Manuscripts
Primary Biblical Witnesses
Ancient scrolls, papyri, parchments, fragments, and codices — the physical sources behind every Bible in every language.
Codex Sinaiticus
ℵ (01)
- 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.
Codex Vaticanus
B (03)
- 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.
Codex Alexandrinus
A (02)
- 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.
Codex Bezae
D (05)
- Date
- c. 400 CE
- Language
- Greek / Latin (diglot)
- Material
- Parchment
- Provenance
- Southern France or Italy
The principal witness of the 'Western' text-type, with a notably longer text of Acts.
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
C (04)
- Date
- 5th century CE
- Language
- Greek
- Material
- Parchment (palimpsest)
- Provenance
- Overwritten with sermons of Ephrem
A key palimpsest witness whose underlying biblical text was recovered by early textual critics.
Aleppo Codex
- Date
- c. 930 CE
- Language
- Hebrew
- Material
- Parchment
- Provenance
- Tiberias; later Aleppo, Syria
The most authoritative Masoretic manuscript, vocalized by Aaron ben Asher.
Leningrad Codex
- Date
- 1008 CE
- Language
- Hebrew
- Material
- Parchment
- Provenance
- Cairo; now St. Petersburg
The oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible and the base for modern Hebrew editions.
Codex Washingtonianus
W (032)
- Date
- late 4th – early 5th c. CE
- Language
- Greek
- Material
- Parchment
- Provenance
- Egypt; now Smithsonian
A major early Gospel codex with a distinctive ending to Mark.
Codex Amiatinus
- Date
- c. 700 CE
- Language
- Latin
- Material
- Parchment
- Provenance
- Wearmouth–Jarrow, England
The most accurate witness to Jerome's Vulgate and a monument of Anglo-Saxon book production.