Codex Carolinus is an uncial manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated to the 6th or 7th century. It is a palimpsest containing a Latin text written over a Gothic one. The Gothic text is designated by siglum Car, the Latin text is designated by siglum gue (traditional system) or by 79 (on the list of Beuron), it represents the Old Latin translation of the New Testament.[1] It is housed in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Codex Carolinus, showing the text of Romans 15:3-8

It is one of very few manuscripts of Wulfila's Gothic Bible.[2][3] The manuscript is fragmentary. The four leaves of the codex were used as raw material for the production of another manuscript – Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis. It is a palimpsest, and its text has been reconstructed several times. Franz Anton Knittel was the first to examine it and decipher its text.[1]

Description

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The codex has survived to the present day in a very fragmentary condition. It contains only the text of the Epistle to the Romans 11-15 on four parchment leaves (size 26.5 cm by 21.5 cm). The text is written in two parallel columns, 27 lines per column. The left column is in Gothic, the right in Latin.[4]

Contents
Romans 11:33-12:5; 12:17-13:5; 14:9-20; 15:3-13.[5]

The text of the codex is not divided into chapters. The nomina sacra are used both in Gothic and Latin texts (ihm and ihu for "Iesum" and "Iesu"). All the abbreviations are marked with the superscript bar.[4][6] Its text has some value in Romans 14:14 for Textual Criticism.[7]

It is a palimpsest, the whole book is known as Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis. The upper text is in Latin, it contains Isidore of Seville's Origines and his six letters. The lower text of the codex belongs to several much earlier manuscripts, such as Codex Guelferbytanus A, Codex Guelferbytanus B, and Codex Carolinus.[8]

History

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Folio 256 verso with text of Romans 12:17-13:1; the Latin text is inverted

The manuscript is dated palaeographically to the 6th century or 7th century. According to Tischendorf it was written in the 6th century.[9] Probably it was written in Italy. Nothing is known about its early history. In the 12th or 13th century four of its leaves were used as material for another book and they were overwritten by Latin text. Its later story is linked with the codices Guelferbytanus A and B.[8][10]

Formerly the manuscript was held in Bobbio, Weissenburg, Mainz, and Prague. The Duke of Brunswick bought it in 1689.[8]

The manuscript became known to the scholars in the half of the 18th century, where it was found in the Ducal Library of Wolfenbüttel. The first description of the codex was made by Heusinger.[11] Franz Anton Knittel (1721–1792) recognized two lower Greek texts of the New Testament in this palimpsest codex, and designated them by A and B, he recognized also the Gothic-Latin text (known later as Codex Carolinus).[10] F. A. Knittel deciphered Gothic-Latin text of the Codex Carolinus and published it in 1762 at Brunswick.[12] In his edition all abbreviated forms, Gothic and Latin, are written in full. It was published in Uppsala in 1763.[13] It was published again by Theodor Zahn.[14]

Knittel made many errors, especially in Latin text, he also did not decipher every word and left several lacunae in the reconstructed text (e.g. Romans 11:35; 12:2; 15:8). Tischendorf made a new and more accurate collation for the Latin text and edited in 1855. Tischendorf used abbreviations for the nomina sacra, he did not leave any lacunae.[15] The new collation of the Gothic text was given by Carla Falluomini in 1999.[5]

The codex is located at the Herzog August Bibliothek (no. 4148) in Wolfenbüttel.[1]

Samples of reconstructed text (Romans 11:33-12:2)

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Gothic text (folio 277 recto, 1 col.)

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Romans 11:33-12:1 in Knittel's edition
Knittel's reconstruction[16]
Jah witubnijs goths
qhaiwa unusspilloda sind
stauos is
jah unbilaistidai
wigos is
Qhas auk ufkuntha
frathi fanins
aiththau qhas imma
raginens was
Aiththau qhas imma
frumozo f . .
jah fragildaidau imma
Uste us imma
jah thairh ina
jah in imma alla
immuh wulthus
du aivam amen
Bidja nuizwis brothrjus
thairh bleithein goths
usgiban leika izwara
saud qwiwana weihana
waila galeikaidana gotha
andathahtana
blotinassu izwarana
ni galeikoth izwis
thamma aiwa
Falluomini's reconstruction[17]
Jah witubnijs g(u)þ(i)s
hvaiwa unusspilloda si(n)d
stauos ïs
jah unbilaistidai
wigos ïs
Hvas auk ufkunþa
[.]raþi f(rauj)ins
aiþþau hvas ïmma
raginens was
Aiþ[.]au hvas ïmma
fr[../.]a gaf
jah fragildaidau ïmma
uste us ïmma
jah thairh ina
jah ïn ïmma alla
ïmmuh wulþus
du aiwam amen
Bi[.]ja nu ïzwis broþrjus
þairh bleiþein g(u)þ(i)s
usgiban leika ïzwara
saud qiwana weihana
waila galeikaidana g(u)þa
andaþahtana
blotinassu ïzwara(n)a
ni galeikoþ ïzwis
þamma aiwa

Latin text (folio 277 recto, 2 col.)

