Codex Boreelianus


Codex Boreelianus, or its full name Codex Boreelianus Rheno-Trajectinus, is a uncial manuscript of the New Testament Gospels in Greek, written on parchment. It is designated by F or 09 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 86 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It is full of gaps, many of which arose between 1751 and 1830. The codex was named Boreelianus after Johannes Boreel, who brought it from the East.
The text of the codex represents the majority of the text, but with numerous alien readings. Some of its readings do not occur in any other manuscript. According to the present textual critics its text is not very important, but it is cited in all modern editions of the Greek New Testament.
The manuscript was brought from the East at the beginning of the 17th century. It was in private hands for over 100 years. Since 1830 it has been housed at the Utrecht University.

Description

The manuscript is a codex, containing the text of the four Gospels on 204 parchment leaves, with numerous gaps. The text of the existing codex begins with Matthew 9:1 and ends with John 13:34. Luke is even more incomplete. Textual critic Johann J. Wettstein remarked in 1751 that the codex started at Matthew 7:6 and only the folia up to Matthew 8:25 and Mark 11:6–16 were missing. Hence several folios appear to have gone missing since his time and the present.
The leaves are unbound and are kept in loose quires. The text is written in the late uncial script of the larger type, in two columns per page, with mostly 19 lines per column. The graphic writing style of the text is close to Codex Seidelianus I. The letters Η, Μ, Ν, and Π, are square, the letters Ε, Θ, Ο, Σ, and Φ have a round shape. The letters Δ, Ε, Θ, Ο, and especially Ψ in cruciform, are of the form characteristic for the late uncial script. Φ is large and bevelled at both ends. The letters were written by an 'elegant and careful' hand. The breathings and accents are given fully and usually correctly. The breathings are indicated by sigla ⊢ and ⊣, often used in codices from the 9th and 10th century. In some cases breathings are given incorrectly. The codex has a lot of grammatical errors, like hiatus and inclusion of final nu. The error of iotacism occurs infrequently.
The text is divided according to the Ammonian Sections, with the section number written in the left margin, but there are given without references to the Eusebian Canons. There is no division according to the chapters, however the titles are given at the top of the pages, sometimes also at the bottom. The capitals at the beginning of the sections stand out in the margin to indicate new sections are placed before each Gospel. It has some lectionary markings at the margin.
The headpieces are decorated, with headings written in gold and red ink; in some places nicely decorated initial letters can be found. The Ammonian sections are written in red. The pages are numbered; the Greek quire numbers are still found at the top right of some pages. At the top left of the first page of most quires in the Gospel of Matthew, Arabic quire numbers are found. There are several different correctors, among which the "first hand" worked on the codex, but the total number of corrections is not high.
The manuscript employs the nomina sacra for the following words: / θεος / theos, / Ιησους / Iesous, / χριστος / christos, / κυριος / kyrios, / υιος / huios, / σωτηρ / soter, / ουρανος / ouranos, / πνευμα / pneuma, / πατηρ / pater, / μητηρ / meter, / ανθρωπος / anthropos, / σταυρος / stauros, / δαυιδ / Dauid, / ισραηλ / Israel, / ιερουσαλημ / Ierousalem. The words at the end of lines are sometimes abbreviated too. It uses typographic ligatures.
; Current gaps in the manuscript

Text

The Greek text of this codex is considered a representative of the Byzantine text-type, but with a number of singular readings. According to biblical scholar Bruce M. Metzger, it is a typical Byzantine text. According to biblical scholars Kurt and Barbara Aland, it agrees with the Byzantine standard text 156 times, and 78 times with the Byzantine when it has the same reading as the "original" text. It does not support the "original" text against the Byzantine in any of the test passages. It has 11 independent or distinctive readings. Kurt Aland placed it in Category V of his New Testament manuscripts. Category V manuscripts are described as having "a purely or predominantly Byzantine text." It is not a very important codex, but it is an important witness of the Byzantine text-type. Hermann von Soden classified it as K. According to the Claremont Profile Method, it has mixed Byzantine text in Luke 1; in Luke 10 and Luke 20 the manuscript is defective.

Textual variants

Biblical scholar Jodocus Heringa produced a collation of the readings of Codex Boreelianus against the Textus Receptus, of which a sampling are below. Before the bracket are the Textus Receptus readings, afterwards those from Codex Boreelianus.

