uncial · Greek · NT

Codex Bezae

Also known as: D, 05, Codex Cantabrigiensis

AD 380 – AD 420 (~AD 400) · dated by paleography

Evidence card

A quick read on the physical object before the interpretive summary.

2 sources

Artifact

uncial · Greek

Date basis

AD 380 – AD 420 (~AD 400) · paleography

Survival

~70% physically present

Contents

Matthew; Mark; Luke; John; acts; 3-john

Artifact/map cue

Held at Cambridge University Library

Date

AD 380 – AD 420 (~AD 400)

Passage represented

Matthew; Mark; Luke; John; acts; 3-john

Fragmentary or partial witness

How much survives

~70% of the claimed text is physically present

Why it matters

A bilingual Greek/Latin codex with the most distinctive ('Western') text of any major NT manuscript. Acts in Bezae is roughly 8% longer than in other manuscripts — full of additional details that probably aren't original but show how the story was being expanded in some communities.

What it contains

Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
acts
3-john (partial)

~70% of the claimed text is physically present.

Notable readings

Luke 6:5

Adds an entire saying of Jesus to a man working on the Sabbath: 'Man, if you know what you are doing, you are blessed; but if you do not know, you are accursed and a transgressor of the law.'

Found nowhere else. Probably not authentic, but ancient.

Acts 12:10

Adds 'they went down the seven steps' when Peter leaves prison

Typical Western expansion.

Where & when

Held at: Cambridge University Library

Source trail

Named catalogues, editions, libraries, or scholarship used for this manuscript page.