Contents: Introduction * Table of Papyri and Uncials * Table of Minuscules 1-500 * Table of Minuscules 501-1000 * Table of Minuscules 1001-1500 * Table of Minuscules 1501-2000 * Table of Minuscules Over 2000 * Notes *
Textual critics are dependent on their materials -- in this case, manuscripts. But how is a student to know which manuscripts contain which text? No one can possibly examine all the manuscripts now available.
To make matters worse, not all editors agree on the nature of the text found in the manuscripts.
This article attempts to summarize the judgments passed by previous editors. The tables below list all non-fragmentary manuscripts cited regularly in at least one of the major recent critical apparati (Merk, Nestle-Aland26, Nestle-Aland27, UBS3, UBS4). Notes on sources and how to interpret the data follow the table. Fragmentary manuscripts are omitted as they should be dealt with on a more detailed basis.
Gregory Number | Soden Symbol | Date | Content | Soden Desc | Merk Desc | Aland Desc | Comment |
P13 | a1034 | III/ IV | Heb# | H | H | I Free | Generally goes with P46 B sa. |
P46 | II/ III | p# | H-C | I Free | Along with B, head of a very early text-type. Somewhat wild, especially in Romans. Zuntz called this type "proto-Alexandrian," and included in in P46 B 1739 sa bo; in my opinion, the Bohairic goes with A C 33 while 1739 heads its own text-type. | ||
(01) | d2 | IV | eapcr | H | H | I | Earliest and purest manuscript of the true Alexandrian text. Closest relative is 33. |
A (02) | d4 | V | e#ap#cr | H | H | I | Largely Alexandrian, of the early type, with a few mixed readings. |
B (03) | d1 | IV | eap#c | H | H | I | Along with P46 and sa, the head of the earliest known text-type. |
C (04) | d3 | V | e#a#p#c#r# | H | H | II | Early Alexandrian text. Fairly pure example of the type; much less mixture than in the gospels. |
D (06) | a1026 | VI | p# Gk/Lat | Ia1 | Ca | II (Dc III) | Earliest "Western" witness. Two copies (Dabs1 and Dabs2) known. The facing Latin text is not parallel, and is close to the Old Latin b. Not an ancestor of F G; D has more major divergences but fewer minor divergences from the Alexandrian text. |
F (010) | a1029 | IX | p# Gk/Lat | Ia1 | Ca | II | "Western" text. Sister or cousin of G. The facing Latin text is not fully parallel; it contains a mix of vulgate and Old Latin readings with perhaps some assimilation to the Greek (or vice versa!). Beautifully but badly copied. |
G (012) | a1028 | IX | p# Gk/Lat | Ia1 | Ca | III | "Western" text. Sister or cousin of F, but generally the more accurate of the pair. The interlinear Latin closely follows the Greek. The text has many minor departures from the Alexandrian text, but fewer major shifts than D. |
H (015) | a1022 | VI | p# | H | H | III | Alexandrian, of a late cast, with many Byzantine readings. Said to have been corrected from a Pamphilian ms., but most corrections are Byzantine. |
I (016) | a1041 | V | p# | H | H | II | Very pure and early Alexandrian; close to . |
K (018) | I1 (Apr1) | IX | p#c Comm | K | V | Byzantine. Pair with 0151. | |
L (020) | a5 | IX | a#p#c | K | K | V | Byzantine. |
P (025) | a3 | IX | a#p#c#r# | H | H | III | Largely Byzantine, with some late Alexandrian readings |
Y (044) | d6 | IX? | e#ap#c | H | H | III | Almost purely Byzantine, with some late Alexandrian readings (rather similar to P) in the later epistles. |
048 | a1 | V | a#p#c# | H | II | Apparently mostly Alexandrian but with many free readings. | |
049 (S) | a2 | IX | ap#c | (CK) | V | Byzantine. | |
056 | O7 | X | apc Comm | (K) | V | Byzantine; pair with 0142. | |
075 | Op3 | X | p# Comm | III | Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings. | ||
0121 (0121a, M) | a1031 | X | 1-2C# | H | H | III | Family 1739 with some Byzantine infusion. Zuntz dates to century XII. |
0121b (M) | a1031 | X? | Heb# | H | H | III | Now considered part of 0243 (which see). |
0142 | O6 | X | apc Comm | (H) | V | Byzantine; pair with 056 | |
