Minuscule 118
| New Testament manuscript | |
| Text | Gospels |
|---|---|
| Date | 13th-century |
| Script | Greek |
| Now at | Bodleian Library |
| Size | 20.5 cm by 14.8 cm |
| Type | Caesarean text-type |
| Category | III |
| Hand | not neat |
| Note | marginalia |
Minuscule 118 is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, made of parchment. It is designated by the siglum 118 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 346 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts.[1]
Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been assigned to the 13th century. It has complex contents with some marginal notes.
Description
[edit]The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book format), containing an almost complete text of the four Gospels written on 256 parchment leaves (sized 20.5 cm by 14.8 cm),[2][3] with the average dimensions of the text-block being 15 cm by 10.5 cm.[4] The text is written in one column, 23-27 lines per page.[2][3][5] Some texts were defective and were thus supplied in the 15th century on six paper leaves, with later hands recopying the texts of Matthew 1:1-6:2; Luke 13:15-14:20, 18:8-19:9, and John 16:25-end.[5]
The text is not divided according to the chapters (known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia), but there are chapter titles (known as τιτλοι / titloi) written at the top of the pages. There is a division according to the Ammonian Sections (234 in Mark 234, last at 16:9), but this was added by a later hand, along with references to the Eusebian Canons (both early systems for dividing the Gospels into sections).[5]
It contains the Eusebian tables, content tables (also known as κεφαλαια) before each Gospel, and lectionary markings in the margin (for liturgical use). Biblical scholar Frederick H. A Scrivener stated that the manuscript contained the numbers of lines (known as στιχοι / stichoi), and the numbers of phrases (known as ρηματα / rhemata);[6] however biblical scholar Kirsopp Lake corrected this as notes it doesn't contain the rhemata,[7]: XIV and the stichoi are only found in the Gospels of Luke and John, both written by later hands and on supplementary paper leaves.[7]: XIV The Synaxaria and Menologion were added by a later hand.[6]
The codex contains supplementary leaves in Matthew, Luke, and John. The supplementary leaves of Luke 13:35-14:20 and 18:8-29 are a palimpsest written on parchment, with the underwriting containing the Psalms.[4] The hand is "not neat, but readable."[4]
Text
[edit]The Greek text of the codex is considered to be a representative of the Caesarean text-type. It belongs to the textual Family 1. Biblical scholar Kurt Aland placed it in Category III of his New Testament manuscript classification system.[8] Category III manuscripts are described as having "a small but not a negligible proportion of early readings, with a considerable encroachment of [Byzantine] readings, and significant readings from other sources as yet unidentified."[8]: 335
As a member of Family 1 (ƒ1), it has a close affinity to the codices 205 and 209. Together they constitute a sub-group within this family.[4]: 111 According to the Claremont Profile Method (a specific analysis of textual data), 118 is a core member of Family 1.[9]
History
[edit]The earliest history of the manuscript is unknown. It was donated by Narcissus March († 1713), Archbishop of Armagh, to the Bodleian Library.[4] It was given to March by Dr Halifax, about the year 1699.[7]: XV There is evidence that mice have attempted to eat part of the manuscript, whilst it was left lying on its side for some unknown period of time.[7]: XV It was likely rebound by the Bodleian Library after it came into its possession.[7]: XVII Though its main provenance is unknown, as Dr Halifax was chaplain at the church in Aleppo between 1687 and 1695, it is probable that he brought it from that location.[7]: XV
It was collated by textual critic Johann J. Griesbach.[6] According to Griesbach, the text of this manuscript is a representative of the Alexandrian textual recension.[10] Biblical scholar Caspar René Gregory saw it in 1883.[5] The manuscript was subsequently examined by Lake, who placed it within Family 1.[7]
Gregory dated it to the 13th-century.[5] It is currently dated by the INTF to the 13th century.[2][3] It is presently housed at the Bodleian Library (shelf number MS. Auct. D. inf. 2.17), in Oxford.[2][3]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ↑ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament [The Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament] (in German). Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 52.
- 1 2 3 4 Aland, Kurt; M. Welte; B. Köster; K. Junack (1994). Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments [A Concise List of the Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament]. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 53. ISBN 3-11-011986-2.
- 1 2 3 4 "Liste Handschriften: Minuscule 118". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson, Amy S. (2004). The Textual tradition of the Gospels: Family 1 in Matthew. Leiden; Boston: Brill. p. 110.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments [Textual Criticism of the New Testament] (in German). Vol. 1. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 154.
- 1 2 3 Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. Vol. 1. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 211.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lake, Kirsopp (1902). Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- 1 2 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. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
- ↑ Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for Classifying and Evaluating Manuscript Evidence. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 55. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4.
- ↑ J. J. Griesbach, Novum Testamentum Graecum, vol. I (Halle, 1777), prolegomena.
Further reading
[edit]- J. J. Griesbach, Symbolae critique, I, 8, CCII-CCXXIII.
External links
[edit]- Minuscule 118 at the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism
- Online images of minuscule 118 (Digital Microfilm) at the CSNTM.