Scribal Habits in Sixth-Century Greek Purple Codices
Series: - New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents, Volume: 61
In Scribal Habits in Sixth-Century Greek Purple Codices, Elijah Hixson assesses the extent to which unique readings reveal the tendencies of the scribes who produced three luxury manuscripts of Matthew’s Gospel. The manuscripts, Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus (N 022), Codex Sinopensis (O 023) and Codex Rossanensis (Σ 042), were each copied in the sixth century from the same exemplar. Hixson compares the results of a modified singular readings method to the number of actual changes each scribe made. An edition of the lost exemplar and transcriptions of Matthew in each manuscript follow in the appendices. Of particular relevance to New Testament textual criticism is the observation that the singular readings method does not accurately reveal the habits of these three scribes.
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Elijah Hixson, Ph.D. (2018), University of Edinburgh, is Junior Research Associate in New Testament Text and Language at Tyndale House, Cambridge, where he is working with Dirk Jongkind to produce a textual commentary on the Greek New Testament.
"This volume will be greatly appreciated by specialists as a model of careful and detailed textual analysis. [...] At the same time, the study is set out clearly and written in an approachable style, meaning that casual readers may also appreciate the quality and value of this book as an example of the best new research in this field." - H.A.G. Houghton, University of Birmingham, in: The Expository Times 131(8) 2020
"Hixson’s work is an exceptional piece of textual scholarship and a necessary volume for text-critical libraries worldwide. One cannot image any future work being conducted on the purple codices or the singular readings method without consulting this text. It is the kind of work many academics should desire to produce, and it will make a substantial contribution to its field for many years to come." - Clark R. Bates, University of Birmingham, in: RBL 2022
"Hixson’s work is an exceptional piece of textual scholarship and a necessary volume for text-critical libraries worldwide. One cannot image any future work being conducted on the purple codices or the singular readings method without consulting this text. It is the kind of work many academics should desire to produce, and it will make a substantial contribution to its field for many years to come." - Clark R. Bates, University of Birmingham, in: RBL 2022
Acknowledgments List of Figures, Plates and Tables Abbreviations
1 Introduction to Purple Codices and the 022-023-042 Family 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Brief Descriptions of 022, 023 and 042 1.3 History of Research on the Purple Manuscripts as a Family 1.4 Do 022, 023 and 042 Constitute a Family? 1.5 Conclusion
2 Method and Methodology 2.1 Singular Readings Method: A Brief History 2.2 Criticisms of the Singular Readings Method 2.3 Alternative and Parallel Methods for Assessing Scribal Habits 2.4 Method and Modification
3 Comparing Scribes: Textual and Paratextual Features Where All Three Manuscripts Are Extant 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus (N 022) 3.3 Codex Sinopensis (O 023) 3.4 Codex Rossanensis (Σ 042) 3.5 Observations on Each Aspect 3.6 Preliminary Conclusions about Each Scribe Appendix to Chapter 3: Unique Unit Divisions in 042
4 Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus (N 022) 4.1 Singular and Family Readings in 022 4.2 Deviations from the Exemplar in 022 4.3 The Scribe of 022 and the Singular Readings Method
5 Codex Sinopensis (O 023) 5.1 Singular and Family Readings in 023 5.2 Deviations from the Exemplar in 023 5.3 The Scribe of 023 and the Singular Readings Method
6 The Rossano Gospels (Σ 042) 6.1 Singular and Family Readings in 042 6.2 Deviations from the Exemplar in 042 6.3 The Scribe of 042 and the Singular Readings Method
7 Conclusions 7.1 The Scribes and Their Exemplar 7.2 The Singular Readings Method 7.3 Scribes as Editors? 7.4 022-023-042 and New Testament Textual Criticism 7.5 Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Exemplar of 022-023-042 Appendix 2: Transcription of 022 in Matthew Appendix 3: Transcription of 023 Appendix 4: Transcription of 042 in Matthew Appendix 5: Data for 042, Where Neither 022 nor 023 Is Extant Appendix 6: Reconstructions of the Structures of 022, 023 and 042 Appendix 7: Kephalaia and titloi for Matthew in 022, 023 and 042 Bibliography Scripture Index Author Index Subject Index
1 Introduction to Purple Codices and the 022-023-042 Family 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Brief Descriptions of 022, 023 and 042 1.3 History of Research on the Purple Manuscripts as a Family 1.4 Do 022, 023 and 042 Constitute a Family? 1.5 Conclusion
2 Method and Methodology 2.1 Singular Readings Method: A Brief History 2.2 Criticisms of the Singular Readings Method 2.3 Alternative and Parallel Methods for Assessing Scribal Habits 2.4 Method and Modification
3 Comparing Scribes: Textual and Paratextual Features Where All Three Manuscripts Are Extant 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus (N 022) 3.3 Codex Sinopensis (O 023) 3.4 Codex Rossanensis (Σ 042) 3.5 Observations on Each Aspect 3.6 Preliminary Conclusions about Each Scribe Appendix to Chapter 3: Unique Unit Divisions in 042
4 Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus (N 022) 4.1 Singular and Family Readings in 022 4.2 Deviations from the Exemplar in 022 4.3 The Scribe of 022 and the Singular Readings Method
5 Codex Sinopensis (O 023) 5.1 Singular and Family Readings in 023 5.2 Deviations from the Exemplar in 023 5.3 The Scribe of 023 and the Singular Readings Method
6 The Rossano Gospels (Σ 042) 6.1 Singular and Family Readings in 042 6.2 Deviations from the Exemplar in 042 6.3 The Scribe of 042 and the Singular Readings Method
7 Conclusions 7.1 The Scribes and Their Exemplar 7.2 The Singular Readings Method 7.3 Scribes as Editors? 7.4 022-023-042 and New Testament Textual Criticism 7.5 Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Exemplar of 022-023-042 Appendix 2: Transcription of 022 in Matthew Appendix 3: Transcription of 023 Appendix 4: Transcription of 042 in Matthew Appendix 5: Data for 042, Where Neither 022 nor 023 Is Extant Appendix 6: Reconstructions of the Structures of 022, 023 and 042 Appendix 7: Kephalaia and titloi for Matthew in 022, 023 and 042 Bibliography Scripture Index Author Index Subject Index
Those interested in New Testament textual criticism, scribal habits and especially those interested in the question of how accurately copyists reproduced their exemplars.