Minuscule 543

Minuscule 543 is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum 543 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, ε 257 in von Soden's numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and labelled as 556 by biblical scholar and textual critic F. H. A. Scrivener. Using the study of comparative handwriting styles it has been assigned to the 12th century.
The manuscript contains the text of the four Gospels, with some gaps and some unusual grammar forms and numerous errors. The manuscript is housed at the University of Michigan.

Description

The manuscript is a codex, containing the text of the four Gospels on 184 thick parchment leaves, with several gaps. One leaf was misplaced during its binding. The parchment is coarse and yellowed by age.
The text of the codex was written two columns per page, 27-30 lines per page, 17 letters per line, in a minute hand using brown ink. The same scribe copied all four Gospels. Breathings and accents are employed in regular form, but in some sort of system. Iota subscript is not used, though iota adscriptum occurs very often, especially in the Gospel of Mark.
The titles to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark run: Ευαγγέλιον εκ του κατά Ματθαίου . The titles to Luke and John are the usual: Ευαγγέλιον κατά Λουκάν .
The lists of the chapters are placed before each Gospel; the numbers of the κεφαλαια are given at the left margin, with their titles in red at the top of the pages. There is a division according to the Ammonian Sections, with references to the Eusebian Canons. It contains lectionary markings, Synaxarion, Menologion, subscriptions, lists of how many phrases are used in each gospel, and how many lines are written in each gospel.
The list of κεφαλαια to Matthew is missing, and the Gospel of Matthew begins on the first page of the codex. It has additional non-biblical material: The Limits of the Five Patriarchates, of which one page is lost.

Nomina sacra and OT quotations

The nomina sacra are contracted in the usual way, but there are a number of words which the scribe failed to abbreviate. In some of the cases where nomina sacra are uncontracted, they have the heavy bar signifying contraction. υιος is contracted only once. On the other hand, it gives the unusual abbreviations for the other nomina sacra. Some unusual ones are σταυρωσον, which is written as ; σταυρωθη — ; and παρθένος is contracted to παρνος.
Quotations from the Old Testament are indicated in the left margin by a rubricated letter or sign.

Errors

Almost all the necessary corrections of misspellings have been made. Sometimes a stroke of the pen indicates an error, perhaps to be corrected later. Some corrections seem to be written by the first hand others plainly by a second hand. The apostrophe is used even when not required, especially in εξ', and ουκ'.
According tο Scrivener, movable nu occurs 416 times especially with words ειπεν, εστιν. In Matthew 12:7; Luke 8:10; John 5:46; 7:7; 8:27 there is a hiatus for lack of it. The error of iotacism occurs 358 times: ει for ι, ι for ει, ο for ω, ω for ο, αι for ε, ε for αι, ει for η, η for ει, η for ι, ι for η, ε for η, η for ε, οι for ι, ω for ου, η for υ, υ for η, υ for οι, υ for ει, η for οι, οι for η, ι for υ, οι for ει.
There are many errors by homoeoteleuton, where words/phrases are skipped over when the words/phrase following ends with the same letters.
There are some unusual forms like: ανεπεσαν, ειπαν, εθεωρων, εμελλεν, εμπροσθε, εσπλαγχνισθη, ιδαμεν, ιδεν, σαρκαν, συνετιθεντο.

Text

The Greek text of the codex has been considered a representative of the Caesarean text-type. It belongs to the textual family ƒ¹³, known also as the Ferrar Group/Family. The handwriting and the menology show the manuscript is a close member of the group. According to biblical scholars and textual critics Kurt and Barbara Aland, it agrees with the Byzantine standard text 151 times, and 72 times with the Byzantine when it has the same reading as the original text. It agrees 31 times with the original text against the Byzantine. It has 57 independent or distinctive readings. It is currently placed in Category III.
According to the Claremont Profile Method, it represents the textual ƒ in Luke 1, Luke 10, and Luke 20, as a core member.
The Pericope Adulterae follows Luke 21:38, as in other manuscripts of the Ferrar Family.
; Textual Variants
The words after the square bracket are the readings of the codex.

Matthew 1:18 and 1:23 — εν γαστρι ] εγγαστρι
Matthew 5:48 — εν τοις ουρανοις ]
Matthew 6:24 — μαμμωνα ] μαμωνα
Matthew 7:2 — απο ] εκ
Matthew 8:4 — Μωσης ] Μωυσης
Matthew 8:8 — δεινως ] δεινος
Matthew 8:8 — ικανος ] αξιος
Matthew 8:26 — τοις ανεμοις ] τω ανεμω
Matthew 9:17 — απολουνται ] απολλουνται
Matthew 9:17 — αμφοτερα ] αμφοτεροι
Matthew 11:5 — και νεκροι εγειρονται και πτωχοι ευαγγελιζονται ] και πτωχοι ευαγγελιζονται και νεκροι εγειρονται
Matthew 26:39 — ] ωφθη δε αυτω αγγελος απο του ενισχυσον αυτον και γενομενος εν αγωνια εκτενεστερον προσηυχετο εγενετο δε ο ιδρος αυτου ωσει θρομβη αθματος καταβαινοντες επι την γην
Mark 1:9 — Ναζαρετ ] Ναζαρεθ
Mark 1:10 — ἀπὸ ] ἐκ
Mark 1:10 — ἐκ ] εἰς
Mark 2:4 — κραββατον ] κραβαττον

History

Concerning the history of the manuscript, nothing is known until the year 1864, when it was in the possession of a dealer at Janina in Epeiros. It was then purchased from him by a representative of Baroness Burdett-Coutts, a philanthropist, together with other Greek manuscripts. They were transported to England in 1870–1871.
The manuscript was presented by Burdett-Coutts to Sir Roger Cholmely's School, and was housed at the Highgate, in London. In 1922 it was acquired for the University of Michigan It is currently housed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
J. Rendel Harris pointed out that the menology of the Ferrar group contains saints which appear to be peculiar to Calabria or Sicily. Abbe Martin had previously stated that certain palaeographical traits to be observed in these manuscripts were characteristic of Calabrian scriptoria.
Scrivener observed a close textual affinity to the Ferrar group and announced in 1883 in the third edition of "Plain Introduction" as pertaining to the same class. Scrivener collated its text and it was edited posthumously in 1893. This collation was not wholly accurate and Jacob Geerlings, from the University of Utah, gave a new and more accurate collation in 1932.