Uncial 047
| New Testament manuscript | |
| Text | Gospels † |
|---|---|
| Date | 8th century |
| Script | Greek |
| Found | Athos |
| Now at | Princeton University Library |
| Size | 20,5 x 15,2 cm |
| Type | Byzantine text-type |
| Category | V |
| Note | cruciform |
Uncial 047 is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament Gospels, written on vellum. It is designated by the siglum 047 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 95 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts.[1] It was formerly designated by Hebrew letter ב.[1]
Using the study of comparative handwriting styles (palaeography), it has been assigned to the 8th century. It has full marginal notes.
Description
The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book format), containing a near complete text of the four Gospels on 152 parchment leaves (sized 20.5 cm by 15.2 cm), with some gaps in Matthew, Mark, and John.[2] The text is written partly in columns and partly in cruciform, with 37 or 38 lines per page.[3][4][2] The parchment is thick, the ink used is brown, and the letters are small.[5]
The text is divided according to the chapters (known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia), whose numbers are given in the margin, and their titles (known as τιτλοι / titloi) written at the top of the pages. There is also a division according to the Ammonian Sections in the Gospels (237 in Mark, ending at Mark 16:15), with references to the Eusebian Canons written underneath the Ammonian sections (both early divisions of the Gospels into sections).[5]
It contains prolegomena (introductions), tables of contents (also known as κεφαλαια) before each Gospel, and lectionary notes in the margin (for liturgical use).[5]
It does not contain the text of Matthew 16:2b–3. The text of John 5:3.4 is present, but they are marked by an obelus in the left-hand margin, indicating that the passage is doubtful.[2] The text of John 7:53-8:11 (known as the pericope adulterae) is present, and not marked by an obelus or asterisk.[5] It uses the form ειπαν (for 3 person and plural in aoristus), typical of Koine Greek, instead of ειπον, typical of Byzantine Greek.
- Missing verses[6]
- Matthew 2:5-3:11; 28:10-20
- Mark 5:41-6:17; 8:36-9:18
- John 12:18-41; 14:8-15:1; 18:34-21:25.
Text
The Greek text is considered to be a representative of the Byzantine text-type. Biblical scholar Kurt Aland gave it the following textual profile: 1751, 961/2, 62, 21s[3], and placed it in Category V of his New Testament manuscript classification system.[3] Category V manuscripts are described as "manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text."[3]: 336
Scholar Frederik Wisse grouped it under the textual family Kx based on an analysis of Luke chapters 1, 10, and 20.[7] Textual critic Hermann von Soden did not classify it in this group.
History
The earliest history of the manuscript is unknown. It was formerly held in the monastery of St. Andrew on Athos Peninsula,[2] where scholar Caspar René Gregory discovered it in 1886, and provided the first description of it.[8]
It was brought by Thomas Whittemore to the United States after being purchased by athlete, investment banker and philanthropist Robert Garrett.[2] It was donated by Garrett in 1942 to the Princeton University Library (Library Μed. and Ren. shell number Mss, Garrett 1), in Princeton, New Jersey.[3][2]
Gregory dated the manuscript to the 9th or 10th century.[8] It is currently dated by the INTF to the 8th century.[2][3][4]
See also
References
- ^ a b Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament [The Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament] (in German). Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 37.
- ^ a b c d e f g Metzger, Bruce Manning (1991). Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek Palaeography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 98.
- ^ a b c d e f Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Translated by Erroll F. Rhodes. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
- ^ a b "Liste Handschriften: Uncial 047". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 2014-09-09.
- ^ a b c d Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes [Textual Criticism of the New Testament] (in German). Vol. 1. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs. p. 95.
- ^ Aland, Kurt (1996). Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum: Locis parallelis evangeliorum apocryphorum et patrum adhibitis edidit [Synopsis of the Four Gospels: Arranged in Parallel Passages with readings from the Apocryphal Gospels and Church Fathers]. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. p. XXIV.
- ^ 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, Michegan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 52. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4.
- ^ a b Gregory, Caspar René (1907). Canon and Text of the New Testament. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 363. Retrieved 2026-03-27.
Further reading
- Clark, Kenneth Willis (1937). A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 61–63.
External links
- Digital Colour Images of the manuscript online at the Princeton University Library.
- R. Waltz, Uncial 047: at the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism