Codex Claromontanus is a 6th-century manuscript in an uncial hand on vellum of the Epistles of Paul and the Epistle to the Hebrews in Greek and Latin on facing pages (thus a "diglot" manuscript, like Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis). A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... The Book of Kells, c. ... Vellum (Latin for the animals wool hair) has two meanings: A sort of parchment, a material for the pages of a book or codex, usually made from calf skin. ... The word epistle is from the Greek word epistolos which means a written letter addressed to a recipient or recipients, perhaps part of exchanged correspondence. ... The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbreviated Heb. ... The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis is one of the five most important surviving early Greek New Testament manuscripts. ...

It was named by Theodore Beza because he procured it in the town of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, Oise, in the Picardie region north of Paris. The Codex is preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Theodore Beza (Theodore de Beze or de Besze) (June 24, 1519 - October 13, 1605) was a French theologian living most of his life in Switzerland and scholar and participant in the Protestant Reformation. ... Clermont is the name of several places in the United States of America: Clermont, Florida Clermont, Georgia Clermont, Indiana Clermont, Iowa Clermont, New York Clermont County, Ohio Clermont is the name of several communes in France: Clermont, in the Ariège département Clermont, in the Haute-Savoie département Clermont, in the... Capital Amiens Area 19,399 km² Regional President Claude Gewerc Population  - 2005 estimate  - 1999 census  - Density 1,857,481 96/km² Arrondissements 13 Cantons 129 Communes 2,292 Départements Aisne Oise Somme For use in music, see Picardy third. ... The new buildings of the library. ...

The Calvinist scholar Theodore Beza was the first to examine it, and he included notes of some of its readings in his editions of the New Testament. Later history of its use by editors of the Greek New Testament can be found in the links and references.

The Greek text of this codex is highly valued by critics as representing an early form of the text in the "Western" manuscript tradition, characterized by frequent interpolations and, to a lesser extent, interpretive revisions presented as corrections to this text. Modern critical editions of the New Testament texts are produced by an eclectic method, where the preferred reading is determined on a case-by-case basis, from among numerous variants offered by the early manuscripts and versions. In this process, Claromontanus is often employed as a sort of "outside mediator" in collating the more closely related, that is mutually dependent codices containing the Pauline epistles: Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus. In a similar way, Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis is used in establishing the history of texts of the Gospels and Acts. A codex (Latin for book; plural codices) is a handwritten book from late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages. ... Folio 65v from the Codex Alexandrinus contains the end of the Gospel of Luke with the decorative tailpiece found at the end of each book. ... A section of the Codex Vaticanus, containing 1 Esdras 2:1-8 The Codex Vaticanus (Vatican City, Bibl. ... Codex Sinaiticus (London, Brit. ... Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus is an early 5th century Greek manuscript of the Bible, the last in the group of the four great uncial manuscripts of the Greek Bible (see Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus). ... The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis is one of the five most important surviving early Greek New Testament manuscripts. ... For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ...

The Codex Claromontanus contains further precious documents:

• A stichometric catalogue of the Old Testament and New Testament canon, of uncertain date, has been inserted in the codex. The list omits Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Hebrews. probably due to scribal error. It includes several works no longer considered canonical: Epistle of Barnabas, The Shepherd of Hermas, Third Epistle to the Corinthians, Acts of Paul, and Revelation of Peter. [1] (http://www.bible-researcher.com/claromontanus.html).

• Two palimpsest leaves (nos. 162 and 163) are overwritten on fragments of the Phaethon of Euripides faintly legible under the Christian text. They have been detached from the codex and are designated Cod. Gr. 107 B.

The Epistle of Barnabas is an epistle with twenty-one chapters, contained complete in the Codex Sinaiticus where it appears at the end of the New Testament. ... The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian work of the first or second century which had great authority in ancient times and was considered by some as one of the books of the Bible. ... The Third Epistle to the Corinthians is a text alleging to have been written by Paul of Tarsus. ... The Acts of Paul and Thecla (Acta Pauli et Theclae) is an apocryphal story of St Pauls influence on the young virgin, Thecla. ... The recovered Apocalypse of Peter is in two translations of a lost original, one Greek, one Ethiopic, which diverge considerably. ... A palimpsest is a manuscript page, scroll, or book that has been written on, scraped off, and used again. ... Euripides (c. ...

External links

• Michael D. Marlowe, Bible Research (http://www.bible-researcher.com/codex-d2.html): Codex Claromontanus
• Michael D. Marlowe, Bible Research (http://www.bible-researcher.com/claromontanus.html): Codex Claromontanus: the inserted catalog
• List of New testament codices (http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Bible/Text/Mss/codexlist.html): Codex Claromontanus

Further reading

• Hatch, W. H. P. The Principal Uncial Manuscripts Of The New Testament, 1939, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
• Aland, Kurt and Barbara Aland, The Text Of The New Testament : An Introduction To The Critical Editions and To The Theory and Practice Of Modern Text Criticism, 1995, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Metzger, Bruce M., The Text Of The New Testament : Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration, 1968 etc, Oxford University Press. pp49 - 51, etc.
• Trobisch, David, The Oldest Extant Editions of the Letters of Paul 1999 (http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=91) (e-text online)
• Berschin, Walter, "Greek Manuscripts in Western Libraries" (http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/Walter_Berschin_16.html) ch. 6 of Greek Letters and the Latin Middle Ages : From Jerome to Nicholas of Cusa: diglot mss in the West