The Transmission of the Bible
Intro
Language
Writing Materials
The Manuscripts
A manuscript is a handwritten literary composition, in contrast to a printed copy. An original manuscript is the first one produced, usually called an autograph. There are no known extant original manuscripts of the Bible. However, the abundance of manuscript copies makes it possible to reconstruct the original with complete accuracy.
Old Testament manuscripts
Nash Papyrus
Nash Papyrus Besides those unusual finds, which are about a thousand years older than most of the earliest Old Testament Hebrew manuscripts, there is extant one damaged copy of the Shema (from Deut. 6:4–9) and two fragments of the Decalogue (Ex. 20:2ff.; Deut. 5:6ff.). It is dated between the second century B.C. and the first century A.D.
Orientales 4445
Orientales 4445 This British Museum manuscript is dated by C[hristian] D. Ginsburg between A.D. 820 and 850, the Masora notes being added a century later. But Paul E. Kahle argues that both consonantal Hebrew texts and pointing (the added vowel points or marks) are from the time of Moses ben Asher (tenth century). Because the Hebrew alphabet consists only of consonants, Hebrew writing normally shows only those letters, with a few of the letters being used in varying degrees to represent some of the vocalic sounds. This manuscript contains Genesis 39:20–Deuteronomy 1:33 (less Numbers 7:47–73 and Numbers 9:12–10:18).
Codex Cairensis
Codex Cairensis A codex is a manuscript in book form with pages. According to a colophon, or inscription at the end of the book, this Cairo Codex was written and vowel-pointed in A.D. 895 by Moses ben Asher in Tiberias in Palestine. It contains the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 2 Kings) and the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve). It is symbolized C in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS).
Aleppo Codex
Aleppo Codex of the Whole Old Testament. This was written by Shelomo ben Baya’a, but according to a colophon it was pointed (i.e., the vowel marks were added) by Moses ben Asher (c. A.D. 930). It is a model codex, and although it was not permitted to be copied for a long time and was even reported to have been destroyed, it was smuggled from Syria to Israel. It has now been photographed and will be the basis of the New Hebrew Bible to be published by the Hebrew University. It is a sound authority for the Ben Asher text.
Codex Lenigradensis
Codex Leningradensis (B 19A) According to a colophon, or note at the end, this was copied in Old Cairo by Samuel ben Jacob in A.D. 1008 from a manuscript (now lost) written by Aaron ben Moses ben Asher c. A.D. 1000, whereas Ginsburg held it was copied from the Aleppo Codex.18 It represents one of the oldest manuscripts of the complete Hebrew Bible that is known.
Babylonian Codex
Babylonian Codex of the Latter Prophets (MS Heb. B3) This is sometimes called the Leningrad Codex of the Prophets or the [St.] Petersburg Codex.21 It contains Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve. It is dated A.D. 916, but its chief significance is that through it punctuation added by the Babylonian school of Masoretes was rediscovered.
Reuchlin Codex
Reuchlin Codex of the Prophets Dated A.D. 1105, this is now at Karlsruhe. Like the British Museum manuscript Ad. 21161 (c. A.D. 1150), it contains a recension of Ben Naphtali, a Tiberian Masorete. These have been of great value in establishing the fidelity of the Ben Asher text.
Cairo Geniza manuscripts
Cairo Geniza Manuscripts Of the approximately 10,000 biblical manuscripts and fragments from the Geniza (storehouse for old manuscripts) of the Cairo synagogue now scattered throughout the world, Kahle identified more than 120 examples copied by the Babylonian group of Masoretes. In the Firkowitch Collection are found 14 Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts dating between A.D. 929 and 1121. Kahle contends also that the 1,200 manuscripts and fragments of the Antonin Collection come from the Cairo Geniza.
Erfurt Codices
Erfurt Codices (E 1, 2, 3) These are listed in the University Library in Tubingen as Manuscript Orientale 1210/11, 1212, 1213. Their peculiarity is that they represent more or less (more in E 3) the text and Masora of the Ben Naphtali tradition. E 1 is a fourteenth-century manuscript containing the Hebrew Old Testament and the Targum. E 2 is also of the Hebrew Old Testament and Targum Ontelos, probably from the thirteenth century. E 3 is the oldest, being dated by Kahle and others before A.D. 1100.
Dead Sea Scrolls
The most remarkable manuscripts are those of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. They include one complete Old Testament book (Isaiah) and thousands of fragments, which together represent every Old Testament book except Esther. Before showing how the amazing new evidence from Qumran bears on the state of the Hebrew text, a word should be said about the discovery of the scrolls, which are viewed by W. F. Albright as “the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times.”
The first discovery was made in March 1947, and subsequent explorations produced amazing finds through 1956. In all there were eleven caves containing scrolls and/or fragments excavated near Qumran between February 15, 1949 and February 1956. Much material of interest to the archaeologist was discovered, but the discussion here is limited to the manuscripts that bear on the text of the Old Testament.
