Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship - Timothy N. Mitchell

Steven Avery

Administrator
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship (2014)
Timothy N. Mitchell


https://www.academia.edu/4681825
/_Codex_Sinaiticus_as_a_Window_into_Early_Christian_Worship_in_Eleutheria_3_1_Fall_2014_2-19

http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1073&context=eleu
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol3/iss1/2/


This paper points out features that might be connectable to other mss, early or late.

Here are the section that change the style to lists.


verses.jpg


82 In the order as they are found in Sinaiticus, this author discovered ‘lists” at;

Matt 15:30 (Q75-flv);
Mark 3:16 (Q76-f3v),
Mark 7:21-22 (Q76-f6v),
Mark 10:19, 29 (Q76-f8v);


Luke 3:23-38, the genealogy of Jesus, (Q77-f7v),
Luke 6:14-16 (Q78-flr),
Luke 8:51 (Q78-f3v),
Luke 14:13,
Luke 21 (Q78-f8v);

John 5:3 (Q80-f3r);
John 8:35, 38 (Q82-f4r),
John 38-39 (Q82-f4v),
John 13:7, 9, 13 (Q82-f6r);

1 Cor 3:22-23 and 1 Cor 4:11-13 (Q82-f8v),
1 Cor 6:9-10 (Q83-flr),
1 Cor 12:13 (Q83-f3v),
1 Cor 12:28-29 and 13:4-7 (Q83-f4r),
1 Cor 15:39 (Q83-f5v);

2 Cor 6:4-7 (Q83-f7v) and
2 Cor 6:7-10 (Q83-f8r),
2 Cor 11:26 (Q84-flv);

Gal 5-19 (Q84-f4r)
Gal 5:19-21, 22-23 (Q84-f4v);

2 Tim 3:2-4 (Q86-f4r);

Titus 1:7-8 (Q86-f5r),

Acts 1=13 (Q86-f7r),
Acts 6:5 (Q87-f2r);

1 Pet 3:8 (Q89-f4r),
1 Peter 4:3 (Q89-f4v);

2 Pet 1:5-7 (Q89-f5r);

Rev 18:13 (Q90-f8r);

Barn. 19.4, 20.1 (Q92-f2r through Q92-f2v).

=====================

This can go studied with colometric spacing, eg. in Psalms and Isaiah.

And the colometric spacing that is a key part of the Claromontanus match to Sinaiticus in homoeoteleutons.
 
Last edited:

Steven Avery

Administrator
The scribal habits, line spacing,
punctuation and other features of the codex give insight into the early Christians
who used
Codex Sinaiticus. This paper will focus on the use of specific paragraph
markings as reading aids and how they may give a unique window into early
Christian worship.
10 Valeriy A. Alikin,
The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering Origin, Development
and Content of the Christian Gathering in the First to Third Centuries (VCSup 102; eds. J. den Boeft
et. al.; Leiden: Brill, 2010), 179.


4
Henry Sanders noted that the scribe of
Codex Washingtonianus, a four gospel
codex in Greek from the fourth or fifth century,21 used spaces for punctuation
“frequently and regularly”22 throughout and that the spaces “doubtless coincided
with the sense divisions used in reading.”23 Sanders surveyed the use of these
spaces and compared them to
Codex Bezae, a fifth century gospel codex,24 and
Codex Sangallensis, a ninth century gospel codex,25 and found many agreements in
punctuation and other sense unit markings.26 The agreements between these
manuscripts over such a broad stretch of time (somewhere around four hundred
years) lead Sanders to conclude that there must have been “an ancient system of
phrasing, used in reading the scriptures in Church service” and that their “origin
must have been as early as the second century.”27

cola et commata ?
In a similar way, the scribes of
Sinaiticus employed a unique method of
punctuation; the use of “lists” to single out key words and phrases in the text.31 The
scriptio continua is interrupted and only one key word or phrase is placed on a line
at a time leaving a noticeable empty space on the right hand side of the column.
These unique indented paragraphs would have been striking visual cues “with each
item pronounced carefully and separately, [the reader] developing emphasis over
the course of the lists.”32 It is this particular feature of
Sinaiticus that draws the
interest of this author. Due to the scribal convention of copying punctuation and
lectionary markers from the exemplar, these “lists” in
Sinaiticus may have been
copied from a much older manuscript(s). Therefore, any insight they may give on
early Christian belief or worship practice may actually date much earlier, possibly
into the second century, as will be seen below.


31 Peter M. Head, "The Gospel of Mark in Codex Sinaiticus: Textual and Reception-Historical
Considerations,"
TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism, Vol. 13 (2008),
http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/v13/Head2008.pdf, (accessed May, 4, 2013), 10-11.
32 Ibid, 13.

p. 8
The Psalms and other poetical books of
Sinaiticus are the only places where
the standard four columns of the rest of the manuscript are abandoned. It appears
that the scribes wanted to retain the parallelism of the Hebrew poetry and placed
each sentence on its own line.66 In a strikingly similar manner, the “metrical
quality” of select areas in the New Testament were set out with key words and
phrases on separate lines.67 These textual features obviously signaled for “the
reader exactly what the sense units were and proscribed the spaces or breaths
between.”68 In a uniquely different yet similar way to the colometric spacing of the
poetic books, these “lists” usually break up sentences by placing single words, a
word and an article or a short phrase separately on a line. The rarity of this feature
when contrasted with the consistent surrounding
scriptio continua of the columns
gives the ‘lists’ a visually striking appearance. At the very least they provide
emphasis and highlight the text in a unique way for the reader and for the audience
to distinguish a change in the manner of recitation.69

Parker
Gamble
Head
PARAGRAPH MARKERS AS AIDS IN WORSHIP

Several writings of the New Testament also exhibit the “two-ways” or “virtue
and vice” lists. The most notable is found in Galatians chapter five.75 Paul
concluded his exhortation to the Galatian Christians to live true to the gospel
message which he had preached to them by listing “the works of the flesh” (5:19-21)
followed by the “fruit of the Spirit” (5:22-23).76 Paul used this type of language
throughout his epistles, introducing “virtue and vice” or “two ways” lists with words
like “works of darkness,”77 or the ways of the “unrighteous.”78 In other places he
simply used them in his exhortations as he delivered “various rhetorical appeals to
his readers.”79 The same language can be seen in other writers of the New
Testament, such as in Matt 7:13-1480, and Peter shows familiarity with the ‘two
ways’ theme throughout both of his letters.81
The paragraph ‘lists’ in
Sinaiticus are mostly located at areas where these
“virtue and vice” or “two ways” lists are used in the New Testament.82 The “works of
the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians five are set out in this way. On
Q84-f4r83 at the right hand bottom of the page an
ekthesis marks the beginning of
Gal 5:19:84

p. 12

The rhythmical way in
which the lists are structured in
Sinaiticus suggest that they were used in this way.
Tertullian, in the early third century, wrote that “[t]he more diligent in prayer are
wont to subjoin in their prayers the ‘Hallelujah,’ and such kind of psalms, in the
closes of which the company respond” (
Or. 27).92 An ancient Christian hymn in
Latin, dating to third or fourth century on papyrus, preserves “a life of Jesus
harmonized from canonical and non-canonical traditions.”93 This hymn was
‘chanted’ by the reader and the audience would answer by singing the “refrain of
four lines.”94 Cyprian, in the third century, wrote:

P46 comparison
It may be tentatively concluded that the paragraph
‘lists’ in
Sinaiticus can be traced to earlier exemplars, of which P46
may be an
example of what that exemplar could have looked like, at least at 2 Cor 11:26 and
Gal 5:20.

