The Manuscripts of the Catholic Epistles

Contents: Introduction * Table of Papyri and Uncials * Table of Minuscules 1-500 * Table of Minuscules 501-1000 * Table of Minuscules 1001-1500 * Table of Minuscules 1501-2000 * Table of Minuscules Over 2000 * Notes *

Introduction

Textual critics are dependent on their materials -- in this case, manuscripts. But how is a student to know which manuscripts contain which text? No one can possibly examine all the manuscripts now available.

To make matters worse, not all editors agree on the nature of the text found in the manuscripts.

This article attempts to summarize the judgments passed by previous editors. The tables below list all non-fragmentary manuscripts cited regularly in at least one of the major recent critical apparati (Merk, Nestle-Aland²⁶, Nestle-Aland²⁷, UBS³, UBS⁴). Notes on sources and how to interpret the data follow the table. Fragmentary manuscripts are omitted as they should be dealt with on a more detailed basis.

Table of Papyri & Uncials

Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Contents	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Richards Desc	Wachtel Desc	Comment
P⁷²		III/ IV	1&2P Jude			I Normal/ Free		40+	Very close to B. Generally not close to other Alexandrian texts. Rather free in Jude.
P⁷⁴		VII	a#c#			I	A³	40+	Alexandrian, but fragmentary nature makes it hard to determine subgroup.
ℵ (01)	δ2	IV	eapcr	H	H	I	A²	40+	Alexandrian, but somewhat removed from the main thrust of the group.
A (02)	δ4	V	e#ap#cr	H	H	I	A²	40+	Earliest and best member of the mainstream of the Alexandrian text. Close to 33; also to 81, 436, Ψ, Bohairic Coptic; etc.
B (03)	δ1	IV	eap#c	H	H	I	A²	40+	Close to P⁷², but very distinct from the rest of the Alexandrian text. P⁷²/B may form a distinct text-type.
C (04)	δ3	V	#eapcr	H	H	II	A²	40+	Same text-type as 1739. Not part of the actual family 1739, but much closer to this text than to the Alexandrian text. May be family 1739 with Alexandrian mixture. (Amphoux: Caesarean/family 1739.)
K (018)	A^πρ1 (I¹)	IX	p#c Comm	K	K	V		<10	Byzantine.
L (020)	α5	IX	a#p#c	K	K	V	B⁶	<10	Byzantine.
P (025)	α3	IX	a#p#c#r	H	H	III		30+	Mixed, but more Byzantine than anything else.
Ψ (044)	δ6	IX?	e#ap#c	H	H	II	A²	40+	Mostly Alexandrian, of the A/33/81/436 group. Possibly some mixture with the B text.
048	α1	V	a#p#c#		H	II		40+
049	α2	IX	ap#c	K	C/H	V	B⁶	<10	Byzantine. May have a slightly earlier form of the text than K or L.
056	O⁷	X	apc Comm		K	V		10+/1066	Byzantine.
0142	O⁶	X	apc Comm		H	V		10+/1066	Byzantine.

Table of Minuscules 1-500


Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Contents	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Richards Desc	Wachtel Desc	Comment
1	δ254	XII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	V
5	δ453	XIV	eapc	I^a2	C^a	III	A³	40+	Probably close to 623.
6	δ356	XIII	eapc	H	H	III	A²	30+	Family 1739 (rather weak), with affinities to 424**.
33	δ48	IX	#eapc	H	H	I		40+	Along with A, the head of the main Alexandrian group (81, 436, Ψ, bo, etc.) A and 33 form a pair -- not sisters, but closely linked.
36	A^πρ20	XII	ac	I^a1	C^a	III		30+/453
38	δ355	XIII	#eapc	I^a3	C^a		B⁷	10+
42	α107	XI	#apcr	K	K
69	δ505	XV	#eapcr	I^a3	C^a	V	M^w	10+
81	α162	1044	a#pc	H	H	II		40+	Alexandrian -- a slightly mixed witness of the A/33/436 type.
88	α200	XII	apcr	I^a1	C^a	III		20+/915	Mostly Byzantine, with some earlier readings. Contains 1 John 5:7-8 (in the margin, in a late hand)
104	α103	1087	apcr	H	H	III?		30+/1838
181	α101 (α1578)	X	apcr	I^a1	C^a	III	M^w	10+/181
206	α365	XIII	#apc	I^b1	C^b	III	A¹/B/B	40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138 (except in 2 & 3 John, which are from another hand). Appears to belong with the 630 subgroup.
209	δ457 (α1581)	XIV	eapcr	I^a3	C^a	V
216	α469	1358	#apc	I^b2	C^b		B⁴
218	δ300	XIII	#eapcr	I^a3	C^a	III		20+/808
226	δ156	XII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	V	B²
241	δ507	XI	eapcr	I^a3	C^a
242	δ206	XII	eapcr	I^b1	C^b
255	α174	XIV	apc	I^c2	C^a
256	α216	XI	#apcr Gk/arm	I^a3	C^a	V
307	(A^πρ11) (A²¹⁷)	X	ac Comm	I^a1	C^a	III		30+/453
321	α254	XII	#apc	K	C^a			20+
322	α550	XV	apc			II		40+	Later and slightly corrupted sister of 323
323	α157	XII	#apc	I^b2	H	II	A³	40+	(Amphoux: Family 1739). Mixed Byzantine and family 1739. Mostly Byzantine in James; Byzantine influence declines in 1 Peter, and is almost gone in 2 Peter-Jude, where 323 is almost a sister of 1739.
326	α257	X	#apc	H	H	III		30+/61
330	δ259	XII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	V	B¹
337	α205	XII	#apcr	I^a3	C^a	V
378	α258	XII	apc	I^c2	C^c	III		30+
383	α353	XIII	apc	I^c2	C^c
384	α355	XIII	apc	K		V
398	α189	X	#apc	K	K	III		20+
424**	O¹²	XI	apcr	H	H	III	424: B⁶/M^w424*: M²/M^w		424 is a Byzantine manuscript corrected toward family 1739. The corrections are especially close to 6.
429	α398 (α1471)	XIV	apcr	I^b1	C^b	III		40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138, probably of the 630 group.
431	δ268	XII	eapc	I^a1	C^a	III		20+
436	α172	X	apc	I^a3	C^a	III		40+/1067	Alexandrian, of the A/33/81 group. Some Byzantine readings.
440	δ260	XII	eapc	I^b2	C^b		B⁴
451	α178	XI	apc	K		V
453	A^πρ40	XIV	ac	I^a1	C^a	III		30+/453
460	α397	XIII	#apc Gk/ Lat/arab	I^a3	C^a
467	α502	XV	apcr	I^a2	C^a	V?		10+/467
489	δ459	1316	#eapc	I^a2	C^a		B⁵

Table of Minuscules 501-1000


Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Contents	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Richards Desc	Wachtel Desc	Comment
522	δ602	1515/ 1516	eapcr	I^b1	C^b	III		40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138, probably of the 630 group.
547	δ157	XI	eapc	I^b1	C^a	V	B^tr
610	A^πρ21	XII	#ac	I^a1	C^a	V
614	α364	XIII	apc	I^c2	C^c	III	A¹	40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138. Later sister (probably technically a niece) of 2412. The two form one of the major subgroups of family 2138.
623	α173	1037	#apc Comm	I^a2	C^a	III	A³	40+	Probably close to 5.
629	α460	XIV	apc Gk/Lat	K		III		40+	Mixed text; largely Byzantine, but with a very high number of unique readings. Possibly "Western"? Influenced by the Latin; includes part of 1 John 5:7-8
630	α461	XIV	a#pc	I^b		III		40+/Hk^gr	Family 2138. Heads a subgroup which also contains 1799 2200 plus probably 206, 429, 522.
642	α552	XIV	#apc	I^a3	C^a	III	M²/A³	20+/808
794	δ454	XIV	#eapc	I^a3	C^a	V	B⁶
808	δ203	XII	eapr	I^a3	C^a	V		20+/808
876	α356	XII	apc	I^c2	(C^c)		M²/M^w/A¹	20+/876	(Amphoux: weak Family 2138).
913	α470	XIV	apc	I^c2	C^c
915	α382	XIII	apc	I^a1	C^a	III		20+/915
917	α264	XII	apc	I^a1	C^a	V	M¹/M^w/B
919	α113	XI	apcr	I^a	C^a	V
920	α55	X	apcr	I^a3	C^a	V	B⁵
927	δ251	1133	eapc	I^a2	C^a		B⁵
945	δ362	XI	eapc	(I^phic)	(C^phi)	III		40+	(Amphoux: Family 1739). Family 1739. Very close to 1739 itself, except for a number of Byzantine readings. Quite possibly (since both are at Athos) a descendent of 1739 itself with one or two intermediate copies.

Table of Minuscules 1001-1500


Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Contents	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Richards Desc	Wachtel Desc	Comment
1067	α481	XIV	a#p#c			II		40+/1067
1108	α370	XIII	#apc	I^c1	C^c				(Amphoux: Family 2138).
1175	α74	XI	ap#c	H	H	I	B⁶	40+	Heavily Byzantine in the Johannine Epistles, although some good readings survive in the earlier letters.
1241	δ371	XII	e#apc	H	K	I	A³	40+	(Amphoux: Family 1739). Like C, a member of the 1739 text-type although not of family 1739 itself. Very valuable although probably a rather poor copy of its exemplar.
1243	δ198	XI	eapc	K		I	A³	40+	(Amphoux: Family 1739). Probably family 1739, perhaps to be grouped with 1241.
1245	α158	XII	apc	I^c1	C^c		B⁴
1292	δ395	XIII	eapc			II		40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138).
1311	α170	1090	apc	I^a3	C^a		B^tr
1319	δ180	XII	#eapc	I^a3	C^a	V	B⁷
1409		XIV	#eapc			II		40+/1067

Table of Minuscules 1501-2000


Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Contents	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Richards Desc	Wachtel Desc	Comment
1505	δ165	XII	eapc	(K)		III		40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138. Forms a group with 2495 (a later, poorer version of the group text).
1518	α551	XIV	apc	I^c1	C^c				(Amphoux: Family 2138). Lost, but probably family 1611. May have resurfaced as 1896.
1522	α464	XIV	apc	I^a3	C^a		M^w/B/M^w		Lost
1525	α361	XIII	#apc	I^a3	C^a
1611	α208	X	#apcr	I^c1	C^c	III	A¹	40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138. Groups with 2138 itself, although the text is not quite as good.
1738	α164	XI	#apc	I^a3	C^a	V	B⁴
1739	α78	X	apc	(H)	H	I	A³	40+	Primary witness to a text-type (the other leading witnesses being C and 1241). Within the type it forms a family with 323, 945, 1881, 2298, etc.
1758	α396	XIII	#apc	I^b1	C^b			20+	(Amphoux: Family 2138).
1765	α486	XIV	apc	I^c2	C^b			20+/876	(Amphoux: weak Family 2138).
1799	ε610?!	XII/ XIII	a#pc					40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138, of the 630 subgroup.
1827	α367	1295	#apc	I^a2	C^a		M²/B	10+
1829	α1100	XI	#ac	I^a1	C^a	V	B¹
1831	α472	XIV	#apc	I^b1	C^b			40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138).
1835	α56	XI	ac	I^a3	C^a	V	B⁷
1836	α65	X	1J2J3J Jude p	I^a1	C^a	III		10+/181
1837	α192	XI	#apc	I^a3	C^a			30+/61
1838	α175	XI	#apc	I^a2	C^a	III?		30+/1838
1845	α64	X	apc	I^a3	C^a	III	M^w/A³	40+/1846
1846	α151	XI	#apc			III		40+/1846
1852	α114	XIII	#apcr	(H+I^c1)	C^c	II		40+	(Amphoux: weak Family 2138).
1873	α252	XII	apc	I^a2	C^a		B⁵
1874	α7	X	apc	I^a1	C^a	V	M¹/M^w/B	10+
1877	α455	XIV	apc			V
1881	α651	XIV	1-2P 1-3Jo Jude p			II		40+	Family 1739, with perhaps some mixture with the 1241 type of text.
1891	α62	X	apc	I^b	C^b	V	B¹		(Amphoux: weak Family 2138).
1898	α70	X	apc	I^a1	C^a		M¹/M^w

Table of Minuscules 2001 and over


Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Contents	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Richards Desc	Wachtel Desc	Comment
2127	δ202	XII	eapc	K		V
2138	α116	1072	apcr	I^c1	C^c	III	A¹	40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Leading witness of family 2138. Forms its own subgroup with 1611.
2143	α184	XII	apc	I^a1	C^a		B⁶/M^w
2147	δ299	XI/ XII	eapc	I^c2	C^c	III		30+/2652	(Amphoux: weak Family 2138).
2298	α171	XII	apc	I^b2	(H)	II		40+	(Amphoux: Family 1739). Family 1739.
2412		XII	#apc			III	A¹	40+/Hk^gr	Family 2138. Forms a subgroup with 614 (the latter being a niece or other near relative of 2412).
2464		IX	a#p#c#			II		40+
2492		XIV	eapc			III?		20+	(Amphoux: Family 1739). Largely Byzantine, with elements from other text-types. Despite Amphoux, it is not a true family 1739 text.
2495		XV	#eapcr			II?		40+/Hk^gr	(Amphoux: Family 2138). Family 2138. A later representative of the group headed by 1505.

Notes

Gregory Number -- The standard numerical designation for manuscripts, based on the system created by Caspar Rene Gregory.

Soden Symbol -- The designation given to the manuscript by H. von Soden. The user is referred to von Soden's work or the commentaries for a discussion of these symbols, some of which cannot even be reproduced in basic HTML.

The Gregory/Soden equivalences given here are taken primarily from Kurt Aland, Kurzgefasste Liste der Grieschischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments (de Gruyer, 1963). They have been checked against Merk where necessary.

Note: If a manuscript has multiple Soden symbols, this usually means that it comes from two different eras and that von Soden assigned two numbers to the various parts. The first symbol will usually be the one used in the current section.

Date -- as given by the most recent catalogs (NA²⁷ or the Kurzgefasste Liste). Arabic numerals indicate a precise date listed in a colophon; roman numerals indicate centuries (as judged by paleographers).

Contents -- briefly describes the contents of a manuscript. e=Gospels; a=Acts; p=Paul; c=Catholics; r=Apocalypse. The symbol # indicates a defect. If it follows the description of a section (e.g. p#) it indicates that the manuscript is defective in that section; if it precedes the list, it means that the nature of the defect is unknown to me. Thus, ap#c indicates a manuscript which contains Acts, Paul, and the Catholics, which is defective for part of Paul; #apc indicates a manuscript of those same books which is defective in a way unknown to me. Comm indicates a commentary manuscript; polyglot manuscripts are also noted.

The information here is taken from the Kurzgefasste Liste, from NA²⁷, from a variety of special studies, and from my own researches.

Soden Description -- this indicated the classification in which von Soden placed the manuscripts. There is no room here for a full discussion, but we may note that H is the Alexandrian text. K is the Byzantine text. The various I groups include a wide variety of manuscripts of mixed types. Curiously, von Soden divides family 2138 among three I groups in I^b and I^c.

The information from this section again comes from the Kurzgefasste Liste, supplemented by Merk and other authorities.

Merk Description -- These are the classification used in Augustinus Merk's Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine. It will be observed that, for the most part, they correspond with von Soden's, except that C has been substituted for I. This list is also generally useful for Bover's edition, although Bover does not offer group names. A question mark or parenthesized entry in this column indicates that Merk's list of manuscripts does not correspond to his manuscript groupings; the reader is referred to the group lists.

Aland Description -- Kurt and Barbara Aland undertook to classify "all" minuscules according to quality. In The Text of the New Testament (translated by Erroll F. Rhodes, Eerdmans, 1989) they listed their results. A category I manuscript was considered most important for establishing the text (practical translation: a category I manuscript is supposed to be free of Byzantine influence). A category II manuscript is somewhat poorer and more mixed; category III is important "for the history of the text"; category V is Byzantine. In practice, these categories are an assessment of Byzantine influence.

It will be noted that not all manuscripts have been rated. Some (e.g. 1799) were not collated. In most instances, however, it appears to be because the manuscript is very slightly mixed -- not purely Byzantine, but not clearly anything else, either. In some cases I have been unable to determine why the Alands did not give a rating.

Richards Description -- The classification found in W.L. Richards's The Classification of the Greek Manuscripts of the Johannine Epistles. Richards studied some eighty manuscripts of the Catholics in the Johannine Epistles. His study applied a modified version of the Claremont Profile Method. He found three "text-types" -- "Alexandrian" (with three sub-categories), Byzantine (eight sub-categories), and "Mixed" (yes, Richards calls "mixed" a text-type, and has three sub-groupings. Richards also tries to find text-types in 2 and 3 John -- books which are simply not long enough to classify).

In general, the lists below show the dominant text-type.

Although Richards can be attacked both for his method and the accuracy of his collations, his groups generally stand up (except that the three A groups should not all be considered Alexandrian!). Group A¹ is family 2138; group A² is the standard Alexandrian text (ℵ, A, B, C); group A³ is family 1739.

The following list shows the leading representatives of the various groups:

A¹ -- (206), 614, (876), 1611, 1799, 2138, 2412
A² -- ℵ, A, B, C, Ψ, 6
A³ -- (P⁷⁴), 5, 323, 623, (642), 1241, 1243, 1739, (1845)

M¹ -- 181, 917, 1874, 1898
M² -- 424** (!), 642, 876, 999, 1827, 2401
M^w -- this is not a true group; it consists of manuscripts which go with no other group. It includes 69, 643, 1522, 1845, and portions of other manuscripts.

B^tr -- 356, 462, 547, 1240, 1311, 1854, TR
B¹ -- 319, 330, 479, 483, 635, 1829, 1891
B² -- 201, 226, 959, 1248, 1876, 1889
B³ -- 97, 177, 223, 1597, 1872, 2423
B⁴ -- 216, 440, 1022, 1245, 1315, 1610, 1738
B⁵ -- 489, 920, 927, 1873
B⁶ -- L, (049), 424*, 794, 1175, 1888, 2143
B⁷ -- 38, 582, 1319, 1424, 1835

Wachtel Description -- The classification as given in Klaus Wachtel, Der Byzantinische Text der Katholischen Briefe. Wachtel has a two-part classification. The basic groupings are based on distance from the Byzantine text. (As measured based on the 98 test readings for the Catholic Epistles found in Aland et al, Text und Textwert der grieschischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments.) Within this classification he sees a number of groups.

Observe that these groups are not text-types; Wachtel does not really examine text-types. The Alexandrian and family 1739 texts, for instance, are grouped together, without classification, in the "40% or more non-Byzantine" category. Wachtel is more interested in small groupings. Note that this does not allow mixed manuscripts to be classified with their text-types (for example, 945 -- which might even be a direct descendent of 1739 with some Byzantine corrections -- is not classified with 1739).

The basic list of Wachtel's types is shown below, with the symbol I use to represent it:

40+ (at least 40% of readings non-Byzantine): This roughly corresponds to the Alexandrian, family 1739, and family 2138 texts. Unclassified witnesses in this category include P⁷², P⁷⁴, ℵ, A, B, C, Ψ, 048, 5, 33, 81, 322, 323, 442, 621, 623, 629, 945, 1175, 1241, 1243, 1735, 1739, 1852, 1881, 2298, 2344, 2464, 2805.
Subgroups include:
- Hk^gr: This is family 2138 (Richards's Group A¹). Members include 206, 429, 522, 614, 630, 1292, 1490, 1505, 1611, 1799, 1831, 1890, 2138, 2200, 2412, 2495.
- 1067: 436, 1067, 1409, 2541
- 1846: 1845, 1846
30+ (at least 30% of readings non-Byzantine): Unclassified witnesses in this category include P, 6, 378, 1448, 2374, 2718.
Subgroups include:
- 2652: 2147 2652
- 453: 36, 94, 307, 453, 720, 918, 1678, 2197
- 61: 61, 326, 1837
- 1838: 104, 459, 1838, 1842
- 254: 254, 1523, 1524, 1844
20+ (at least 20% of readings non-Byzantine): Unclassified witnesses in this category include 93, 321, 398, 431, 665, 1758, 2492.
Subgroups include:
- 808: 218, 642, 808, 1127, 1359, 1563, 1718
- 915: 88, 915
- 876: 876, 1765, 1832, 2243, 2494
10+ (at least 10% of readings non-Byzantine): Unclassified witnesses in this category include 38, 43, 69, 197, 365, 400, 456, 464, 468, 617, 631, 643, 676, 999, 1367, 1390, 1501, 1509, 1609, 1729, 1751, 1827, 1850, 1874, 1893, 1904, 2080, 2180, 2242, 2523, 2544, 2674, 2774.
Subgroups include:
- 467: 467, 1848
- 1297: 1270, 1297, 1595, 1598
- 181: 181, 1836, 1875
- 996: 996, 1661
- 2186: 1840, 2186
- 1066: 056, 0142, 1066
- 312: 312, 1853
<10 (Fewer than 10% non-Byzantine readings): K, L, 049, 18, 35, 319, 607, 1862, 1895, 2423

Wachtel also lists the following as belonging to the K^r recension: 18, 201, 386, 394, 432, 1072, 1075, 1100, 1503, 1548, 1619, 1628, 1636, 1725, 1745, 1746, 1768, 1858, 1864, 1865, 1897, 2544, 2587.
Related to K^r, with differences of a single reading, are the following:

35, 664, 757, 928, 1249, 1855, 2221
604, 1740, 2352
1618, 1892

(Thanks to Ulrich Schmid for information relating to Wachtel.)

Comment -- this is my attempt to provide the "last word." Where I have examined a manuscript, I give my results (based either on examination of a collation or on a statistical study of 150 readings).

In addition, I have listed the classifications of Amphoux here, as found in Vaganay and Amphoux's An Introduction to New Testament Testual Criticism. Amphoux's is probably the most reliable of the classification schemes listed here, but is also the least complete.