A Fragmented Revelation: Paragraph Delimitation of John’s Apocalypse in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus

Scholars possess considerable knowledge of segmentation practices and technologies before the adoption of dominant chapter systems for the different New Testament sub-corpora. One exception is the book of Revelation, whose segmentation before Andrew of Caesarea’s chapter system has largely been over...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cardozo Mindiola, Cristian (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: Journal for the study of the New Testament
Year: 2025, Volume: 48, Issue: 1, Pages: 321-353
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Codex Alexandrinus / Codex Sinaiticus / Revelation / Handwriting / Division
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
TB Antiquity
VB Hermeneutics; Philosophy
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B Sinaiticus
B Scribes
B Revelation
B segmentation
B Reception
B Alexandrinus
B Paragraphs
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Scholars possess considerable knowledge of segmentation practices and technologies before the adoption of dominant chapter systems for the different New Testament sub-corpora. One exception is the book of Revelation, whose segmentation before Andrew of Caesarea’s chapter system has largely been overlooked. To address this lacuna, I explore the paragraph delimitation of Revelation in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus. I show that the scribe(s) of both codices employed blank space, line breaks, line ends, ekthesis, and various sigla to delimit paragraphs. Sinaiticus has 33 paragraphs and Alexandrinus 144, highlighting the lack of uniformity in Revelation’s segmenting during this period. It will be shown that the scribe(s) of both codices segmented Revelation whenever a change of topic occurred. It will be suggested that the study of paragraph delimitation offers a fruitful avenue for exploring the multifaceted life of texts in early Christianity, offering a glimpse into the editorial decisions that shaped their transmission and interpretation.
ISSN:1745-5294
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the New Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0142064X251330236