The Reading Culture of Early Christianity

New Testament manuscripts in Greek are categorized into five groups,[1] according to a scheme introduced in 1981 by Kurt and Barbara Aland in The text of the New Testament. The categories are based on how each manuscript relates to the various text-types. Generally speaking, earlier Alexandrian manuscripts are category I, while later Byzantine manuscripts are category V. Aland’s method involved considering 1000 passages where the Byzantine text differs from non-Byzantine text. The Alands did not select their 1000 readings from all of the NT books; for example, none were drawn from Matthew and Luke.[2]

Description of Categories

The Alands’ categories do not simply correspond to the text-types; all they do is demonstrate the ‘Byzantine-ness’ of a particular text; that is, how much it is similar to the Byzantine text-type, from least (Category I) to most similar (Category V). Category V can be equated with the Byzantine text-type, but the other categories are not necessarily representative of a text-type. Even though most texts in Category I agree with the Alexandrian text-type, they are not necessarily Alexandrian themselves; they are just very non-Byzantine.[3]

The Alands introduced the following categories (Aland & Aland category description according to the 1989 English translation, p. 106, between quotation marks):

Category I: “Manuscripts of a very special quality which should always be considered in establishing the original text.” This category includes almost all manuscripts before the 4th century. These manuscripts have almost no Byzantine influence, and often agree with the Alexandrian text-type (but are not necessarily Alexandrian themselves, for example P45, P46, B, and 1739). Some 4th-century and earlier papyri and uncials are in this category, as are manuscripts of the Alexandrian text-type. The manuscripts in this category are important when considering textual problems and are considered by many scholars to be a good representation of the autograph, due to their early dating.

Category II: “Manuscripts of a special quality but distinguished from manuscripts of Category I by the presence of alien influences.” The manuscripts in this category are similar to category I manuscripts and are important in textual consideration of the autograph. However, the texts usually contain some alien influences, such as those found in the Byzantine text-type. Egyptian texts fall in this category.

Category III: “Manuscripts of a distinctive character with an independent text… particularly important for the history of the text.” The manuscripts in category III are important when discussing the history of the textual traditions and to a lesser degree for establishing the original text. The manuscripts usually contain independent readings and have a distinctive character. f1, f13 are examples of manuscript families that fall within this category. Manuscripts of this category usually present mixed or eclectic text-type.

Category IV: “Manuscripts of the D text.” Category IV contains the few manuscripts that follow the text of the Codex Bezae (D). These texts are of the Western text-type.

Category V: “Manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text.” This category may be equated with the Byzantine text-type. Byzantine and mostly Byzantine texts fall under this category.

Uncategorized: Some manuscripts studied by the Alands were not categorized, for example because they were too short to determine which group they belonged to or fell somewhere in between. The unclassified manuscript could be representative of the Western text-type, the “Caesarean text-type” (a term proposed by certain scholars to denote a consistent pattern of variant readings of the four Gospels), or anything else.

Limitations

This system of classification prefers the Alexandrian text-type Manuscripts that represent the Western text-type are classified as Category IV in Gospels, and Category II/III in the Pauline Letters. This is significant because some scholars believe that some or all of the Minuscule text or the Western texts are closer to the original texts. Some manuscripts are not classified. Uncial 055 is not because it is a commentary, and according to some specialists, written in a minuscule hand. 𝔓⁷, 𝔓⁸⁹, 𝔓¹²¹, Uncial 080, Uncial 0100, Uncial 0118, 0174, 0230, 0263, 0264, 0267, 0268 are too brief to classify. Uncial 0144 and 0196 are not accessible. 𝔓²⁵ is not classified because of the Diatessaric character of text (i.e. the four Gospels combined into a single narrative).