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Tischendorf's edition of the text Romans 11:33-12:5
Knittel's reconstruction[16]
et scientiae Dei
quam in enarrabilia sunt
iudicia eius
et non adsequaende
viae eius
Quis enim cognovit
intellectum Domini
aut quis ei
consiliarus fuit
aut quis ei
prius dedit
et retribuatur illi
quoniam ex illo
et per illum
in illo omnia
illi gloria
in secula amen
Rogo ergo vos fratres
per misericordiam Dei
exbibere corpora vestra
hostiam vivam sanctam
placentem Deo
consideratum
cultum vestrum
ne assimiletis
vos seculo
Tischendorf's reconstruction[18]
et scientiae di
quam scrutabilia sunt
iudicia eius
et investigabiles
viae eius
Quis enim cognobit
sensum dni
aut quis illi
consiliarus fuit
aut quis
prior dedit illi
et reddetur ei
quoniam ex illo
et per ipsum
et in ipso omnia
ipsi gloria
in secula amen
Obsecro itaq vos fratres
per misericordiam di
ut exhibeatis corpora vestra
hostiam vivam scam
placentem do
rationabile
obsequium vestru  
nolite configuari
huic mundo

See also

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Another manuscript of Gothic Bible
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References

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  1. ^ a b c Metzger, Bruce M. (1977). The Early Versions of the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 306, 381. ISBN 0-19-826170-5.
  2. ^ Metzger, Bruce M. (1977). The Early Versions of the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 378–382. ISBN 0-19-826170-5.
  3. ^ Manuscripts of Gothic Bible at the Wulfila Project
  4. ^ a b Knittel, Franz (1763). Fragmenta Versionis Ulphilanae. Uppsala.
  5. ^ a b Falluomini, Carla (1999). Der sogenannte Codex Carolinus von Wolfenbüttel. (Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis). Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der gotisch-lateinischen Blätter (255, 256, 277, 280). Wolfenbütteler Mittelalter-Studien. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-04230-3.
  6. ^ Gothica
  7. ^ George W. S. Friedrichsen, The Gothic Text of Rom. XIV 14 ( τι κοινον ειναι ), in Cod. Guelferbytanus, Weissenburg 64, JTS (Clarendon Press, 1937), pp. 245-247.
  8. ^ a b c Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments. Vol. 1. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung. p. 62.
  9. ^ Tischendorf, Editio Octava maiora, vol. III, p. 1111.
  10. ^ a b Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. Vol. 1 (4th ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 143.
  11. ^ Heusinger, Jakob Friedrich (1752). De quattuor Evangeliorum Codice Graeco, quem antiqua manu membrana scriptum Guelferbytana bibliotheca servat. Guelf.
  12. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1900). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, Vol. 1. Leipzig. p. 63.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ F. A. Knittel, Fragmenta Versionis Ulphilanae, Upsaliae 1763.
  14. ^ Gregory, Caspar René (1902). Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, Vol. 2. Leipzig. p. 732.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ Tischendorf, Constantin von (1855). Anecdota sacra et profana. Leipzig. pp. 153–158.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ a b Knittel, Franz A. (1763). Fragmenta Versionis Ulphilanae (in Latin). p. 1.
  17. ^ Gothic text in Falluomini's reconstruction at the Digitale Edition der Handschrift Cod. Guelf. 64 Weiss
  18. ^ Constantin von Tischendorf, Anecdota sacra et profana (Lipsiae 1855), p. 155.

Further reading

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  • Falluomini, Carla (1999). Der sogenannte Codex Carolinus von Wolfenbüttel. (Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis). Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der gotisch-lateinischen Blätter (255, 256, 277, 280). Wolfenbütteler Mittelalter-Studieny. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-04230-3.
  • Falluomini, Carla. Textkritische Anmerkungen zur Gotischen Bibel (PDF). AnnalSS 5, 2005 (2009). pp. 311–320. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  • Henning, Hans (1913). Der Wulfila der Bibliotheca Augusta zu Wolfenbüttel (Codex Carolinus). Hamburg: E. Behrens.
  • Knittel, Francisco Antonio (1763). Fragmenta Versionis Ulphilanae. Uppsala.
  • George W. S. Friedrichsen, The Gothic Text of Rom. XIV 14 ( τι κοινον ειναι ), in Cod. Guelferbytanus, Weissenburg 64, JTS (Clarendon Press, 1937), pp. 245–247.
  • Tischendorf, Constantin von (1855). Anecdota sacra et profana. Leipzig. pp. 153–158.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Streitberg, Wilhelm August (1971). Die gotische Bibel 1: Der gotische Text und seine griechische Vorlage, 6th edn. Heidelberg. pp. 239–249.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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Text of the codex
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