Eusebian Canons

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Ethiopic
gospel manuscripts of the sixth century; showing original Late Antique arcaded forms subsequently perpetuated in Byzantine and Romanesque manuscripts
Canon table from the Book of Kells; the tables in the book were effectively unusable, as they were over-condensed and the corresponding sections were not marked in the main text. This is either because it is unfinished, or because it was a display book not meant for study.

Eusebian canons, Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus,

manuscripts of the Bible, but can be also found in periphical Bible transmissions as Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic (Codex Sinaiticus Rescriptus) 5th to 8th century,[2][3] and in Ethiopian manuscripts until the 14th and 15th centuries, with a few produced as late as the 17th century.[4] These are usually summarized in canon tables at the start of the Gospels. There are about 1165 sections: 355 for Matthew, 235 for Mark, 343 for Luke, and 232 for John; the numbers, however, vary slightly in different manuscripts.[5]

The canon tables were made to create a sense of divinity within the reader’s soul, to understand and reflect upon the various colors and patterns to achieve a higher connection with God.[6]

Authorship

Until the 19th century it was mostly believed that these divisions were devised by

Eusebius of Caesarea (265-340) states concerning it in his letter to Carpianus, namely, that he placed the parallel passages of the last three Gospels alongside the text of Matthew, and the sections traditionally credited to Ammonius are now ascribed to Eusebius, who was always credited with the final form of the tables.[7]

The Eusebian Tables

An Armenian illuminated manuscript of a canon table by Toros Roslin (active 1256 - 1268) entitled Canon Table Page.
Canon quartus in quo III from the Cutbercht Gospels (8th century, Salzburg)

The harmony of Ammonius suggested to Eusebius, as he says in his letter, the idea of drawing up ten tables (kanones) in which the sections in question were so classified as to show at a glance where each Gospel agreed with or differed from the others. In the first nine tables he placed in parallel columns the numbers of the sections common to the four, or three, or two, evangelists; namely: (1) Matt., Mark, Luke, John; (2) Matt., Mark, Luke; (3) Matt., Luke, John; (4) Matt., Mark, John; (5) Matt., Luke; (6) Matt., Mark; (7) Matt., John; (8) Luke, Mark; (9) Luke, John. In the tenth he noted successively the sections special to each evangelist. Sections "Mark, Luke, John" and "Mark, John" are absent because no text is common to Mark and John without a parallel in at least Matthew.

Table # Matthew Mark Luke John
In Quo Quattor
Canon I. Yes Yes Yes Yes
In Quo Tres
Canon II. Yes Yes Yes
Canon III. Yes Yes Yes
Canon IV. Yes Yes Yes
In Quo Duo
Canon V. Yes Yes
Canon VI. Yes Yes
Canon VII. Yes Yes
Canon VIII. Yes Yes
Canon IX. Yes Yes
In Quo Matth. Proprie
Canon X Yes
In Quo Marc. Proprie
Canon X Yes
In Quo Luc. Proprie
Canon X Yes
In Quo Ioh. Proprie
Canon X Yes

The usefulness of these tables for the purpose of reference and comparison soon brought them into common use, and from the 5th century the Ammonian sections, with references to the Eusebian tables, were indicated in the margin of the manuscripts. Opposite each section was written its number, and underneath this the number of the Eusebian table to be consulted in order to find the parallel texts or text; a reference to the tenth table would show that this section was proper to that evangelist. These marginal notes are reproduced in several editions of Tischendorf's New Testament.

Eusebius's explanatory letter to Carpianus was also very often reproduced before the tables.

Illuminated canon tables

The tables themselves were usually placed at the start of a

Early Medieval
period, where very few manuscripts survive, and even the most decorated of those have fewer pages illuminated than was the case later.

Images

  • Eusebian tables before text of the Gospels in Codex Harleianus 5567 (Gregory-Aland 116; 12th century)
    Eusebian tables before text of the Gospels in Codex Harleianus 5567 (Gregory-Aland 116; 12th century)
  • One of the canon tables from the 8th century Codex Beneventanus.
    One of the canon tables from the 8th century Codex Beneventanus.
  • The London Canon Tables are two folios from a Byzantine manuscript of the 6th or 7th century, showing the typical arcaded frame.
    The London Canon Tables are two folios from a Byzantine manuscript of the 6th or 7th century, showing the typical arcaded frame.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ D. C. Parker, An Introduction to the New Testament Manuscripts and their Texts, Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 24.
  2. ^ Sebastian P. Brock, 'Review of Alain Desreumaux, Codex sinaiticus Zosimi rescriptus (Histoire du Texte Biblique, 3), The Journal of Theological Studies, NEW SERIES, 50 (1999), p. 766.
  3. ^ Christa Müller-Kessler and Michael Sokoloff, The Christian Palestinian Aramaic New Testament Version from the Early Period. Gospels (A Corpus of Christian Palestinian Aramaic, IIA; STYX: Groningen, 1998), pp. 94–95, 97, 139–140, 168–169.
  4. ISBN 0-300-05819-5
  5. ISBN 978-0-19-502924-6
  6. ISBN 0-89236-640-0
    .
  7. ^ Martin Wallraff, Die Kanontafeln des Euseb von Kaisareia (Manuscripta Biblica Paratextus Biblici, 1) Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2021.
    ISBN 978-3-11-043952-6

References

External links

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