Codex Vaticanus B

Codex Vaticanus B

One of the most important witnesses to the Greek text of the New Testament: the so-called Codex Vaticanus B. The most widely sold editions of the Greek New Testament are largely based on the 4th century text, which was regarded as "the oldest extant copy of the Bible" before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946/47. Furthermore, it is one of the most beautiful examples of an uncial manuscript from Late Antiquity and encompasses both the Old and New testaments. Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used by Latin and Greek scribes between the 4th to 8th centuries. Lacking any spacing or punctuation, uncial was gradually replaced by more easily read textual forms in the course of the Middle Ages.

A Gem of the Vatican Library

Although known under different shelf marks such as Vat. gr. 1209, no. B, or 03 Gregory-Aland δ 1 von Soden, this manuscript has safely resided in the Vatican Library since the 15th century, when it was partially restored, although it is still missing some original leaves. Various glosses, corrections, and additions to the text were made in successive centuries and suggest regular use of the Codex Vaticanus B throughout its existence. The text of both Testaments was partially restored by a masterful hand during the 15th century, and some of the texts for the New Testament have been separately stored under the shelf mark Codex 1957.

The Work of Many Hands

Research indicates that the Codex Vaticanus B is the work of at least three scribes who were possibly supervised by a pair of editors, although scholars have postulated various places of origin for the manuscript ranging from Rome to Alexandria to Caesarea Maritima, a city on the Mediterranean coast of modern Israel. Although this is still hotly contested among scholars, some believe these amendments were made in the course of the 10th or 11th centuries by an extremely talented scribe who used the fullness of his abilities to replicate the original text from Late Antiquity. The cursive writing that appears in the margins is believed to have been added during the 12th century. Nevertheless, the manuscript has signs of extensive and regular use over the centuries, but when and where is still up to debate.

Beautiful Uncial Text

Arranged in three columns, the lettering is tidy and without ornamentation, lacking any form of punctuation except for accents made on iotas and upsilons by later scholars. The codex was likely stored in Caesarea during the 6th century and shares stylistic similarities with the Codex Sinaiticus, especially with regard to the Book of Acts. Its existence was first acknowledged during the 16th century in the correspondence that occurred between Erasmus of Rotterdam and the prefects of the Vatican Library, Paulus Bombasius and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda.