The Manuscripts of Paul

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 apparatus (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	Content	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Comment
P¹³	α1034	III/ IV	Heb#	H	H	I Free	Generally goes with P⁴⁶ B sa.
P⁴⁶		II/ III	p#		H-C	I Free	Along with B, head of a very early text-type. Somewhat wild, especially in Romans. Zuntz called this type "proto-Alexandrian," and included in in P⁴⁶ B 1739 sa bo; in my opinion, the Bohairic goes with ℵ A C 33 while 1739 heads its own text-type.
ℵ (01)	δ2	IV	eapcr	H	H	I	Earliest and purest manuscript of the true Alexandrian text. Closest relative is 33.
A (02)	δ4	V	e#ap#cr	H	H	I	Largely Alexandrian, of the early type, with a few mixed readings.
B (03)	δ1	IV	eap#c	H	H	I	Along with P⁴⁶ and sa, the head of the earliest known text-type.
C (04)	δ3	V	e#a#p#c#r#	H	H	II	Early Alexandrian text. Fairly pure example of the type; much less mixture than in the gospels.
D (06)	α1026	VI	p# Gk/Lat	I^a1	C^a	II (D^c III)	Earliest "Western" witness. Two copies (D^abs1 and D^abs2) known. The facing Latin text is not parallel, and is close to the Old Latin b. Not an ancestor of F G; D has more major divergences but fewer minor divergences from the Alexandrian text.
F (010)	α1029	IX	p# Gk/Lat	I^a1	C^a	II	"Western" text. Sister or cousin of G. The facing Latin text is not fully parallel; it contains a mix of vulgate and Old Latin readings with perhaps some assimilation to the Greek (or vice versa!). Beautifully but badly copied.
G (012)	α1028	IX	p# Gk/Lat	I^a1	C^a	III	"Western" text. Sister or cousin of F, but generally the more accurate of the pair. The interlinear Latin closely follows the Greek. The text has many minor departures from the Alexandrian text, but fewer major shifts than D.
H (015)	α1022	VI	p#	H	H	III	Alexandrian, of a late cast, with many Byzantine readings. Said to have been corrected from a Pamphilian ms., but most corrections are Byzantine.
I (016)	α1041	V	p#	H	H	II	Very pure and early Alexandrian; close to ℵ.
K (018)	I¹ (A^πρ1)	IX	p#c Comm		K	V	Byzantine. Pair with 0151.
L (020)	α5	IX	a#p#c	K	K	V	Byzantine.
P (025)	α3	IX	a#p#c#r#	H	H	III	Largely Byzantine, with some late Alexandrian readings
Ψ (044)	δ6	IX?	e#ap#c	H	H	III	Almost purely Byzantine, with some late Alexandrian readings (rather similar to P) in the later epistles.
048	α1	V	a#p#c#		H	II	Apparently mostly Alexandrian but with many free readings.
049 (S)	α2	IX	ap#c		(CK)	V	Byzantine.
056	O⁷	X	apc Comm		(K)	V	Byzantine; pair with 0142.
075	O^π3	X	p# Comm			III	Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings.
0121 (0121a, M)	α1031	X	1-2C#	H	H	III	Family 1739 with some Byzantine infusion. Zuntz dates to century XII.
0121b (M)	α1031	X?	Heb#	H	H	III	Now considered part of 0243 (which see).
0142	O⁶	X	apc Comm		(H)	V	Byzantine; pair with 056
0150	X²	IX	p# Comm			III	Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings.
0151	X²¹	IX	p# Comm			V	Byzantine; pair with K/018.
0243 (+0121b)		X	1C# 2C (Heb#)			II?	Very pure family 1739 text, especially in Corinthians. Probably a near cousin of 1739. See the entry on family 1739.
0278		IX	p#				Late Alexandrian with a strong Byzantine overlay.
0285 (+081)		VI	p#	(H[I])	(H)		Late Alexandrian with assorted mixed readings

