Codex Washingtonianus Or Washington Ms. Of The Gospels

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First Composed: 5 April 2000

Last Updated: 5 April 2000


Name

Codex Washingtonianus or Washington Ms. of the Gospels (W, 032, e 014)

Date

4th or 5th Century CE.

Size

Written on vellum and palimpsest, 20.5-21 cm. x 13-14.5 cm. There is one column and 30 lines per page. The ink is dark brown.

Contents

It has the Four Gospels.

Total number of leaves are 187.

The text is Byzantine in Matthew. In Mark 1:1-5:30 it is Western, but in 5:31-16:20 it is Caesarean. In Luke 1:1-8:12 the text is Alexandrian, whereas in 8:13-24:53 it is Byzantine. John 1:1-5:11, the first quire of the Gospel, was written by another hand; and the text is apparently one which was current in Egypt before the Hesychian recension. In John 5:12-21:25 the text is Alexandrian.

Writing

The words are written continuously without separation. Accents are absent. The rough breathing is used very rarely.

The codex is the work of two scribes. One of them wrote the whole manuscript with the exception of the first quire of John 1:1-5:11. The other scribe copied the leaves which compose this quire. The manuscript contains considerable number of corrections, most of them made by the scribe himself. A few of the corrections were carried out by a corrector who lived in the sixth century or possibly at the end of the fifth century.

Salient Features

Matthew 16:2 f. is present and not marked as doubtful or spurious. There is a peculiar addition after Mark 16:14. Luke 22:43 f., John 5:4 and the Pericope de adultera are omitted.

Location

Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC, United States of America.


References

[1] W. H. P. Hatch, The Principal Uncial Manuscripts Of The New Testament, 1939, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Plate XXI.

The New Testament Manuscripts