The textual history of the Bible, in one archive.

Date

c. 125–150 CE

Language

Greek

Material

Papyrus

Provenance

Egypt

The oldest surviving manuscript fragment of the New Testament, dating within a generation of the traditional composition of John's Gospel.

Date

c. 125–100 BCE

Language

Hebrew

Material

Parchment (leather)

Provenance

Qumran Cave 1

One of the seven original Dead Sea Scrolls and the only complete biblical book from Qumran, roughly 1,000 years older than the Masoretic Text.

Date

c. 330–360 CE

Language

Greek

Material

Parchment

Provenance

St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

The oldest complete copy of the New Testament and a foundational witness for modern critical editions.

Date

c. 300–325 CE

Language

Greek

Material

Parchment

Provenance

Vatican Library (origin uncertain)

Considered by many textual critics the single most important New Testament manuscript.

Date

c. 200–250 CE

Language

Greek

Material

Papyrus

Provenance

Egypt (Fayum region)

Among the earliest large-scale copies of Paul's letters and the Gospels, predating the great codices by a century.

Date

5th century CE

Language

Greek

Material

Parchment

Provenance

Alexandria; now British Library

One of the four great uncial codices and a mixed textual witness that shaped later editions.

7th–10th c. CE

Masoretic Text

Authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh produced by the Masoretes, with vowel pointing and cantillation.

c. 250–100 BCE

Septuagint (LXX)

Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures produced in Alexandria; includes the deuterocanonical books.

c. 100 BCE

Samaritan Pentateuch

The Torah as preserved by the Samaritan community, in a distinctive script.

2nd – 5th c. CE

Peshitta

The standard Bible of Syriac Christianity.

382–405 CE

Latin Vulgate

Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek sources.

3rd – 4th c. CE

Coptic Versions

Early translations of the Bible into dialects of Egyptian.