Conclusions

The two examples from P46 at 2 Cor 11:26 and Gal 5:20
are hardly representative enough to show that
Sinaiticus’ paragraph lists derive
from much older exemplars.110 A more thorough examination of the papyri is needed
and may show more connections between
Sinaiticus and Christian worship in the
earlier centuries. Even with scanty evidence from the papyri it has already been
noted that scribes tended to copy punctuation and reading aids from the exemplar.
This tendency, by itself, may be enough to show that
Sinaiticus’ paragraph lists date
at least into the third century from much older exemplars, perhaps ones that may
have been part of Pamphilus’ library, judging by the colophons
 

Steven Avery

Administrator
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aldridge, Robert E. “Peter and the “Two ways”.”
Vigiliae Christianae 53, no. 3
(January 1,1999): 233-264.
Alikin, Valeriy A.
The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering Origin,
Development and Content of the Christian Gathering in the First to Third
Centuries. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae: Texts and Studies of Early
Christian Life and Language 102. Edited by J. den Boeft, Bart D. Ehrman, J.
van Oort, D. T. Runia, C. Scholten and J. C. M. van Winden. Leiden: Brill,
2010.The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson.
1885–1887. 10 vols. Repr. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994.
Best, Ernest. “The Use of Credal and Liturgical Material in Ephesians.” Pages 53-
69 in
Worship, Theology and Ministry in the Early Church: Essays in Honor
of Ralph P. Martin. Edited by Michael J. Wilkins and Terence Paige. Journal
for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 87. Edited by Stanley
E. Porter. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992.Codex Sinaiticus. Facsimile edition. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2010.
Comfort, Philip Wesley, and David P. Barrett, eds.
The Text of the Earliest New
Testament Greek Manuscripts. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House, 2001.
Finegan, Jack.
Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction
to Textual Criticism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980.
Gamble, Harry Y.
Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early
Christian Texts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
Grenfell, Bernard P., and Arthur S. Hunt, eds.
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Vol. 15.
London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1922.
Harris, William V.
Ancient Literacy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991.
Head, Peter M. "The Gospel of Mark in Codex Sinaiticus: Textual and Reception-
Historical Considerations."
TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism. Vol.
13 (2008). http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/v13/Head2008.pdf, (accessed May, 4,
2013).
Holmes, Michael W., ed.
The Apostolic Fathers: Greek texts and English
translations. Grand
Eleutheria 3:1 Fall (2014)
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
18
Rapids: Baker Books, 1999.
Hurtado, Larry W.
The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian
Origins. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006.
Jefford, Clayton N.
The Apostolic Fathers and the New Testament. Peabody:
Hendrickson, 2006.
Johnson, William A. “The Ancient Book.” Pages 256-281 in
The Oxford Handbook of
Papyrology. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
———.
Bookrolls and Scribes in Oxyrhynchus .Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2004.
Jongkind, Dirk.
Scribal habits of Codex Sinaiticus. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2007.
Metzger, Bruce Manning, and Bart D. Ehrman.
The Text of the New Testament: Its
Transmission,
Corruption, and Restoration. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Metzger, Bruce Manning.
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin,
Development, and Significance. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987.
———.
Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek Palaeography.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.
Parker, D. C.
Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible. London:
British Library,
2010.
Pliny the Younger.
Letters, Books 1-10. Translated by William Melmoth and W. M.
L.
Hutchinson. 2 vols. Loeb Classical Library. London: W. Heinemann, 1915.
Roberts, Colin H.
Manuscript, Society, and Belief in Early Christian Egypt. London:
Oxford
University Press, 1979.
Royse, James Ronald.
Scribal Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri. Edited
by Bart D. Ehrman and Eldon J. Epp. New Testament, Tools, Studies and
Documents 36. Leiden: Brill, 2008.

