Published by De Gruyter

Manuscripta Biblica

Edited by: Martin Wallraff and Patrick Andrist

ISSN: 2626-3955

e-ISSN 2699-2086

Overview
Volumes

Manuscripta Biblica is dedicated to scholarship on manuscripts of the Jewish and Christian Bible. The series is open to all scholarly fields and methods that address any aspect of biblical manuscripts in a broad sense. This includes research on textual and paratextual aspects, the presentation, organization, physical composition, and artistic dimensions of the artifact as well as issues related to production, dissemination, forms of use, and reception.

Topics

Book Ahead of Publication 2023

Bible Missals and the Medieval Dominican Liturgy

Innocent Smith

Volume 12 in this series

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Bible Missals are manuscripts that integrate liturgical prayers for the Mass with the scriptural texts of the Latin Vulgate. Long overlooked by scholars, Bible Missals offer important evidence for the development of the medieval liturgy and the liturgical use of scripture by medieval Christians.

This monograph is the first comprehensive analysis of the codicology and contents of Bible Missals. Mostly produced in the first half of the 13th century by professional book makers in centers like Paris and Oxford, these hybrid manuscripts were customized for secular, monastic, and mendicant patrons. This monograph focuses on Dominican Bible Missals, the largest group within the repertoire, providing detailed codicological descriptions of each manuscript and analyzing their texts for the Order of Mass and selected liturgical formularies, including prayers for the feast of St. Dominic.

For medieval Christians, the words and events of scripture were continually called to mind and reenacted in the sacramental rites of the Mass. Bible Missals provide important material evidence for this interplay between word and sacrament.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.0000/9783110792430
ISBN:: 9783110792430
ISBN:: 9783110792218
ISBN:: 9783110792492
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: General Topics and Biblical Reception
Subject:: Medieval Studies
Subject:: Practical Theology
Subject:: Liturgical Studies
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book Open Access 2023

The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri at Ninety

Literature, Papyrology, Ethics

Garrick Vernon Allen, Usama Ali Mohamed Gad, Kelsie Gayle Rodenbiker, Anthony Philip Royle, Jill Unkel

Volume 10 in this series

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Despite the significant work carried out on the text, transmission, materiality, and scribal habits preserved in the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri since their acquisition by Beatty ninety years ago in 1931, these early copies of Jewish scripture and the New Testament have, for the most part, belonged primarily to textual critics. The goal of this book is to resituate this important collection of manuscripts in broader contexts, examining their significance in conversation with papyrology as a discipline, in the context of other ancient literary traditions preserved on papyri, and in discussion with the intellectual and cultural history of collecting, colonialism, and scholarly rhetoric. The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, and other papyrological collection with which they are inextricably bound, remind us of the critical value of examining old manuscripts afresh in their historical, scholarly, and intellectual contexts. These studies are relevant for all scholars who work with manuscripts and ancient texts of any variety.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110781304
ISBN:: 9783110781304
ISBN:: 9783110781014
ISBN:: 9783110781342
Subject:: Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Subject:: Classical Studies
Subject:: Papyrology
Subject:: History
Subject:: Topics in History
Subject:: Colonial and Postcolonial History
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: General Topics and Biblical Reception
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: Historical, Political and Cultural Background
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2023

From the Thames to the Euphrates De la Tamise à l’Euphrate

Intersecting Perspectives on Greek, Latin and Hebrew Bibles Regards croisés sur les bibles grecques, latines et hébraïques

Patrick Andrist, Élodie Attia, Marilena Maniaci

Volume 9 in this series

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This volume is the result of a symposium organised in 2018 by Élodie Attia in Aix-en-Provence and offers a cross-sectional view of the production of typologically similar Latin, Greek and Hebrew Bibles during the course of the Middle Ages.

It first explores the different ways in which complete Bibles, in one or more volumes from the same production (pandects), were produced in different places and at different times, with an emphasis on their structural complexity. Complete Bibles are rare in all the traditions considered but especially interesting given the technical challenges that their production posed for craftsmen.

Partial Bibles represent a different way of transmitting the biblical text, whether they consist of a choice of parts of the Bible, assembled and reassembled in more or less original ways, or in the design of new types (such as the "Pentateuch-Megillot-Haftarot", produced in the Ashkenazi world before 1300).

Bibles with commentaries are a very varied category, illustrated here by two examples: first, the pandects produced by Theodulf († 821), in which the marginal notes are akin to a critical apparatus; second, Hebrew manuscripts containing systematic exegetical commentaries in sophisticated layouts that also vary according to their areas of production.

