Everything about The Codex Alexandrinus totally explained
The
Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, MS Royal 1. D. V-VIII; Gregory-Aland no.
A or
02) is a
5th century manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the
Septuagint and the
New Testament. Along with the
Codex Sinaiticus and the
Codex Vaticanus, it's one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible. It derives its name from
Alexandria where it resided for a number of years before being given to the British in the 17th century.
Contents
The text in the codex is written in two columns in
uncial script, with between 46 and 52 lines per column and 20 to 25 letters per line. The beginning lines of each book are written in red ink and sections within the book are marked by a larger letter set into the margin. Words are written continuously in a large square uncial hand with no accents and only some breathings (possibly added by a later editor).
It contains a complete copy of the
LXX, including the
deuterocanonical books
3 and
4 Maccabees,
Psalm 151 and the
14 Odes. The "Epistle to Marcellinus" attributed to
Saint Athanasius and the
Eusebian summary of the Psalms are inserted before the Book of Psalms.
The codex also contains all of the books of the
New Testament, in addition to
1 Clement (lacking 57:7-63) and the homily known as
2 Clement (up to 12:5a).
There is also an appendix marked in the index, which lists the
Psalms of Solomon, and probably contained more apocryphal/pseudepigraphical books but has been torn off. The pages containing these books have also been lost.
Due to damage and lost folios, various passages are missing or have defects:
- Lacking: 1 Sam 12:18-14:9 (1 leaf); Ps 49:19-79:10 (9 leaves); Matt 1:1-25:6 (26 leaves); John 6:50-8:52 (2 leaves); 2 Cor 4:13-12:6 (3 leaves)
- Damaged: Gen 14:14-17, 15:1-5, 15:16-19, 16:6-9 (lower portion of torn leaf lost)
- Defects due to torn leaves: Gen 1:20-25, 1:29-2:3, Lev 8:6,7,16; Sirach 50:21f, 51:5
There are 773
vellum folios (630 in the Old Testament and 143 in the New Testament). The manuscript measures 12.6 by 10.4 inches. Most of the folios were originally gathered into
quires of 8 leaves each. However, in modern times it was rebound into quires of 6 leaves each. The only decorations in the manuscript are decorative tailpieces at the end of each book (see illustration). It also shows a tendency to increase the size of the first letter of each sentence.
Provenance
The manuscript's original provenance is unknown. A 13th or 14th century
Arabic note on folio 1 reads: "Bound to the Patriarchal Cell in the Fortress of Alexandria. Whoever removes it thence shall be excommunicated and cut off. Written by Athanasius the humble." A 17th century
Latin note on a flyleaf (from binding in a royal library) states that the manuscript was given to a patriarchate of Alexandria in
1098 (
donum dedit cubicuo Patriarchali anno 814 Mrtyrum), although this may well be "merely an inaccurate attempt at deciphering the Arabic note by Athanasius." The codex was brought to
Constantinople in
1621 by Cyril Lucar (first a patriarch of Alexandria, then later a patriarch of Constantinople) who then presented it to
Charles I of England in
1627, thus becoming part of the Royal Library, British Museum and now the British Library. It was saved from the fire at Ashburnam House (the
Cotton library) on 23 October
1731, by the librarian, Dr Bentley.
Textual features
Textual critics have had a challenging task in classifying the Codex, with the exact relationship to other known texts and families still disputed. The
gospels are mostly of the
Byzantine text-type, but there are a number of
Alexandrian features. Alexandrinus follows Alexandrian readings through the rest of the New Testament. However, the text goes from closely resembling
Codex Sinaiticus in the
Paul, to more closely resembling the text of a number of
papyri (P
74 for Acts, P
47 for
the Apocalypse). The gospels are cited as a "consistently cited witness of the third order" in the
critical apparatus of the
Novum Testamentum Graece, while the rest of the New Testament is of the "first order."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Codex Alexandrinus'.
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