0150 | X2 | IX | p# Comm | III | Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings. | ||
0151 | X21 | IX | p# Comm | V | Byzantine; pair with K/018. | ||
0243 (+0121b) | X | 1C# 2C (Heb#) | II? | Very pure family 1739 text, especially in Corinthians. Probably a near cousin of 1739. See the entry on family 1739. | |||
0278 | IX | p# | Late Alexandrian with a strong Byzantine overlay. | ||||
0285 (+081) | VI | p# | (H[I]) | (H) | Late Alexandrian with assorted mixed readings |
Gregory Number | Soden Symbol | Date | Content | Soden Desc | Merk Desc | Aland Desc | Comment |
1 | d254 | XII | eapc | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
2 | a253 | XII | apc | Ib1 | Cb | V | Now officially renumbered 2815 |
5 | d453 | XIV | eapc | Ia2 | Ca | III | |
6 | d356 | XIII | eapc | H | H | III | Base text is family 1739, close to 424**. Heavy overlay of late Byzantine readings. |
33 | d48 | IX | e#a#p#c# | H | H | I | Primarily Byzantine in Romans, which comes from a later hand. This text may related to 2344. The remaining books are purely Alexandrian, close to . All pages of Paul are intact, but there is some damage from damp. |
35 | d309 | XI | eapcr | Ib2 | Cb | ||
38 | d355 | XIII | #eapc | Ia3 | Ca | ||
43 | a270 | XII | eapc | Ib | Cb | ||
69 | d505 | XV | e#a#pc#r# | Ia3 | C | III | Mostly Byzantine, with some late Alexandrian readings. Group with 462 2344. |
81 | a162 | 1044 | a#pc | H | H | II | Good Alexandrian witness. Transitional between early and late forms. |
88 | a200 | XII | apcr | Ia1 | Ca | III | Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian (family 2127) readings. Also occasional wild ("Western"?) readings. |
104 | a103 | 1087 | apcr | H | H | III | Late Alexandrian with a heavy Byantine overlay. Some readings reminiscent of family 1611. |
177 | a106 | XI | apcr | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
181 | a101 | X | apcr | Ia1 | Ca | III | Primarily Byzantine with hints of something else (mostly in Corinthians). This earlier substrate appears akin to 1877. |
203 | a203 | 1111 | #apcr | Ic2 | Ca | V | |
206 | a365 | XIII | #apc | Ib1 | Cb | V | Almost purely Byzantine; probably groups with 429. |
216 | a469 | 1358 | #apc | Ib2 | Cb | ||
218 | d300 | XIII | #eapcr | Ia3 | Ca | III | |
221 | a69 | X | apc | Ic2 | Cc | V | |
223 | a186 | XIV | ap#c | Kc | V | Slightly impure example of von Soden's Kc group. | |
226 | d156 | XII | eapc | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
241 | d507 | XI | eapcr | Ia3 | Ca | ||
242 | d206 | XII | eapcr | Ib1 | Cb | ||
255 | a174 | XIV | apc | Ia3 | Ca | ||
256 | a216 | XI | #apcr Gk/arm | Ia3 | Ca | II | Family 2127, with particularly strong links to the Armenian. |
257 | a466 | XIV | apc | Ic2 | Cc | ||
263 | d372 | XIII | eapc | Ia3 | Ca | III | Family 2127 (a rather weak member) |
319 | a256 | XII | #apc | Ia3 | Ca? | V | |
321 | a254 | XII | #apc | Ia | Ca | ||
323 | a157 | XII | apc | Ib2 | (Cb) | III | |
326 | a257 | X | ap#c | H | H | III | Primarily Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings. |
330 | d259 | XII | eapc | Ia3 | Ca | III | Family 330. Forms a pair with 451 in all books except Hebrews, where 330 becomes Byzantine. More distantly kin to 2492. |
336 | a500 | XV | apcr | Ib | Cb | ||
337 | a205 | XII | #apcr | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
365 | d367 | XII | eap#c | K | III | Family 2127. Particularly close to 2127 itself, of which it might almost be a descendent with Byzantine mixture. | |
378 | a258 | XII | apc | Ic2 | Cc | V | |
383 | a353 | XIII | apc | Ic2 | Cc | ||
385 | a 506 | 1407 | #apcr | Ic2 | (Cc) | V | |
424** | O12 | XI | apcr | H | H | III | The corrections clearly belong to family 1739 (in fact, they seem to be the purest text of this type). They are particularly close to 6. 424* is purely Byzantine. |
429 | a398 | XIV | apcr | Ib1 | Cb | V | Apparently almost purely Byzantine; group with 206. |
436 | a172 | X | apc | Ia3 | Ca | III | Late Alexandrian with Byzantine mixture; perhaps closest to 1962. |