EleutheriaEleutheria
Volume 3
Issue 1
Volume 3, Issue 1 Article 2
December 2014
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian WorshipCodex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
Timothy N. MitchellLuther Rice University, taztimmitchell@gmail.com
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu
Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology
and Philosophy of Religion Commons
Recommended CitationRecommended Citation
Mitchell, Timothy N.. 2014. "Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship."
Eleutheria 3, (1).
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Divinity at Scholars Crossing. It has been
accepted for inclusion in Eleutheria by an authorized editor of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please
contact scholarlycommunications@liberty.edu.
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian WorshipCodex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
AbstractAbstractCodex Sinaiticus is the oldest and most complete New Testament in Greek known to exist. Its two
colophons at the end of 2 Esdras and Esther indicate a possible connection with Pamphilus’ famous
library at Caesarea in Palestine. Origen was head of a school for catechumens during his days in
Alexandria in Egypt and later began a similar school in Caesarea. Pamphilus was Origen’s star pupil and
later directed his school in Caesarea. These colophons may connect
Sinaiticus with an ancient tradition
of early Christian worship and instruction of new converts, possibly exhibited in particular scribal
features. These scribal features are primarily located at “two-ways” lists of “virtue and vice” in the New
Testament, which were popular methods of instructing the essentials of the faith and are found
throughout early Christian literature. These areas in the New Testament (and in the epistle of
Barnabas)
were emphasized through paragraph ‘lists’ by the scribes of
Sinaiticus. These ‘lists’ were most likely
recited by the ancient reader in a distinctive way for the audience. It is possible that the audience
interacted with the reader as the text was recited.
This paper surveys the ancient practice of the public reading of scripture during Christian gatherings and
the use of punctuation and lectional marking in manuscripts to aid readers in their task. A possible
connection with earlier manuscripts is explored by a cursory examination of a similarity in formatting
between
Sinaiticus and P46, a second century copy of Paul’s epistles. When taken collectively, though
sparse and fragmentary, the evidence suggests that
Sinaiticus preserves an ancient practice of Christian
instruction located in the unique paragraph ‘lists’ of the “two-ways” theme.
KeywordsKeywords
Codex Sinaiticus, P46, Two-ways, Public reading, Punctuation, Didache, Barnabas
Cover Page FootnoteCover Page Footnote
M. Div. student in Apologetics, Luther Rice University
This article is available in Eleutheria: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol3/iss1/2
Eleutheria 3:1 Fall (2014) 2-19
INTRODUCTION
The fourth century
Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest and most complete copy of
the New Testament in Greek known to exist.1 All twenty seven books of the Bible
are represented including the epistle of
Barnabas and part of the
Shepherd of
Hermas, the concluding sections are lost with the final pages of the manuscript.
Two colophons, one at the end of 2 Esdras and the other at the end of Esther
mention that
Codex Sinaiticus was “[c]ollated against an extremely old copy
corrected in the hand of the holy martyr Pamphilus.”2 These colophons most likely
connect the manuscript to the library Pamphilus had assembled at Caesarea.3 He
was a star pupil of Origen and later became head of his school in Caesarea.4 The
famous church historian Eusebius was a “protégé” of Pamphilus and was the
inventor of a system of cross references (Eusebian Canons) placed in the margins of
Codex Sinaiticus, which appear to be roughly contemporary to the manuscript.5
Taken collectively this evidence has lead scholars to place the most likely
provenance of the codex at Caesarea in Palestine.6 Sometime later the manuscript
ended up at St Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai in Egypt7, from which
Constantine von Tischendorf brought it to western eyes for the first time in the
1800’s.8 Ever since,
Codex Sinaiticus has been heralded as one of the most
important witnesses to the text of the New Testament.9 Because of the antiquity of
Codex Sinaiticus, any information that can be learned by thorough examination will
be extremely valuable in understanding how the early Christians used and viewed
the New Testament. Just as important as the
text which the manuscript contains is
the
manner in which the text was copied. The scribal habits, line spacing,
punctuation and other features of the codex give insight into the early Christians
who used
Codex Sinaiticus. This paper will focus on the use of specific paragraph
markings as reading aids and how they may give a unique window into early
Christian worship.
1 Bruce Manning Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman,
The Text of the New Testament: Its
Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 62.
2 D. C. Parker,
Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible (London: British
Library, 2010), 81.
3 Ibid., 82.
4 Ibid., 81.
5 Ibid.
6 T. C. Skeat, “The Codex Sinaiticus, The Codex Vaticanus and Constantine,” in
The
Collected Biblical Writings of T.C. Skeat (ed. J. K. Elliott; Leiden: Brill, 2004), 193; D. C. Parker is
much more reserved in his conclusions and gives the provenance as either Asia Minor, Caesarea or
Egypt (
Codex Sinaiticus, 7, 84-85).
7 Parker,
Codex Sinaiticus, 3.
8 Ibid., 127.
9 Metzger,
The Text of the New Testament, 62.
3 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
READING AIDS IN EARLY CHRISTIAN MANUSCRIPTS
Without a doubt, the act of reading an ancient manuscript was difficult for
those who used them in antiquity.10 Even modern scholars, with their knowledge of
dead languages, can have difficulty navigating an ancient document.11 Much of this
was due to
scriptio continua, that is, the ancient scribal convention of writing the
text “without separation between words and sentences.”12 In order to aid the
ancient reader in their difficult task slight spacing or other markings were
sometimes employed to indicate punctuation or signal a change in the narrative or
sense.13 Punctuation was used somewhat sporadically and was commonly added by
the readers themselves.14 In contrast to their Graeco-Roman counterparts, early
Christian manuscripts reflect a high use of punctuation and other lectional
markings, revealing “that most of these texts were intended for Church use, to be
read in public.”15
Sinaiticus contains many such reading aids, especially the use of
ekthesis,
the technique of beginning a new paragraph by extending the first letter of the new
paragraph into the left hand margin.16 The last word of the previous paragraph
usually ended mid line, leaving a glaring blank space for the remainder of the line.
Bodmer papyrus P75, a late second or early third century17 codex containing the
gospels of Luke and John, utilized
ekthesis, punctuation points and blank spaces to
indicate new paragraphs.18 The Rylands papyrus P52 of John, dated to the early
second century, though fragmentary, shows slight spaces between words that
probably marked pauses for the reader.19 The earliest collection of Paul’s epistles,
papyrus P46, also shows signs of punctuation and breathing marks, especially the
use of spaces to indicate “pauses in sense,” revealing that it was most likely used in
public reading.20
10 Valeriy A. Alikin,
