Dresden Codex

Lore & Background

The codex was probably written by an Irish monk in the Abbey of St. Gall, Switzerland between 850-900 A.D. Scholar Ludolph Kuster was the first to recognize the 9th century date of Codex Boernerianus. The evidence for this date includes the style of the script, the smaller uncial letters in Greek, the Latin interlinear written in Anglo-Saxon minuscule, and the separation of words. In 1670 it was in the hands of P. Junius at Leiden. It was mentioned by Kuster in the preface to his edition of Mill's Greek New Testament, but the actual collation was done later by others. The manuscript was designated by symbol G in the second part of Johann Jakob Wettstein's edition of the Greek New Testament. Rettig thought that Codex Sangallensis is a part of the same book as the Codex Boernerianus, which some other scholars also believe. During World War II, the codex suffered severely from water damage. Thus the facsimile as published in 1909 provides the most legible text.

Reader's Guide

The Codex Boernerianus is a key witness to the Western text-type of the Pauline epistles. Its Greek text is accompanied by an interlinear Latin translation, written in Anglo-Saxon minuscule, a feature it shares with Codex Sangallensis 48. The manuscript contains six gaps: Romans 1:1-4, 2:17-24, 1 Cor. 3:8-16, 6:7-14, Col. 2:1-8, and Philem. 21-25. Quotations from the Old Testament are marked in the left-hand margin by inverted commas, with Latin notation identifying the source. The codex does not include the phrase ἐν Ῥώμῃ (in Rome), with Rom 1:7 employing ἐν ἀγαπῃ (in love) instead. At the end of the codex, after Philemon, stands the title Προς Λαουδακησας αρχεται επιστολη, with the interlinear Latin reading ad Laudicenses incipit epistola, followed by the Latin text of the apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans — but no Greek interlinear text accompanies it. The Greek text is considered a representative of the Western text-type, and textual critic Kurt Aland placed it in Category III. Notable readings include Romans 8:1 reading simply Ιησου (Jesus) where the majority adds a longer phrase, and Philippians 4:7 reading σωματα (bodies) instead of νοηματα (minds).

Did You Know?

• The codex does not include the phrase 'ἐν Ῥώμῃ' (in Rome); instead, Romans 1:7 reads 'ἐν ἀγαπῃ' (in love).
• At the end of the codex, the Latin text of the apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans is written, but there is no Greek interlinear text accompanying it.
• On folio 23 verso, a verse in Old Irish laments the pilgrimage to Rome: 'much labour, little profit'.
• The codex suffered severe water damage during World War II, so the 1909 facsimile provides the most legible text.
• The Latin interlinear is written in Anglo-Saxon minuscule, with characteristic shapes for the letters r, s, and t.

Physical Structure and the Laodiceans Appendix

The manuscript is a codex, containing the text of the Pauline epistles (excluding Hebrews). The text is written in one column per page, 20 lines per page (sized 25 x 18 cm) on 99 vellum leaves. The main text is in Greek with an interlinear Latin translation inserted above the Greek text, in the same manner as Codex Sangallensis 48 (Δ). The text of the codex contains six gaps (Romans 1:1-4, 2:17-24, 1 Cor. 3:8-16, 6:7-14, Col. 2:1-8, Philem. 21-25). Quotations from the Old Testament are marked in the left-hand margin by inverted commas (>; also known as a diplai), and Latin notation identifies a quotation (f.e. Iesaia / Isaiah). Capital letters follow regular in stichometric frequency. This means the codex was copied from a manuscript arranged in lines (known as στίχοι / stichoi). The codex sometimes uses minuscule letters: α, κ, ρ (of the same size as the uncials). It does not include rough breathing, smooth breathing or accent markers. The Latin text is written in minuscule letters. The shape of some of the Latin letters - r, s, and t - is characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon alphabet. At the end of the codex, after the end of Philemon, stands the title Προς Λαουδακησας αρχεται επιστολη, with the interlinear Latin reading ad Laudicenses incipit epistola (both mean To the Laodiceans; the beginning of the letter). Below the title, the Latin text of the apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans is written - but there is no Greek interlinear text accompanying it.

