List of New Testament Latin manuscripts

Latin manuscripts of the New Testament are handwritten copies of translations from the Greek originals. Translations of the New Testament are called versions. They are important in textual criticism, because sometimes versions provide evidence (called a witness) to an earlier reading of the Greek, i.e. to the text that may have been lost (or preserved only very poorly) in the subsequent Greek tradition. It is also hypothesised that, in some cases, for example, in the case of the Codex Bezae, early Latin manuscripts may have influenced some early Greek manuscripts. Thus, accidentally or deliberately, some Latin readings may have "crossed back over" into the Greek. One possible example of this is the well known Comma Johanneum.

Latin manuscripts are divided into "Old Latin" and Vulgate. Old Latin manuscripts, also called Vetus Latina or Itala, are so called not because they are written in Old Latin (i.e. Latin prior to 75 BC), but because they are the oldest versions of the New Testament in Latin. From the linguistic point of view, Old Latin New Testament manuscripts may at times use non-standard grammar and vocabulary.

Unlike the Vulgate, the Vetus Latina tradition reflects numerous distinct, similar, and not entirely independent translations of various New Testament texts, extending back to the time of the original Greek autographs.^[1]

In 382 AD Jerome began a revision of the existing Vetus Latina into contemporary Latin, corrected against manuscripts in the original Greek and Hebrew. Jerome's version is known as the Vulgate.^[2]

Clarification

Identification

The list of Old Latin manuscripts below is based on citations in Novum Testamentum Graece (NA27) and The Greek New Testament (UBS4). Each manuscript is identified first by its siglum (the first column, s., in the table), as given by the critical apparatus of the editions mentioned. These sigla are related to content, so are not unique. For example, the letter t refers to Codex Bernensis in the gospels, but Liber Comicus elsewhere. So sigla need disambiguation. In the table below, this is done by providing a full name. Additionally, the standard unique serial number for each manuscript is provided. Taken together sigla, name and number provide unambiguous identification, and some further information regarding the content, history and relationship of manuscripts.

Sigla, names and numbers exist to serve different scholastic purposes. Sigla, in the context of reference to an original document, provide unique and concise identification of witnesses to the text of that original, suited to minimizing the space taken by citation in a critical apparatus. Names, on the other hand, normally refer to specific handwritten volumes (often including other text), either as originally bound or in their current form. Names are typically Latin, and can refer to the place of composition (Codex Sangallensis, "Book from St. Gall") or rediscovery (Stonyhurst Gospel), the current location (Liber Ardmachanus, "Book of Armagh"), a famous owner (Codex Bezae, "Theodore Beza's Book"), a volume's function (Liber Comicus, "The Lectionary"), or can even refer to physical characteristics of a volume (Codex Gigas, "The Huge Book" or Codex Aureus, "The Gold Book"). The Book of Mulling is also known as Liber Moliensis after the name of the scribe, as tradition has it.

Beuron numbers

The Beuron Ancient Latin Institute (Vetus Latina Institut) has introduced a new numerical system for Old Latin manuscripts, of which there are about 90 altogether. These Beuron numbers are designed to provide unambiguous identification of witnesses in academic usage, yet they are not used very widely in general literature, as they may cause confusion with the Greek minuscule manuscripts.

Beuron Institute allocated numbers up to 100 to all existing Old Latin manuscripts, depending on what parts of NT they include, and how old their text is. The lowest numbers are allocated to the gospels, and to the most complete manuscripts. For example, Codex Bezae (d) is a witness for the Gospels (Gosp), the Book of Acts and the General epistles (Gen), and is allocated number 5.

• Manuscripts 1-49 are witnesses to one or more Gospels.
• Manuscripts 50-74 are witnesses to Acts, General epistles or the Book of Revelation (Rev).
• Manuscripts 75-89 are witnesses to Pauline epistles (Paul).
• Manuscripts 91-96 are glosses in Spanish Bibles.

Other issues

NA27 and UBS4 interact with the Vulgate witness only at the level of critical editions, not at the level of manuscripts themselves. The manuscripts that provide evidence of Jerome's version are identified in the apparatus of Biblia Sacra Vulgata (the Stuttgart edition of the Vulgate).