  • Matthew 9:1: εμβας ] εμβας ο Ιησους
  • Matthew 14:22: τους οχλους ] τον οχλον
  • Matthew 15:36: μαθηταις ] ματαις
  • Matthew 16:27: την πραξιν ] τα εργα
  • Matthew 16:28: των ωδε εστηκοτων ] ωδε εστωτες
  • Matthew 26:33: εγω ουδεποτε σκανδαλισθησομαι ] εγω ουδεποτε σκανδαλισθησομαι εν σοι
  • Matthew 26:40: τω πετρω ] αυτοις
  • Mark 7:3: κρατουντες την παραδοσιν των πρεσβυτερων ] κρατουντες των πρεσβυτερων
  • Mark 9:8: Ιησουν μονον μεθ' εαυτων ] Ιησουν μεθ' εαυτων
  • Luke 8:22: αυτος ανεβη ] αυτος ο Ιησους ανεβη
  • Luke 8:30: επηρωτησε ] επερωτησε
  • Luke 9:45: περι του ρηματος τουτου ] περι τουτου
  • John 9:1: ειδεν ] ο Ις ειδεν
  • John 10:8: προ εμου ] omit
  • John 13:26: αποκρινεται ο Ιησους εκεινος εστιν ] omit

Against K

The words before the bracket are the readings of the K, the words after are the readings of the codex.

John 5:44 ανθρωπων ] αλληλων
John 5:46 εμου γαρ ] γαρ εμου
John 6:2 ηκολουθει ] ηκολουθησεν
John 6:5 αγορασομεν ] αγορασωμεν
John 6:10 αναπεσον ] αναπεσαν
John 10:8 ηλθον προ εμου ] ηλθον

History

The earliest history of the manuscript is unknown. The codex is named after Johann Boreel, Dutch Ambassador at the Court of James I of England. There is no record of when Boreel obtained the codex, but it is generally believed that he brought it to the Netherlands from one of his travels to the Middle East. The connection to Boreel is indicated by textual critic Johann Jakob Wettstein, who was given a partial collation of the codex in 1730. The collation was made by Izaak Verburg, rector of the Amsterdam gymnasium, and contained text from Matthew 7:2 to Luke 11. Wettstein adds that he was not aware of its current location. Wettstein cited the codex in his Novum Testamentum Graecum, also in these parts, which do not survive to the present day. Wettstein designated the codex by siglum F; textual critic Casper Rene Gregory designated it by F and 09; and textual critic Hermann von Soden gave it the siglum ε 86.
After Johann Boreel's death in 1629, the codex itself was in private hands. Boreel's library was sold in 1632, but the manuscript may not have been among the items for sale. It could have remained in the possession of Boreel's family, for example, in the hands of his younger brother, the theologian Adam Boreel. On the front side of folio 168 is written the monogram NLB with date "February 9, 1756". Dutch notes can found on the front and reverse sides of page 40, but they are almost illegible. The codex resurfaced almost two centuries later, in 1823, and was identified as the Boreelianus by the Utrecht professor Jodocus Heringa. Its leaves had become disordered, and some of them were lost. Scrivener even stated: "Few manuscripts have fallen into such unworthy hands". The manuscript was now in the private hands of Johannes Michaelis Roukens in Arnhem. In a letter of 11 March 1830, Roukens explained that the manuscript had been in the possession of his father, Arend Anton Roukens, who had inherited it from his father, Johannes Michaelis Roukens.
In 1841 biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf wanted to see and examine the codex, but he was only allowed to read Heringa's papers on it, as himself Heringa was preparing a collation for publication. Heringa's papers were edited and published by Vinke in 1843 under the title Jodoci Heringa El. Fil: Disputatio de codice Boreeliano, nunc Rheno-Trajectino ab ipso in lucem protracto, which includes a "full and exact" collation of the text. Though initially having some difficulty gaining permission, textual critic Samuel Prideaux Tregelles examined the codex in 1850.
Biblical scholar Philipp Schaff in the Introduction to the American Edition of Westcott and Hort's The New Testament in the Original Greek wrote that it is "not an important manuscript." The same opinion was given by biblical scholar Frederic G. Kenyon, according to whom the text of the codex has "comparatively little authority". Despite these opinions, the codex continues to be cited in critical editions of Novum Testamentum Graece. The editions of Nestle-Aland cite the codex from its first verse – i.e. Matthew 9:1 – in its critical apparatus.
In 1876, paleographer H. Deane dated the manuscript to the 8th century, though Tischendorf and Gregory dated it to the 9th century; Doedes and Tregelles dated it later to the 10th century. As of 1995, it is dated by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research to the 9th century.
The codex has been located in the library of the Utrecht University since 1830. In March 2007, scholar David Trobisch visited Utrecht and viewed the manuscript with a number of colleagues. In October 2007 the manuscript was digitized.

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