Khaboris Codex
Encyclopedia
The Khaburis Codex is a late and unremarkable Syriac
manuscript
of the New Testament
. The Khaburis Codex is the complete Peshitta
New Testament containing 22 books, in comparison to the Western New Testament Canon which contains 27 books. The missing books are II Peter, II John, III John, Jude and Revelation. It has been carbon-dated
to the 12th century, which is confirmed by palaeography
. The text in Estrangelā
is highly consistent with the standard Peshitta
version of the Syriac Bible. Six pages in Matthew's Gospel, namely 13, 14, 39, 40, 53 and 54 are written in the East Adiabene
text type. The last part of the Book of Hebrews, which according to the Eastern book order is at the end of the manuscript, has suffered damage and wear so some sections are illegible.
The Khaboris Codex was obtained by the Norman Yonan, who had previously tried to sell the Yonan Codex in the United States
with the claim that it was the earliest New Testament manuscript, from the Assyrian Church of the East
in Iraq
in 1966. When Yonan died in 1970, the manuscript was purchased by Dan MacDougald for use in his holistic healing programme, which had previously sold transliteration
s of the Yonan Codex's text of the Beatitudes
(Matthew 5.3–12, and identical to the standard Peshitta text) to be recited to improve mental health.
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. The Khaburis Codex is the complete Peshitta
Peshitta
The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD...
New Testament containing 22 books, in comparison to the Western New Testament Canon which contains 27 books. The missing books are II Peter, II John, III John, Jude and Revelation. It has been carbon-dated
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
to the 12th century, which is confirmed by palaeography
Palaeography
Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...
. The text in Estrangelā
Syriac alphabet
The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC . It is one of the Semitic abjads directly descending from the Aramaic alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic, and the traditional Mongolian alphabets.-...
is highly consistent with the standard Peshitta
Peshitta
The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD...
version of the Syriac Bible. Six pages in Matthew's Gospel, namely 13, 14, 39, 40, 53 and 54 are written in the East Adiabene
Adiabene
Adiabene was an ancient Assyrian independent kingdom in Mesopotamia, with its capital at Arbela...
text type. The last part of the Book of Hebrews, which according to the Eastern book order is at the end of the manuscript, has suffered damage and wear so some sections are illegible.
The Khaboris Codex was obtained by the Norman Yonan, who had previously tried to sell the Yonan Codex in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with the claim that it was the earliest New Testament manuscript, from the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1966. When Yonan died in 1970, the manuscript was purchased by Dan MacDougald for use in his holistic healing programme, which had previously sold transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
s of the Yonan Codex's text of the Beatitudes
Beatitudes
In Christianity, the Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus that appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The term Beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy, fortunate, or blissful....
(Matthew 5.3–12, and identical to the standard Peshitta text) to be recited to improve mental health.