In practice, citation of manuscript evidence implies any of several methodologies. The ideal, but most costly, method is physical inspection of the manuscript itself; alternatively, published photographs or facsimile editions may be inspected. This method involves paleographical analysis—interpretation of handwriting, incomplete letters and even reconstruction of lacunae. More typically, editions of manuscripts are consulted, which have done this paleographical work already. The lists below note the names of the editors of standard editions of the manuscripts listed. As a last resort, sometimes a critical edition of NT, that cites readings of a manuscript in its apparatus, may be offered as authority for the text of the manuscript at these points.

It must also be observed that certain Latin NT manuscripts may present a mixture of Vulgate and Old Latin texts. For example, Codex Sangermanensis (g¹ ) is Old Latin in Matthew, but Vulgate in the rest of the Gospels. Also, the text of John in Codex Veronensis is believed to be part Old Latin and part Vulgate. Hence, some codices are cited as manuscript witnesses both to the Vetus Latina and to the Vulgate.

Old Latin

The table below employs the following conventions.

• Dates are estimated to the nearest 50 year increment.
• Content is given to the nearest book (sometimes chapter); verses and lacunae are not listed.
• Editions are those consulted by UBS4; in many cases, better editions are also available.
• Locations are given in anglicised form, unless linked to sources in other languages.
• Manuscripts will sometimes be referred to as "it" followed by the siglum.

Editions

by editor

For precision, publication data is given in the language of the title page of the edition. To make this information comprehensible to the English language reader, links are provided to English language article titles, where necessary and possible.

When a single editor is responsible for more than one edition, these are listed in alphabetical order of the sigla of the relevant manuscripts. In such cases, if the manuscript is not readily identifiable from the title, its name (siglum and number) are appended after the citation.

• Buchanan, Edgar S. The Epistles and Apocalypse from the Codex Harleianus. Sacred Latin Texts 1. London, 1912.
• Buchanan, Edgar S. The Four Gospels from the Codex Corbeiensis, together with fragments of the Catholic Epistles, of the Acts and of the Apocalypse from the Fleury Palimpsest. Old Latin Biblical Texts 5. Oxford, 1907. [Codex Floriacensis (h 55)]
• Bruyne, Donatien de. Les Fragments de Freising— épitres de S. Paul et épttres catholiques. Collectanea Biblica Latina 5. Rome, 1921. (French)
• Fischer, Bonifatius. Ein neuer Zeuge zum westlichen Text der Apostelgeschichte. Pages 33–63 in J. Neville Birdsall and R.W. Thomson (eds). Biblical and Patristic Studies in Memory of Robert Pierce Casey. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1963. (German)
• Frede, HJ. Alttateinische Paulus-Handschriften. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1964. (German)
• Gwynn, John. Liber Ardmachanus: The Book of Armagh. Dublin, 1913.
• Jülicher, Adolf, Walter Matzkow and Kurt Aland (eds). Itala: Das Neue Testament in altlateinischer Überliefung. 4 volumes [Matthew–John]. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter and Company, 1938–1972. (German)
• Matthaei, C. F., Novum Testamentum, XII, tomis distinctum Graece et Latine. Textum denuo recensuit, varias lectiones nunquam antea vulgatas ex centum codicibus MSS.... 12 volumes. Rigae, 1782-1788. (Latin)
• Matthaei, C. F., Novum Testamentum, XIII. Epistolarum Pauli Codex Graecus cum versione Latino veteri vulgo Antehieronymiana olim Buernerianus nunc Bibliothecae Electoralis Dresdeiisis ... Lipsiae, 1791. (Latin)
• Morin, Germain. Etudes, textes, découvertes. Contributions à la literature et a l'histoire des douxe premiers siècles. Anécdota Maredsolana, 2e Série 1. Paris: Abbaye de Maredsous, 1913. (French) [Codex Schlettstadtensis (r 57)]
• Morin, Germain. Liber Comicus sive Lectionarius missae quo Toletana Ecclesia ante annos mille et ducentos utebatur. Anécdota Maredsolana 1. Marodsoli, 1893. (French)
• Sanders, HA. 'The Text of Acts in Ms. 146 of the University of Michigan'. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 77 (1937): –.
• de:Schultze, Victor. Codex Waldeccensis. München, 1904.
• Scrivener, FHA. An Exact Transcript of the Codex Augiensis. Cambridge and London, 1859.
• Souter, Alexander. Miscellanea Ehrle 1. Studi e Testi 137. Roma, 1924.
• Tischendorf, Constantin von. Codex Claromontanus. Lipsiae, 1852.
• Tischendorf, Constantin von. Codex Laudianus, sive Actus apostolorum Graeces et Latine. Monumenta sacra inedita, nova collectio 9. Lipsiae, 1870.
• Tischendorf, Constantin von. Anecdota Sacra et Profana. Editio repetita, emendata, aucta. Lipsiae, 1861. [Codex Guelferbytanus (gue 79)]
• White, Henry Julian. Portions of the Acts of the Apostles, of the Epistles of St. James, and of the First Epistle of St. Peter from the Bobbio Palimpsest. Old Latin Biblical Texts 4. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1897.
• Wordsworth, John; Henry Julian White and others. Novum Testamentum Domini Nostri Iesu Christi Latine Secundum Editionem Sancti Hieronymi. 3 volumes. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1889–1954.

