Minuscule 579 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 376 (von Soden),[1] is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 13th century.[2] Formerly it was labeled as 80^e (Scrivener). The manuscript is lacunose.

Lacuna (pl: Lacunae): an unfortunate loss of text within a manuscript due to accident or wear and tear. Even more unfortunate, lacunae usually are more frequent and more damaging in early manuscripts, especially the papyri. The essential elements of the missing text can be supplied from other manuscripts, of course, but not sufficient to reconstruct a variant reading. To attempt any kind of reconstruction, one must have access to an accurate facsimile of the damaged manuscript.

Since most of the minuscules were copied later than the uncials, they are generally more copies removed from the originals than are most of the uncials and therefore may be expected to have more variations from the original text. This is not always the case, however. A twelfth-century MS might be only ten copies from the original while an eighth-century MS might be twenty copies from the original. Indeed, Codex 33, a ninth-century minuscule MS containing most of the New Testament, has such a reliable text that it has been called “Queen of the Cursives” (i.e., of the Minuscules). Codex 1, a twelfth-century MS, is probably the best MS of the half-dozen or so that were used to prepare the first Greek New Testament to be published after the invention of printing. Codex 565, in the public library of St. Petersburg, is one of the most beautiful of all New Testament MSS. Prepared for “the Empress Theodora,” it is written in gold letters on purple parchment. – J. Harold Greenlee, The Text of the New Testament: From Manuscript to Modern Edition (p. 28). Baker Publishing Group.

Description

The codex contains the complete text of the four Gospels with some lacunae (Mark 3:28-4:8; John 20:15-21:25) on 152 leaves (size 23.3 cm by 16.2 cm). The text is written in one column per page, 28-39 lines per page.[3] Words are written continuously without any separation, accents, and breathings.

It contains lists of the κεφαλαια (tables of contents) before each Gospel, numbers of the κεφαλαια (chapters) at the margin, and the τιτλοι (titles) at the top of the pages. It has the Ammonian sections (in Mark 233 Sections – 16:5) but no references to the Eusebian Canons.[4] The Old Testament quotations are rarely indicated.

It has the same system of chapter divisions, as Codex Vaticanus and Codex Zacynthius.

The text of Matthew 16:2b–3 (Signs of the Times) is placed after verse 9. It contains two endings of the Gospel of Mark.[5] It has two endings to the Gospel of Mark (as in codices Ψ, 099, 0112, 274^mg, and ℓ 1602).[6] It lacks the text of Luke 22:43-44[7] and Luke 23:34.

NTTC MARK 16:9-20: Were These Twelve Verses Written by Mark?

Text

The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Alexandrian text-type in Mark and Luke. Aland placed it in Category II in Mark and Luke.[8] It was confirmed by the Claremont Profile Method, though in Luke 10 and Luke 20 it is a weak representative of the Alexandrian text.[9] In Matthew, its text belongs to the late Byzantine group.[10]

In John 8:6 it reads μη προσποιουμενος [not pretending (act as if, give the impression that)] along with Codex Cyprius.[11]

History

The manuscript once belonged to Johannes Georg Graeve and was collated by Anthony Bynaeus in 1691 (as minuscule 80). It passed into the hands of J. van der Hagen, who showed it to Johann Jakob Wettstein in 1739. It was bought by Ambrose Didot and sold to Mons. Lesoef.[12]

The manuscript was examined and described by Paulin Martin.[13] C. R. Gregory saw the manuscript in 1884.^[3]

It is currently housed at the National Library of France (Gr. 97), in Paris.[14]

Wikipedia & Edward D. Andrews

SCROLL THROUGH DIFFERENT CATEGORIES BELOW

BIBLE TRANSLATION AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM

BIBLICAL STUDIES / INTERPRETATION

EARLY CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM

TECHNOLOGY

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

CHRISTIAN FICTION

[1] Caspar René Gregory (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung. p. 68.

[2] K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack, “Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments”, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1994, p. 81.

[3] K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack, “Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments”, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1994, p. 81.

[4] Caspar René Gregory (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments. 1. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 205.

[5] Caspar René Gregory (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments. 1. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. p. 205.

[6] Bruce M. Metzger, Bart D. Ehrman, “The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration,” Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, p. 77.

[7] NA26, p. 235.

[8] Kurt Aland; Barbara Aland (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 133.

[9] Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for the Classification and Evaluation of Manuscript Evidence, as Applied to the Continuous Greek Text of the Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 63

[10] Bruce M. Metzger, Bart D. Ehrman, “The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration”, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, p. 89.

 NA27, p. 273.

[11] NA27, p. 273.

[12] Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. 1 (4 ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 205.

[13] Jean-Pierre-Paul Martin, Description technique des manuscrits grecs, relatif au N. T., conservé dans les bibliothèques des Paris (Paris 1883), p. 91-94

[14] K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack, “Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments”, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1994, p. 81.