ALBRECHT, F.: Art. Ephraemi Rescriptus, Codex, in: Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 7, Berlin u.a.
2013, 1025-26.
1025 Ephraemi Rescriptus, Codex
a great number of writings ascribed to Ephraem.
Unfortunately, their authenticity is often very un-
clear.
Bibliography: Primary: ■ Akinian, N., Meknut!iwn Gorcoc!
Arak!eloc! (Wien 1921). ■ Conybeare, F. C., “The Commen-
tary on Acts,” in The Beginnings of Christianity, vol. 1/3 (ed.
F. Jackson/K. Lake; London 1926) 373–453. ■ Deppe, K.,
Kohelet in der syrischen Dichtung (Wiesbaden 1975). ■ Lange,
C., Kommentar zum Diatessaron, 2 vols. (Turnhout 2008).
■ Leloir, L., Commentaire de l’Évangile Concordant: Version Armé-
nienne (CSCO.Ar 1; Leuven 1953). ■ Leloir, L., Commentaire
de l’Évangile Concordant: Texte syriaque, 2 vols. (Leuven 1990).
■ Mekhitarist Fathers, Srboyn Ep!remi Matenagrut!iwnk!, 4
vols. (Venice 1836). ■ Molitor, J., Paulustext (Rome 1938).
■ Tonneau, R., In Genesim et in Exodum Commentarii
(CSCO.S 71; Leuven 1955).
Secondary: ■ Biesen, K. den, Bibliography of Ephrem (Giove
2001). ■ Bou Mansour, T., La pensée symbolique (Kaslik
1988). ■ Brock, S., The Luminous Eye (Rome 1985).
■ Bundy, D., “Exegesis of Isaiah,” StPatr 18 (1990) 234–39.
■ Fegháli, P., “Commentaire de l’Exode,” ParOr 12 (1984/85)
91–131. ■ Griffith, S., Faith Adoring the Mystery (Milwaukee,
Wisc. 1997). ■ Halleux, A. de, “Mar Ephrem théologien,”
ParOr 4 (1973) 35–54. ■ Hidal, S., Interpretatio Syriaca (Lund
1974). ■ Kruisheer, D., “Ephrem, Jacob of Edessa, and the
Monk Severus,” OrChrAn 256 (1998) 599–605. ■ Lange, C.,
The Portrayal of Christ (CSCO.Sub 118; Leuven 2008). ■ Le-
loir, L., Le témoignage d’Ephrem (CSCO.Sub 19; Leuven 1962).
■ Mathews, E., “The Armenian Commentary Attributed to
Ephrem,” in The Book of Genesis (ed. J. Frishman/L. van Rom-
pay; Leuven 1997) 143–61. ■ Melki, J., “Un bilan de l’édi-
tion critique,” ParOr 11 (1983) 3–88. ■ Murray, R.,
“Ephrem Syrus,” TRE 9 (Berlin/New York 1982) 755–62.
■ Vööbus, A., History of the School of Nisibis (CSCO.Sub 26;
Leuven 1965).
Christian Lange
See also /Edessa
Ephraemi Rescriptus, Codex
1. General Description. Codex Ephraemi Syri re-
scriptus (Paris, BnF, gr. 9; siglum “C”), together
with Cod. Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Alexandrinus,
belongs to the four significant uncial codices which
contain the OT as well as the NT and are therefore
designated as Vollbibeln (entire bibles). The Codex,
a single-column, 40–46 line parchment manuscript
measuring 33 × 27 cm in layers of 8 leaves (quater-
nions), originates from the first half of the 5th cen-
tury. The OT and the NT were written by different
scribes. In the 12th/13th century, parts of the man-
uscript were palimpsested and bound together into
a new codex containing 209 leaves (OT 64, NT 145),
through which the original leaf order was de-
stroyed. The new codex was overwritten with 38
treatises in Greek by Ephraem the Syrian (scriptio
superior, “overlying text”). The Codex contains frag-
ments of the Hexasophion (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesias-
tes, Canticles, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach), Tetrae-
vangelion, Apostolos (Acts, Catholic Epistles),
Pauline Letters, and Revelation. Altogether, 44 qua-
ternions (OT 15, NT 29) and six individual leaves
Angemeldet | Felix.Albrecht@uni-goettingen.de
Heruntergeladen am | 04.05.15 20:06
1026
of the original MS can be reconstructed. For codico-
logical reasons, it is probable that further parts of
the OT were contained therein and conceivable that
an apocryphal annex followed Revelation. Pres-
ently, the MS contains 208 leaves, since leaf number
138 disappeared in the 19th century.
2. Provenance and History. The provenance is un-
clear. The Codex probably came by way of Janos
Lascaris (d. 1534), who made two manuscript jour-
neys to Greece and the Near East for Lorenzo de’
Medici, into the possession of Cardinal Niccolò Rid-
olfi (d. 1550) and then into the collection of Piero
Strozzi (d. 1558). Until 1560, the library of the lat-
ter remained in Rome. It was subsequently brought
to Paris by Caterina de’ Medici (d. 1589), queen of
France from 1547–1559. Under Henri IV, Caterina’s
library was assimilated into the royal collection; in
1602, the codex was newly bound. The librarian
Jean Boivin (d. 1726) discovered the scriptio inferior
(“underlying text”). After many consultations of the
MS, in 1840, Constantin Tischendorf (d. 1874) came
to Paris and compiled the authoritative edition. In
1958, R. W. Lyon presented a new evaluation of the
NT portion; in 2010, F. Albrecht began a revision
of the OT portion. Today, the manuscript is in ex-
tremely poor condition. The damage observed in
the manuscript has been attributed to the influence
of chemicals used in the 19th century to increase
readability. The use of the so-called Giobert tinc-
ture, especially, caused irreversible damage.
3. Textual characteristics. In the case of the OT,
C has been underrated in the case of Job, Wis, Sir
by J. Ziegler, particularly since C often supports
readings of the other uncial MSS. In the case of the
NT, C is to be assigned to category II of the Alands’
evaluation. In the gospels, C has many unique char-
acteristics; after Codex Alexandrinus, C is the most
important textual witness for Revelation. The copy-
ist, however, did not work as carefully in this area:
there are obvious transpositions within Rev 7 : 14–
11 : 12 that indicate an unnoticed change in the leaf
order of the Vorlage.
Bibliography. Primary: ■ Tischendorf, C., Codex Ephraemi
Syri rescriptus sive fragmenta utriusque Testamenti, 2 vols. (Leip-
zig 1843–45).
Secondary: ■ Albrecht, F., “Codex Ephraemi Syri rescrip-
tus: Neue Lesarten zum Septuagintatext des Kohelet-
buches,” ZAW 122 (2010) 272–79. ■ Cavallo, G., Ricerche
sulla maiuscola biblica (Florence 1967) 87–93. ■ Fraenkel, D.,
Die Überlieferung bis zum VIII. Jahrhundert, vol. 1/1 of Verzeich-
nis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments von A.
Rahlfs (Göttingen 2004). [Esp. 313–15] ■ Lyon, R. W., “A
Re-Examination of Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus,” NTS 5
(1959) 260–72. [Summary of Lyon’s unpublished disserta-
tion (St. Andrews 21994)]
Felix Albrecht
See also; /Alexandrinus, Codex; /Codex;
/Sinaiticus, Codex; /Vaticanus, Codex