Minuscule 121

Minuscule 121
New Testament manuscript
TextGospels †
Date1284
ScriptGreek
Now atBibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève
Size19.5 cm by 15 cm
TypeByzantine text-type
CategoryV
Notemarginalia

Minuscule 121 is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum 121 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 366 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It is dated by a colophon to the year 1284.

Description

The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book format), containing the text of the four Gospels on 241 parchment leaves (sized 19.5 cm by 15 cm), with one missing section: Matthew 5:21-8:24. The text is written in one column per page, 24 lines per page. The capital letters are written in coloured ink.

The text is divided according to the chapters (known as κεφαλαια / kephalaia), whose numbers are given in the margin, and their titles (known as τιτλοι / titloi) written at the top of the pages. There is also another division according to the smaller Ammonian Sections (241 in Mark 241, the last being at 16:20), but contains no reference to the Eusebian Canons (both early divisions of the Gospels into sections). It contains the chapter content tables (also known as κεφαλαια) before each Gospel, lectionary markings in the margin (for liturgical use), incipits, a Synaxarion, a Menologion, and subscriptions at the end of each Gospel.

Text

The Greek text of the codex is considered to be a representative of the Byzantine text-type. Biblical scholar Hermann von Soden classified it to the textual family Kx. Biblical scholar Kurt Aland placed it in Category V of his New Testament manuscript classification system. Category V manuscripts are described as "manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text.": 336  

According to the Claremont Profile Method (a specific analysis of textual data), it creates textual cluster 121, as a leading manuscript. It is textually close to Minuscule 64, 533, 662, 663, 1060, 1297, 1642, and 1665.

History

According to the colophon, it was written in September 1284, by a copyist named Joasaph. It was examined by textual critics Johann J. Griesbach, Johann M. A. Scholz, Constantin von Tischendorf, and Paulin Martin.

Biblical scholar Caspar René Gregory saw it in 1884. It is presently housed at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève (3398), at Paris.

See also

References

  1. ↑ von Soden, Hermann (1902). Die Schriften des neuen Testaments, in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt / hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte [The Writings of the New Testament, in their Earliest Accessible Textual Form / Established on the Basis of their Textual History] (in German). Vol. 1. Berlin: Verlag von Alexander Duncker. p. 178.
  2. ↑ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament [The Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament]. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 52.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Aland, Kurt; M. Welte; B. Köster; K. Junack (1994). Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments [A Concise List of the Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament]. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 53. ISBN 3-11-011986-2.
  4. 1 2 3 "Liste Handschriften: Minuscule 121". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments [Textual Criticism of the New Testament]. Vol. 1. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. pp. 154–155.
  6. 1 2 3 Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for Classifying and Evaluating Manuscript Evidence. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 55, 110. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4.
  7. 1 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. Translated by Erroll F. Rhodes. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
  8. ↑ Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. Vol. 1 (4 ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 211.
  9. ↑ Griesbach, Johann Jakob (1793). Symbolae criticae ad supplendas et corrigendas variarum N. T. lectionum collectiones [Critical Symbols to supplement and correct various collections of N. T. readings]. Halle: Johann Jacob Curtius. pp. CCXXIII–CCXXIV.
  10. ↑ Martin, Jean-Pierre-Paul (1883). Description technique des manuscrits grecs relatifs au Nouveau Testament, conservés dans les bibliothèques de Paris [Technical Description of Greek manuscripts relating to the New Testament, Preserved in the Libraries of Paris]. Paris: Maisonneuve fréres et C. Leclerc. pp. 52–3.