Finally, the presentation of new fragments of a very ancient scroll of Genesis and Exodus from the Cairo Genizah sheds new light on its insertion into the Masoretic tradition, and to document the existence of partial Bibles in the form of scrolls.

This volume shows the value of a comparative approach to ancient Bibles and hopefully represents a further step towards a more comprehensive perception of a history of the Bible.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111019963
ISBN:: 9783111019963
ISBN:: 9783110999129
ISBN:: 9783111020143
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: Medieval Studies
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2022

Entre Université et ordres mendiants

La production des bibles portatives latines au XIIIe siècle

Chiara Ruzzier

Volume 8 in this series

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Most 13th century Latin Bibles are portable Bibles produced in Paris and other towns hosting a medieval university. These manuscripts were intended for personal use and their dimensions also made them ideal preaching tools for the mendicant friars. This volume explores the production systems of these Bibles, their material and paratextual aspects, as well as their use, with a focus on the different technical solutions devised to miniaturise the Bible.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110757392
ISBN:: 9783110757392
ISBN:: 9783110757453
ISBN:: 9783110757194
Subject:: History
Subject:: Historical Periods
Subject:: Medieval History
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: Medieval Studies
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book Print Only 2022

Middle-Byzantine Evangelist Portraits

A Corpus of Miniature Paintings

Georgi Parpulov

Volume 7 in this series

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Author portraits are the most common type of figural illustration in Greek manuscripts. The vast majority of them depict the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Being readily comparable to one another, such images illustrate the stylistic development of Byzantine painting. In addition, they often contain details which throw light on elements of Byzantine material culture such as writing utensils, lamps, domestic furniture, etc.

This corpus offers catalogue descriptions of all evangelist portraits that survived from the Middle Byzantine period, i.e. from the mid-ninth to mid-thirteenth century. Items are arranged in roughly chronological order and are grouped according to common compositional types: readers will thus be able to trace iconographic similarities by going through a series of adjacent entries and to distinguish period styles by browsing through larger blocks of entries. The book thus provides, in effect, a selective survey of middle-Byzantine painting.

A surprisingly large number of Byzantine evangelists portraits remain unpublished: seventy-five of the miniatures reproduced in this volume have never appeared in print before.

ISBN:: 9783110754636
Subject:: Arts
Subject:: Periods
Subject:: 8th-15th Century
Subject:: Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Subject:: Byzantine Studies
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: History of Reception
Subject:: Medieval Studies
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book Open Access 2023

Lexikalische und exegetische Lesehilfen in griechischen Tetraevangelien

Untersuchung, kritische Edition und Übersetzung

Inès Carlier, Marie-Ève Geiger

Volume 6 in this series

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Many Greek gospel manuscripts are furnished with lexical and exegetic explanations for difficult passages or words. They often create intertextual references – between the gospels or going beyond the biblical canon. For the first time, this volume presents a critical edition of these discrete reading aids that take the bible at its word.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.0000/9783110774344
ISBN:: 9783110774344
ISBN:: 9783110774436
ISBN:: 9783110713206
Subject:: Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Subject:: Byzantine Studies
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: General Topics and Biblical Reception
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: Textual History and Criticism
Subject:: Synoptic Gospels and Acts
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2020

Der Codex Reuchlins zur Apokalypse

Byzanz – Basler Konzil – Erasmus

Martin Karrer

Volume 5 in this series

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Seldom does a manuscript provide such insight to the apocalypse as the Reuchlin Codex. It was written in the 12^th century, prior to the fall of Byzantium, it was adorned with very detailed marginalia. Around 1435, the manuscript was purchased for the Council of Basel. Since that time, Latin annotators, including Reuchlin, have added their comments. A team led by Erasmus used it as the basis for the Greek text of the Apocalypse in the modern era.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110675504
ISBN:: 9783110675504
ISBN:: 9783110674118
Subject:: Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Subject:: Byzantine Studies
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: General Topics and Biblical Reception
Subject:: Biblical Reception
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: Exegetical Monographs, general
Subject:: Early Modern Times
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2020

Divining Gospel

Oracles of Interpretation in a Syriac Manuscript of John

Jeff W. Childers

Volume 4 in this series

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Ancient manuscripts of John’s Gospel containing hermeneiai have long puzzled scholars, provoking debate about their origins, purpose, and use. The fragmentary nature of the early evidence has impeded progress towards a better understanding of these specialized books.

