Minuscule 8

Minuscule 8
New Testament manuscript
TextGospels
Date11th century
ScriptGreek
Now atNational Library of France
Size28.7 cm by 21.8 cm
TypeByzantine text-type
CategoryV
Handbeautifully written
Notefull marginalia

Minuscule 8 is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, made of parchment. It is designated by the siglum 8 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 164 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been assigned to the 11th century. It has complex contents and full marginal notes.

Description

The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book format), containing the complete text of the four Gospels, on 199 parchment leaves (sized 28.7 cm by 21.8 cm). The text is written in two columns per page, 22 lines per page. The initial letters are written in red 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 a division according to the Ammonian Sections, with references to the Eusebian Canons.

It contains the Epistle to Carpian, the Eusebian Canon tables, prolegomena, pictures, lectionary markings in the margin (for liturgical use), a Menologion, and a Synaxarion. The passages of John 5:3–4 and the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) are marked with an obelus, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

Text

The Greek text of the codex is considered to be a representative of the Byzantine text-type. Hermann von Soden classified it to the textual family 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 represents Kx in Luke 1, Luke 10, and Luke 20.

Example of variant reading

John 1:29

omit - 8 א A B K M S U Y Δ Θ Π Ψ Ω 047 0141 9. 565. 1192.
ο Ιωαννης (John) - Majority of Manuscripts.

History

The earliest history of the manuscript is unknown. It formerly belonged to Antonelli Petrucci, a secretary of Ferdinand I, king of Naples, and then to Fontainebleau. Biblical scholar Robert Estienne used the text from this codex in his Editio Regia of the Greek New Testament (1550), in which it was designated as ζ'. Accordingly, its readings became a part of the Textus Receptus.

It was examined by biblical scholars Johann J. Wettstein and Johann M. A. Scholz, although Scholz only examined the Gospel of John. It was examined and described by scholar Paulin Martin. Biblical scholar Caspar René Gregory saw the manuscript in 1884.

The manuscript is currently dated by the INTF to the 11th century. It is presently housed at the National Library of France (shelf number Gr. 49) in Paris.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament [The Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament] (in German). Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 48.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 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. 47. ISBN 3-11-011986-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Liste Handschriften: Minuscule 8". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 2026-09-28.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes [Textual Criticism of the New Testament] (in German). Vol. 1. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs. p. 129.
  5. ↑ 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. pp. 191–192.
  6. 1 2 Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for Classifying and Evaluating Manuscript Evidence. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 53. 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. ↑ Mullen, Roderic L.; Crisp, Simon; Parker, David C.; W. J. Elliott; U. B. Schmid; R. Kevern; M. B. Morrill; C. J. Smith, eds. (2007). The Gospel According to John in the Byzantine Tradition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. p. 7. ISBN 978-3438051325.
  9. ↑ Martin, Jean-Pierre-Paul (1883). Description technique des manuscrits grecs, relatif au Nouveau Testament, conservé dans les bibliothèques des Paris [Technical Description of the Greek Manuscripts relating to the New Testament, conserved in the Libraries of Paris]. Paris: Maisonneuve frères et C. Leclerc. pp. 21–23. Retrieved 2026-09-23.