Minuscule 251
| New Testament manuscript | |
| Text | Gospels |
|---|---|
| Date | 12th century |
| Script | Greek |
| Now at | Russian State Library |
| Size | 21.7 cm by 16 cm |
| Type | mixed / Byzantine |
| Category | none |
Minuscule 251 is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament Gospels, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum 251 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 192 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts.[1] Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 12th century.[2] The manuscript has complex contents.
Description
[edit]The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book format), containing the complete text of the four Gospels on 273 parchment leaves (sized 21.7 cm by 16 cm).[3] The text is written in one column per page and 23 lines per page.[2][3]
The text is divided according to the Ammonian sections, whose numbers are given in the margin, but without references to the Eusebian Canons.[4]
It contains the Epistle to Carpian,[5] the Eusebian Canon tables,[5] with the tables of contents (known as κεφαλαια) placed before each Gospel.[4][5] It has pictures.[4][5] The text has some affinities with Minuscule 59.[4]
Text
[edit]The Greek text of the codex is considered to be a representative of the Byzantine text-type, but with several non-Byzantine elements. Textual critic Hermann von Soden lists it under the textual sub-group II. Biblical scholar Kurt Aland did not assign it to any Category of his New Testament manuscript classification system.[6]
According to the Claremont Profile Method (a specific analysis of textual data), it belongs to the textual cluster 1229.[7] Its Greek text has several affinities to the readings seen in Codex Tischendorfianus IV (Γ).
History
[edit]The earliest history of the manuscript is unknown. It once belonged to Auxentius.[4] Theophilus Zagoloras sent it to one of the monasteries at Mount Athos in A.D. 1400.[4][5] It was brought to Moscow in 1655, by the monk Arsenius, on the suggestion of the Patriarch Nikon, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1645-1676).[4]
The manuscript was collated by scholar Christian F. Matthaei.[5] It was examined by Matthaei and Franz Delitzsch.[4] The manuscript is currently dated by the INTF to the 12th century.[3] It is presently housed at the Russian State Library (shelf number Φ 181. 9 (Gr. 9)) in Moscow.[2][3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament [The Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament]. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 57.
- 1 2 3 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] (in German) (2 ed.). Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 62. ISBN 3-11-011986-2.
- 1 2 3 4 "Liste Handschriften: Minuscule 251". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 2026-04-25.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments [Textual Criticism of the New Testament]. Vol. 1. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs. p. 172.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 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. 224.
- ↑ 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. 139. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
- ↑ Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for the Classification and Evaluation of Manuscript Evidence, as Applied to the Continuous Greek Text of the Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 57. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4.
Further reading
[edit]- C. F. Matthei, Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine, (Riga, 1782-1788).
- Kurt Treu, Die Griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments in der UdSSR; eine systematische Auswertung des Texthandschriften in Leningrad, Moskau, Kiev, Odessa, Tbilisi und Erevan, T & U 90 (Berlin, 1966), pp. 311-313.
External links
[edit]- Minuscule 251 at the Encyclopedia of Textual Criticism.
- Digital Images of Minuscule 251 (microfilm) online at the CSNTM Digital Manuscript viewer.