Page from Codex Vaticanus Graece 1209, B/03

The Codex Vaticanus (The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209; Gregory-Aland no. B or 03) is one of the oldest extant manuscripts of the Bible. It is slightly older than Codex Sinaiticus, both of which were probably transcribed in the 4th century. It is written in Greek, on vellum, with uncial letters. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (600x620, 127 KB) Codex Vaticanus B (Bibl. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (600x620, 127 KB) Codex Vaticanus B (Bibl. ... The State of the City of the Vatican or the Vatican City (Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae, Italian Stato della Città del Vaticano) is the smallest independent state in the world (both in area and in population), a landlocked enclave surrounded by the city of Rome in Italy. ... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hÄ“ biblos, the book) (sometimes The Holy Bible, Scripture, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their differing (and overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ... A portion of the Codex Sinaiticus, containing Esther 2:3-8. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... Vellum was originally a translucent or opaque material produced from calfskin that had been soaked, limed and unhaired, and then dried at normal temperature under tension, usually on a wooden device called a stretching frame. ... The Book of Kells, c. ...

Contents

A section of the Codex Vaticanus, containing 1 Esdras 2:1-8

Vaticanus originally contained a complete copy of the Septuagint ("LXX") except for 1-4 Maccabees and the Prayer of Manasseh. Genesis 1:1 - 46:28a (31 leaves) and Psalm 105:27 - 137:6b (10 leaves) are lost and have been filled by a recent hand. 2 Kings 2:5-7, 10-13 are also lost due to a tear in one of the pages. The order of the Old Testament books is as follows: Genesis to 2 Chronicles as normal, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras (which includes Nehemias), the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Esther, Judith, Tobit, the minor prophets from Hosea to Malachi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations and the Epistle of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Download high resolution version (438x768, 96 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (438x768, 96 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Septuagint (LXX) is the name commonly given in the West to the Greek Alexandrine translation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) translated some time between the 3rd to 1st century BC. The Septuagint translation includes additional books and chapters of the Hebrew text, including the books of the... The Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) Jewish rebels who fought against the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator. ... Prayer of Manasseh is a prayer included in the certain editions of the Greek Septuagint and in an appendix to the Latin Vulgate, but considered apocryphal by much of Jews, Catholics and Protestants alike. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin), also called The First Book of Moses, is the first book of Torah (five books of Moses), and is the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of... Psalms (Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. ... The Books of Kings (also known as [The Book of] Kings in Hebrew: Sefer Melachim מלכים) is a part of Judaisms Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. ... (Redirected from 2 Chronicles) The Book of Chronicles is a book in the Hebrew Bible (also see Old Testament). ... 1 Esdras is a deuterocanonical book accepted by most Orthodox Christians, but rejected as apocryphal by Jews, Catholics, and Protestants. ... The Book of Ezra is a book of the Bible in the Old Testament and Hebrew Tanakh. ... The Book of Nehemiah is a book of the Hebrew Bible, known to Jews as the Tanakh and to Christians as the Old Testament. ... Psalms (Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. ... The Book of Proverbs is one of the books of the Ketuvim of the Tanakh and of the Writings of the Old Testament. ... Ecclesiastes, Qohelet in Hebrew, is a book of the Hebrew Bible. ... Song of Solomon is also the title of a novel by Toni Morrison. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Wisdom, also known as the Wisdom of Solomon, is one of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible that are not translations of Hebrew originals. ... The Wisdom of Ben Sira, (or The Wisdom of Yeshua Ben Sira or merely Sirach), called Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with Ecclesiastes) by Christians, is a book written circa 180–175 BCE. The author, Yeshua ben Sira, was a Jew who had been living in Jerusalem, who may in... The Book of Esther is a book of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and of the Old Testament. ... The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded by Jews and Protestants. ... The Book of Tobit is a book of scripture that is part of the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon, pronounced canonical by the Council of Carthage of 397 and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the Council of Trent (1546). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Book of Hosea. ... Malachi or Malachi (מַלְאָכִי My messenger/angel, Standard Hebrew Malʾaḫi, Tiberian Hebrew Malʾāḵî) was a prophet in the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. ... Isaiah the Prophet in Hebrew Scriptures was depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo. ... Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. ... Baruch (בָּרוּךְBlessed, Standard Hebrew Baruḫ, Tiberian Hebrew Bārûḵ) is the name of three people in the Hebrew Bible: // Baruch son of Zabbai In the Book of Nehemiah Baruch son of Zabbai is listed as helping Nehemiah to repair the walls of Jerusalem [1]. Later someone called Baruch seals the... The Book of Lamentations is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. ... The Epistle of Jeremy is a deuterocanonical (or apocryphal) book of the Old Testament; this letter purports to have been written by Jeremiah (Jeremy) to the exiles who were to be taken captive into Babylon. ... Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ... Daniel (Hebrew: דָּנִיֵּאל; transliterated as Daniyyel in Standard Hebrew and Dāniyyêl in Tiberian Hebrew) is the name of at least three people from the Hebrew Bible: A Jewish exile in Babylon, the subject of the Book of Daniel and the most well-known of the three Daniels. ...

The extant New Testament of Vaticanus contains the Gospels, Acts, the General Epistles, the Pauline Epistles and the Epistle to the Hebrews (up to Heb 9:14, καθα[ριει); thus it lacks 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Revelation. These missing pages were replaced by a 15th century minuscule supplement (no. 1957). John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ... 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. ... General epistles are books in the New Testament in the form of letters. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbreviated Heb. ... (Redirected from 1 Timothy) This article or section should be merged with Second Epistle to Timothy The First Epistle to Timothy is a book of the canonic New Testament, one of the three so-called pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and the Epistle to Titus). ... This article or section should be merged with First Epistle to Timothy The Second Epistle to Timothy is a book of the canonic New Testament, one of the three so-called pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and the Epistle to Titus). ... Titus Flavius Vespasianus (December 30, 39–September 13, 81) ruled the Roman Empire from 79 to 81. ... The Epistle to Philemon is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ... For information on the last book of the New Testament see the Book of Revelation. ...