The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering Origin, Development
and Content of the Christian Gathering in the First to Third Centuries (VCSup 102; eds. J. den Boeft
et. al.; Leiden: Brill, 2010), 179.
11 Larry W. Hurtado,
The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 178.
12 Bruce Manning Metzger,
Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek
Palaeography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), 31.
13 Colin H. Roberts,
Manuscript, Society, and Belief in Early Christian Egypt (London:
Oxford University Press, 1979), 21.
14 William A Johnson,
Bookrolls and Scribes in Oxyrhynchus (Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2004), 35.
15 Roberts,
Manuscript, 22.
16 Dirk Jongkind,
Scribal habits of Codex Sinaiticus (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2007), 96.
17 Philip Wesley Comfort and David P. Barrett,
The Text of the Earliest New Testament
Greek Manuscripts (Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House, 2001), 501.
18 Hurtado,
The Earliest Christian Artifacts, 180, 236; see also James Ronald Royse,
Scribal
Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri (eds. Bart D. Ehrman and Eldon J. Epp; NTTSD 36;
Leiden: Brill, 2008), 616.
19 Hurtado,
The Earliest Christian Artifacts, 179.
20 Royse,
Scribal Habits, 207; Hurtado,
The Earliest Christian Artifacts, 181 n89.
Eleutheria 3:1 Fall (2014)
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
4
Henry Sanders noted that the scribe of
Codex Washingtonianus, a four gospel
codex in Greek from the fourth or fifth century,21 used spaces for punctuation
“frequently and regularly”22 throughout and that the spaces “doubtless coincided
with the sense divisions used in reading.”23 Sanders surveyed the use of these
spaces and compared them to
Codex Bezae, a fifth century gospel codex,24 and
Codex Sangallensis, a ninth century gospel codex,25 and found many agreements in
punctuation and other sense unit markings.26 The agreements between these
manuscripts over such a broad stretch of time (somewhere around four hundred
years) lead Sanders to conclude that there must have been “an ancient system of
phrasing, used in reading the scriptures in Church service” and that their “origin
must have been as early as the second century.”27
The scribal tendency to carry over the punctuation markings from the
manuscript being copied can be seen in the contemporary book rolls of classical
literature from Roman Oxyrhynchus. William Johnson in his extensive study of
book rolls from Oxyrhynchus discovered “that the scribe attempted to copy the
‘original’ punctuation, that is, the sort of bare-bones punctuation existing before
reader intervention; but also that the scribe did incorporate corrections or additions
as he saw fit.”28 A similar tendency of scribal transmission was discovered for
breathing marks, lectional notations, and other symbols not directly related to
punctuation.29 Overall, Johnson concluded that the “use of adscript, punctuation, or
division between lines” was considered part of the exemplar by scribes and was
“considerably more consistent [throughout the ancient book rolls] than is commonly
recognized.”30
In a similar way, the scribes of
Sinaiticus employed a unique method of
punctuation; the use of “lists” to single out key words and phrases in the text.31 The
scriptio continua is interrupted and only one key word or phrase is placed on a line
at a time leaving a noticeable empty space on the right hand side of the column.
These unique indented paragraphs would have been striking visual cues “with each
item pronounced carefully and separately, [the reader] developing emphasis over
the course of the lists.”32 It is this particular feature of
Sinaiticus that draws the
interest of this author. Due to the scribal convention of copying punctuation and
21 Metzger,
The Text of the New Testament, 80.
22 Henry A. Sanders,
The New Testament Manuscripts in the Freer Collection. Pt. I., The
Washington Manuscript of the Four Gospels (New York: Macmillan, 1912), 12.
23 Ibid., 13-14.
24 Metzger,
The Text of the New Testament, 70.
25 Ibid, 82.
26 Sanders,
The New Testament Manuscripts, 14.
27 Ibid.
28 Johnson,
Book Rolls and Scribes, 58-59.
29 Ibid., 36.
30 Ibid., 8.
31 Peter M. Head, "The Gospel of Mark in Codex Sinaiticus: Textual and Reception-Historical
Considerations,"
TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism, Vol. 13 (2008),
http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/v13/Head2008.pdf, (accessed May, 4, 2013), 10-11.
32 Ibid, 13.
5 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
lectionary markers from the exemplar, these “lists” in
Sinaiticus may have been
copied from a much older manuscript(s). Therefore, any insight they may give on
early Christian belief or worship practice may actually date much earlier, possibly
into the second century, as will be seen below.
EARLY CHRISTIAN READING
William Harris, in his masterful study of ancient literacy levels, determined
that during the height of the Empire only about 5-10% of the Roman west could
read.33 The Romans overcame this obstacle by regularly integrating the public
reading of literature and official documents into their daily lives.34 The early
Church was no exception and would have reflected the contemporary culture’s low
literacy levels.35 Like the surrounding culture, the early Church made the public
reading of scripture, that is, the Old Testament, and writings that would later form
the New Testament, a central component of their worship gatherings.36
The New Testament is replete with references to public reading in Christian
gatherings. Paul commanded Timothy to “devote” himself “to the public reading of
Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tim 4:13, ESV).37 He also wrote to the
Colossians; “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the
church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea” (Col
4:16, ESV).38 He gave a similar command to the Thessalonians “to have this letter
read to all the brothers” (1 Thess 5:27, ESV). The Jerusalem council had their letter
publicly read to the Church at Antioch (Acts 15:31).39 And in the Apocalypse, John
“anticipated the public reading of his own book to Christian congregations when he
pronounced a blessing upon "the one who reads ... and those who hear" (1:3).”40 A
few more examples from the New Testament could be given.41
The earliest extra-biblical account of the public reading of scripture in
worship is found in Justin Martyr around the middle of the second century.
33 William V. Harris,
Ancient Literacy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991), 272.
34 See the discussion in Harry Y. Gamble,
Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History
of Early Christian Texts (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 203-206; and in Alikin,
The
Earliest History, 147-150.
35 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 5.
36 Ibid., 8-9; Alikin,
The Earliest History, 160.
37 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 206. However, it must be mentioned that Gamble believed
“Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, and Titus” were “pseudonymous” and not
authored by Paul (98); see also Alikin,
The Earliest History, 162.
38 Ibid.
39 Alikin,
The Earliest History, 157.
40 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 206.
41 Alikin,
The Earliest History, wrote “As far as the reading of
Christian texts is concerned,
apostolic letters have probably been read in Sunday gatherings of Christians since the middle of the
first century. This can be inferred from 1 Thessalonians 5:27, Acts 15:31, Colossians 4:16,
Revelations 1:3 and 22:18 and possibly 2 Peter 3:14-16” (157).
