Manuscript
Codex Sinaiticus
Also known as Sinaiticus · Aleph (א) · 01 (Gregory-Aland)
A 4th-century Greek manuscript of the Christian Bible, one of the two earliest substantially complete witnesses to the Septuagint and New Testament.
textual-criticismnew-testamentseptuagintgreat-codices
Overview
Codex Sinaiticus(c. 330–360 CE)— Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai
Codex Sinaiticus is a Greek biblical manuscript produced in the mid-4th century CE. It contains the Septuagint (Old Testament in Greek, with some portions missing) and the entire New Testament — the earliest surviving complete copy of the Greek New Testament. It is written on parchment in uncial (majuscule) script in four columns per page. Portions of the codex were removed from the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai by Konstantin von Tischendorf in the mid-19th century; surviving leaves are now divided between the British Library, Leipzig University Library, the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg, and the monastery of St. Catherine itself. The manuscript also contains the Epistle of Barnabas and portions of the Shepherd of Hermas, extra-canonical works sometimes included in early Christian Bibles. A full digital facsimile has been released under CC-BY-NC-ND by the Codex Sinaiticus Project (a partnership of the four holding institutions).
Manuscript Details
- Date
- c. 330–360 CE
- Language
- Greek
- Script
- Uncial (majuscule)
- Material
- Parchment
- Current location
- British Library (largest portion); also Leipzig University Library, Russian National Library, St. Catherine's Monastery
- Discovery location
- Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai
- Contains books
- Septuagint (partial) · New Testament (complete) · Epistle of Barnabas · Shepherd of Hermas (partial)
- Tags
- textual-criticism · new-testament · septuagint · great-codices
Significance
Codex Sinaiticus is one of the two most important "Alexandrian text-type" witnesses used in modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament (alongside Codex Vaticanus). Its readings are a primary basis for the Nestle-Aland and UBS Greek New Testament editions. It is also central to the history of Christian textual scholarship: its mid-19th-century rediscovery by Tischendorf helped launch modern New Testament textual criticism. Differences between its readings and the later Byzantine / Majority text underlie many of the footnoted translation variants in modern English Bibles.
Where this witness is read
Codex Sinaiticus 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.
- Mark 16:9-20The Ending of MarkCodex Sinaiticus (א) (c. AD 330-360) reads: Ends the Gospel at 16:8, with no long ending of any kind.
- John 7:53 - 8:11The Woman Caught in AdulteryCodex Sinaiticus (א) (c. AD 330-360) reads: Does not contain the passage.
- 1 John 5:7-8The Three Heavenly WitnessesCodex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus (4th-5th century) reads: None of the great codices contains the passage.
- Matthew 17:21Prayer and fasting — a verse that is missing from MatthewCodex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus (4th century) reads: No verse 21 at all — the text runs straight from verse 20 to verse 22.
- Matthew 18:11"The Son of man is come to save that which was lost"Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus (4th century) reads: No verse 11 — verse 10 is followed directly by the parable in verse 12.
- Acts 8:37The Ethiopian's confession — "If thou believest with all thine heart"The earliest Greek manuscripts of Acts, including Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, and Codex Alexandrinus (4th–5th centuries) reads: No verse 37. Verse 36 is followed immediately by verse 38 and the descent into the water.
- Matthew 6:13"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory"The earliest Greek manuscripts, including Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, and Codex Bezae (4th–5th centuries) reads: The prayer ends at "deliver us from evil."
- Luke 22:43-44The angel in Gethsemane and the sweat like drops of bloodCodex Sinaiticus (4th century, with later corrections) reads: The original scribe wrote the verses; a corrector marked them for removal; a later corrector reinstated them. The manuscript preserves the dispute in its own margins.
- John 5:4The angel who troubled the water at BethesdaCodex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, and Codex Bezae (4th–5th centuries) reads: Also without the explanation.
- Mark 1:41Compassion or anger? Jesus and the leperCodex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, and the Byzantine majority (4th–15th centuries) reads: *splanchnistheis* — "moved with compassion."
- Romans 8:1"No condemnation" — with a condition, or without one?Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, original hands (4th century) reads: "...no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." The sentence ends there.
- 1 Timothy 3:16"God was manifest in the flesh" — two letters apartCodex Sinaiticus, original hand (4th century) reads: ΟΣ — "who was manifested in the flesh." A later corrector changed it to ΘΣ.