Investigating the Codex Alexandrinus (400-450 A.D.)
Sifting the oldest existing codices and paypri for appearances of the „strangled meat“ and „blood“ ban I came accross the Codex Alexandrinus.
As in the original text is no reference point
where to find Act 15,20 in the folios I had to recognize the uncial letters myself
and so I sifted the folios for known letters of „aimatos“ or „porno“
sorry „porneis“ but lately I found the passage somehow accidently over the word
„Moses“, which is the first word of vers 21 and as in Alexandrinus there was
already a vers arrangement, the first word of the vers is a little bit inserted
from the column. And so i found it Wow!
(Okay I also estimated that Ch. 15 has to be in the middle of the folios
56-76 and so I came to folio 66 …and there it was. „Moses indeed from
generation…“!).
Here you see the big M that catched my eyes.
Codex Alexandrinus (about 450 A.D. now in Princeton)
Can you see the word „Moses"?
And here it is in the line before the big „Moses“
Line 1 ἀλλὰ ἐπιστεῖλαι αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἀπέ-
alla episteilai autois tou ape-
but to write them to ab-Line 2 χεσθαι τῶν ἀλισγημάτων
Chesthai ton alisgematon
..stain from pollutionsLine 3 τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ τῆς πορνείας
ton eidiolon kai tes porneias
of the idols and of the immoralityLine 4 καὶ τοῦ πνικτοῦ καὶ τοῦ αἵματος.
kai tou pniktou kai tou haimatos
and that which is strangled and from blood
Again we have in the Alexandrinus „pniktou“ - „suffocated“ or „strangled“ in the text from the 5th century !
Here a more distant view of folio 66 with a numer „92“ at the head. (430 A.D. Alexandria)
How to find for yourself?
„Royal MS 1 D V-VIII“ (also Gregory-Aland no. A or 02, Soden δ 4) is the name of the Codex Alexandrinus at Princeton University library.
http://library.princeton.edu/byzantine/manuscripts/19478#
How can you find the folio yourself?
>> if you look inside Alexandrinus you can adjust to folio style and Scroll down to folio 66 on the right side.
Colophon
Cambing throught the text I was also coming to this wonderful colophon at folio 76. The last page of Acts. (folio 56-76) You can find it on folio 76
What do the letters mean?: Does the chalice symbolize the communion cup?
'Πράξεις τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων'.
Praxeis (practice)
ton (of the)
agion (holy)
apostolon (apostels)"Acts of the Apostels" ....the words are splitted.
Note that here you are reading in an original bible codex that dates back to the years 400-450 AD and that was written by a copyist with brown ink! In former times onyl bible scholars in monastaries or the university/church libraries could do!
http://library.princeton.edu/byzantine/manuscripts/19478#
More about Alexandrinus
What do we know about the Alexandrinus manuscript?
A: Alexandrinus (450 A.D.) It often is abbreviated as "A" or called uncial 02.
What has been preserved: It has preserved all of Genesis except for Genesis 14:14-17; 15:1-5, 16-19; 16:6-9, which are mutilated. The Twelve Minor Prophets are directly before Isaiah. It contains the rest of the Old Testament except for 1 Samuel 12:17-14:9 and Psalms 49:20-79:11.
The Apocryphal books in Alexandrinus are 3 and 4 Maccabees.
In the New Testament, Alexandrinus contains Matthew 25:7 to the end, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Paul's letters. John 6:50-8:52 and 2 Corinthians 4:13-12:6 are missing though. Alexandrinus contains all of Romans (minus 16:24) in the order of 1:1-14:23; 16:25-27; 15:1-16:23; 16:25-27 (The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary : Romans 1-8 p.6) It contains 16:25-27 twice. It contains all of James.
Other books at the end of the manuscript were written the Psalms of Solomon, and 1 and 2 Clement, with some parts missing.
Physical appearance: The leaves measure 32.1 cm by 26.4 cm. It was written on expensive vellum with brown ink. There are two columns per page, and 46-52 lines per column. There are no spaces between the words, and Old Testament quotes are indicated. It currently is in London, UK.
Scribes and correctors: Two to five scribes wrote this manuscript, and there were numerous corrections, by both the scribe who originally wrote the words and others hands. The corrected version is very similar to the Textus Receptus.
Distinctives of Alexandrinus: Some would say it appears as an Alexandrian Manuscript with Byzantine influence. Others would say it represents an alleged third family, the Western family, which is a combination of the Alexandrian and Byzantine texts. It does not have Luke 22:43f, and is missing John 7:53-8:11.
2 Tim 2:22 Alexandrinus has "loving" while other manuscripts have "calling"
Phm 12, Alexandrinus and corrected Sinaiticus almost stand alone in saying "whom I sent back yours" vs. other manuscripts who say "whom I sent back to you" or similar.
Phm 25 Alexandrinus does not have "amen" at the end. Sinaiticus, the Byzantine Lectionary, and p87 c.125 A.D. have "amen" at the end. See A General Introduction to the Bible p.394-395 and Manuscripts of the Greek Bible p.86 (photograph p.87) for more info.