The chief versions are the Syriac, the Egyptian and the Latin.  Of the

Fathers whose writings furnish evidence for the text, we must include Justin

Martyr, Tatian, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus of Rome, Origen

of Alexandria, Tertullian, Eusebius and Jerome.  Into this evidence we shall

not be able to enter, the sheer amount of material making it impossible.  We

have mentioned the names so that the fact of their evidence shall be included

in our survey, leaving the readers to pursue this line of study if it should

seem necessary and profitable.  We now return to the three great uncial mss.

Codex Vaticanus (fourth century).  This is perhaps the most ancient and

most valuable of all the manuscripts of the Greek Bible.  It is indicated by

the letter B, and the reader should weigh over any reading that has

this manuscript as its authority.  Originally this codex contained the

complete Scriptures, but time has taken its toll.  The beginning has been

lost, the ms commencing at Genesis 46:28.  In addition, Psalms 106 to 138 are

missing.  The New Testament has also suffered; the whole of the Apocalypse,

and the catholic epistles are missing, together with the latter part of the

epistle to the Hebrews -- from 9:4 to the end.  We rejoice, however, that

Paul's epistles to the churches have been preserved, together with the

Gospels and the Acts.

Codex Sinaiticus (fourth century).  The discovery of this important

manuscript is of unusual interest.  In 1844, Constantine Tischendorf visited

the Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai.  He found that the monks

there, were using as fuel sheets of vellum bearing the oldest Greek writing

he had ever seen.  He succeeded in rescuing forty-three leaves, but learned

to his deep regret that two basket-loads had already been used for lighting

the monastery fires.  He paid two more visits to the monastery, and in 1859

under the patronage of Alexander II, made one more attempt to gain possession

of the rest of the manuscript which he knew had been preserved.  At first he

met with a flat refusal, but upon showing his own copy of the LXX, the

steward showed him a bundle of loose leaves wrapped in a cloth.  He realized

this time the necessity to conceal his feelings, and asked if he might be

allowed to take the manuscript to his bedroom.  'That night', he said, 'it

seemed sacrilege to sleep'.  The manuscripts eventually passed into the

possession of the Czar, and are now on view in the British Museum*.  It has

been most carefully corrected, and the corrections so often agree with the

text of the Vatican ms that their testimony is regarded as of extreme value.

Codex Alexandrinus (fifth century).  Like the Codex Sinaiticus, it

originally contained the complete Scriptures, but has suffered some losses in

the course of time.  It is the glory of the British Museum Manuscript

Section*, and for a long time was the only ancient manuscript accessible to

scholars.  In 1707-20 was published the Old Testament, and in 1786 the New

Testament.  A photographic reproduction was made in 1879-83.

*

Now on view in the British Library.

We now turn our attention to the next set of evidences, the ancient

versions, in which all the tongues spoken at Pentecost have contributed their

quota.  While the Vatican and Sinaitic manuscripts take us back as far as

about a.d. 350, we possess translations of the New Testament  that go back

before a.d. 150 and so give most valuable evidence of the text then in use.

First and foremost come the Syriac versions.

The old or Curetonian Syriac.

Dr. Cureton, an officer of the British

Museum, translated this manuscript.

In his preface he contends that this