Table of Minuscules 1-500

Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Content	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Comment
1	δ254	XII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	V
2	α253	XII	apc	I^b1	C^b	V	Now officially renumbered 2815
5	δ453	XIV	eapc	I^a2	C^a	III
6	δ356	XIII	eapc	H	H	III	Base text is family 1739, close to 424**. Heavy overlay of late Byzantine readings.
33	δ48	IX	e#a#p#c#	H	H	I	Primarily Byzantine in Romans, which comes from a later hand. The text in Romans may be related to 2344. The remaining books are purely Alexandrian, close to ℵ. All pages of Paul are intact, but there is some damage from damp.
35	δ309	XI	eapcr	I^b2	C^b
38	δ355	XIII	#eapc	I^a3	C^a
43	α270	XII	eapc	I^b	C^b
69	δ505	XV	e#a#pc#r#	I^a3	C	III	Mostly Byzantine, with some late Alexandrian readings. Group with 462 2344.
81	α162	1044	a#pc	H	H	II	Good Alexandrian witness. Transitional between early and late forms.
88	α200	XII	apcr	I^a1	C^a	III	Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian (family 2127) readings. Also occasional wild ("Western"?) readings.
104	α103	1087	apcr	H	H	III	Late Alexandrian with a heavy Byantine overlay. Some readings reminiscent of family 1611.
177	α106	XI	apcr	I^a3	C^a	V
181	α101	X	apcr	I^a1	C^a	III	Primarily Byzantine with hints of something else (mostly in Corinthians). This earlier substrate appears akin to 1877.
203	α203	1111	#apcr	I^c2	C^a	V
206	α365	XIII	#apc	I^b1	C^b	V	Almost purely Byzantine; probably groups with 429.
216	α469	1358	#apc	I^b2	C^b
218	δ300	XIII	#eapcr	I^a3	C^a	III
221	α69	X	apc	I^c2	C^c	V
223	α186	XIV	ap#c	K^c		V	Slightly impure example of von Soden's K^c group.
226	δ156	XII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	V
241	δ507	XI	eapcr	I^a3	C^a
242	δ206	XII	eapcr	I^b1	C^b
255	α174	XIV	apc	I^a3	C^a
256	α216	XI	#apcr Gk/arm	I^a3	C^a	II	Family 2127, with particularly strong links to the Armenian.
257	α466	XIV	apc	I^c2	C^c
263	δ372	XIII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	III	Family 2127 (a rather weak member)
319	α256	XII	#apc	I^a3	C^a?	V
321	α254	XII	#apc	I^a	C^a
323	α157	XII	apc	I^b2	(C^b)	III
326	α257	X	ap#c	H	H	III	Primarily Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings.
330	δ259	XII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	III	Family 330. Forms a pair with 451 in all books except Hebrews, where 330 becomes Byzantine. More distantly kin to 2492.
336	α500	XV	apcr	I^b	C^b
337	α205	XII	#apcr	I^a3	C^a	V
365	δ367	XII	eap#c	K		III	Family 2127. Particularly close to 2127 itself, of which it might almost be a descendent with Byzantine mixture.
378	α258	XII	apc	I^c2	C^c	V
383	α353	XIII	apc	I^c2	C^c
385	α 506	1407	#apcr	I^c2	(C^c)	V
424**	O¹²	XI	apcr	H	H	III	The corrections clearly belong to family 1739 (in fact, they seem to be the purest text of this type). They are particularly close to 6. 424* is purely Byzantine.
429	α398	XIV	apcr	I^b1	C^b	V	Apparently almost purely Byzantine; group with 206.
436	α172	X	apc	I^a3	C^a	III	Late Alexandrian with Byzantine mixture; perhaps closest to 1962.
440	δ260	XII	eapc	I^b2	C^b
441	O¹⁸	XIII	a#Ro1C# Comm			III	Contains Acts Romans, and most of 1 Corinthians. Bound with 442. Late Alexandrian and Byzantine.
442	O¹⁸	XII/ XIII	1C#-He c Comm			II	Contains part of 1 Cor, the rest of Paul, and the Catholics. Bound with 441. A good late Alexandrian text.
451	α 178	XI	apc	K		III	Family 330. 451 is almost a sister of 330, except that it retains its quality in Hebrews, where 330 is Byzantine. 2492 is a more distant relative. See the entry on 330.
459	α104	1092	apcr	H?		III	Late Alexandrian with much Byzantine corruption. Akin to family 2127.
460	α397	XIII	#apc Gk/ Lat/arab	I^a3	C^a
462	α359	XI/ XII	apc	I^a3	C^a		Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings. Group with 69 2344.
467	α502	XV	apcr	I^a2	C^a	III
489	δ459	1316	#eapc	I^a2	C^a
491	δ152	XI	#eapc	I^b2	(C^b)	V

