The Gruber Rare Books Collection and Other Rare Books
New Testament: Complete Manuscripts
All of the following manuscripts were photographed by The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts in 2010. Copies of these photographs are available on a website: http://www.csntm.org/manuscript. Click on "Manuscripts" on the left hand of the screen and look for the appropriate Gregory-Aland number.
Gregory-Aland 1424. This 9th century manuscript of the New Testament with commentary is 335 folios long and was written by a monk by the name of Sabas. Commentaries on Revelation by Oecumenios, a 6th century exegete, were included by the original scribe, but commentaries on the other books were added in the 12th century. The commentary on the Gospels is by Chrysostom (345-407) and on Paul by Theodore (350-428), Severian, and Theodoret (4th-5th century). The commentary is usually written in the left or right margin, but at times also above and below the text in the manner of the Talmud.
This is the oldest minuscule manuscript to contain the complete New Testament, but in an unusual order: Gospels, Acts, Catholic epistles, Revelation, then Paul, with twelve pages of prolegomena before Paul. The scan on the left shows the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew.
The first scan below shows the text of John 5 on the right. Note that the lines equivalent to John 5:3b-5 are marked with asterisks, indicating that this pericope is of doubtful authenticity. The second scan below shows that the text of John 7:53-8:11, the woman taken in adultery, is missing from this manuscript. It has been filled in by a later hand in the margin and marked with asterisks to indicate its doubtful authenticity.
For more details on these manuscripts see Kenneth W. Clark, A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in North America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1937, pp. 90-106.
The Gruber Collection was assembled by L. Franklin Gruber, President of Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, Maywood, Illinois.
Annotation prepared by Ralph W Klein