Codex Zacynthius

Uncial 040
New Testament manuscript
Facsimile from Tregelles edition
Facsimile from Tregelles edition
NameZacynthius
SignΞ
TextGospel of Luke
Datec. 550
ScriptGreek
FoundColin Macaulay, 1820
Now atCambridge University Library
CiteTregelles, Codex Zacynthius. Greek Palimpsest Fragments of the Gospel of Saint Luke, (1861)
Size36 cm by 29 cm
TypeAlexandrian
CategoryIII
Notetextually close to codex B

Codex Zacynthius (designated by siglum Ξ or 040 in the Gregory-Aland numbering; A1 in von Soden)[1] is a Greek New Testament codex, dated paleographically to the 6th century.[2] First thought to have been written in the 8th century,[3] it is a palimpsest—the original (lower) text was washed off its vellum pages and overwritten in the 12th or 13th century. The upper text of the palimpsest contains weekday Gospel lessons (299); the lower text contains portions of the Gospel of Luke, deciphered by biblical scholar and palaeographer Tregelles in 1861. The lower text is of most interest to scholars.

The manuscript came from Zakynthos, a Greek island, and has survived in a fragmentary condition. It was brought to England in 1821 and transferred to Cambridge University in 1985 which later purchased it after an appeal in 2014. It is often cited in critical editions of the Greek New Testament.

  1. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 36.
  2. ^ 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: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
  3. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1907). Canon and Text of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T & T Clark. p. 361.