Manuscript
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
Also known as Codex Ephraemi · C (Gregory-Aland) · 04 · BnF Grec 9
A fifth-century Bible that somebody scrubbed off and wrote over — and that scholars read anyway.
great-codicesnew-testamentpalimpsesttextual-criticism
Overview
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus(Biblical text: fifth century AD. Overwritten in the twelfth century.)— Brought to Italy from the East after 1453; in the French royal library by the 1500s
In the twelfth century the parchment was washed and reused for Greek translations of thirty-eight sermons by Ephrem the Syrian. The Bible underneath did not disappear; it faded.
Two hundred and nine leaves survive — 145 New Testament, 64 Old Testament — all fragmentary.
Constantin von Tischendorf deciphered the lower text between 1840 and 1843, by eye, with no instruments, and did it remarkably accurately. Even with ultraviolet imaging today, not all of it can be read with confidence.
Manuscript Details
- Date
- Biblical text: fifth century AD. Overwritten in the twelfth century.
- Language
- Greek
- Script
- Uncial (majuscule), later overwritten in minuscule
- Material
- Parchment (palimpsest — reused)
- Current location
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Grec 9)
- Discovery location
- Brought to Italy from the East after 1453; in the French royal library by the 1500s
- Contains books
- New Testament (fragmentary, 145 leaves) · Old Testament (fragmentary, 64 leaves)
- Tags
- great-codices · new-testament · palimpsest · textual-criticism
Significance
The best proof the Copy Room has that manuscripts can be erased and still testify. A major fifth-century Bible was deliberately scraped away for reuse, and the text came back — first by a scholar's patience, then by ultraviolet light.
Where this witness is read
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus is one of the manuscripts named in the places your Bible carries a footnote. Each passage below shows what this witness reads and the case each way.