440 | d260 | XII | eapc | Ib2 | Cb | ||
441 | O18 | XIII | a#Ro1C# Comm | III | Contains Acts Romans, and most of 1 Corinthians. Bound with 442. Late Alexandrian and Byzantine. | ||
442 | O18 | XII/ XIII | 1C#-He c Comm | II | Contains part of 1 Cor, the rest of Paul, and the Catholics. Bound with 441. A good late Alexandrian text. | ||
451 | a 178 | XI | apc | K | III | Family 330. 451 is almost a sister of 330, except that it retains its quality in Hebrews, where 330 is Byzantine. 2492 is a more distant relative. See the entry on 330. | |
459 | a104 | 1092 | apcr | H? | III | Late Alexandrian with much Byzantine corruption. Akin to family 2127. | |
460 | a397 | XIII | #apc Gk/ Lat/arab | Ia3 | Ca | ||
462 | a359 | XI/ XII | apc | Ia3 | Ca | Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings. Group with 69 2344. | |
467 | a502 | XV | apcr | Ia2 | Ca | III | |
489 | d459 | 1316 | #eapc | Ia2 | Ca | ||
491 | d152 | XI | #eapc | Ib2 | (Cb) | V |
Gregory Number | Soden Symbol | Date | Content | Soden Desc | Merk Desc | Aland Desc | Comment |
506 | d101 | XI | #eapcr | Ic2 | Cc | V | |
522 | d602 | 1515/ 1516 | eapcr | Ib1 | Cb | V | |
547 | d157 | XI | eapc | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
614 | a364 | XIII | apc# | Ic2 | Cc | III? | Byzantine. Pair with 2412; group with 876. |
623 | a173 | 1037 | #apc Comm | Ia2 | Ca | III | Mostly Byzantine with a handful of early readings |
629 | a460 | XIV | apc Gk/Lat | K | III | About 75% Byzantine, but the only minuscule with significant "Western" readings. These seem to derive from the Latin; most agree with the vulgate or the Old Latin a. | |
630 | a461 | XIV | a#pc | Ib | III | Weak family 1739 in Romans & Corinthians; gradually turns pure Byzantine in the later epistles. Pair with 2200. | |
635 | a161 | XI | apc | Ib1 | Cb | ||
642 | a552 | XIV | #apc | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
794 | d454 | XIV | #eapc | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
823 | d368 | XIII | #eapc | Ib2 | Cb | ||
876 | a356 | XII | apc | Ic2 | Cc | Byzantine; possibly group with 614 and 2412. | |
913 | a470 | XIV | apc | Ic2 | Cc | ||
915 | a382 | XIII | apc | Ia1 | Ca | III | |
917 | a264 | XII | apc | Ia1 | Ca | III | |
919 | a113 | XI | apcr | Ia | Ca | V | |
920 | a55 | X | apcr | Ib? | Ca | V | |
927 | d251 | 1133 | eapc | Ia2 | Ca | ||
941 | d369 | XIII | eapc | Ib1 | Cb | ||
999 | d353 | XIII | eapc | Ia3 | Ca | V |
Gregory Number | Soden Symbol | Date | Content | Soden Desc | Merk Desc | Aland Desc | Comment |
1022 | a480 | XIV | apc | Kx | Byzantine in Romans-Thessalonians; good family 1611 text in Pastorals and Hebrews | ||
1099 | a368 | XIV | apc | Ib | Cb | V | |
1108 | a370 | XIII | #apc | Ic1 | Cc | ||
1149 | d370 | XIII | eapc | Ib2 | Cb | V | |
1175 | a74 | XI | ap#c | H | H | I | Good late Alexandrian text, except in Romans and (probably) Thessalonians, where it is Byzantine. |
1241 | d371 | XII | e#a#pc | H? | K? | III | Text from first hand is Byzantine. The sundry supplements (1C 2:10f., 2C 13:3f., Gal, Eph. 2:15, Phil., Col., Heb. 11:3f.) are mixed late Alexandrian and Byzantine. |
1245 | a158 | XII | apc | Ic1 | Cc | ||
1311 | a170 | 1090 | apc | Ia3 | Ca | ||
1319 | d180 | XII | #eapc | Ia3 | Ca | III | Family 2127. The family is often called after 1319, although 2127 is
a better witness to the type. |
Gregory Number | Soden Symbol | Date | Content | Soden Desc | Merk Desc | Aland Desc | Comment |
1505 | d165 | XII | eapc | Kx | III | Family 1611. Pair with 2495 (with 1505 the better of the two). Colophon falsely dates to 1084. | |
1506 | Qe402 | 1320 | eRo#1C Comm | II | Excellent early Alexandrian text, close to . Noteworthy for omitting Romans chapter 16. | ||
1518 | a551 | XIV | apc | Ic1 | Cc | Lost, but probably family 1611. May have resurfaced as 1896. | |
1573 | d398 | XII/ XIII | #eapc | (Ir) | (Kr) | III | Family 2127 |
1610 | a468 | 1364 | apc | Ic2 | Cc | ||
1611 | a208 | X? | apcr | Ic1 | Cc | III | Best surviving witness of family 1611. |
