| New Testament manuscript | |
_folio_1_recto.jpg) Folio 1 recto | |
| Name | Macedoniensis |
|---|---|
| Sign | Y |
| Text | Gospels |
| Date | 9th century |
| Script | Greek |
| Now at | Cambridge University Library |
| Size | 18 cm by 13 cm |
| Type | Byzantine text-type |
| Category | V |
Codex Macedoniensis orMacedonianus is a Greekuncialmanuscript of theGospels written on parchment. It is designated byY or034 in theGregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε 073 in thevon Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts.[1][2][3][4] Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the 9th century.[3][5][6] The manuscript has severalgaps.[3][5] HistorianWilliam C. Braithwaite described the manuscript as "very carefully written."[7]
The manuscript is acodex (the precursor to the modernbook), containing an almost complete text of the fourGospels on 309 parchment leaves (sized 18 cm by 13 cm).[5][7][8] The text is written in one column per page, and 16-21 lines per column.[5][7][8] There are sixgaps (known aslacunae):Matthew 1:1-9:11; 10:35-11:4;Luke 1:26-36; 15:25-16:5; 23:22-34; andJohn 20:27-21:17.[1][7] The manuscript would have originally consisted of 42quires made of 8folio's (this being 8 parchment leaves placed on top of each other, then folded in half to create pages) for a total of 674 pages.[7] The missing sections total 66 pages.[7] The text is written in black and brown ink, including Greek accents and breathing marks.[7][8] Greek punctuation is used throughout the manuscript, using the high, middle, and low phrase mid-dots, along with the comma.[7][8]
The chapters (known asκεφάλαια /kephalaia) are included, with their titles (known asτίτλοι /titloi) written at the top and bottom of the pages.[7][8] The chapter lists (also known asκεφάλαια) are written before the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John (due to the missing first portion of Matthew, unable to determine whether a chapter list was before the Gospel of Matthew as well), with brief subscriptions written at the end of each Gospel.[7][8] There are ornamented headpieces (beginning titles) at the start of Mark, Luke, and John (again, due to beginning of Matthew missing unable to determine whether it was the same there).[7] The beginning (ἀρχή /arche) and ending (τέλος /telos) signs for the weekly lection readings of the Church calendar are also inserted.[7][8]
The Ammonian sections and Eusebian canons are also included (these being early divisions of the for Gospels into sections), with the chapter numbers written in the side margins.[7][8] The chapter titles, Ammonian and Eusebian numbers, lection markings, and initial letters of each new section are written in carmine ink, except for the text comprising Luke 1:1-11:26 which are all written in black ink.[7]
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The Greek text of thiscodex is considered a representative of theByzantine text-type.[2][5][7] Biblical scholarKurt Aland placed it inCategory V of his New Testament manuscript classification system.[5] Category V manuscripts are described as "manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text."[5]: 336
According to textual criticHermann von Soden, the manuscript belongs to his Ik text grouping.[1][6] Biblical scholarKirsopp Lake found that this manuscript shares traits with the textualFamily Π, and specifically withCodex Alexandrinus.[2][6]
The longer ending of Mark (16:9-20), Luke 22:43 and John 5:4 are included, with no signs to indicate suspected spuriousness or non-canonicity for the verses.[8] The texts ofMatthew 16:2b–3 (Signs of the Times) andJesus and the woman taken in adultery (known as thePericope Adulterae, John 7:53-8:11) are omitted.[8][9]
The earliest history of the manuscript is unknown. The codex was acquired by stockbrokerJoseph Bevan Braithwaite from Macedonia in 1901, which was given to his brother, the historianWilliam C. Braithwaite who described it in volume 13 of theExpository Times.[3][7]
Readings from the manuscript were inadequately cited by textual criticConstantin von Tischendorf in his critic edition of the Greek New Testament.[2][6] Gregory provided a collation of the manuscript in hisTextkritik des Neuen Testaments, volume 3 page 1028.[2][3][6]
According to Biblical scholarBruce M. Metzger, the manuscript "deserves to be studied more thoroughly than has hitherto been the case".[2] A similar sentiment was earlier voiced by Lake, who said "[i]ts complete study remains a problem for the future."[6]
Based on the writing graphical style, Braithwaite dated it to the 9th century CE, which is still the date assigned to it.[2][3][7][10] Due to some of the letter formations in the titles and in the main text itself, Braithwaite suggested the manuscript was copied from a 7th century CE manuscript.[7] The manuscript is currently located in theCambridge University Library (additional manuscripts shelf number 6594) inCambridge, England.[5][10]
