Editing Codex Alexandrinus (section)

{{Short description|5th-century handwritten Bible copy in Greek}}
{{Distinguish|Alexandria Codex}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{New Testament manuscript infobox
| form =Uncial
| number='''02'''
| image =Codex Alexandrinus f41v - Luke.jpg
| isize =180
| caption= Folio 41v from the Codex Alexandrinus contains the end of the [[Gospel of Luke]] with the decorative tailpiece found at the end of each book
| name =Alexandrinus
| sign =A
| text =[[Greek Old Testament]] and Greek [[New Testament]]†
| script=[[Greek language|Greek]]
| found =
| date = c. 400-440
| now at=[[British Library]]
| cite =
| size ={{convert|12.6|xx|10.4|in|cm|0|abbr=on|order=flip}}
| type =[[Byzantine text-type]] in Gospels, [[Alexandrian text-type|alexandrian]] in rest of NT
| cat =III (in Gospels), I (in rest of NT)
| hand =elegantly written but with errors
| note =close to {{papyrus link|74}} in Acts, and to {{papyrus link|47}} in Rev
}}

The '''Codex Alexandrinus''' (London, [[British Library]], Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a [[manuscript]] of the Greek Bible,<ref group="n">The [[Greek Vulgate|Greek Bible]] in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early history of Christianity. This Bible contained both the [[Greek Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s in [[Koine Greek]].</ref> written on [[parchment]]. It is designated by the siglum '''A''' or '''02''' in the [[Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland|Gregory-Aland]] numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and δ 4 in the [[Biblical manuscript#Von Soden|von Soden]] numbering of New Testament manuscripts.{{r|Aland}} It contains the majority of the [[Greek Old Testament]] and the Greek New Testament.<ref name="Aland">{{Cite book | first1=Kurt | last1=Aland | author-link1=Kurt Aland | first2=Barbara | last2=Aland | author-link2=Barbara Aland | translator=Erroll F. Rhodes | title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism | pages=107, 109 | year=1995 | publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] | location=Grand Rapids | isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/textnewtestament00kurt | url-access=limited}}</ref> It is one of the four [[Great uncial codices]] (these being manuscripts which originally contained the whole of both the Old and New Testaments). Along with [[Codex Sinaiticus]] and [[Codex Vaticanus|Vaticanus]], it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the [[Bible]].{{r|Aland}} Using the study of comparative writing styles ([[palaeography]]), it has been dated to the fifth century.{{r|Aland}} 

It derives its name from the city of [[Alexandria]] (in [[Egypt]]), where it resided for a number of years before it was brought by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Cyril Lucaris|Patriarch Cyril Lucaris]] from Alexandria to [[Constantinople]] (modern day [[Istanbul]] in [[Turkey]]).<ref name="Tregelles">{{Cite book | first=Samuel Prideaux | last=Tregelles | author-link=Samuel Prideaux Tregelles | title=An Introduction to the Critical study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures | volume=4 | year=1856 | publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. | location=London | url=https://archive.org/details/anintroductiont00treggoog}}</ref>{{rp|152}} It was then given to [[Charles I of England]] in the 17th century. Bishop [[Brian Walton (bishop)|Brian Walton]] assigned Alexandrinus the capital Latin letter A in the [[Polyglot (book)|Polyglot]] Bible (a multi-language version of the Bible with the different languages placed in parallel columns) of 1657.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Jack | last=Finegan | author-link=Jack Finegan | title=Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction to Textual Criticism | page=49 | year=1980 | publisher=William B. Eerdmans | location=Grand Rapids, Michigan | isbn=978-0-80281836-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIcU1BFiMBgC&pg=PA49}}</ref> This designation was maintained when the New Testament manuscript list system was standardized by [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[Theology#Christianity|theologian]] and [[Textual criticism of the New Testament|textual critic]] [[Johann Jakob Wettstein|Johann J. Wettstein]] in 1751.{{r|Wettstein}} Thus Alexandrinus held the first position in the manuscript list.<ref name="Greg-Canon">{{Cite book | first=Caspar René | last=Gregory | author-link=Caspar René Gregory | title=Canon and Text of the New Testament | volume=1 | year=1907 | publisher=T. & T. Clark | location=Edinburgh | url=https://archive.org/stream/canonandtextnew00greguoft#page/n357/mode/2up | access-date=25 December 2010}}</ref>{{rp|340}} 

Until the later purchase of [[Codex Sinaiticus]], biblical scholar and textual critic [[Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener|Frederick H. A. Scrivener]] described it as the best manuscript of the Greek Bible deposited in Britain.{{r|Scrivener|p=51}} Today, it rests along with Codex Sinaiticus in one of the showcases in the Sir [[John Ritblat]] Gallery of the [[British Library]] in [[London]], [[United Kingdom|U.K]].<ref name="Ehrman">{{Cite book | first=Bruce Manning | last=Metzger | author-link1=Bruce M. Metzger | first2=Bart D. | last2=Ehrman | author-link2=Bart Ehrman | title=The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration | edition=4th | page=67 | year=2005 | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | location=New York; Oxford | isbn=0-19-516667-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/textnewtestament00metz | url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="INTF">{{Cite web | title=Liste Handschriften: Codex Alexandrinus (A) | publisher=Institute for New Testament Textual Research | location=Münster | url=http://intf.uni-muenster.de/vmr/NTVMR/ListeHandschriften.php?ObjID=20002 | access-date=16 March 2013}}</ref> A full photographic reproduction of the New Testament volume (Royal MS 1 D. viii) is available on the British Library's website.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Codex Alexandrinus at the British Library's Website | url=https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_1_D_VIII | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116144428/http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=royal_ms_1_d_viii_fs001r | archive-date=16 January 2020}}</ref>