Codex Boernerianus


Codex Boernerianus, designated by Gp or 012, α 1028, is a small New Testament codex, measuring 25 x 18 cm, written in one column per page, 20 lines per page. It is dated paleographically to the 9th century. The name of the codex derives from the theology professor Christian Frederick Boerner, to whom it once belonged. The manuscript is lacunose.

Description

The manuscript contains the text of the Pauline epistles on 99 vellum leaves. The main text is in Greek with an interlinear Latin translation inserted above the Greek text.
The text of the codex contains six lacunae.
Quotations from the Old Testament are marked in the left-hand margin by inverted commas, and Latin notation identifies a quotation.
Capital letters follow regular in stichometric frequency. This means codex G was copied from a manuscript arranged in στίχοι. The codex sometimes uses minuscule letters: α, κ, ρ. It does not use Spiritus asper, Spiritus lenis or accents.
The Latin text is written in minuscule letters. The shape of Latin letters: r, s, t is characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon alphabet.
The Codex does not use the phrase ἐν Ῥώμῃ. In Rom 1:7 this phrase was replaced by ἐν ἀγαπῃ, and in 1:15 the phrase is omitted.
After the end of Philemon stands the title Προς Λαουδακησας αρχεται επιστολη, but the apocryphal epistle is lost.

Text

The Greek text of this codex is a representative of the Western text-type. Aland placed it in Category III.
The section 1 Cor 14:34-35 is placed after 1 Cor 14:40, just like other manuscripts of the Western text-type. The Byzantine manuscripts read Ιησου μη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν αλλα κατα πνευμα.
It does not contain the ending Romans 16:25-27, but it has blanked space at Romans 14:23 for it.
In 1 Corinthians 2:1 it reads μαρτυριον along with B D P Ψ 33 81 104 181 326 330 451 614 629 630 1241 1739 1877 1881 1962 1984 2127 2492 2495 Byz Lect it vg syrh copsa arm eth. Other manuscripts read μυστηριον or σωτηριον.
In 1 Corinthians 2:4 it reads πειθοις σοφιας along with 46. The Latin text supports reading πειθοι σοφιας – 35 and Codex Augiensis.
In 2 Corinthians 2:10 the Greek text reads τηλικουτου θανατου, along with the codices: א, A, B, C, Dgr, K, P, Ψ, 0121a, 0209, 0243, 33, 81, 88, 104, 181, 326, 330, 436, 451, 614, 1241, 1739, 1877, 1881, 1962, 1984, 1985, 2127, 2492, 2495, Byz.

The Old Irish Poem in the Codex Boernerianus

On at the bottom is written a verse in Old Irish which refers to making a pilgrimage to Rome:

Téicht doróim
mór saido · becc · torbai ·
INrí chondaigi hifoss ·
manimbera latt nífogbái ·
Mór báis mor baile
mór coll ceille mor mire
olais airchenn teicht dó ecaib ·
beith fo étoil · maíc · maire ·

Stokes and Strachan's translation:
Bruce M. Metzger in his book Manuscripts of the Greek Bible quotes this poem, which seems to have been written by a disappointed pilgrim.

History

The codex was probably written by an Irish monk in the Abbey of St. Gall, Switzerland between 850-900 A.D. Ludolph Kuster was the first to recognize the 9th century date of Codex Boernerianus. The evidence for this date includes the style of the script, the smaller uncial letters in Greek, the Latin interlinear written in Anglo-Saxon minuscule, and the separation of words.
In 1670 it was in the hands of P. Junius at Leiden. The codex got its name from its first German owner, University of Leipzig professor Christian Frederick Boerner, who bought it in the Dutch Republic in the year 1705. It was collated by Kuster, described in the preface to his edition of Mill's Greek New Testament. The manuscript was designated by symbol G in the second part of Wettstein's New Testament. The text of the codex was published by Matthaei, at Meissen, in Saxony, in 1791, and supposed by him to have been written between the 8th and 12th centuries. Rettig thought that Codex Sangallensis is a part of the same book as the Codex Boernerianus.
During World War II, the codex suffered severely from water damage. Thus, the facsimile, as published in 1909, provides the most legible text. Some scholars believe that, originally, this codex formed a unit with the Gospel manuscript Codex Sangallensis 48. Boernerianus is housed now in the Saxon State Library, Dresden, Germany, while Δ is at Saint Gallen, in Switzerland.