Rahlfs 1219

The Washington Manuscript of the Psalms (Washington MS II), is designated as Rahlfs 1219, and van Haelst 83 in the Van Haelst Catalogue numbers.^[1] The manuscript (MS) contains the text of Psalm 1:4-146:9a, 149:2b-151:6 in Greek, plus the first 6 verses of the Odes of Solomon, written on parchment sometime in the 5th Century CE.^[2]

Description^[3]

The codex is a book of 107 leaves, badly decayed and worm eaten. In his initial description of the manuscript, Henry A. Sanders noted that sometime in the 10th Century CE, some of the final pages of the codex that contained Psalms 142:9-151 were lost. Rather than having new pages written, other pages from a slightly less older codex were taken and added to the end, completing the Psalms and adding six verses from the Odes of Solomon (1:1-6a). This is apparent due to the different page size, the repetition of Psalm 142:5-8, and the divergent handwriting.^[4] H. A. Sanders indicated the original codex by the Greek letter Λ (Lambda), and the secondary codex as Λ^a (Lambda A).

• Λ:

The parchment is a mixture of goat and sheep skin. The main text is written in a dark-brown ink, with red ink used for the Psalm titles and numbers, and also for the word διαψαλμα. The text is written in one column per page, which originally would've been around 25 x 35 cm, 30 lines per page, with about 25-30 letters per line.
Due to decay, almost half of each leaf is missing, with some leaves having decay covering them in their entirety, although with letters still visible.
The text is written in large square uncial, with the Psalm titles usually in a slightly smaller size.
Each Psalm has its number in the left hand margin in uppercase letters representing numerals, with decorative lines above and below the letter .
The manuscript covers Psalms 1:4-142:8, with the last pages of the manuscript completely missing.

• Λ^a:

The parchment is made of sheepskin only. The main text is written in a medium-brown ink, with red ink used for the Psalm titles and numbers as in Λ. The text is written in one column per page, which originally would've been around 27.5 x 21.58 cm, 24 lines per page, with about 18-24 letters per line.
The seven leaves are in a fragmentary condition, and would originally have contained Psalms 142:5-151:6 and Odes of Solomon 1:1-6a, but due to the loss of two leaves, Psalms 146:9b-149:2b are missing.
The text is written in large, sloping letters known as Slavonic uncial.

Text of Codex^[5]

• Λ:

MS has very little punctuation, with most occurring only at the end of lines, with Sanders only counting 8 exceptions.
MS text is written in verses corresponding to the Hebrew parallelisms, with any that go over one line being written on the line below, usually with an indent to signify that it's not a new phrase.
MS uses no stanza division, but the writing does align somewhat with the stichoi of Codex Vaticanus.
MS uses certain ligatures (representing και, ου, μου, αυτου, ον, μαι, του, μνης, νην, θαι, ται) for the ends of lines where the text becomes crowded, although sometimes these ligatures are used within the lines themselves.
MS employs the use of numerous Nomina Sacra, consistently using the nomen sacrum for ΘΣ (God), ΚΣ (Lord), ΔΑΔ (David), and ΧΣ (Messiah/Anointed); with other nomen sacrum used frequently: ΟΡΟΣ (heaven), ΙΗΛ (Israel), ΜΗΡ (mother), ΣΗΡ (saviour), ΠΡΣ (father), ΑΝΟΣ (man/human), ΠΝΑ (Spirit), ΥΣ (son), and ΙΗΛΜ (Jerusalem).
MS uses diacritical strokes and dots over vowels (though not consistently), varying from a short grave accent to a small dot.
MS uses the apostrophe consistently throughout, with a slightly varied shape. This appears mainly after final consonants, between double consonants, between unlike consonants, and after the Greek εκ.

• Λ^a:

MS has only 11 extant cases of punctuation.
MS text aligns with the stichoi of Codex Vaticanus, with any verses going over one line being spread onto two or more lines, with indentation to signify inclusion with what precedes.
MS uses certain ligatures (representing μους, ται, αυτου, του) infrequently.
MS employs the use of numerous Nomina Sacra (although with slight divergence from those seen in Λ), consistently using the nomen sacrum for ΘΣ (God), ΚΣ (Lord), and ΔΑΔ (David); with other nomen sacrum used frequently: ΟΥΝΟΣ (heaven), ΙΣΛ (Israel), ΠΡΣ (father), ΑΝΟΣ (man/human), ΠΝΑ (Spirit), and ΙΗΛΜ (Jerusalem). In contrast to Λ, υιος (son) is not a nomen sacrum, and μητηρ (mother) doesn't occur.

History of Manuscript^[6]

Prior to its purchase by Freer in 1906 from an Arab dealer named Ali in Gizah, Cairo, very little is known about the manuscript, where it came from or for whom it was written. One possible place of origin is the Church of Timothy in the Monastery of the Vinedresser, a Coptic Monastery probably destroyed during the Muslim persecutions of the 14th Century CE.^[7]

When the manuscript was granted to H. Sanders, he had to go through a long and precarious process of separating the leaves of the codex, which due to decay had turned the parchment into a hard, glue-like substance, becoming a solid mass. H. Sanders describes in detail in The Old Testament Manuscripts in the Freer Collection, Part II: The Washington Manuscript of the Psalms, pp 107–109 how he separated the leaves of the codex, which effectively employed the use of a woolen cloth, and a thin-bladed dinner knife.

Due to the fragmentary and fragile nature of the manuscript, Sanders was unable to separate more than two leaves in a day, having to create as accurate a collation as possible before further deterioration occurred on the leaves, and as such his reprint of the text shows letters that are now no longer extant.

The manuscript is one of the six main manuscripts that comprise the Freer Biblical Manuscripts, currently housed at The Freer Gallery of Art.

References

Further reading

• H. Sanders, The Old Testament Manuscripts in the Freer Collection, Part II: The Washington Manuscript of the Psalms
• Larry W. Hurtado, The Freer Biblical Manuscripts. Fresh Studies of an American Treasure Trove

External links

• H. Sanders, The Old Testament Manuscripts in the Freer Collection, Part II: The Washington Manuscript of the Psalms at
• George R. Swain, Photographs of the Washington Manuscript of the Psalms in the Freer Collection at