Jerome's version

Vulgate of Mark 1:1ff in an illuminated manuscript held at Autun

See also

• List of New Testament papyri
• List of New Testament uncials
• List of New Testament minuscules
• List of New Testament lectionaries

Notes

Bibliography

• Fischer, Bonifatius. (German) 'Varianten zu Matthäus'. In Vetus Latina: Aus der Geschichte der lateinischen Bibel 13. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1988.
• Fischer, Bonifatius. (German) 'Varianten zu Markus'. In Vetus Latina: Aus der Geschichte der lateinischen Bibel 15. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1989.
• Fischer, Bonifatius. (German) 'Varianten zu Lukas'. In Vetus Latina: Aus der Geschichte der lateinischen Bibel 17. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1990.
• Fischer, Bonifatius. (German) 'Varianten zu Johannes'. In Vetus Latina: Aus der Geschichte der lateinischen Bibel 18. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1991.
• Gryson, Roger. (German) (French) Altlateinische Handschriften/Manuscrits Vieux Latins 1-275 Vetus Latina 1/2A. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1999.
• Gryson, Roger. (German) (French) Altlateinische Handschriften/Manuscrits Vieux Latins 300-485 Vetus Latina 1/2B. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 2004.
• Sabatier, Pierre. (Latin) Bibliorum Sacrorum Latinae Versiones antiquae seu Vetus Italica. Remis, 1743.

External links

published in print

• Elliott, James Keith. (English) A Bibliography of Greek New Testament Manuscripts. 2nd edition. Society for the Study of the New Testament Monograph Series 109. Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-521-77012-2
• Elliott, James Keith. (English) 'Translations of the New Testament into Latin'. In Widmen Dieses and others (eds). Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt (ANRW) II.26.1: 198-245. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1997.
• Elliott, James Keith. (English) 'Old Latin Manuscripts in Printed Editions of the Greek New Testament'. Novum Testamentum 26 (1984): 225–248.
• Lasala, Fernando de. (Italian) Paleografia Latina: Trascrizioni, commenti e tavole. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Rome: Pontifical Gregorian University Press, 2001.

published on web

• Vetus Latina Iohannes (Latin)(English) — edited by PH Burton, J. Balserak, Hugh AG Houghton and DC Parker, The Verbum Project.
• Vetus-Latina.de (English) — edited by Roger Gryson, Vetus Latina Institute, Beuron Archabbey.
• Vetus-Latina.de (German) — unter der Leitung von Roger Gryson, Vetus Latina Institute, Beuron Archabbey.
• VetusLatina.org (English) — edited by Hugh AG Houghton, Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing, University of Birmingham.