New Testament manuscripts
Manuscripts to Papyarus (2nd-3rd centuries)
P52, JOHN RYLANDS FRAGMENT (C. A.D. 117–138)
This papyrus fragment (2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches) from a codex is the earliest known copy of any portion of the New Testament. It dates from the first half of the second century, probably A.D. 117–138. Adolf Deissmann argues that it may be even earlier. The papyrus piece, written on both sides, contains portions of five verses from the gospel of John (18:31–33, 37–38).
P45, P46, P47 CHESTER BEATTY PAPYRI (A.D. 250)
This important collection of New Testament papyri now resides in the Beatty Museum near Dublin. It consists of three codices and contains most of the New Testament. P45 is made up of pieces of thirty leaves of a papyrus codex: two from Matthew, two from John, six from Mark, seven from Luke, and thirteen from Acts. The original codex consisted of some 220 leaves, measuring ten by eight inches each.
P66, P72, P75 BODMER PAPYRI (A.D. SECOND-THIRD CENTURY)
The most important discovery of New Testament papyri since the Chester Beatty manuscripts was the acquisition of the Bodmer Collection by the Library of World Literature at Culagny, near Geneva. P66, dating from about A.D. 200 or earlier, contains 104 leaves of John 1:1–6:11; 6:35b–14:26; and fragments of forty other pages, John 14–21.
Uncial Manucripts (4th-9th centuries)
CODEX VATICANUS (B) (C. 325–350)
The Codex Vaticanus is perhaps the oldest uncial on parchment or vellum (c. 325–350), and one of the most important witnesses to the text of the New Testament. This manuscript copy of the whole Bible was probably written by the middle of the fourth century; however, it was not known to textual scholars until after 1475, when it was catalogued in the Vatican Library.
CODEX SINAITICUS (א [ALEPH]) (C. 340)
This fourth-century Greek manuscript is generally considered to be the most important witness to the text because of its antiquity, accuracy, and lack of omissions. The story of the discovery of א is one of the most fascinating and romantic in textual history. It was found in the monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai by the German Count Lobegott Friedrich Constantine VonTischendorf (1815–1874), who was living in Prussia by permission of the czar.
CODEX EPHRAEMI RESCRIPTUS (C) (C. 345)
The Ephraemi Rescriptus Codex probably originated in Alexandria, Egypt. It was brought to Italy by John Lascaris at about 1500 and was later purchased by Pietro Strozzi. Catherine de Medici, an Italian who was the wife and mother of French kings, acquired it about 1533.
CODEX BEZAE (D [CODEX CANTABRIGIENSIS]) (C. 450 OR C. 550)
This is the oldest known bilingual manuscript of the New Testament. It was written in Greek and Latin and may have originated in southern Gaul (France) or northern Italy. It was found in 1562 by The’odore de Beze (Beza), the French theologian, at St. Irenaeus Monastery, Lyons, France.
CODEX CLAROMONTANUS (D2 OR DP2) (C. 550)
Codex Claromontanus is a sixth-century complement of D, containing much of the New Testament missing in Codex Bezae. D2 seems to have originated in Italy or Sardinia. It was named after a monastery at Clermont, France, where it was found by Beza.
Minuscule Manuscripts (9th-15th centuries)
THE ALEXANDRIAN FAMILY
This is represented by manuscript 33, the “Queen of the Cursives,” dating from the ninth or possibly the tenth century. It contains the entire New Testament except Revelation and is now in the possession of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Although it is predominantly Alexandrian text-type, it shows traces of Byzantine in Acts and the Pauline epistles.
THE CAESAREAN TEXT-TYPE
Some scholars find a “Caesarean” text-type in some manuscripts of the gospels. It is found in P45, W, Θ, family 1, family 13, and citations of Mark in Origen. Although family 1 includes manuscripts 1, 118, 131, and 209, all of which date from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, an analysis of Mark reveals a textual type similar to Θ, family 13, and citations from Origen. Hence, it harks back to the Caesarean text of the third and fourth centuries.
AN ITALIAN SUBFAMILY OF CAESAREAN
This is represented by about a dozen manuscripts known as family 13 (including 13, 69, 124, 230, 346, 543, 788, 826, 828, 983, 1689, and 1709). These manuscripts were copied between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries.One of their interesting characteristics is that they contain the section about the adulterous woman (John 7:53–8:11) following Luke 2:38 instead of after John 7:52.
Development of Textual Criticism
What is Textual Criticism
When scholarly judgment is applied to the genuineness of the biblical text, it is classified as “higher” or “historical” criticism. This judgment is applied to the date of the text, its literary style and structure, its literary form, its historicity, its sources, and its authorship.
When scholarly judgment is applied to the authenticity of the biblical text, it is classified as “lower” or “textual” criticism. Lower criticism is concerned with the form or text of the Bible and attempts to restore the readings of the original text, the autograph.