| New Testament manuscript | |
 Page from Codex Vaticanus; ending of 2 Thes and beginning of Heb | |
| Name | Vaticanus |
|---|---|
| Sign | B |
| Text | Greek Old Testament and Greek New Testament |
| Date | 4th Century |
| Script | Greek |
| Now at | Vatican Library |
| Cite | C. Vercellonis, J. Cozza, Bibliorum Sacrorum Graecus Codex Vaticanus, Roma 1868. |
| Size | 27 × 27 cm (10.6 × 10.6 in) |
| Type | Alexandrian text-type |
| Category | I |
| Note | very close to 𝔓66, 𝔓75, 0162 |
The Codex Vaticanus (The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 1 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament and the majority of the Greek New Testament. It is one of the four great uncial codices.[1]: 68 Along with Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Sinaiticus, it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 4th century.[2][3]
The manuscript became known to Western scholars as a result of correspondence between textual critic Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (known usually as Erasmus) and the prefects of the Vatican Library. Portions of the codex were collated by several scholars, but numerous errors were made during this process. The codex's relationship to the Latin Vulgate and the value Jerome placed on it is unclear.[4] In the 19th century transcriptions of the full codex were completed.[1]: 68 It was at that point that scholars became more familiar with the text and how it differed from the more common Textus Receptus (a critical edition of the Greek New Testament based on earlier editions by Erasmus).[5]
Most current scholars consider Codex Vaticanus to be one of the most important Greek witnesses to the Greek text of the New Testament, followed by Codex Sinaiticus.[2] Until the discovery by Tischendorf of Sinaiticus, Vaticanus was considered to be unrivalled.[6] It was extensively used by textual critics Brooke F. Westcott and Fenton J. A. Hort in their edition of The New Testament in the Original Greek in 1881.[2] The most widely sold editions of the Greek New Testament are largely based on the text of the Codex Vaticanus.[2]: 26–30 Codex Vaticanus "is rightly considered to be the oldest extant copy of the Bible."[7]
The codex is named after its place of conservation in the Vatican Library, where it has been kept since at least the 15th century.[1]: 67
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
metz-ehrmanwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
- ^ "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Martiniwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Tregelles108was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose (1875). Six Lectures on the Text of the New Testament and the Ancient Manuscripts. Cambridge: George Bell 7 Sons. p. 26. ISBN 9781409708261.
- ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Codex Vaticanus". newadvent.org. Retrieved 3 April 2018.