The present study shows that these books are "Divining Gospels"—editions of John’s Gospel incorporating lot divination materials for use in fortune-telling. The study centers on material presented here for the first time: the text and translation of a unique sixth-century Syriac manuscript, the earliest and most complete example of a hermeneia Gospel. An analysis of the Syriac along with evidence from Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Armenian versions show they all preserve vestiges of the same apparatus, disseminated widely at an early time throughout many different Christian communities. These books must be situated squarely within the development of divinatory practices in early and late antique Christianity. However, they represent a true hermeneutic, a method by which interpreters brought the potency of the Bible to bear on the everyday concerns of people who consulted them for help.

Furthermore, the Divining Gospel draws on the special aura that John’s Gospel held in the Christian imagination, both as text and as textual object. An analysis of the interplay between the biblical text and sacred codex, the oracles, the ritual practitioner, and the client enrich our appreciation of this distinctive hermeneutic. Contextualizing these materials in popular use illuminates the fraught relationships between the ecclesial establishment, ritual experts operating on the margins of orthodox respectability, and lay clients seeking knowledge and help.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110643497
ISBN:: 9783110643497
ISBN:: 9783110643558
ISBN:: 9783110617214
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: General Topics and Biblical Reception
Subject:: Biblical Reception
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: Textual History and Criticism
Subject:: John
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2018

Bible as Notepad

Tracing Annotations and Annotation Practices in Late Antique and Medieval Biblical Manuscripts

Liv Ingeborg Lied, Marilena Maniaci

Volume 3 in this series

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The present volume provides a comparative look at the contents and layout features of secondary annotations in biblical manuscripts across linguistic traditions. Due to the privileged focus on the text in the columns, these annotations and the practices that produced them have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. The vast richness of extant verbal and figurative notes accompanying the biblical texts in the intercolumns and margins of the manuscript pages have thus been largely overlooked.

The case studies gathered in this volume explore Jewish and Christian biblical manuscripts through the lens of their annotations, addressing the various relationships between the primary layer of text and the secondary notes, and exploring the roles and functions of annotated manuscripts as cultural artifacts. By approaching biblical manuscripts as potential "notepads", the volume offers theoretical reflection and empirical analyses of the ways in which secondary notes may shed new light on the development and transmission of text traditions, the shifting engagement with biblical manuscripts over time, as well as the change of use and interpretation that may result from the addition of the notes themselves.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110603477
ISBN:: 9783110603477
ISBN:: 9783110602265
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: Old Testament / Ancient Near East
Subject:: Language and Textual History
Subject:: facet.subjectFacet.TL-02-11
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: Textual History and Criticism
Subject:: Patristics
Subject:: Patristic Authors
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2018

Clothing Sacred Scriptures

Book Art and Book Religion in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Cultures

David Ganz, Barbara Schellewald

Volume 2 in this series

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According to a longstanding interpretation, book religions are agents of textuality and logocentrism. This volume inverts the traditional perspective: its focus is on the strong dependency between scripture and aesthetics, holy books and material artworks, sacred texts and ritual performances.

The contributions, written by a group of international specialists in Western, Byzantine, Islamic and Jewish Art, are committed to a comparative and transcultural approach. The authors reflect upon the different strategies of »clothing« sacred texts with precious materials and elaborate forms. They show how the pretypographic cultures of the Middle Ages used book ornaments as media for building a close relation between the divine words and their human audience.

By exploring how art shapes the religious practice of books, and how the religious use of books shapes the evolution of artistic practices this book contributes to a new understanding of the deep nexus between sacred scripture and art.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110558609
ISBN:: 9783110558609
ISBN:: 9783110557671
Subject:: Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
Subject:: Text and Exegesis
Subject:: Jewish Studies
Subject:: Jewish Literature
Subject:: Reception of Jewish Texts
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: Textual History and Criticism
Subject:: Islamic Studies
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2021

Die Kanontafeln des Euseb von Kaisareia

Untersuchung und kritische Edition

Martin Wallraff

Volume 1 in this series

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The Canon Tables of Eusebius of Caesarea are the most successful exegetic tool of all time. The cleverly concocted synopsis of the Gospels has been transmitted in hundreds of manuscripts and printed in numerous bible editions. In Christian book culture, it has been followed by magnificent forms of decoration. This volume is the first to present a critical edition of the panels as well as a study of their transmission.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110430806
ISBN:: 9783110430806
ISBN:: 9783110439526
ISBN:: 9783110430844
Subject:: Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Subject:: Classical Studies
Subject:: Greek
Subject:: Greek Authors
Subject:: Theology and Religion
Subject:: New Testament
Subject:: Language and Reference Works
Subject:: Patristics
Subject:: Patristic Authors
Publisher:: De Gruyter