Defined: The Great Unicles

2/20/2015

The most important LXX manuscripts (because of their stage of preservation, text quality, and relative age) are the following codices (books), commonly referred to as the Great Uncials. The term "uncial" indicates that they were written using capital letters only, for the Greek alphabet used no small ("miniscule") letters until several centuries later. Following are the contents of the Great Uncials:

• Codex Sinaiticus (4th century), labeled Aleph: Genesis...Numbers...Joshua (part); Judges...1-2 Chronicles; 1 Esdras; Ezra-Nehemiah; Tobit; Judith; 1 & 4 Maccabees; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Lamentations; the Twelve (incomplete); Psalms; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Wisdom of Solomon; Sirach; Job.
Certain books are missing/lost. Psalms contains Psalm 151 as part of the regular Psalter.

• Codex Vaticanus (4th century), labeled B: Genesis - Deuteronomy; Joshua son of Nun; Judges; Ruth; 1-4 Kingdoms; 1-2 Chronicles; 1 Esdras; Ezra-Nehemiah; Psalms - Sirach; Esther; Judith; Tobit; the Twelve; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Baruch; Lamentations; Letter of Jeremiah; Ezekiel; Daniel

• Codex Alexandrinus (5th century), labeled A: Genesis - 2 Chronicles; the Twelve; Isaiah - Daniel; Esther; Tobit; Judith; 1 Esdras; Ezra-Nehemiah; 1-4 Maccabees; Psalms; Job; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Widsom of Solomon; Sirach
Psalm 151 is included as "outside the number." the Psalms of Solomon is listed in the table of contents for the codex but is not found in the codex itself.

I'm also adding a great quote about the Septuagint from: "Exploring the Origins of the Bible (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology): Canon Formation in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective" by Craig A. Evans & Emanuel Tov. This quote sums up what is so misunderstood.
"Most scholars do not actually believe that there was a book (codex) form of the Septuagint at the turn of the millennia, but they still talk about “the Septuagint,” as if Paul, for example, had gone to the local Alexandrian Bible Society bookstore in Tarsus and purchased his own bound copy of The Septuagint, from which he preached." (Evan & Tov, p.192).

0 Comments

Categories

To my readers & fellow writers,
I promise:
1. I will pray that God's grace helps illuminate all of our interactions- both those of simple reading and more active conversations.

2. I will communicate with you respectfully and civilly. These are (rightly) issues which we feel passionate about. But even in disagreements, I will respect you fellow "seekers of truth."

3. I will not fall into negative behavior or words, such as insinuations, exaggerations, blames, or personal attacks. I respectfully ask you to do the same.

4. I will pray we will all find the truth and strive to fulfill the two greatest commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31)

This site will occasionally feature paid posts! I always 100% verify everything I endorse. You will not see posts for products or sites I would not use myself.

All images on site were labeled for general re-use. If you find an image that is NOT supposed to be used, please contact me & I will remove it.