1738 | a164 | XI | #apc | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
1739 | a78 | X | apc | Ib2? (lists as H) | D? (lists as H) | I | Core member of family 1739, preserving about 90% of the family text. Sister or nearly of 0243. Marginal commentary from assorted sources (paralleled in 1908). In Paul, most of the marginalia are from Origen (in Acts and the Catholics they are from other sources). Colophon claims Romans was copied from Origen's commentary and the rest from an Origenic manuscript, but there is no evident change in text-type. |
1758 | a396 | XIII | #apc | Ib1 | Cb | ||
1799 | e610?! | XII/ XIII | a#pc | (Iphir) | Primarily Byzantine, with occasional block mixes of weak late Alexandrian and family 1739 texts. Edited text; paragraph divisions marked by the insertion of adelfoi or similar heading, probably based on the lectionary (lectionary readings are marked in the margin). | ||
1827 | a367 | 1295 | #apc | Ia2 | Ca | ||
1831 | a472 | XIV | #apc | Ib1 | Cb | ||
1835 | a56 | X | apc | Ia3 | Ca | V | |
1836 | a65 | X | pc# | Ia1 | Ca | III | |
1837 | a192 | XI | #apc | Ia3 | Ca | ||
1838 | a175 | XI | #apc | Ia2 | Ca | III | |
1845 | a64 | X | apc | Ia3 | Ca | (III) | |
1852 | a114 | XIII | #apcr | H (Ro) Ic1? | H(Ro) Cc | III | Late Alexandrian mixed with Byzantine in Romans. Elsewhere mostly Byzantine. |
1867 | a154 | XII | #apc | Ic2 | Cc | ||
1872 | a209 | XII | apcr | Ib2 | Cb | V | |
1873 | a252 | XII | apc | Ia2 | Ca | ||
1877 | a455 | XIV | apc | III | Mostly Byzantine, with some sections of something else. This other text is probably the same as that underlying the non-Byzantine portions of 181. | ||
1881 | a651 | XIV | pc# | II | Family 1739 with some Byzantine corruptions. Best complete family text after 1739. | ||
1891 | a62 | X | apc | Ib | Cb | V | |
1898 | a70 | X | apc | Ia1 | Ca | ||
1908 | Opi103 | XI | p Comm | H | III | Commentary (in Romans) parallels that in 1739, but the text is poorer. Outside Romans, text is rather Byzantine. | |
1912 | a1066 | X | p# | Ia1 | Ca | III | |
1960 | a1431 | 1366 | p# | Badly mutilated text of Paul seems to belong with von Soden's Kr text. | |||
1962 | X10 | XI/ XII | p# Comm | II | Fairly high-quality late Alexandrian text, loosely related to family 2127; some links to 436 | ||
1984 | Qpi43 | XIV | p# Comm | Mostly Byzantine, with some special readings shared with 1985. | |||
1985 | Qpi55 | 1561 | p# Comm | Mostly Byzantine, with some special readings shared with 1984. |
Gregory Number | Soden Symbol | Date | Content | Soden Desc | Merk Desc | Aland Desc | Comment |
2005 | a1436 | XIV | ap# | Ic1 | Cc | III | Probably family 1611, although not yet properly studied. |
2127 | d202 | XII | eap#c | Ia3 | Ca | II | Best member of family 2127, a late Alexandrian group containing also 256 263 365 1319 1573 etc. |
2138 | a116 | 1072 | #apcr | Ic1 | Cc | III | Head of the family 1611 group in Acts and the Catholics, but here much attenuated. |
2143 | a184 | XII | apc | Ia2 | Ca | ||
2147 | d299 | XI/ XII | #eapc | Ic2 | Cc | V | |
2200 | d414 | XIV | eapcr | III | Weak family 1739 in Romans & Corinthians; mostly Byzantine in the later epistles. Pair with 630. | ||
2298 | a171 | XII | apc | Ib2 | Cb | V | |
2344 | XI | #a#p#c#r | III | Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings. Group with 69 462. 33supp (Romans) may also go with this text. | |||
2412 | XII | #apc | III? | Almost purely Byzantine. Pair with 614; group with 876. | |||
2464 | IX | ap#c | II | Late Alexandrian with some Byzantine mixture. Few dramatic readings; the Alands should probably have rated it category III, not II. Byzantine in Romans. | |||
2492 | XIV | eapc | III | Arguably the best text of family 330, although somewhat distant from the pair 330 451. See the entry on 330. | |||
2495 | XV | #eapcr | III? | Family 1611. A late and somewhat degraded cousin of 1505. |
Gregory Number -- The standard numerical designation for manuscripts, based on the system created by Caspar Rene Gregory.
Soden Symbol -- The designation given to the manuscript by H. von Soden. The user is referred to von Soden's work or the commentaries for a discussion of these symbols, many of which cannot even be reproduced in HTML format.
The Gregory/Soden equivalences given here are taken primarily from Kurt Aland, Kurzgefasste Liste der Grieschischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments (de Gruyer, 1963). They have been checked against Merk where necessary.
Date -- as given by the most recent catalogs (NA27 or the Kurzgefasste Liste). Arabic numerals indicate a precise date listed in a colophon; roman numerals indicate centuries (as judged by paleographers).
Contents -- briefly describes the contents of a manuscript. e=Gospels; a=Acts; p=Paul; c=Catholics; r=Apocalypse. The symbol # indicates a defect. If it follows the description of a section (e.g. p#) it indicates that the manuscript is defective in that section; if it precedes the list, it means that the nature of the defect is unknown to me. Thus, ap#c indicates a manuscript which contains Acts, Paul, and the Catholics, which is defective for part of Paul; #apc indicates a manuscript of those same books which is defective in a way unknown to me. Comm indicates a commentary manuscript; polyglot manuscripts are also noted.
The information here is taken from the Kurzgefasste Liste, from NA27, from a variety of special studies, and from my own researches.
Soden Description -- this indicated the classification in which von Soden placed the manuscripts. There is no room here for a full discussion, but we may note that H is the Aexandrian text (comprehending, in this case, the P46/B and family 1739 text). K is the Byzantine text. The various I groups include the "Western" text and a wide variety of manuscripts of lesser value and other types. Of these, Ia1 corresponds roughly to the "Western" text. Ia3 consists of late Alexandrian manuscripts (plus family 330). This group includes all of family 2127, as well as a number of texts loosely related to family 2127. Ic1 is family 1611.
The information from this section again comes from the Kurzgefasste Liste, supplemented by Merk and other authorities.
Merk Description -- These are the classification used in Augustinus Merk's Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine. It will be observed that, for the most part, they correspond with von Soden's, except that C has been substituted for I. This list is also generally useful for Bover's edition, although Bover does not offer group names. A question mark or parenthesized entry in this column indicates that Merk's list of manuscripts does not correspond to his manuscript groupings; the reader is referred to the group lists.
Aland Description -- Kurt and Barbara Aland undertook to classify "all" minuscules according to quality. In The Text of the New Testament (translated by Erroll F. Rhodes, Eerdmans, 1989) they listed their results. A category I manuscript was considered most important for establishing the text (practical translation: a category I manuscript is supposed to be free of Byzantine influence). A category II manuscript is somewhat poorer and more mixed; category III is important "for the history of the text"; category V is Byzantine. In practice, these categories are an assessment of Byzantine influence.
It will be noted that not all manuscripts have been rated. Some (e.g. 1799) were not collated. In most instances, however, it appears to be because the manuscript is very slightly mixed -- not purely Byzantine, but not clearly anything else, either. In some cases I have been unable to determine why the Alands did not give a rating.
Comment -- this is my attempt to provide the "last word." Where I have examined a manuscript, I give my results (based either on examination of collation or on statistical studies of 550 readings).