5 Γένεσις κοσμε * Βασιλείων ά". The first book of Ezra' the priest.P Η Έξοδος Αιγυπτε. n Huic subnectuntur, licet in Indice haud nominentur, Emison Iepeμs, quæ est 6. caput Baruchi. Grabe, ibid. P Eo pas a" VOL. V. G i Όμε βιβλια ή. Η Προφηται ις'. Bapex Opηvoi, et est liber 1. Esdræ Apocryphus. Atque huic subnexi sunt, quamGrabe, ibid. The first book of Maccabees. The Proverbs. The Ecclesiastes. The Canticles.$ The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach." Four Gospels: According to Matthew;" The Acts of the Apostles. a Psalms of Solomon.b Let us now make some observations: 1. This manuscript, as is allowed by all, is of great value, and high antiquity; though there is some difference among learned men, in their computations of its age. Grabe thinks it might be written before the end of the fourth cen circiter foliis, vigesimum sextum ab istis incipit verbis. χεσθε εις απαντησιν αυτ8. Grabe, ibid. C Amissis viginti quinque Matth. xxv. 6. Ep* Καθολικαι ζ. * Ibi incipit Epistola Jacobi, quam sequuntur duæ Petri, tres Joannis, et una Judæ. Grabe. * Επιτολαι Παύλε ιδ'. Epistolæ Pauli eodem locutæ sunt ordine, quo in nostris Bibliorum editionibus nisi quod Epistola ad Hebræos proxime sequatur duas ad Thessalonicenses. Grabe. a The figures are wanting in the manuscript. b Hos adversariis sacris de La Cerda subnexos legere est ; quippe a codice nostro abscissi vel deperditi sunt. Grabe. Haud diu igitur ante annum 396 exaratus videtur codex Alexandrinus, aut saltem paulo post, cum facta epistolarum Paulinarum divisio in rɛpadara nondum in publicum prodiisset, aut satis innotuisset. Cum igitur et codicis nostri et Theclæ ætas in eamdem exeuntus seculi iv. periodum incidant, traditio ante dicta vero videtur simillima. Grabe, ib. sect. 5. tury; others are of opinion, that it was not written till near the end of the fifth century. 2. This manuscript has some relation to the church of Alexandria; for it was brought from that city by Cyril Lucaris, patriarch of Alexandria, when he removed to the patriarchate of Constantinople: and when he made a present of it to Sir Thomas Roë, the British ambassador at Constantinople, about the year 1628, to be brought over hither as a present to the king, he affixed to it a short memorandum to this purpose: This book of the scripture of 'the New and Old Testament, as we have received by tra'dition, was written by Thecla, a noble Egyptian woman, ' about thirteen hundred years ago, not long after the coun'cil of Nice.' Another argument of its being written at Alexandria, is, thats to the book of Psalms is prefixed the epistle of Athanasius to Marcellinus, concerning the Psalter; and I think it may be reckoned an argument of the same thing, that this manuscript has in it the book of the Revelation, which we can perceive to have been received by the church of Alexandria, in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, and following centuries: whilst it was rejected by the Syrians, and little regarded by many other christians in the East to which might be added the neatness of the writing, in which the Alexandrians are supposed to have excelled. Accedo igitur sententiæ Casimiri Oudini, qui ex canonibus diurnis nocfurnisque in hoc codice annotatis judicavit, codicem hunc in usum monasterii Acœmitarum, adeoque a monacho Acœmità exaratum fuisse. J. J. Wetsten. Proleg. ad N. T. Gr. p. 10. Si codex noster ab Acœmitâ scriptus est, uti diximus, non potest seculo quinto esse vetustior. Acomitarum enim institutum auctorem habuit Marcellum Apamiensem, vel potius Alexandrum ejus successorem, qui floruit A. C. 420, teste Du Cange in glossario.-Existimo igitur, tempus, quo codex iste scriptus est, incidere in finem seculi quinti, quæ etiam Millii est sententia. Prol. 1338. Id. ib. 11. eProp. xiv. Nonnulla in se continet codex Alexandrinus, quæ ad ecclesiam Alexandrinam respiciunt. Veritas hujus assertionis probatur, 1. ex epistolâ Athanasii. 2. ex Hypothesibus Eusebii. 3. ex Canonibus Psalmorum. 4. ex Canticis annexis. 5. ex tertio Maccabæorum libro. 6. ex Psalmis Salomonis. 7. ex traditione ecclesiæ Alexandriæ. Prolegom. ad. Tom. 2. Septuag. ex edit. Grabe, sect. 47. &c. f additâ schedâ, quâ brevem dicti codicis notitiam propriâ manu tradidit sequentibus verbis: Liber iste Scripturæ Sacræ, N. et. V. Testamenti, prout ex traditione habemus, est scriptus manu Thecla, nobilis feminæ Ægyp tiæ, ante mille et trecentos annos circiter, paulo post Concilium Nicænum. Nomen Thecla in fine libri erat exaratum.--Extinctum ergo et est Thecla nomen et laceratum. Sed memoria et traditio recens observat.' Apud Grabe, Prolegom. i. sect. 1. 8 Psalmis Davidis præfixa sunt a p. 523. usque 533. Athanasii epistola ad Marcellinum de libro Psalmorum, Eusebii Hypotheses in Psalmos, &c. Grabe, Prolegom. ad Tom. i. sect. 2. Primo figura literarum est elegans et Alexandrina, J. J. Wetstein. Proleg. ad N. T. Gr. T. i. p. 11. in. It seems to me, therefore, somewhat strange, that Dr. Grabe should have taken a great deal of pains to prove, that this manuscript was written by Thecla, governess of a monastery of women at Seleucia, in Cappadocia, or thereabout. I shall say nothing more about the manuscript itself. I now proceed to observe, upon the just transcribed catalogue of books of scripture contained in it. 3. It is a full catalogue of canonical books: for, in the Old Testament, are expressly mentioned Ruth and Esther; in the New, fourteen epistles of St. Paul, seven catholic epistles, and St. John's Revelation; as well as others, which were universally received. 