Manuscript
Codex Vaticanus
Also known as Vaticanus · B (Gregory-Aland) · 03
A 4th-century Greek manuscript of the Christian Bible held at the Vatican Library; the other principal Alexandrian witness alongside Sinaiticus.
textual-criticismnew-testamentseptuagintgreat-codices
Overview
Codex Vaticanus(c. 300–350 CE)— Held at the Vatican Library at least since the 15th century
Codex Vaticanus is a Greek biblical manuscript dated to the mid-4th century CE, roughly contemporary with Codex Sinaiticus. It is written on parchment in uncial script in three columns per page. The manuscript is named for the Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), where it has been held at least since the 15th century; it is cataloged as Vat. gr. 1209. It contains most of the Septuagint and most of the New Testament; the ending of Hebrews, the Pastoral Epistles, Philemon, and Revelation are missing (a later Greek hand supplied some of these on added pages). The Vatican Library has released a digital facsimile of the codex.
Manuscript Details
- Date
- c. 300–350 CE
- Language
- Greek
- Script
- Uncial (majuscule)
- Material
- Parchment
- Current location
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome (Vat. gr. 1209)
- Discovery location
- Held at the Vatican Library at least since the 15th century
- Contains books
- Septuagint (mostly complete) · New Testament (incomplete — missing parts of Hebrews, Pastorals, and Revelation)
- Tags
- textual-criticism · new-testament · septuagint · great-codices
Significance
Codex Vaticanus is, with Codex Sinaiticus, the primary witness to the Alexandrian text-type used in modern critical editions of the Greek Bible. It is often regarded by textual critics as the single most important surviving manuscript of the Greek New Testament. Its readings are heavily weighted in the Nestle-Aland / UBS apparatus and therefore shape nearly every modern English translation's textual base. Like Sinaiticus, it underlies many of the footnoted variants that distinguish modern critical English translations from the Byzantine-text base of the King James Version.
Where this witness is read
Codex Vaticanus 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 Vaticanus (B) (c. AD 300-350) reads: Ends the Gospel at 16:8 — and the scribe left the rest of the column, and the column after it, blank before starting Luke. Defenders read that blank space as a scribe who knew an ending existed and left room for it; critics read it as a scribe who knew other copies had something more and deliberately declined to write it. The blank is real; what it means is argued both ways.
- John 7:53 - 8:11The Woman Caught in AdulteryCodex Vaticanus (B) (c. AD 300-350) 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 bloodAn early Luke papyrus (P75) and Codex Vaticanus (3rd–4th centuries) reads: Without the two verses — the prayer is followed directly by Jesus rising and coming to the disciples.
- 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.