,r1 syrs,c Marcion
omits text και απο μελισσιου κηριου with 75 א A B L W P 579 1079 1377* 2411 itd,e syrs cosa,bomss
omits text ἐκ νεκρῶν with cosa
omits text τοῦ πατρός with ite
omits text Ἱερουσαλήμ with 75 א B C* L itmss vg syrs cosa,bomss Didymus
omits text καὶ ἀνεφέρετο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν א* ita,b,d,e,ff2,l
omits text προσκυνήσαντες αὐτὸν with ita,b,d,e,ff2,l syrs
Gospel of John
There are lacunae from John 1:1 to 3:15 in the Latin text and from John 1:17 to 3:25 in the Greek text.omits text οὐ γὰρ συγχρῶνται Ἰουδαῖοι Σαμαρίταις with א* ita,b,d,e,j
is omitted, as in P66, P75, א, B, C*, D, T, Wsupp, 0141, 33, 157, itd, f, l, q, vgww, st, syrc, cpsa, pbo, bopt, ach2, arm, geo, Amphilochius
is omitted
is omitted
Acts of the Apostles
In it reads του κυριου together with the manuscripts Papyrus 74 C* E Ψ 33 36 453 945 1739 1891.Acts in Codex Bezae differs in ways which make it possibly an earlier version perhaps directly from Luke.