Minuscule 57

The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book) containing the entirety of the New Testament except the Book of Revelation, on 291 parchment leaves (size {{convert|22.5|x|19|cm|abbr=on}}), with two gaps (Mark 1:1-11 and at the end). The leaves are arranged in quarto (four leaves in quire) form. The text is written in one column per page, 25 lines per page.{{r|Aland}} The Psalms and Hymns follow the Epistles.{{Cite book | first=Caspar René | last=Gregory | author-link=Caspar René Gregory | title=Textkritik des Neuen Testaments | volume=1 | pages=141–142 | year=1900 | publisher=J.C. Hinrichs | location=Leipzig | url=https://archive.org/stream/textkritikdesne00greggoog#page/n153/mode/2up}}

The initial letters and headpieces are illuminated. It has accents and breathings, and contains the nomina sacra (special names/words considered sacred in Christianity - usually the first and last letters of the name/word in question are written, followed by an overline; sometimes other letters from within the word are used as well) throughout. The initial letters are in gold.{{r|Gregory}} According to Biblical scholar Frederick H. A. Scrivener, it is written in small, beautiful letters with abbreviations,{{r|Scrivener}} a sentiment also echoed by biblical scholar Orlando Dobbin, who describes the letters as "exquisite, very small, marked by a perfect uniformity, and full of rather puzzling but symmetrical flourishes and contractions."{{r|dobbin}}

It contains the tables of contents (known as {{lang|grc|κεφαλαια}} / kephalaia) before the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John (and likely also before the Gospel of Mark, but the leaves are missing). The text is divided according to the chapters (also known as {{lang|grc|κεφαλαια}}), whose numbers are given in the margin, and their titles (known as {{lang|grc|τιτλοι}} / titloi) at the top of the pages. It contains lectionary markings in the margin (used to assist with finding the correct reading on a Sunday during the church calendar), written in red ink (for liturgical use), but added by a later hand.{{Cite book | first=Frederick Henry Ambrose | last=Scrivener | author-link=Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener | author2=Edward Miller | title=A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament | volume=1 | edition=4 | page=198 | year=1894 | publisher=George Bell & Sons | location=London}}

The manuscript is arranged in the following order:

: {{lang|grc|κεφαλαια}} to Matthew

: Gospel of Matthew

: Gospel of Mark

: {{lang|grc|κεφαλαια}} to Luke

: Gospel of Luke

: {{lang|grc|κεφαλαια}} to John

: Gospel of John

: Acts of the Apostles

: The Seven Catholic Epistles

: The Epistles of Paul with Hebrews

: The Psalms

: Hymns from the Old and New Testament{{r|dobbin|Gregory}}

The Greek text of the codex is considered a representative of the Byzantine text-type. The text-types are groups of different New Testament manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups. These are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine.{{Cite book | author-link1=Bruce M. Metzger | author-link2=Bart D. Ehrman | first1=Bruce Manning | last1=Metzger | first2=Bart D. | last2=Ehrman | title=The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration | edition=4th | pages=205–230 | year=2005 | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=Oxford | isbn=0-19-516667-1}} Textual critic Kurt Aland placed it in Category V of his New Testament manuscript classification system.{{Cite book | first=Kurt | last=Aland | author-link=Kurt Aland | first2=Barbara | last2=Aland | author-link2=Barbara Aland | others=Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.) | title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism | page=138 | year=1995 | publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | location=Grand Rapids | isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1}} Category V is for "Manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text."{{r|tent-aland|p=336}}

It was not examined using the Claremont Profile Method.{{Cite book | first=Frederik | last=Wisse | title=The Profile Method for the Classification and Evaluation of Manuscript Evidence, as Applied to the Continuous Greek Text of the Gospel of Luke | page=54 | year=1982 | publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | location=Grand Rapids | isbn=0-8028-1918-4 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/profilemethodfor00wiss/page/54 }}

File:Minucule 57 (GA) f91v.JPG]]

The manuscript was likely written in Constantinople, in the 3rd quarter of the 12th century, with additions up to the end of the 14th century including a note relating to Epeiros.[http://image.ox.ac.uk/show?collection=magdalen&manuscript=msgr9 Magdalen College MS. Gr. 9]

Bishop Brian Walton used it for a Polyglot (as Magd. 1). Henry Hammond collated the manuscript twice. It was also examined by textual critic Johann Jakob Wettstein in 1715,{{cite book | first=Johann Jakob | last=Wettstein | author-link=Johann Jakob Wettstein | title=Novum Testamentum Graecum editionis receptae cum lectionibus variantibus codicum manuscripts | page=51 | year=1751 | publisher=Ex Officina Dommeriana | location=Amsterdam | url=https://archive.org/stream/hekainediatheken00clem#page/50/mode/2up}}{{Cite book | first=Orland T. | last=Dobbin | title=The Codex Montfortianus: A Collation | pages=28–29 | year=1854 | publisher=Samuel Bagster & Sons | location=London | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ZVM7Drma5ZwC}} Dobbin (for theologian John Mill), and biblical scholar Caspar René Gregory saw it in 1883.{{r|Gregory}}

It is currently housed in the Magdalen College (shelf number Gr. 9), at Oxford in England.{{r|Aland}}

• List of New Testament minuscules
• Biblical manuscript
• Textual criticism

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Minuscule 57 (GA)}}

• {{Rahlfs catalogue|author=Georgi Parpulov|date=28 March 2023}}
• [http://image.ox.ac.uk/show?collection=magdalen&manuscript=msgr9 Minuscule 57] at Oxford University
• [https://manuscripts.csntm.org/manuscript/View/GA_57 Online images of Minuscule 57] at the CSNTM.

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Category:Greek New Testament minuscules

Category:12th-century biblical manuscripts

Category:Septuagint manuscripts

Category:Magdalen College, Oxford