Table of Minuscules 501-1000

Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Content	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Comment
506	δ101	XI	#eapcr	I^c2	C^c	V
522	δ602	1515/ 1516	eapcr	I^b1	C^b	V
547	δ157	XI	eapc	I^a3	C^a	V
614	α364	XIII	apc#	I^c2	C^c	III?	Byzantine. Pair with 2412; group with 876.
623	α173	1037	#apc Comm	I^a2	C^a	III	Mostly Byzantine with a handful of early readings
629	α460	XIV	apc Gk/Lat	K		III	About 75% Byzantine, but the only minuscule with significant "Western" readings. These seem to derive from the Latin; most agree with the vulgate or the Old Latin a.
630	α461	XIV	a#pc	I^b		III	Weak family 1739 in Romans & Corinthians; gradually turns pure Byzantine in the later epistles. Pair with 2200.
635	α161	XI	apc	I^b1	C^b
642	α552	XIV	#apc	I^a3	C^a	V
794	δ454	XIV	#eapc	I^a3	C^a	V
823	δ368	XIII	#eapc	I^b2	C^b
876	α356	XII	apc	I^c2	C^c		Byzantine; possibly group with 614 and 2412.
913	α470	XIV	apc	I^c2	C^c
915	α382	XIII	apc	I^a1	C^a	III
917	α264	XII	apc	I^a1	C^a	III
919	α113	XI	apcr	I^a	C^a	V
920	α55	X	apcr	I^b?	C^a	V
927	δ251	1133	eapc	I^a2	C^a
941	δ369	XIII	eapc	I^b1	C^b
999	δ353	XIII	eapc	I^a3	C^a	V

Table of Minuscules 1001-1500

Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Content	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Comment
1022	α480	XIV	apc	K^x			Byzantine in Romans-Thessalonians; good family 1611 text in Pastorals and Hebrews
1099	α368	XIV	apc	I^b	C^b	V
1108	α370	XIII	#apc	I^c1	C^c
1149	δ370	XIII	eapc	I^b2	C^b	V
1175	α74	XI	ap#c	H	H	I	Good late Alexandrian text, except in Romans and (probably) Thessalonians, where it is Byzantine.
1241	δ371	XII	e#a#pc	H?	K?	III	Text from first hand is Byzantine. The sundry supplements (1C 2:10f., 2C 13:3f., Gal, Eph. 2:15, Phil., Col., Heb. 11:3f.) are mixed late Alexandrian and Byzantine.
1245	α158	XII	apc	I^c1	C^c
1311	α170	1090	apc	I^a3	C^a
1319	δ180	XII	#eapc	I^a3	C^a	III	Family 2127. The family is often called after 1319, although 2127 is a better witness to the type.

