Minuscule 700

New Testament manuscripts
papyri • uncials • minuscules • lectionaries

Minuscule 700
Folio 91 verso, Evangelist Mark
Text	Gospels
Date	11th century
Script	Greek
Now at	British Library, Egerton 2610
Size	14.8 cm by 11.7 cm
Type	Caesarean text-type
Category	III
Note	numerous unique readings

Minuscule 700 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 133 (Soden),^[1] is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the Gospels. Formerly it was labelled as 604 in all catalogues (Scrivener, Hoskier), Gregory gave it the number 700.^[2] It is dated palaeographically to the 11th century.^[3]

Description

The codex contains a complete text of the Gospels on 297 parchment leaves (14.8 cm by 11.7 cm). The text is written in one column per page, 19 lines per page in minuscule letters.^[3] The initial letters are in gold. Simple headpieces and tailpieces are in gold.

The text of the Gospels is divided according to the κεφαλαια (chapters), whose numbers are placed at the margin of the text. The τιτλοι (titles) of the κεφαλαια are given at the top of pages. Lists of the κεφαλαια (tables of contents) are placed before each Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke). There is also a division into smaller sections – the Ammonian sections with a references to the Eusebian Canons (in Gospel of John very rarely).^[4]

It contains the Epistula ad Carpianum, Eusebian Canon tables at the beginning of the codex, subscriptions at the end of the books, illustrations of the evangelists, lectionary markings in gold.^[5] It lacks Mark 11:26.^[6]

Text

In Matthew 27:16 it has the famous textual variant "Ιησουν τον Βαραββαν". This variant is found in Codex Koridethi, and manuscripts of textual family f¹.

The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Caesarean text-type. Aland placed it in Category III.^[7]

According to the Claremont Profile Method it has mixed text in Luke 1, Alexandrian text in Luke 10, and represent the textual family K^x in Luke 20. It belongs to the textual subgroup 35.^[8]

It contains, together with minuscule 162, the remarkable reading in Gospel of Luke 11:2: ἐλθέτω τὸ πνεῦμά σου τὸ ἅγιον ἐφ' ἡμᾶς καὶ καθαρισάτω ἡμᾶς ("May your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us"), instead of ελθετω η βασιλεια σου ("May your kingdom come") in the Lord's Prayer.^[9] This peculiar reading does not appear in any other manuscript, but it was derived from very old archetype, because it is present in the Marcion's text of the third Gospel and is also attested by the church father Gregory of Nyssa.^[10] In Luke 11:4 the phrase αλλα ρυσαι ημας απο του πονηρου (but deliver us from evil) is omitted. This omission is supported by the manuscripts: Sinaiticus, B, L, f¹ vg syr^s cop^{sa, bo}, arm geo.^[11]

In Mark 5:9 it has απεκριθη λεγων as in codices E, 565. The other manuscripts have:

λεγιων ονομα μοι — א, B, C, L, Δ

απεκριτη — D

λεγεων — A, W, Θ, f¹, f¹³, Byz^[12]

In Mark 10:19 — the phrase μη αποστερησης is omitted (as in codices B, K, W, Ψ, f¹, f¹³, 28, 1010, 1079, 1242, 1546, 2148, ℓ 10, ℓ 950, ℓ 1642, ℓ 1761, syr^s, arm, geo.^[13] This omission is typical for the manuscript of the Caesarean text-type.

In Luke 6:2 — οὐκ ἔξεστιν (not lawful) for οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν (not lawful to do); the reading is supported only by $\mathfrak{P}$⁴, Vaticanus, (Codex Bezae), Codex Nitriensis, lat, cop^sa, cop^bo, arm, geo;^[14]

In John 8:7 it has αναβλεψας instead of ανακυψας, along with U Λ f^13[15]

In John 8:8 it contains, together with U (030), 73, 331, 364, 658, 782, 1592 and some Armenian manuscripts, the unique addition ενος εκαστου αυτων τας αμαρτιας. This textual variant have also some Latin manuscripts. 652 has this variant on the margin added by a later hand. Minuscule 264 has this variant in John 8:6.^[16]

Hoskier exhibits 2724 variations from the Textus Receptus (of which 791 are omissions and 353 are additions). 270 textual variants are not used by any other manuscript.^[17]

History

The author of the codex is unknown. Probably it was written in Constantinople.^[18]

The manuscript was bought in 1882 for the British Library.^[4]

It was examined by Burgon, described and collated by Simcox, and Scrivener. The manuscript is located now in British Library, Egerton 2610 in London.^[3]

See also

• List of New Testament minuscules
• Textual criticism
• Biblical manuscript

References

1. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung. p. 72. http://www.archive.org/stream/diegriechischen00greggoog#page/n83/mode/2up. 
2. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, Vol. 1. Leipzig. p. 213. http://www.archive.org/stream/textkritikdesne00greggoog#page/n225/mode/2up. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Aland, K.; M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack (1994). Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 88. ISBN 3110119862. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, Vol. 1. Leipzig. p. 214. http://www.archive.org/stream/textkritikdesne00greggoog#page/n227/mode/2up. 
5. ^ 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. 261. 
6. ^ Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, 26th edition, p. 128. [NA26]
7. ^ Aland, Kurt; Barbara Aland; Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.) (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1. 
8. ^ 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. 64. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4. 
9. ^ Bruce M. Metzger, Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 90.
10. ^ Helmut Koester, Introduction to the New Testament, New York: Walter de Gruyter 1995, p. 31.
11. ^ UBS3, p. 256.
12. ^ Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, 26th edition, p. 102. [NA26]
13. ^ UBS3, p. 165.
14. ^ NA26, p. 170.
15. ^ NA26, p. 274
16. ^ NA26, p. 274; UBS3, p. 357.
17. ^ Herman C. Hoskier, A Full Account and Collation of the Greek Cursive Codex Evangelium 604, London 1890.
18. ^ Minuscule 700 at the British Library

Further reading

• F. H. A. Scrivener, Adversaria critica sacra (Cambridge, 1893).
• W. H. Simcox, American Journal of Philology V, 4 (Baltimore, 1884), pp. 454-465.
• Herman C. Hoskier, A Full Account and Collation of the Greek Cursive Codex Evangelium 604, London, 1890.
• Burnett Hillman Streeter, The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins (MacMillan, 1924).
• Bruce M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1981, p. 122.

External links

• Minuscule 700 at the British Library
• Minuscule 700 at the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism