THE EARLIER HISTORY OF THE MANUSCRIPT

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The following text is modern scholarly prose detailing the manuscript's history.

The only point on which practical certainty can be reached regarding the history of the manuscript before its discovery by Tischendorf is that it was in the famous library at Caesarea when one of the correctors from the "C" group was working on it. Paleographical and historical evidence agree that this occurred no later than the beginning of the seventh century and no earlier than the beginning of the fifth century.

The library at Caesarea is one of the three great Christian libraries¹ known to have existed in the third century. It is perhaps correct to call Pamphilus the founder of this library,² but the core of his collection consisted of the manuscripts of Origen. Origen, in turn, probably inherited the library of Juliana, who is mentioned by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (Book 6, Chapter 17). Eusebius says: "Origen indicates that he received these, along with other translations of the Scriptures by Symmachus, from a certain Juliana, who he says had inherited the books from Symmachus himself." original: Ταῦτα δὲ ὁ Ὠριγένης μετὰ καὶ ἄλλων εἰς τὰς γραφὰς ἑρμηνειῶν τοῦ Συμμάχου σημαίνει παρὰ Ἰουλιανῆς τινος εἰληφέναι, ἣν καί φησι παρ' αὐτοῦ Συμμάχου τὰς βίβλους διαδέξασθαι. The actual words of Origen's statement are preserved by Palladius in the Lausiac History (Chapter 64, edited by Butler), who says: "I found these things written in a very ancient book arranged in lines stichometric: text written in lines based on the length of sentences or clauses, which was written by the hand of Origen. I found this book with Juliana the virgin in Caesarea while I was hiding with her; she said she had received it from Symmachus himself, the interpreter of the Jews." original: εὗρον δὲ ταῦτα ἐγὼ γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ παλαιοτάτῳ βιβλίῳ στιχηρῷ, ἐγέγραπτο χειρὶ Ὠριγένους· Τοῦτο τὸ βιβλίον εὗρον ἐγὼ παρὰ Ἰουλιανῇ τῇ παρθένῳ ἐν Καισαρείᾳ, κρυπτόμενος παρ' αὐτῇ, ἥτις ἔλεγε παρ' αὐτοῦ Συμμάχου τοῦ ἑρμηνέως τῶν Ἰουδαίων αὐτὸ εἰληφέναι. Unfortunately, the scribe who copied this note was apparently not very accurate and thought that Caesarea in Cappadocia was meant, but it is probable that this is merely a mistake and that Caesarea in Palestine was actually intended. In any case, there is little reason to doubt that the library of Caesarea, when organized by Pamphilus, contained many manuscripts from the third and second

¹ The other two are Jerusalem and Alexandria. The history of the library at Jerusalem is given in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History (vi. 20. 1); compare Ehrhardt, Roman Quarterly Journal original: Röm. Quartalschrift, 1891, 217 ff. There can be little doubt that the Catechetical School at Alexandria had a library, though it is difficult to distinguish it from the private collections of Clement and Origen.
² Compare Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History (vi. 32).
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centuries. It was certainly one of the main sources¹ for Eusebius's knowledge of Christian literature, though unfortunately the catalogue he published in his Life of Pamphilus is no longer extant.

According to Jerome in On Illustrious Men (3. 113) original: de vir. inl., the library began to show signs of decay at the end of the fourth century. Euzoius,² "later bishop of the same city (Caesarea), having attempted with much labor to restore in parchment volumes the already corrupted library of Origen and Pamphilus..." original: 'eiusdem postea urbis (Caesarea) episcopus, plurimo labore corruptam iam bibliothecam Origenis et Pamphili in membranis instaurare conatus . . .', etc. This statement may fairly be interpreted to mean that the papyri on which the earlier manuscripts were written were wearing out and had to be copied onto parchment. Of this second foundation by Euzoius, there is at least one certain trace in an eleventh-century manuscript at Vienna (MS. Theol. Gr. 29), which contains a cross-shaped note (on folio 146 verso) likely copied from its original source: "Euzoius the bishop restored [it] in parchment volumes." original: εὐζόιος ἐπίσκοπος ἐν σωματίοις ἀνενεώσατο.³ The library was much used by Jerome, who frequently refers to it. At the beginning of the seventh century, the copy of Origen's Hexapla in the library at Caesarea was used by Paul of Tella for the Syriac Hexapla, as stated in the notes at the end of various books of the Old Testament;⁴ but after this, there is no proof that the library continued to exist. Its fate is unknown, but Caesarea was captured by the Arabs in 638, and we may guess with much probability that the library was dispersed or destroyed.

The evidence that the Codex Sinaiticus was once in this library is provided by the notes added by one of the "C" correctors at the ends of Ezra and Esther, found in the fragment at Leipzig (the Codex Friderico-Augustanus). It has often been stated that these notes are by the corrector Cᵃ, but this is not certain, as can be seen from the facsimile. There is a clear family resemblance between Cᵃ and the scribe of the notes at the end of

¹ The full list of references to Pamphilus and his work is given in Harnack's History of Early Christian Literature original: Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur, vol. i, pp. 543 ff.
² In Letter 34. 1 original: Ep. 34. 1, Jerome says that Acacius also helped.
³ See Cohn, Philo on the Creation of the World original: Philo de opif. mundi, p. ii (Breslau Philological Essays original: Breslauer philolog. Abh. iv. 4, 1889).
⁴ See Field, Hexapla, i, pp. xcix-c.