Table of Minuscules 1501-2000

Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Content	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Comment
1505	δ165	XII	eapc	K^x		III	Family 1611. Pair with 2495 (with 1505 the better of the two). Colophon falsely dates to 1084.
1506	Θ^ε402	1320	eRo#1C Comm			II	Excellent early Alexandrian text, close to ℵ. Noteworthy for omitting Romans chapter 16.
1518	α551	XIV	apc	I^c1	C^c		Lost, but probably family 1611. May have resurfaced as 1896.
1573	δ398	XII/ XIII	#eapc	(I^r)	(K^r)	III	Family 2127
1610	α468	1364	apc	I^c2	C^c
1611	α208	X?	apcr	I^c1	C^c	III	Best surviving witness of family 1611 in Paul.
1738	α164	XI	#apc	I^a3	C^a	V
1739	α78	X	apc	I^b2? (lists as H)	D? (lists as H)	I	Core member of family 1739, preserving about 90% of the family text. Sister or nearly of 0243. Marginal commentary from assorted sources (paralleled in 1908). In Paul, most of the marginalia are from Origen (in Acts and the Catholics they are from other sources). Colophon claims Romans was copied from Origen's commentary and the rest from an Origenic manuscript, but there is no evident change in text-type.
1758	α396	XIII	#apc	I^b1	C^b
1799	ε610?!	XII/ XIII	a#pc	(I^phir)			Primarily Byzantine, with occasional block mixes of weak late Alexandrian and family 1739 texts. Edited text; paragraph divisions marked by the insertion of αδελφοι or similar heading, probably based on the lectionary (lectionary readings are marked in the margin).
1827	α367	1295	#apc	I^a2	C^a
1831	α472	XIV	#apc	I^b1	C^b
1835	α56	X	apc	I^a3	C^a	V
1836	α65	X	pc#	I^a1	C^a	III
1837	α192	XI	#apc	I^a3	C^a
1838	α175	XI	#apc	I^a2	C^a	III
1845	α64	X	apc	I^a3	C^a	(III)
1852	α114	XIII	#apcr	H (Ro) I^c1?	H(Ro) C^c	III	Late Alexandrian mixed with Byzantine in Romans. Elsewhere mostly Byzantine.
1867	α154	XII	#apc	I^c2	C^c
1872	α209	XII	apcr	I^b2	C^b	V
1873	α252	XII	apc	I^a2	C^a
1877	α455	XIV	apc			III	Mostly Byzantine, with some sections of something else. This other text is probably the same as that underlying the non-Byzantine portions of 181.
1881	α651	XIV	pc#			II	Family 1739 with some Byzantine corruptions. Best complete family text after 1739.
1891	α62	X	apc	I^b	C^b	V
1898	α70	X	apc	I^a1	C^a
1908	O^π103	XI	p Comm		H	III	Commentary (in Romans) parallels that in 1739, but the text is poorer. Outside Romans, text is rather Byzantine.
1912	α1066	X	p#	I^a1	C^a	III
1960	α1431	1366	p#				Badly mutilated text of Paul seems to belong with von Soden's K^r text.
1962	X¹⁰	XI/ XII	p# Comm			II	Fairly high-quality late Alexandrian text, loosely related to family 2127; some links to 436
1984	Θ^π43	XIV	p# Comm				Mostly Byzantine, with some special readings shared with 1985.
1985	Θ^π55	1561	p# Comm				Mostly Byzantine, with some special readings shared with 1984.

Table of Minuscules 2001 and over

Gregory Number	Soden Symbol	Date	Content	Soden Desc	Merk Desc	Aland Desc	Comment
2005	α1436	XIV	ap#	I^c1	C^c	III	Probably family 1611, although not yet properly studied.
2127	δ202	XII	eap#c	I^a3	C^a	II	Best member of family 2127, a late Alexandrian group containing also 256 263 365 1319 1573 etc.
2138	α116	1072	#apcr	I^c1	C^c	III	Head of the family 1611 group in Acts and the Catholics, but much attenuated in Paul.
2143	α184	XII	apc	I^a2	C^a
2147	δ299	XI/ XII	#eapc	I^c2	C^c	V
2200	δ414	XIV	eapcr			III	Weak family 1739 in Romans & Corinthians; mostly Byzantine in the later epistles. Pair with 630.
2298	α171	XII	apc	I^b2	C^b	V
2344		XI	#a#p#c#r			III	Mostly Byzantine with some late Alexandrian readings. Group with 69 462. 33^supp (Romans) may also go with this text.
2412		XII	#apc			III?	Almost purely Byzantine. Pair with 614; group with 876.
2464		IX	ap#c			II	Late Alexandrian with some Byzantine mixture. Few dramatic readings; the Alands should probably have rated it category III, not II. Byzantine in Romans.
2492		XIV	eapc			III	Arguably the best text of family 330, although somewhat distant from the pair 330 451. See the entry on 330.
2495		XV	#eapcr			III?	Family 1611. A late and somewhat degraded cousin of 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.

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.

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 Aexandrian text (comprehending, in this case, the P⁴⁶/B and family 1739 text). K is the Byzantine text. The various I groups include the "Western" text and a wide variety of manuscripts of lesser value and other types. Of these, I^a1 corresponds roughly to the "Western" text. I^a3 consists of late Alexandrian manuscripts (plus family 330). This group includes all of family 2127, as well as a number of texts loosely related to family 2127. I^c1 is family 1611.

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, breaking down manuscripts by Categories. 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.

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 collation or on statistical studies of 550 readings).