4. Concerning the order of the books, about which a great deal may be seen in Grabe, I observe these few particulars only. The twelve lesser prophets are here reckoned in a different order from that now common with us, agreeably to the Hebrews. And from Jerom we learn that, in his time, these prophets were placed differently in the Hebrew Bibles, and the Version of the Seventy: the order of this manuscript is exactly the same which, he says, was then observed in the editions of the Septuagint Version. The order of St. Paul's epistles, as we learn from Grabe, is the same as ours; except that the epistle to the Hebrews is placed next after the two epistles to the Thessalonians. The order of the catholic epistles is the same with that now in use; the epistle of James, the two epistles of Peter, the three epistles of John, and the epistle of Jude. Moreover, it might be agreeable to some of my readers to compare this catalogue with that of the Festal epistle of Athanasius, formerly transcribed by us at length: the two catalogues very much agree, from the beginning to the books of the Chronicles, inclusive; in both, the lesser prophets are placed before the four other; and in the Festal epistle, as well as here, the catholic epistles follow next after the Acts of the Apostles, and precede St. Paul's epistles; and St. Paul's epistles are there in the same order as here; finally, both 1 m * Prolegom. ad. Tom. i. sect. 3. 1 Vid. Prolegom. in Tom. i. sect. 4. 1 Non idem ordo est duodecim prophetarum apud Septuaginta Interpretes, qui in Hebraïcâ veritate retinetur. Illi enim ponunt secundum Amos, tertium Michæam, quartum Joel, quintum Abdiam, sextum Jonam, septimum Naum, octavum Abakuk, nonum Sophoniam, decimum Aggæum, undecimum Zachariam, duodecimum Malachiam. Hebræi autem post Osce, qui apud utrosque primus est, secundum legunt Joël, tertium Amos, quartum Abdiam, quintum Jonam, sextum Michæam, septimum Naüm, octavum Abakuk, nonum Sophoniam, decimum Aggæum, undecimum Zachariam, duodecimum, qui et ultimus est, Malachiam, Pr. Comment. in Joel. T. iii. p. 1335. See vol. iv. ch. lxxv. have the Revelation. It may be also worth observing, that St. Paul's epistles have likewise the same order (that is, the epistle to the Hebrews is placed before those to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon) in Euthalius, an Egyptian bishop, and well acquainted with Athanasius, who was bishop of Alexandria, about 490. The same order of Paul's epistles is in Cosmas of Alexandria; to be alleged hereafter. 5. This manuscript contains a great number of books, which are not now reckoned canonical. As I have often spoken of this matter in several places, a great deal needs not to be said here. But probably all the books here mentioned, and written out in these volumes, were not reckoned to be of equal authority: it may be supposed, that they were all read sometimes in the assemblies of christians, in the city or country, where this truly noble manuscript was written. Nevertheless, it would be unreasonable to think, that they were esteemed of authority, and decisive in any doctrines of religion; that would be contrary to the sentiments of ancient christian writers, in general; and particularly of Athanasius in his Festal epistle, and of the Synopsis, sometimes ascribed to him, and probably written by an Alexandrian. NICEPHORUS. II. In the next place I shall put down the Stichometry of NICEPHORUS, patriarch of Constantinople, who flourished in the beginning of the ninth century. Some have disputed the genuineness of this catalogue, Pearson in particular; who supposeth it the work of an unknown person, though it be found subjoined to the Chronography of Nicephorus: but generally it is allowed. Cave says, if it is not Nicephorus's, it must have been composed by some other Greek, about the same time; because it was translated into Latin by Anastasius Bibliothecarius, in Italy, who flourished about 870. Fabricius thinks it to be Nicephorus's, or a more "See in this vol. p. 71. • See vol. iv. ch. lxxv. P Id. ibid. ¶ At quomodo, quæso, Stichometria pars est Chronographiæ, quæ ab eâ toto cœlo distat? Assuta est illi quidem in Codicibus Græcis. Sed non magis ipsa pars est Chronographiæ, quam Chronographia pars est Stichometriæ. Vindic. Ignat. P. i. c. 4. p. 272. B. Auctoris tamen esse Nicephoro coævi vel inde patet, quod ab Anastasio Romano in linguam Latinam versa sit. H. L. T. ii. p. 5. Nicephori esse negat idem Pearsonius in vindiciis Ignatii. Et sane videtur Nicephoro antiquior esse. Libros enim recenset eodem ordine, quo in calce Synopseos Athanasianæ leguntur. Fabric. Cod. Apoc. N. T. p. 143. in notis, |