Editing Codex Vaticanus (section)

{{Short description|4th-century Bible manuscript in Greek}}
{{other uses}}
{{New Testament manuscript infobox
| form   = Uncial
| number = '''03'''
| image  = Codex Vaticanus B, 2Thess. 3,11-18, Hebr. 1,1-2,2.jpg
| isize  = 220 px
| caption= Page from ''Codex Vaticanus''; ending of 2 Thes and beginning of Heb
| name   = Vaticanus
| sign   = B
| text   = [[Greek Old Testament]] and Greek [[New Testament]]
| language = [[Koine Greek]]
| script = [[Greek alphabet|Greek]]
| date   = c. 300-350
| found  =
| now at = [[Vatican Library]]
| cite   = C. Vercellonis, J. Cozza, ''Bibliorum Sacrorum Graecus Codex Vaticanus'', Roma 1868.
| size   = {{convert|27|xx|27|cm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| type   = [[Alexandrian text-type]]
| cat    = I
| hand   =
| note   = very close to {{Papyrus link|66}}, {{Papyrus link|75}}, [[Uncial 0162|0162]]
}}
The '''Codex Vaticanus''' ([[Vatican Library|The Vatican]], [[Vatican Library|Bibl. Vat.]], Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by [[Scribal abbreviation|siglum]] '''B''' or '''03''' in the [[Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland|Gregory-Aland]] numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and as δ 1 in the [[Biblical manuscript#Von Soden|von Soden]] numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It is one of the four [[great uncial codices]].{{r|metz-ehrman|p=68}} Along with [[Codex Alexandrinus]] and [[Codex Sinaiticus]], it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible. Using the study of comparative writing styles ([[palaeography]]), it has been dated to the 4th century.<ref name="Aland">{{Cite book | first1=Kurt | last1=Aland | author-link1=Kurt Aland | first2=Barbara | last2=Aland | author-link2=Barbara Aland | title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism | others=Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.) | page=109 | year=1995 | publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] | location=Grand Rapids, Michigan | isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1}}</ref><ref name="INTF">{{Cite web | url=http://intf.uni-muenster.de/vmr/NTVMR/ListeHandschriften.php?ObjID=20003 | title=Liste Handschriften | publisher=Institute for New Testament Textual Research | access-date=16 March 2013 | location=Münster }}</ref>

The manuscript became known to Western scholars as a result of correspondence between textual critic [[Erasmus|Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus]] (known usually as Erasmus) and the prefects of the Vatican Library. Portions of the codex were collated by several scholars, but numerous errors were made during this process. The codex's relationship to the Latin [[Vulgate]] and the value Jerome placed on it is unclear.{{r|Martini}} In the 19th century transcriptions of the full codex were completed.{{r|metz-ehrman|p=68}} It was at that point that scholars became more familiar with the text and how it differed from the more common [[Textus Receptus]] (a critical edition of the Greek New Testament based on earlier editions by Erasmus).{{r|Tregelles108}}

Most current scholars consider Codex Vaticanus to be one of the most important Greek witnesses to the Greek text of the [[New Testament]], followed by [[Codex Sinaiticus]].{{r|Aland}} Until the discovery by [[Constantin von Tischendorf|Tischendorf]] of Sinaiticus, Vaticanus was considered to be unrivalled.<ref name="Scrivener">{{Cite book | first=Frederick Henry Ambrose | last=Scrivener | author-link=Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener | title=Six Lectures on the Text of the New Testament and the Ancient Manuscripts | page=26 | year=1875 | publisher=George Bell & Sons | location=Cambridge | isbn=9781409708261 | url=https://archive.org/details/sixlecturesonte00scriuoft/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref> It was extensively used by textual critics [[Brooke Foss Westcott|Brooke F. Westcott]] and [[Fenton John Anthony Hort|Fenton J. A. Hort]] in their edition of ''[[The New Testament in the Original Greek]]'' in 1881.{{r|Aland}} The most widely sold editions of the Greek New Testament are largely based on the text of the Codex Vaticanus.{{r|Aland|pp=26–30}}

The codex is named after its place of conservation in the [[Vatican Library]], where it has been kept since at least the 15th century.{{r|metz-ehrman|p=67}}