Eleutheria 3:1 Fall (2014)
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
6
And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather
together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the
prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased,
the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good
things. (
1 Apol. 67)42
The “memoirs of the apostles” mentioned here are most likely a reference to the four
canonical gospels.43 What is of special interest is the reading of the gospels
alongside the “prophets,” probably a reference to the Old Testament writings which
were accepted from the beginning by the early Christians as scripture.44 Closely
following the reading of scripture, the “president” 45 expanded on the text just
publicly read by giving a homily taken from the day’s reading. There is also
evidence to suggest that the audience interacted with the “president’s” preaching
with traditional liturgical responses.46 Justin also mentions that hymns were sung
in the gathering, but it is not clear at what point during the service this took
place.47
Even earlier than the time of Justin, Pliny the Younger, in his famous letter
to Emperor Trajan, discussed the nature of the Christian gathering.
They affirmed, however, the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that they
were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when
they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound
themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit
any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust
when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their
custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food—but food of an
ordinary and innocent kind. (
Ep. Tra. 10.96)48
Pliny does not reference the public reading of scripture, but he does mention the
singing of a hymn and the taking of an oath in close association. Perhaps the oath
was sung or chanted by the Christians.
Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and other Church fathers reveal the
continued emphasis on the reading of scripture, singing, and prayer in the Church
42
ANF 1:186; c. f. Alikin,
The Earliest History, 157; Gamble,
Books and Readers, 205.
43 Joseph Verheyden, “Justin’s Text of the Gospels: Another Look at the Citations in
1 Apol.
15. 1-8,” in
The Early Text of the New Testament (ed. Charles E. Hill and Michael J. Kruger; Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2012), 314-315.
44 Alikin,
The Earliest History, 155-156, 165.
45
1 Apol. 67.
46 Justin writes that after the ‘president’ was through preaching and distributing the bread,
wine and water “the people assent, saying Amen” (
1 Apol. 67,
ANF, 1:186).
47 Alikin,
The Earliest History, 66;
1 Apol. 13.
48 Pliny the Younger,
Letters, Books 7-10, (trans. William Melmoth, and W. M. L.
Hutchinson; LCL; London: W. Heinemann, 1915), 403-405.
7 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
throughout the second and into the third centuries.49 Tertullian gave an especially
illuminating view into the reading of scripture in the early third century:
We assemble to read our sacred writings, if any peculiarity of the times
makes either forewarning or reminiscence needful. However it be in that
respect, with the sacred words we nourish our faith, we animate our hope, we
make our confidence more stedfast [
sic]; and no less by inculcations of God’s
precepts we confirm good habits. (
1 Apol. 39)50
Tertullian may be referring to an early liturgical practice of reading in which the
audience interacted with the reader in some way, perhaps repeating back the words
that were recited in order to “confirm good habits.” 51 However, Tertullian could be
referring to the habit of public reading rather than the practice of repeating back
the recitation when he referred to the “inculcations of God’s precepts.” In another
place Tertullian mentioned the “chanting of Psalms” as part of the gathering along
with the reading of scripture,52 perhaps alluding to an interactive worship in which
the Psalms were read and the audience chanted along with the reader.
The
manner in which the texts were read was very important for projection and
clarity in order to insure the audience properly understood the text.53 In the mid
second century, Lucian attacked an “uneducated” Syrian who did not “know how to
read the texts so as to bring out their meaning.”54 This was very important in the
"intellectual circles" of the Roman era where “the ability to read performatively,
with detailed, deep knowledge of the meaning, style, structure and conventions,”
was a crucial component in obtaining social status.55
The Talmud records Rabbi Johanan as saying that “anyone who reads the
scripture without melody or recites the mishnah without a tune, to him applies the
scriptural verse, 'And I also gave them statutes that were not good' [Ezek. 20:25)”
(
b. Meg. 32a).56 In a similar fashion, during Christian gatherings, scripture would
not have been read in a “speaking voice but was intoned, that is, chanted to a
simple inflection.”57 Chanting was used during reading because of its musical
quality which gave a sense of “soberness” to the scriptures being recited and was
“more effective than ordinary speech in impressing what [was] read upon the
49 Alikin,
The Earliest History, 65-67.
50
ANF 3:47; see also Alikin,
The Earliest History, 174-175.
51 Ibid.
52
An. 9;
ANF 3:189.
53 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 226.
54 William A. Johnson, “The Ancient Book,” in
The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology (ed. Roger
S. Bagnall; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 276.
55 Ibid.
56 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 226.
57 Ibid., 225. In the following short discussion on the manner of reading the text, this author
will be mainly summarizing the views set out by Gamble in his
Books and Readers, 224-231. It is
apparent that Christian reading styles derived from Jewish Synagogue practice of reciting the Law
(ibid., 226).
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Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
8
memory.”58 Cantillated reading, in contrast to normal reading, “with its intonations,
pauses, and rhythms[,] provided a way to orally parse the text for the hearers.”59
Irenaeus stressed the importance of the proper reading of the text, probably in a
cantillated manner, for correctly understanding 2 Thess. 2:8.60
If, then, one does not attend to the [proper] reading [of the passage], and if he
do not exhibit the intervals of breathing as they occur, there shall be not only
incongruities, but also, when reading, he will utter blasphemy, as if the
advent of the Lord could take place according to the working of Satan. So
therefore, in such passages, the
hyperbaton must be exhibited by the reading,
and the apostle’s meaning following on, preserved. (
Haer. 3.7.2)61
The role of the reader in interpreting the text is especially apparent in the
way Irenaeus included the re-ordering of the sentences by the reader in order that
the meaning could be properly understood by the listeners.62 To guarantee the
reader not “utter blasphemy” and misunderstand or misrepresent the scriptures
while reading, many manuscripts were transcribed with the sense units written
individually on a line. This “arrangement and measurement of a manuscript in
terms of sense-lines or space lines is called colometry.”63
Codex Bezae, mentioned
above, is an example that has “each page written in thirty-three colometric lines.”64
There are several other Greek-Latin bilingual manuscripts that exhibit a similar
layout as
Bezae, revealing an established system of punctuation and reader aids
