Editing Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (section)

== History ==
[[File:Tischendorf um 1841.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Tischendorf in 1841]]

The codex's place of origin is unknown. [[Constantin von Tischendorf|Tischendorf]] tentatively suggested [[Egypt]]. Tischendorf also proposed the manuscript was produced by two scribes: one for the Old Testament, and one for the New Testament. Subsequent research indicates there may have been a third scribe involved. The text has been corrected by three correctors, designated by C<sup>1</sup>, C<sup>2</sup>, and C<sup>3</sup> (Tischendorf designated them by C*, C**, and C***). Sometimes they are designated by C<sup>a</sup>, C<sup>b</sup>, and C<sup>c</sup>.{{r|Aland}} The first corrector (C<sup>1</sup>) worked in a [[scriptorium]], but the exact location where any of the correctors worked is unknown. The first corrector's corrections are not numerous except in the [[Book of Sirach]].<ref name="Swete">{{Cite book | first=H. B. | last=Swete | title=An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek | pages=128–129 | year=1902 | location=Cambridge | url=https://archive.org/stream/anintrotooldtes00swetuoft#page/128/mode/2up }}</ref>

The third and last corrector (C<sup>3</sup>) likely wrote in the 800s, possibly in [[Constantinople]] (modern day [[Istanbul]] in [[Turkey]]). He conformed readings of the codex to ecclesiastical use, inserting many accents, breathings, and vocal notes. He also added liturgical directions in the margin, and worked extensively on the codex.{{r|Scrivener}}{{rp|123}} The codex was subsequently washed of its text, had the pages scrapped (howbeit imperfectly), and reused in the twelfth century.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Gregory | first=Caspar René | author-link=Caspar René Gregory | title=Canon and Text of the New Testament | page=348 | year=1907 | publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons | location=New York | url=https://archive.org/details/canontextofnewte00greg | access-date=2011-08-03 }}</ref>{{r|metz-ehrman}}{{rp|70}}

After the [[fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, the codex was brought to [[Florence]] by an émigré scholar.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04084a.htm ''Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus'' – ''Catholic Encyclopedia'']</ref> It belonged to Niccolo Ridolpho († 1550), Cardinal of Florence. After his death it was probably bought by [[Piero Strozzi]], an Italian military leader, for [[Catherine de' Medici]]. Catherine brought it to [[France]] as part of her dowry, and from the Bourbon royal library it came to rest in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]], [[Paris]]. The manuscript was rebound in 1602.{{r|textkritik}}{{rp|42}}

The older writing was first noticed by [[Pierre Allix]], a Protestant pastor. [[Jean Boivin the Younger|Jean Boivin]], supervisor of the Royal Library, made the first extracts of various readings of the codex (under the notation of Paris 9) to [[Ludolph Küster]], who published [[John Mill (theologian)|Mill's]] New Testament in 1710. In 1834–1835 [[potassium ferricyanide]] was used to bring out faded or eradicated ink, which had the effect of defacing the vellum from green and blue to black and brown.{{r|Scrivener}}{{rp|121}}

The first collation of the New Testament was made in 1716 by [[Johann Jakob Wettstein]] for [[Richard Bentley]], who intended to prepare a new edition of the ''Novum Testamentum Graece''. According to Bentley's correspondence, it took two hours to read one page, and Bentley paid Wettstein £50. This collation was used by Wettstein in his own Greek New Testament of 1751–1752.{{r|Scrivener}}{{rp|122}}
Wettstein also made the first description of the codex.<ref>{{cite book | last=Wettstein | first=Johann Jakob | author-link=Johann Jakob Wettstein | title=Novum Testamentum Graecum editionis receptae cum lectionibus variantibus codicum manuscripts | pages=27–28 | year=1751 | publisher=Ex Officina Dommeriana | location=Amsterdam | url=https://archive.org/stream/hekainediatheken00clem#page/26/mode/2up }}</ref> Wettstein examined the text of the Old Testament only occasionally, but he did not publish any of it.{{r|Swete}} Various editors made occasional extracts from the manuscript, but Tischendorf was the first who read it completely (Old and New Testament).{{r|Waltz}} Tischendorf gained an international reputation when he published the Greek New Testament text in 1843, and the Old Testament in 1845. Although Tischendorf worked by eye alone, his deciphering of the palimpsest's text was remarkably accurate.  The torn condition of many folios, and the ghostly traces of the text overlaid by the later one, made the decipherment extremely difficult. Even with modern aids like ultraviolet photography, not all the text is securely legible. Robert W. Lyon published a list of corrections to Tischendorf's edition in 1959.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Lyon | first=Robert W. | title=A Re-Examination of Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus | series=New Testament Studies | volume=5 | pages=266–272 | year=1959 | url=http://www.biblical-data.org/ON_Codex%2004.htm }}</ref> This was also an imperfect work.{{r|Waltz}}

According to Edward Miller (1886), the codex was produced "in the light of the most intellectual period of the early Church."<ref>Edward Miller, ''A Guide to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament'', Dean Burgon Society Press, p. 27.</ref>

According to [[Frederic Kenyon]], "the original manuscript contained the whole Greek Bible, but only scattered leaves of it were used by the scribe of St. Ephraem's works, and the rest was probably destroyed".<ref name="Kenyon138">Frederic Kenyon, [https://archive.org/stream/ourbibleancient00keny#page/138/mode/2up ''Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts''] (London 1896), 2nd edition, p. 138.</ref>

[[Henry Barclay Swete|Swete]] only examined the text of the Old Testament. According to him the original order of the Old Testament cannot be reconstructed. The scribe who converted the manuscript into a palimpsest used the leaves for his new text without regard to their original arrangement. The original manuscript was not a single volume.{{r|Swete}}

It is currently housed in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] (Grec 9) in [[Paris]].{{r|Aland}}<ref name=INTF>{{Cite web | url=http://intf.uni-muenster.de/vmr/NTVMR/ListeHandschriften.php?ObjID=20004 | title= Liste Handschriften | publisher=Institute for New Testament Textual Research | access-date=9 November 2011 | location=Münster }}</ref>