The Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest known copy of the Bible and often referred to as ? (Hebrew Aleph) or S, is being digitized by scholars and will be made available free of charge to the public over the Internet.
History of the Codex
Codex Sinaiticus is a complete manuscript of the New Testament along with portions of the Septuagint and two extra-canonical books, the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas. It is thought to have been produced between the years 330-350 A.D., similar to the fifty requested by the Emporer Constantine after converting to Christianity.
In 1844 a lecturer at the University of Leipzig, Constantine Tischendorf, was studying in the library of Saint Catherine’s Monastery (built at the base of Mount Sinai around the traditional location of the Burning Bush). There he discovered forty three discarded leaves of a manuscript written entirely in the oldest Greek he had yet seen. Examining them further, he determined they were written in Greek uncial script and were from the Septuagint. As several baskets of similar leaves had already been used to fuel the furnace, and as several dozen similar manuscript leaves were also at the monastery, Tischendorf secured the rescued leaves and assurances that no more would be burned. Upon his return to Europe, he presented the forty three leaves to King Frederick Augustus, for whom he named them Codex Frederix-Augustus.
Tischendorf returned to Saint Catherine’s in 1853 but could not secure any more manuscript portions from the monks. Before he was to leave, he shared his copy of a newly-published Septuagint to the monastery steward, who then showed Tischendorf his own copy of the Septuagint. His was a collection of manuscript leaves containing the complete Old and New Testaments, along with the Shepherd of Hermas and The Epistle of Barnabas. Though he was initially unable to convince the monks to allow him to take it for study, once in Cairo, an estatic Tischendorf was finally able to make arrangements with the Superior of Saint Catherine’s (also in Cairo) to send for the manuscript. He was given permission to study and copy it a few leaves at a time. At Tischendorf’s suggestion, the manuscript was presented to Tsar Alexander II, the protecter and patron of the Greek Church, in return for influence in the election of a new Archbishop. In 1862 Tischendorf published the Codex. In 1933 Russia sold the manuscript to the British Museum for £100,000.
The Codex Today
Today, portions of the manuscript are in four locations, including the monastery of Saint Catherine, the British Museum, the National Library of Russia, and the University of Leipzig in Germany. The digitization project aims to reunite the four into a single volume for study and examination. Besides the final digital Codex being made available online, a lifelike recreation of the manuscript, a CD-ROM, a documentary and other products will be produced.
News Items
The British Library — World’s oldest Bible goes global: Historic international digitisation project announced (2005 March 11) An ambitious international project to reinterpret the oldest Bible in the world, the Codex Sinaiticus, and make it accessible to a global audience using innovative digital technology and drawing on the expertise of leading biblical scholars is officially launched today.
Christian Today — British Library Heads Project in Digitalising the World’s Oldest Bible (2005 March 14) — On Friday 11th March, the British Library in London announced an ambitious historical international project to reinterpret the oldest Bible in the world, the Codex Sinaiticus. A team of experts from the UK, Germany, Russia, Egypt and the United States will combine efforts to make the Bible accessible to a global audience using innovative digital technology. The Codex is the ancient Greek Bible, written between the 1st and 4th centuries A.D., which is the period when the Roman Empire split and the Emperor Constantine, who ruled the Eastern Empire, adopted Christianity. The Codex was produced as the Greek version of the principal Jewish and Christian scriptures to match Greek heritage.
Christian Today — Oldest Known Bible to go Online (2005 August 4) — The oldest known manuscript of the Biblical New Testament is about to become accessible to millions of people around the world in a new online version. The parchment, known as the Codex Sinaiticus, dates from the 4th Century and is believed to be one of 50 copies of the Scriptures commissioned by Roman Emperor Constantine after his conversion to Christianity.
Codex Sinaiticus Web Resources
Codex Sinaiticus Digitisation Project — A link to a full-quality image of a page of codex Sinaiticus
? Codex Sinaiticus — one of the latest found of all the flock, yet one of the most important, and therefore (since the letters of the Latin and Greek alphabets had been already appropriated for other manuscripts) designated by its discoverer by the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph.
Earlham: Codex SinaiticusAlthough this manuscript is usually considered among the Alexandrian family of witnesses, in the Gospel of John (1:1-8:38), it is regarded as transmitting a Western Text. Codex Sinaiticus was originally a complete Bible. The NT portion (148 leaves) is well preserved and includes the Letter of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas.
Encyclopedia: Codex Sinaiticus
Books
The Text of the New Testament — Subtitled “Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration,” this is a superb reference work on New Testament textual criticism by Bruce M. Metzger. The Fourth Edition, published April of 2005, adds Bart D. Ehrman as co-author and brings the work up-to-date with recent research and critical methods, along with the use of computers in the evaluation of manuscript evidence.
Invitation to the Septuagint — by Karen H. Jobes and Moisés Silva, is an accessible introduction to the Greek Old Testament (LXX), presenting its history, transmission, and interpretation, along with biographies of principle scholars.
The Journey from Texts to Translations — A wide-ranging reference on how the Bible progressed from its beginnings to its modern forms.
Map of the locations mentioned
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