dating back to an earlier archetype.65
The Psalms and other poetical books of
Sinaiticus are the only places where
the standard four columns of the rest of the manuscript are abandoned. It appears
that the scribes wanted to retain the parallelism of the Hebrew poetry and placed
each sentence on its own line.66 In a strikingly similar manner, the “metrical
58 Ibid., 225-226.
59 Ibid., 226.
60 Ibid., 229.
61
ANF 1:421.
62 In the previous section, Irenaeus explained the
true ordering, and thus the meaning of 2
Thess 2:8: “Now in these [sentences] the order of the words is this; ‘And then shall be revealed that
wicked, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders,
whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the presence of
His coming.’ For he does not mean that the coming of the Lord is after the working of Satan; but the
coming of the wicked one, whom we also call Antichrist” (
Haer. 3.7.2). It is apparent that Irenaeus
intended the beginning of verse 9, “whose coming is by the working of Satan,” to be read back
somehow with the phrase in verse 8, “and then the lawless one will be revealed,” in order to prevent
the confusion of the listeners into thinking that the coming of the Lord, the last part of verse 8, was
according to the “working of Satan.”
63 Jack Finegan,
Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction to
Textual Criticism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), 40.
64 Ibid.
65 Ibid., 40-41; Gamble,
Books and Readers, 230.
66 Parker,
Codex Sinaiticus, 100.
9 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
quality” of select areas in the New Testament were set out with key words and
phrases on separate lines.67 These textual features obviously signaled for “the
reader exactly what the sense units were and proscribed the spaces or breaths
between.”68 In a uniquely different yet similar way to the colometric spacing of the
poetic books, these “lists” usually break up sentences by placing single words, a
word and an article or a short phrase separately on a line. The rarity of this feature
when contrasted with the consistent surrounding
scriptio continua of the columns
gives the ‘lists’ a visually striking appearance. At the very least they provide
emphasis and highlight the text in a unique way for the reader and for the audience
to distinguish a change in the manner of recitation.69
PARAGRAPH MARKERS AS AIDS IN WORSHIP
A common feature of early Christian literature was the use of “virtue and vice
lists,” as well as a “theme of the two ways.”70 Both describe, through lists, the
virtues of walking with God and the results of following the sinful desires of the
“flesh.”71 Two second century writings in particular used the “two ways" theme, the
Didache and the epistle of
Barnabas.72 Nearly half of the former is taken up by the
theme “as a summary of basic instruction about the Christian life to be taught to
those who were preparing for baptism and Church membership.”73
Barnabas drew
on the ‘two-ways’ in so similar a manner as the
Didache that most suppose a
common source.74
Several writings of the New Testament also exhibit the “two-ways” or “virtue
and vice” lists. The most notable is found in Galatians chapter five.75 Paul
concluded his exhortation to the Galatian Christians to live true to the gospel
message which he had preached to them by listing “the works of the flesh” (5:19-21)
followed by the “fruit of the Spirit” (5:22-23).76 Paul used this type of language
throughout his epistles, introducing “virtue and vice” or “two ways” lists with words
like “works of darkness,”77 or the ways of the “unrighteous.”78 In other places he
simply used them in his exhortations as he delivered “various rhetorical appeals to
67 Ibid., 100, 112.
68 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 229-230.
69 Head, "The Gospel of Mark,” 13.
70 Clayton N. Jefford,
The Apostolic Fathers and the New Testament (Peabody: Hendrickson,
2006), 80, 88.
71 Ibid., 89.
72 Ibid., 90.
73 Michael W. Holmes, ed.,
The Apostolic Fathers: Greek texts and English translations
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999), 246.
74 Ibid., 247; Jefford,
The Apostolic Fathers, 90; see also Robert E. Aldridge, "Peter and the
‘Two Ways,’"
Vigiliae Christianae 53, no. 3 (January 1, 1999), 233-234.
75 Jefford,
The Apostolic Fathers, 89.
76 Ibid.
77 Rom 13:12.
78 1 Cor 6:9.
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Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
10
his readers.”79 The same language can be seen in other writers of the New
Testament, such as in Matt 7:13-1480, and Peter shows familiarity with the ‘two
ways’ theme throughout both of his letters.81
The paragraph ‘lists’ in
Sinaiticus are mostly located at areas where these
“virtue and vice” or “two ways” lists are used in the New Testament.82 The “works of
the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians five are set out in this way. On
Q84-f4r83 at the right hand bottom of the page an
ekthesis marks the beginning of
Gal 5:19:84
ΦΑΝΕΡΩ∆ΕΕΣΤΙΝ
ΤΑΕΡΓΑΤΗΣΣΑΡΚΟΣ
ΑΤΙΝΑΕΣΤΙΝ
ΠΟΡΝΙΑ
ΑΚΑΘΑΡΣΙΑ
ΑΣΕΛΓΙΑ
ΕΙ∆ΩΛΟΛΑΤΡΕΙΑ
The unique paragraph formatting continues onto Q84-f4v:
ΦΑΡΜΑΚΙΑ
ΕΧΘΡΑΙ
ΕΡΙΣ
ΖΗΛΟΙ
ΘΥΜΟΙ
ΕΡΙΘΕΙΑΙ
∆ΙΧΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΙ
ΑΙΡΕΣΙΣ
ΦΘΟΝΟΙ
ΜΕΘΑΙ
ΚΩΜΑΙ
79 Jefford,
The Apostolic Fathers, 81.
80 Ibid., 89.
81 Aldridge, "Peter and the "Two ways," 255-257.
82 In the order as they are found in
Sinaiticus, this author discovered ‘lists” at; Matt 15:30
(Q75-f1v); Mark 3:16 (Q76-f3v), 7:21-22 (Q76-f6v), 10:19, 29 (Q76-f8v); Luke 3:23-38, the genealogy of
Jesus, (Q77-f7v), 6:14-16 (Q78-f1r), 8:51 (Q78-f3v), 14:13, 21 (Q78-f8v); John 5:3 (Q80-f3r); 8:35, 38
(Q82-f4r), 38-39 (Q82-f4v), 13:7, 9, 13 (Q82-f6r); 1 Cor 3:22-23 and 4:11-13 (Q82-f8v), 6:9-10 (Q83-
f1r), 12:13 (Q83-f3v), 12:28-29 and 13:4-7 (Q83-f4r), 15:39 (Q83-f5v); 2 Cor 6:4-7 (Q83-f7v) and 6:7-10
(Q83-f8r), 11:26 (Q84-f1v); Gal 5:19 (Q84-f4r) 5:19-21, 22-23 (Q84-f4v); 2 Tim 3:2-4 (Q86-f4r); Titus
1:7-8 (Q86-f5r), Acts 1:13 (Q86-f7r), 6:5 (Q87-f2r); 1 Pet 3:8 (Q89-f4r), 4:3 (Q89-f4v); 2 Pet 1:5-7 (Q89-
f5r); Rev 18:13 (Q90-f8r);
Barn. 19.4, 20.1 (Q92-f2r through Q92-f2v).
83 For an introduction to the quire numbering system of the Codex Sinaiticus see Parker,
Codex Sinaiticus, 9-10.
84 The reader may view online images of
Codex Sinaiticus at http://www.codexsinaiticus.org.
11 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
The “works of the flesh” are ended with a raised dot after ΚΩΜΑΙ to signal
the reader the end of the sentence. The raised dot was commonly used in
punctuating sentence stops.85 After the concluding remarks at the end of verse 21,
the scribe signaled the beginning of the ‘fruits of the Spirit’ at verse 22 with an
ekthesis:
Ο∆ΕΚΑΡΠΟΣΤΟΥ
ΠΝΣΕΣΤΙΝ
ΑΓΑΠΗ
ΧΑΡΑ
ΕΙΡΗΝΗ
ΜΑΚΡΟΘΥΜΙΑ
ΧΡΗΣΤΟΤΗΣ
ΑΓΑΘΩΣΥΝΗ
ΠΙΣΤΙΣ
ΠΡΑΥΤΗΣ
ΕΓΚΡΑΤΕΙΑ
As before, the “fruits of the Spirit” list of virtues are ended at ΕΓΚΡΑΤΕΙΑ
with a raised dot to signal the sentence stop. At first glance, it may appear that this
paragraphing technique was merely stylistic, especially when considering that a
similar list can be found in the genealogy of Luke 3 on Q77-f7v. However, the scribes
could have had both a stylistic and practical application in mind when they copied
the genealogy in Luke, the names would be much easier to pronounce and
annunciate clearly if each was placed on its own line. Allowing the reader to more
easily recognize the name and recite it distinctively.
In a similar way to the genealogy in Luke, the names of the apostles, in some
places, have been set into lists as well. Starting at Mark 3:16 on Q76-f3v, the story
of Jesus calling the apostles is signaled with an
ekthesis and the names of the
