23.3 Caesarean Text Type.

This text type probably originated in Egypt and was then taken by Origen (†254) to Caesarea. From there it was taken to Jerusalem (more than a dozen manuscripts have a note ‘copied and corrected from the ancient manuscripts at Jerusalem’). Then it was taken to the Armenians, who had a colony in Jerusalem, and to the Georgians. This text follows the Alexandrian text in principle, but also retains any Western reading that does not seem too improbable. It displays a certain striving after elegance.

The main witnesses of this text type are the following:
1) p45, 200-250 A.D. It contains parts of the four gospels. (Acts is in the Alexandrian text type, as was mentioned above.)
2) Codex Washington 375-425 A.D. It contains the Gospels in different text types in the Western order (Matthew, John, Luke, Mark), as mentioned.
3) Codex Koridethi (θ) ±850 A.D. Contains the gospels. It is written in a rough inelegant hand by a scribe who was not familiar with Greek. In Mark it resembles the text Origen († 254) and Eusebius († 339) used in Caesarea. The other gospels are typical Byzantine.
4) Family 1 (1150-1350 A.D.) Minuscule manuscripts no’s: 1, 118, 131, 209 and several others. It is akin to codex Koridethi (θ), where Mark resembles a text type used during the third and fourth centuries in Caesarea.
5) Family 13 (1050-1450 A.D.) Minuscule manuscripts Nos. 13, 69, 124 and 346, together with at least eight more minuscule manuscripts form this family. They all have the incident of the woman caught in adultery not after John 7:52, but after Luke 21:38.
6) MS. 565; (850-950 A.D.) It contains the gospels. This is one of the most beautiful manuscripts, written in gold letters on purple vellum. In Mark it represents the Caesarean text type. It is in the library of Leningrad.
7) MS. 700; (1050-1150 A.D.) It contains the gospels. It differs no less than 2,724 times from the printed text from which the King James translation was made and has 270 unique readings. Together with manuscript No.162 it has the words “Thy Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us”, instead of “Thy kingdom come” in the Lords Prayer. (Luke11:2). It is kept in the British museum, London.

With great care the documents of the New Testament were copied and taken along to wherever the Gospel was proclaimed. Yet any alterations, be it unintentional or deliberately, were carried into the next copies or translations made from that manuscript. That resulted in a group of manuscripts that have the same peculiarities.

Should we not with equal care discern the authentic words of the original autograph when we produce a new version or translation in modern times?

God bless!

Herman.