The Greek is written continuously with small neat writing, later retraced by an 11th century scribe. Punctuation is rare (accents and breathings have been added by a later hand) except for some blank spaces, diaeresis on initial iotas and upsilons, abbreviations of the nomina sacra and markings of OT citations. In linguistics, a, diaeresis, or dieresis (AE) (from Greek (diaerein), to divide) is the modification of a syllable by distinctly pronouncing one of its vowels. ... For programming language, see Iota and Jot. ... Upsilon (upper case , lower case ) is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Nomina sacra means Sacred names in Latin, and can be used to refer to traditions of abbreviated writing of several frequently occurring divine names or titles in early Greek language Holy Scripture. ...

The manuscript contains mysterious double dots (so called "umlauts") in the margin of the New Testament, which seem to mark places of textual uncertainty. There are 795 of these in the text and around another 40 that are uncertain. The date of these markings are disputed among scholars and are discussed in a link below.

Provenance

The manuscript has been housed in the Vatican Library (founded by Pope Nicholas V in 1448) for as long as it has been known, appearing in its earliest catalog of 1475 and in the 1481 catalogue. Its place of origin and the history of the manuscript is uncertain, with Rome, southern Italy and Caesarea all having been suggested. There has been speculation that it had previously been in the possession of Cardinal Bessarion because the minuscule supplement has a text similar to one of Bessarion's manuscripts. T.C. Skeat, a paleographer at the British Museum, has argued that Codex Vaticanus was among the 50 Bibles that the Emperor Constantine I ordered Eusebius of Caesarea to produce. The similarity of the text with the papyri and Coptic version (including some letter formation), parallels with Athanasius' canon of 367 suggest an Egyptian or Alexandrian origin. The Vatican Library (Latin: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana) is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. ... Nicholas V, né Tomaso Parentucelli (November 15, 1397 – March 24, 1455) was Pope from March 6, 1447, to his death. ... Events January 5/ 6 - Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden dies with no designated heir leaving all three kingdoms with vacant thrones. ... Events August 29 - Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England. ... Events May 3 - Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Beyazid II. May 21 - Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway dies and is succeeded by his son John (1481-1513) With the death of Duke Charles IV of Anjou, Anjou was reverted... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) coordinates: 41°54′N 12°29′E Time Zone: UTC+1 Administration Subdivisions 19 municipi Province Rome Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni ( The Union ) Characteristics Area 1,285 km² Population 2,547,677 (2005 estimate) Density 1983... Johannes Bessarion, or Basilius (c. ... Palaeography, literally old writing, (from the Greek words paleos = old and grapho = write) is the study of script. ... The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ... Constantine. ... Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (~275 – May 30, 339) (often called Eusebius Pamphili, Eusebius [the friend] of Pamphilus) was a bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and is often referred to as the father of church history because of his work in recording the history of the early Christian church. ... Events First Listing of the New Testament by St Athanasius of Alexandria. ...

Importance

Codex Vaticanus is one of the most important manuscripts for Textual criticism and is a leading member of the Alexandrian text-type. It was heavily used by Westcott and Hort in their edition of the Greek New Testament (1881). Textual criticism or lower criticism is a branch of philology or bibliography that is concerned with the identification and removal of errors from texts. ... The Alexandrian text-type (also called Neutral or Egyptian) is a group of early manuscripts of the New Testament in the original Greek. ... Brooke Foss Westcott (January 12, 1825–July 27, 1901) was an English churchman and theologian, Bishop of Durham from 1890 until his death. ... Fenton John Anthony Hort (April 23, 1828 - November 30, 1892) was an English theologian. ...

Literature

• H.J.M. Milne and T.C. Skeat "Scribes and Correctors", London 1938
• Janko Sagi "Problema historiae codicis B", Divius Thomas 1972, 3 - 29
• T.C. Skeat "The Codex Vaticanus in the 15th Century.", JTS 35 (1984) 454 - 65
• T.C. Skeat "The Codex Sinaiticus, the Codex Vaticanus and Constantine.", JTS 50 (1999) 583 - 625
• Philip B. Payne "Fuldensis, Sigla for Variants in Vaticanus and 1 Cor 14.34-5.", NTS 41 (1995) 251 - 262 [Payne discovered the first umlaut while studying this section.]
• Curt Niccum "The voice of the MSS on the Silence of the Women: ...", NTS 43 (1997) 242 - 255
• Philip B. Payne and Paul Canart "The Originality of Text-Critical Symbols in Codex Vaticanus.", Novum Testamentum 42 (2000) 105 - 113
• J. Edward Miller "Some Observations on the Text-Critical Function of the Umlauts in Vaticanus, with Special Attention to 1 Corinthians 14.34-35.", JSNT 26 (2003) 217-236 [Miller disagrees with Payne on several points. He notes and uses this website.]
• Philip B. Payne and Paul Canart "The Text-Critical Function of the Umlauts in Vaticanus, with Special Attention to 1 Corinthians 14.34-35: A Response to J. Edward Miller.", JSNT 27 (2004) 105-112 [Payne still thinks, contra Miller, that the combination of a bar plus umlaut has a special meaning.]

External links

• Codex Vaticanus NT Facsimile edition in PDF format.
• Codex Vaticanus B/03 Detailed description of Codex Vaticanus with many images and discussion of the "umlauts".