(also known as Codex Aleph) Codex Sinait icus was discovered by Const ant in von Tischendorf, a German evolut

ionist t heologian, at St . Cat herines M onast ery at M ount Sinai. He discovered t he first part in 1844 and t he second part in 1859.

Following is the story of how Tischendorf found the Codex Sinaiticus:

"In t he year 1844, whilst t ravelling under t he pat ronage of Frederick August us King of Saxony, in quest of manuscript s, Tischendorf reached t he Convent of St . Cat herine, on M ount Sinai. Here, observing some old-looking document s in a basket ful of papers ready for light ing t he st ove, he picked t hem out , and discovered t hat t hey were fort y-t hree vellum leaves of t he Sept uagint Version. Some enemies of t he defense of t he King James Bible
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Sept uagint Version. Some enemies of t he defense of t he King James Bible have claimed t hat t he manuscript s were not found in a "wast e basket ," but t hey were. That is exact ly how Tischendorf described it . "I perceived a large and wide basket full of old parchments; and the librarian told me that two heaps like this had been already committed to the flames. What was my surprise to find amid this heap of papers..." (Narrat ive of t he Discovery of t h e Sinait ic M anuscript , p. 23). John Burgon, who was alive when Tischendorf discovered t he Codex Sinait icus and also personally visit ed St . Cat herine's t o research ancient manuscript s, t est ified t hat t he manuscript s "got deposited in the waste-paper basket of the Convent ." (The Revision Revised, 1883, pp. 319, 342)

So, it cert ainly appears t o me t hat t he Ort hodox monks evident ly had long since decided t hat t he numerous omissions and alt erat ions in t he manuscript had rendered it useless and had st ored it away in some closet where it had remained unused for cent uries. Yet Tischendorf promot ed it widely and vigorously as represent ing a more accurat e t ext t han t he t housands of manuscript s support ing t he Text us Recept us. Furt hermore, he assumed t hat it came from about t he 4t h cent ury, but he never found any act ual proof t hat it dat ed earlier t han t he 12t h cent ury.

Consider these facts and oddities relating to the Codex Sinaiticus:

1. The Sinait icus was writ t en by t hree different scribes and was correct ed lat er by several ot hers. (This was t he conclusion of an ext ensive invest igat ion by H.J.M . M ilne and T.C. Skeat of t he Brit ish M us e um, which was published in Scribes and Correct ors of Codex Sinait icus , London, 1938.) Tischendorf count ed 14,800 correct ions in t his manuscript (David Brown, The Great Uncials, 2000). Dr. F.H.A. Scrivener, who published A Full Collat ion of t he Codex Sinait icus in 1864 t est ified: "The Codex is covered with alterations of an obviously correctional characterbrought in by at least ten different revisers , some of them systematically spread over every page, others occasional, or limited to separate portions of the manuscript, many of these being contemporaneous with the first writer, but for the greater part belonging to the sixth or seventh century . " Thus, it is evident t hat scribes in bygone cent uries did not consider t he Sinait icus t o represent a pure t ext . Why it should be so revered by modern t ext ual crit ics is a myst ery. 2. A great amount of carelessness is exhibit ed in t he copying and correct ion. "Codex Sinaiticus 'abounds
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with errors of the eye and pen to an extent not indeed unparalleled, but happily rather unusual in documents of first-rate importance.' On many occasions 10, 20, 30, 40 words are dropped through very carelessness . Letters and words, even whole sentences, are frequently written twice over, or begun and immediately cancelled; while that gross blunder, whereby a clause is omitted because it happens to end in the same words as the clause preceding, occurs no less than 115 times in the New Testament." (John Burgon, The Revision Revised)It is clear t hat t he scribes who copied t he Codex Sinait icus were not fait hful men of God who t reat ed t he Script ures wit h ut most reverence. The t ot al number of words omit t ed in t he Sinait icus in t he Gospels alone is 3,455 compared wit h t he Greek Received Text (Burgon, p. 75). 3. M ark 16:9-20 is omit t ed in t he Codex Sinait icus, but it was originally t here and has been erased. 4. Codex Sinait icus includes t he apocryphal books (Esdras, Tobit , Judit h, I and IV M accabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiast icus) plus t wo heret ical writ ings , t he Epist le of Barnabas and t he Shepherd of Hermas. The apocryphal Epist le of Barnabas is filled wit h heresies and fanciful allegorizing, claiming, for example, t hat Abraham knew Greek and bapt ism is necessary for salvat ion. The Shepherd of Hermas is a gnost ic writ ing t hat present s t he heresy t hat t he "Christ Spirit " came upon Jesus at his bapt ism. 5. Last ly, Codex Sinait icus (along wit h Codex Vat icanus), exhibit s clear gnost ic influence. In John 1:18 "the only begotten Son" is changed t o "the only begotten God ," t hus perpet uat ing t he ancient Arian heresy t hat disassociat es t he Son Jesus Christ wit h God Himself by breaking t he clear connect ion bet ween "God " of John 1:1 wit h " the Son" of John 1:18. We know t hat God was not begot t en; it was t he Son who was begot t en in t he incarnat ion.

Home Is Older Better?

Does it Really Matter? Other Translations

Manuscripts Codex Sinaiticus Receptus Westcott & Hort Altered Verses Constantine Catholics & the Jesuits

Codex Vaticanus Origen

Textus Tischendorf

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