A blog by James Snapp, Jr. about New Testament textual criticism, especially involving variants in the Gospels.
Codex Alexandrinus is one of the most important manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. Produced in the first half of the 400s, its readings have been known to European researchers ever since 1627, when it was entrusted to the king of England by Cyril Lucar.
Digital images of the New Testament portion of Codex A (Volume 4) have been placed online at the website of the British Library. Site-visitors can use the search-bar to search from page to page. Here is an index of the beginnings of each book, and other often-consulted passages:
List of Contents – 1v
Matthew 1:1-25:6 is all gone.
Chapter-list for Mark – 5v
Mk 6:1 – 9r (“6” written in inner margin)
Mk. 9:1 – 11v (“9” written in inner margin)
Mk 12:1 – 14v (“12” written in outer margin)
Chapter-list for Luke – 19r
Lk. 1:1 – 20r (Notice book-title in upper margin)
Lk. 4:1 – 22v (“4” written in inner margin)
Lk. 6:1 – 24v (“6” written in outer margin)
Lk. 8:1 – 26v (“8” written in outer margin)
Lk. 11:1 – 30r (“11” written in outer margin)
Lk. 15:1 – 33v (“15” in margin)
Lk.20:1 – 37r (“20” in margin)
Lk. 22:40 – 39r (SE portion)
Lk.24:1 – 40v (“24”in margin)
Chapter-list for John – 42r
Jn. 1:1 – 42r
Jn. 3:1 – 43v (“3” in margin)
Jn. 5:1 – 45r (“5” in margin)
[Missing: 6:50 katabainwn – 8:52 [leg]eis]
Jn. 11:55 – 49r (SE section)
Jn. 14:1 – 51r (“14” in margin)
Jn. 18:1 – 53r (“18” in margin)
Jn. 20:1 – 54v (“20” in margin)
Acts 6:1 – “6” in margin)
Acts 9:1 – 61v (“9” in margin)
Acts 12:1 – 63v (“12” in margin)
Acts 15:1 – 65v (“15” in margin)
Acts 20:1 – 69v (“20” in margin)
Acts 24:1 – 72v (“24” in margin)
Acts 27:1 – 74r (“27” in margin)
First Peter 1 – 78r
Second Peter 1 – 80r
First John 1 – 81v
Second John – 83v
Third John – 84r
Romans 3 – 86r (“3” in margin)
Romans 8 – 88r (“8” in margin)
Romans 10 – 89r (“10” in margin)
Romans 12 – 90r (“12” in margin)
Romans 15 – 91r (“15” in margin)
First Corinthians 1 – 92v
First Corinthians 6 – 94r
First Corinthians 9 – 95r
First Corinthians 10 – 95v (“10” in margin)
First Corinthians 13 – 97r (“13” in margin)
First Corinthians 15 – 98r (“15” in margin)
Second Corinthians 1 – 99v
[Missing: 2 Cor. 4:13b gegramme[non] – 12:7 uperbolh]
Galatians 1 – 101v
Galatians 4 – 103r (“4” in margin)
Ephesians 1 – 104r
Philippians 1 – 107r
Colossians 1 – 108v
First Thessalonians 1 – 110v
Second Thessalonians 1 – 112r
Hebrews 1 – 113r
Hebrews 5 – 114v
Hebrews 10 – 116v
Hebrews 12 – 118r
First Timothy 1 – 119r
Second Timothy 1 – 121r
Revelation 1 – 125r
Revelation 4 – 126r
Revelation 8 – 127v
Revelation 13 – 129r
Revelation 18 – 131r
Revelation 21 – 132v
First Clement 1 – 134r
First Clement 20 – 136r
First Clement 51 – 140r (This is why we don’t use chemical reagents!)
First Clement 63 – 141v (This, too, is why we never use chemical reagents!)
Second Clement 1- 143r
Posted by James Snapp Jr at 6:33 PMHey James, thanks for educating us on textual criticism. Quick question. how close is codex Alexandrinus from codex Vaticanus? I’m seeing some bizantine readings in Cyril of Alexandria. I wonder if those readings are more frequent in codex Alexandrinus than Vaticanus.
In the Gospels, they're not very close.
Vaticanus (the part from the 300s) doesn't even have Revelation.
I'd say they're not very close in other sections either, though I haven't attempted a direct comparison. If you have Swanson, maybe you could see something there.
Thanks James! By reading Jerome and Chrysostom, I noticed that their texts tend to be predominantly Byzantine in the gospels with some Alexandrian readings here and there but when it comes to the Pauline epistles, they seem to be making more use of Alexandrian readings. Codex A in that sense seems to be a potential good candidate to come close to what those fathers had in their manuscripts given that it is Byzantine in the gospels and acts and Alexandrian in the Pauline epistles. I am looking for manuscripts with this characteristic for their ability to witness to what was commonly used in the churches.