twelve are placed on their own line.86 Each name would have been easier to
recognize and pronounce for the reader, emphasizing them for the benefit of the
audience.
Another curious place the scribes chose to use this technique was for the sick
and lame who approached Jesus in Matt 15:30 on Q75-f1v. The context of the
narrative chosen by the scribes appears to be whenever the diseased and poor
approached Jesus for healing or where the mentioning of the sick are contained in a
parable Jesus was teaching, such as in Luke 14 on Q78-f8v.87
Some have suggested that these highlighted passages in the New Testament
were intended to be sung or chanted as hymns, considering how they appear to have
a “hymn-like quality” and are formatted for easier pronunciation.88 However, many
85 See the discussion in Metzger,
Manuscripts, 31-32; Parker,
Codex Sinaiticus, 71.
86 The apostle’s names are listed out this way at Luke 6:14-16 (Q78-f1r) and 8:51 (Q78-f3v).
87 See also John 5:3 (Q80-f3r).
88 It appears Parker alludes to this in
Codex Sinaiticus, 100, 112.
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Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
12
of the verses which scholars have long regarded as ancient Christian hymns, such
as at Phil 2 or 1 Cor 15, are not formatted in this way.89
Another possibility, and the one which this author views as most likely, is
that these sections of scripture were used for teaching in a distinctive way. It has
already been stated above that the “two-ways” material in the
Didache was used to
teach new converts before baptism.90 Perhaps there were occasions during reading
or even during the singing of hymns in which the reader would chant these portions
of the New Testament to the audience, who either repeated back what was being
read, or answered with some type of “responsory” phrase.91 The rhythmical way in
which the lists are structured in
Sinaiticus suggest that they were used in this way.
Tertullian, in the early third century, wrote that “[t]he more diligent in prayer are
wont to subjoin in their prayers the ‘Hallelujah,’ and such kind of psalms, in the
closes of which the company respond” (
Or. 27).92 An ancient Christian hymn in
Latin, dating to third or fourth century on papyrus, preserves “a life of Jesus
harmonized from canonical and non-canonical traditions.”93 This hymn was
‘chanted’ by the reader and the audience would answer by singing the “refrain of
four lines.”94 Cyprian, in the third century, wrote:
Moreover, when we stand praying, beloved brethren, we ought to be watchful
and earnest with our whole heart, intent on our prayers. Let all carnal and
worldly thoughts pass away, nor let the soul at that time think on anything
but the object only of its prayer. For this reason also the priest, by way of
preface before his prayer, prepares the minds of the brethren by saying, “Lift
up your hearts,” that so upon the people’s response, “We lift them up unto the
Lord,” he may be reminded that he himself ought to think of nothing but the
Lord. (
Dom. Or. 31)95
It seems possible to this author that the “two-ways” sections which are
signaled by lists in
Sinaiticus were used to instruct in some type of metrical,
“responsory” format. Pliny, in his famous letter to Trajan (discussed above),
mentioned that in the context of worship the Christians “bound themselves by a
solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or
adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called
upon to deliver it up.”96 It is difficult to discern exactly to what Pliny is referring
here, but it is possible that the Christians were chanting or reciting a form of the
89 Ernest Best, “The Use of Credal and Liturgical Material in Ephesians,” in
Worship,
Theology and Ministry in the Early Church: Essays in Honor of Ralph P. Martin (ed. Michael J.
Wilkins and Terence Paige; JSNTSup 87, ed. Stanley E. Porter; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992), 53-56.
90 Holmes,
The Apostolic Fathers, 246; Jefford,
The Apostolic Fathers, 83.
91 Alikin,
The Earliest History, 219.
92
AFN 3:690; c. f. Alikin,
The Earliest History, 219.
93 Alikin,
The Earliest History, 220.
94 Ibid.
95
ANF 5:456.
96
Ep. Tra. 10.96.
13 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
“virtue and vice,” “two-ways” lists, or some other “general list” of “ethical
teaching.”97 If this is true, then it appears that
Sinaiticus may be a witness to this
type of instructional practice, one that may date back to the time of Pliny in the
early second century.
AN EXPLORATORY COMPARISON
If this unique paragraph formatting can be traced back into the second
century, then
Sinaiticus may provide us with a window into early Christian
worship. That is, the use of “virtue and vice” lists as well as the “two-ways” teaching
to instruct (maybe new converts) during the reading of scripture. It has already
been mentioned above that punctuation, lectional markings, and reader’s aids were
often copied from the exemplar.98 Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to conclude
that
all of the formatting features were taken from the manuscript being copied.
Dirk Jongkind, in his magisterial study of the scribal habits of
Sinaiticus, noted
that “[t]he fluctuation in paragraphing within a single book, such as the gospel of
Luke, is easier to explain by swings in the scribe’s attitude than by fluctuation
within a tradition.”99 Johnson noted that scribes exercised some freedom in choosing
which punctuation and other formatting to be transcribed from the manuscript
being copied.100 Overall, despite this variation, Jongkind concluded “that some
influence from outside the scribe is present and that it is reasonable to assume that
the exemplar, or exemplars, played a role.”101 The tradition associated with
punctuation and lectional markings in ancient manuscripts, and the apparent age
of the “two-ways” theme and its use in instruction, have led this author to explore a
connection between
Sinaiticus and papyrus P46, a second century copy of Paul’s
epistles.
This author examined the images available on the Advanced Papyrological
Information System (hereafter APIS) for P46, leaf 167 verso, which contains Gal
5:20-23.102 The leaf is fragmentary near the bottom and verse 19, the beginning of
the “the works of the flesh,” is lost, so we must begin our examination at the top of
leaf 167 verso, Gal 5:20. At the top of the page ΕΡΙΘΕΙΑΙ is found with a noticeable
space between the next word ∆ΙΧΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΙ [space] ΑΙΡΕΣΕΙΣ [space] ΦΘΟΝΟΙ.
The next line begins with ΜΕΘΑΙ [space] ΚΩΜΟΙ [space], ΚΑΙ . . . , and then the
line continues to the end with the normal
scriptio continua. The spaces here are
97 Graham Stanton, “Aspects of Early Christian and Jewish Worship: Pliny and the
Kerygma
Petrou,” in
Worship, Theology and Ministry in the Early Church: Essays in Honor of Ralph P.
Martin, 93.
98 Johnson,
Book Rolls and Scribes, 24.
99 Jongkind,
Scribal Habits, 109.
100 Johnson,
Book Rolls and Scribes, 58-59.
101 Jongkind,
Scribal Habits, 109.
102 Columbia University Libraries, “APIS record: michigan.apis.3620,” Advanced
Papyrological Information System,
http://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/ldpd/apis/item?mode=item&key=michigan.apis.3620 (accessed May
15, 2013).
Eleutheria 3:1 Fall (2014)
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
14
obviously meant to isolate the words in some meaningful way, possibly in order that
the reader may be able to sound out each word individually with emphasis in
comparison to the rest of the text. On the fifth line of P46, leaf 167 verso, verse 22
commences with a noticeable space where the
ekthesis begins in
Sinaiticus at
