The
Codex Washingtonianus or
Codex Washingtonensis, designated by
W or
032 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 (Soden), also called the
Washington Manuscript of the Gospels, and
The Freer Gospel, contains the four
biblicalThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
gospelA gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus. The word is primarily used to refer to the four canonical texts: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 80...
s and was written in
GreekKoine Greek is the popular form of Greek which emerged in post-Classical antiquity . Other names are Alexandrian, Hellenistic, Patristic, Common, Biblical or New Testament Greek...
on
vellumVellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
and
palimpsestA palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin from Greek παλιν + ψαω = , and meant "scraped again." Romans wrote on wax-coated tablets that could be smoothed and reused, and a passing use of the rather...
in the fourth or fifth century.
The codex is a book of 187 leaves of 20.5-21cm by 13-14.5cm with painted wooden covers.
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The
Codex Washingtonianus or
Codex Washingtonensis, designated by
W or
032 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 (Soden), also called the
Washington Manuscript of the Gospels, and
The Freer Gospel, contains the four
biblicalThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
gospelA gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus. The word is primarily used to refer to the four canonical texts: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 80...
s and was written in
GreekKoine Greek is the popular form of Greek which emerged in post-Classical antiquity . Other names are Alexandrian, Hellenistic, Patristic, Common, Biblical or New Testament Greek...
on
vellumVellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
and
palimpsestA palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin from Greek παλιν + ψαω = , and meant "scraped again." Romans wrote on wax-coated tablets that could be smoothed and reused, and a passing use of the rather...
in the fourth or fifth century.
Description
The codex is a book of 187 leaves of 20.5-21cm by 13-14.5cm with painted wooden covers. Written in one column per page, 30 lines per page. There are numerous corrections made by the original scribe and a few corrections dating to the late fifth or sixth century. John 1:1-5:11 is a replacement of a presumably damaged folio, and dates to around the seventh century. It is missing Mark 15:13-38 and John 14:26-16:7. The ink is dark brown. The words are written continuously without separation. Accents are absent. The rough breathing is used very rarely.
Like in
Codex BezaeThe Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis, designated by Dea or 05 , δ 5 , is an important codex of the New Testament dating from the fifth-century. It is written in an uncial hand on vellum and contains, in both Greek and Latin, most of the four Gospels and Acts, with a small fragment of the Third...
the Gospels follow in Western order:
MatthewThe Gospel of Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth...
,
JohnThe Gospel of John , is the last of the four canonical gospels. This non synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth...
,
LukeThe Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
,
MarkThe Gospel of Mark is the second of the four Canonical Gospels, but is believed by most contemporary scholars to be the first gospel written, on which the other two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke, were partially based....
.
The following
nomina sacraNomina sacra means "sacred names" in Latin, and can be used to refer to traditions of abbreviated writing of several frequently occurring divine names or titles in early Greek language Holy Scripture...
are written in abbreviated forms:
ΘΣ ΚΣ ΧΡΣ ΙΣ ΠΝΑ ΑΝΟΣ ΠΗΡ ΜΗΡ ΥΣ ΔΑΔ (
ΔΔ once)
ΙΗΛ (
ΙΣΡΛ once).