Textual Character and Notable Variant Readings

The Greek text of this codex is considered a representative of the Western text-type. The text-types are groups of different New Testament manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups. These are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine. Textual critic Kurt Aland placed it in Category III according to his New Testament manuscript text classification system. Category III manuscripts are described as having 'a small but not a negligible proportion of early readings, with a considerable encroachment of [Byzantine] readings, and significant readings from other sources as yet unidentified'. The section 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 is placed after 1 Corinthians 14:40, as seen in other manuscripts considered to be of the Western text-type such as Claromontanus (Dp), Augiensis (Fp), Minuscule 88, itd, g, and some manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate. It also does not contain the ending of Romans (Romans 16:25–27), but it has a blank space at Romans 14:23 for it which was never written. The Latin text has some affinity with the Latin lectionary manuscript, Liber Comicus (t), which is a Latin lectionary containing an Old Latin (Vetus Latina) text. Some notable readings include: Romans 6:5 reads αμα και της αναστασεως (at the same time also as of the resurrection) against the majority reading αλλα και της αναστασεως (certainly also of the resurrection); Romans 8:1 reads Ιησου (Jesus) against the majority's longer reading; Romans 12:11 reads καιρω (season) against κυριω (Lord); Romans 15:31 reads δωροφορια (gift I bear) against διακονια (gift); Romans 16:15 reads Ιουνιαν (Junias) against Ιουλιαν (Julian); 1 Corinthians 2:4 reads πειθοις σοφιας (plausible wisdom) against the majority's longer reading; Galatians 6:2 reads αναπληρωσετε (you shall fulfill) against αναπληρωσατε (you will have fulfilled); Philippians 3:16 reads το αυτο φρονειν, τω αυτω συνστοιχειν (let us mind the same thing, let us stand in line with the same) against the majority; Philippians 4:7 reads σωματα (bodies) against νοηματα (minds).

Provenance and the Name Behind the Codex

The codex was probably written by an Irish monk in the Abbey of St. Gall, Switzerland between 850-900 A.D. Scholar Ludolph Kuster was the first to recognize the 9th century date of Codex Boernerianus. The evidence for this date includes the style of the script, the smaller uncial letters in Greek, the Latin interlinear written in Anglo-Saxon minuscule, and the separation of words. In 1670 it was in the hands of P. Junius at Leiden. The codex got its name from its first German owner, University of Leipzig professor Christian Frederick Boerner, who bought it in the Dutch Republic in the year 1705. It was collated by Kuster, described in the preface to his edition of Mill's Greek New Testament. The manuscript was designated by symbol G in the second part of Johann Jakob Wettstein's edition of the Greek New Testament. The text of the codex was published by Christian Frederick Matthaei, at Meissen, in Saxony, in 1791, and supposed by him to have been written between the 8th and 12th centuries. Rettig thought that Codex Sangallensis is a part of the same book as the Codex Boernerianus, which some other scholars also believe. During World War II, the codex suffered severely from water damage. Thus the facsimile as published in 1909 provides the most legible text. The manuscript is housed now in the Saxon State Library (A 145b), Dresden, in Germany, while Δ (037) is at Saint Gallen in Switzerland.

The Old Irish Pilgrim's Lament

On folio 23 verso (the reverse side of the page) at the bottom is written a verse in Old Irish which refers to making a pilgrimage to Rome. Stokes and Strachan's translation: 'To go to Rome, much labour, little profit: the King whom thou seekest here, unless thou bring him with thee, thou findest him not. Much folly, much frenzy, much loss of sense, much madness (is it), since going to death is certain, to be under the displeasure of Mary's Son.' Bruce M. Metzger in his book Manuscripts of the Greek Bible quotes this poem, which seems to have been written by a disappointed pilgrim.