Bonus 8 - Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris,
Département des manuscrits, Grec 9, fol. 60r (rotated)
Public Domain

The biblical text of the Codex Ephraemi was recovered from underneath the later text of a 12th century monk who copied the discourses of Ephraim Syrus overtop the earlier biblical manuscript. This practice is called a palimpset rescriptus and was common due to limited writing material. 1.  The text was written on top of the earlier erased text. Metzger describes it as follows: “An important palimpsest of the Scriptures is the fifth-century copy of the Greek Bible known as the Codex Ephraemi, which was erased in the twelfth century to receive the homilies of Saint Ephraem, a Syrian church father of the fourth century.” 2.  Modern chemical processes was able to restore the erased text and reveal the biblical text underneath the older manuscript. It revealed the entire NT except 2 Thessalonians and 2 John together with parts of the OT. Parker records that “There are 63 OT leaves extant (containing parts of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Job, Wisdom, and Sirach) and 145 of the NT (in which every canonical book is represented).” 3.  It has been identified as an Alexandrian text and dates to the fifth century AD. Based on the hand writing the OT and NT were copied by different scribes. 4.   Parker states that: “In the early 16th century the codex was brought to Italy, and passed into the possession of Catherine de Medici, with whom it went to Paris [Bibliothèque Nationale], where it has remained ever since.” 5.  Due to its careless calligraphy it is believed that it was copied for private use. 6.

Footnotes

• 1. D. C. Parker, “Codex: Codex Ephraimi Rescriptus.” Edited by David Noel Freedman, Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf, and John David Pleins. Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1996. 1:1073
• 2. Bruce M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek Palaeography (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1981), 325.
• 3. Parker, “Codex: Codex Ephraimi Rescriptus.” 1:1073.
• 4. R. W. A Lyon, “Re-Examination of Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus,” New Testament Studies 5 (1959): 266–72.
• 5. Parker, “Codex: Codex Ephraimi Rescriptus.” 1:1074.
• 6. Ibid.

For Further Study

• Aland, Kurt, and Barbara Aland. 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. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1995.
• Comfort, Philip W., and David P. Barrett, eds. The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts. Corrected and Enlarged ed. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 2001. 
• Comfort, Philip. Encountering the Manuscripts: An Introduction to New Testament Paleography and Textual Criticism. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 2005.
• Dunn, M. R. An Examination of the Textual Character of Codex Ephraimi Syri Rescriptus (C 04) in the Four Gospels. PhD Dissertation, South Western Baptist Seminary 1990.
• Finegan, Jack. Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction to Textual Criticism. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1974.
• Hatch, William Henry. The Principal Uncial Manuscripts of the New Testament. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1939.
• Hernández, Juan. Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse: The Singular Readings of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Ephraemi. Leiden: Mohr Siebeck, 2006, 132-155.
• Kenyon, Frederic G. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts (4th ed.). London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1939, 121–128.
• Lyon, R. W. A “Re-Examination of Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus,” New Testament Studies 5 (1959): 266–72.
• Metzger, Bruce M. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek Palaeography. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1981. 
• Oliver, Harold H. “A Textual Transposition in Codex C (Ephraemi Syri Rescriptus).” Journal of Biblical Literature 76 no. 3 (1957): 233–36.
• Parker, D. C. “Codex: Codex Ephraimi Rescriptus.” Edited by David Noel Freedman, Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf, and John David Pleins. Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1996. 1:1073–1074.
• Stone, R. B. “The Life and Hard Times of Ephraimi Rescriptus.” The Bible Today 24 (1986): 112–18.
• Tischendorf, Constantine. Codex Ephraemi Syri rescriptus, sive Fragmenta Veteris Testamenti. Lipsiae: Tauchnitz Jr., 1845.