Ο∆ΕΚΑΡΠΟΣΤΟΥΠΝΣ, “the fruits of the Spirit.” But the ‘fruits’ are not listed out
with the same noticeable spaces between the individual words as above in the
“works of the flesh.” The spaces that are present between some of the phrases do not
correspond to the paragraph ‘list’ in
Sinaiticus in the same location.
Another similarity at 2 Cor 11:26 occurs between
Sinaiticus on Q84-f1v and
P46 on leaf 141 verso.103 Paul is recounting the hazards he had encountered during
his missionary journeys while bringing the Christian message of the gospel to the
gentiles. At 2 Cor 11:26 he described the many “dangers” he had endured during his
various travels. In
Sinaiticus the “dangers” are placed individually on their own
lines, with ΚΙΝ∆ΥΝΟΙΣ . . . beginning each line. On leaf 141 verso near the center
of the page, P46 has a noticeable space between each occurrence of ΚΙΝ∆ΥΝΟΙΣ.
Though this formatting is most likely due to style (as in the genealogy at Luke 3)
rather than for highlighting specific instruction as in Gal 5:20.104 Nevertheless, the
correlation in punctuation between P46 and
Sinaiticus at 2 Cor 11:26 does appear to
lend credence to the suggestion that the paragraph ‘lists’ in
Sinaiticus are derived
from much older exemplars.
It is difficult to understand if there is any true correlation between the
spacing in P46 at 2 Cor 11:26 and Gal 5:20 and the paragraph features of
Sinaiticus
at the same locations. Especially considering the small sample examined in P46. It
is possible that only the “works of the flesh” are separated in P46 because it was
only the ‘do nots’ that were used in early Christian instruction and worship in the
second century. This appears to be the case when considering Pliny’s account of the
Christian “oaths” which were primarily a list of ‘do nots.’105 There are some
remarkable similarities when comparing the spacing in POxy 1786, an early
Christian hymn from the late third century,106 with the spacing at Gal 5:20 in P46.
The early Christian hymn shows a full character space between each word, as P46
does at Gal 5:20.107 The spacing in both would indicate that the reader was to
emphasize the words, possibly with a cantillated chant in P46108 and a musical
103 Columbia University Libraries, “APIS record: michigan.apis.3590,” Advanced
Papyrological Information System,
http://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/ldpd/apis/item?mode=item&key=michigan.apis.3590 (accessed May
15, 2013).
104 Jongkind noted that scribe B of
Sinaiticus used paragraph markers at certain “signal-
words” (
Scribal Habits, 102).
105
Ep. Tra. 10.96.
106 Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, eds.,
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri (vol. 15; London:
Egypt Exploration Fund, 1922), 21.
107 Image of POxy 1786 was located at “Oxyrhynchus Online,” http://163.1.169.40/cgi-
bin/library?e=q-000-00---0POxy--00-0-0--0prompt-10---4----ded--0-1l--1-en-50---20-about-
P.+Oxy.+1786--00031-001-1-0utfZz-8-
00&a=d&c=POxy&cl=search&d=HASH011f50b846c78b83819959d1 (accessed May 15, 2013).
108 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 225.
15 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
singing voice in POxy 1786.109 It may be tentatively concluded that the paragraph
‘lists’ in
Sinaiticus can be traced to earlier exemplars, of which P46
may be an
example of what that exemplar could have looked like, at least at 2 Cor 11:26 and
Gal 5:20.
CONCLUSION
It is impossible to derive any hard and fast conclusions with such a brief
survey of the material. This is an exploratory paper to present a
possible scenario
that may have lead the scribes of
Sinaiticus to highlight certain portions of the text
in such a unique manner. The two examples from P46 at 2 Cor 11:26 and Gal 5:20
are hardly representative enough to show that
Sinaiticus’ paragraph lists derive
from much older exemplars.110 A more thorough examination of the papyri is needed
and may show more connections between
Sinaiticus and Christian worship in the
earlier centuries. Even with scanty evidence from the papyri it has already been
noted that scribes tended to copy punctuation and reading aids from the exemplar.
This tendency, by itself, may be enough to show that
Sinaiticus’ paragraph lists date
at least into the third century from much older exemplars, perhaps ones that may
have been part of Pamphilus’ library, judging by the colophons.
The school that Origen supervised in Alexandria catered to new converts,
catechumens, who wished to learn the rudiments of the Christian faith before being
baptized and entering into the full fellowship of the Church.111 Origen fled
Alexandria to escape the intense persecution and moved to Caesarea in Palestine
where he began a school.112 Pamphilus, his pupil, later became head of the school
and prided himself in building a large library containing a variety of Christian and
classical literary texts.113 Many of the works he copied himself and willingly
provided manuscripts from his library to scholars in need.114 If
Sinaiticus was
copied from manuscripts in the library at Caesarea, then many of those documents
may have been formatted for instruction in the essentials of the faith, the “two-
ways” lists being a fundamental part of that instruction.115 It is impossible to know
for sure, but perhaps
Sinaiticus’ paragraph lists of the “two-ways” descends from
this heritage of early Christian instruction.
109 Alikin,
Earliest History, 218.
110 P46 could provide further connections. The ones discussed in this paper, located on APIS,
were the only sections available to this author for examination at the time of writing. The Chester
Beatty portions of P46 are now available online for viewing at
111 Eusebius,
Hist. eccl. 6.3.3
112 Gamble,
Books and Readers, 155.
113 For an excellent discussion of the library at Caesarea, see Gamble,
Books and Readers,
155-158.
114 Ibid., 158.
115 If
Sinaiticus was copied from manuscripts used to instruct new converts, this fact may
also explain some of the other ‘listed’ sections of the New Testament, such as the names of the
apostles, as this formatting would help those new to Christianity learn the apostle’s names.
Eleutheria 3:1 Fall (2014)
Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
16
Another piece in the puzzle may come from the writings that were used in the
making of
Sinaiticus. The epistle of
Barnabas and the
Shepard of Hermas were
placed at the end of the New Testament, possibly revealing their less-than canonical
status. Both of these writings were highly valued by early Christians for instructing
new converts, especially the
Shepard of Hermas.116 For the same reason, the epistle
of
Barnabas was highly esteemed by both Clement of Alexandria and Origen.117 And
it has already been mentioned above that
Barnabas contained the “two-ways” theme
which was an integral part of early Christian instruction.118
When taken collectively: the evidence of punctuation, ancient sources
revealing the early Christian practice of cantillated reading, the responsitory nature
of the hymns, and the reading of scripture, along with the unique paragraph ‘lists’
in
Codex Sinaiticus, reveal a lively Christian community concerned with effectively
teaching its new converts and establishing the faithful in the teaching of the
Church.
116 Roberts,
Manuscript, 22.
117 Bruce Manning Metzger,
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and
Significance (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987), 56.
118 The “two-ways” teaching at
Barn. 19.1 and 20.1 (Q92-f2r through Q92-f2v) is emphasized
by the same paragraph ‘lists’ as in Gal 5:19-23 (Q84-f4r through Q84-f4v).
17 Codex Sinaiticus as a Window into Early Christian Worship
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