𝔓⁵ was classified to Category I, but it is not a representative of the Alexandrian text-type. According to Philip Comfort (2001) it is “a good example of what Kurt and Barbara Aland call “normal” (i.e. a relatively accurate text manifesting a normal amount of error and idiosyncrasy).[4]

Waltz (2013) stated:

As a classification scheme, [Aland & Aland’s] attempt was at once a success and a failure. A success, in that it has conveniently gathered data about how Byzantine the various manuscripts are. A failure, because it has not been widely adopted, and in any case does not succeed in moving beyond Byzantine/non-Byzantine classification.

Distribution of Greek Manuscripts by Century and Category

Aland, Kurt and Aland, Barbara. The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Second revised edition. Translated by Erroll F Rhodes. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995, pp. 159–162.

Date (CE)	I	II	III	IV	V
150	𝔓⁵², 𝔓⁹⁰, 𝔓¹⁰⁴
200	𝔓³², 𝔓⁴⁶, 𝔓^64/67, 𝔓⁶⁶, 𝔓⁷⁵, 𝔓⁷⁷, 0189,
250	𝔓¹, 𝔓⁴, 𝔓⁵, 𝔓⁹, 𝔓¹², 𝔓¹⁵, 𝔓²⁰, 𝔓²², 𝔓²³, 𝔓²⁷, 𝔓²⁸, 𝔓²⁹, 𝔓³⁰, 𝔓³⁹, 𝔓⁴⁰, 𝔓⁴⁵, 𝔓⁴⁷, 𝔓⁴⁹, 𝔓⁵³, 𝔓⁶⁵, 𝔓⁷⁰, 𝔓⁸⁰, 𝔓⁸⁷, 0220		0212	𝔓⁴⁸, 𝔓⁶⁹
300	𝔓¹³, 𝔓¹⁶, 𝔓¹⁸, 𝔓³⁷, 𝔓⁷², 𝔓⁷⁸, 0162, 𝔓¹¹⁵			𝔓³⁸, 0171
350	𝔓¹⁰, 𝔓²⁴, 𝔓³⁵, 01, 03	𝔓⁶, 𝔓⁸, 𝔓¹⁷, 𝔓⁵⁰, 𝔓⁶², 𝔓⁷¹, 𝔓⁸¹, 𝔓⁸⁶, 0185	𝔓⁸⁸, 058 (?), 0169, 0188, 0206, 0207, 0221, 0228, 0231, 0242
400	057	𝔓¹⁹, 𝔓⁵¹, 𝔓⁵⁷, 𝔓⁸², 𝔓⁸⁵, 0181, 0270	𝔓²¹, 059, 0160, 0176, 0214, 0219
450	02 (except Gospels), 0254	𝔓¹⁴, 04, 016, 029, 048, 077, 0172, 0173, 0175, 0201, 0240, 0244, 0274	02 (Gospels), 032, 062, 068, 069, 0163, 0165 (?), 0166, 0182, 0216, 0217, 0218, 0226, 0227, 0236, 0252, 0261	05	026, 061
500		𝔓⁵⁶, 071, 076, 088, 0232, 0247	𝔓⁵⁴, 𝔓⁶³, 072, 0170, 0186, 0213
550		𝔓³³, 06, 08, 073, 081, 085, 087, 089, 091, 093 (1 Peter), 094, 0184, 0223, 0225, 0245	𝔓², 𝔓³⁶, 𝔓⁷⁶, 𝔓⁸³, 𝔓⁸⁴, 06, 015, 035, 040, 060, 066, 067, 070, 078, 079, 082, 086, 0143, 0147, 0159, 0187, 0198, 0208, 0222, 0237, 0241, 0251, 0260, 0266		022, 023, 024, 027, 042, 043, 064, 065, 093 (Acts), 0246, 0253, 0265 (?)
600	𝔓²⁶	𝔓⁴³, 𝔓⁴⁴, 𝔓⁵⁵, 083	𝔓³, 0164, 0199
650	𝔓⁷⁴, 098	𝔓¹¹, 𝔓³¹, 𝔓³⁴, 𝔓⁷⁹, 0102, 0108, 0111, 0204, 0275	𝔓⁵⁹, 𝔓⁶⁸, 096, 097, 099, 0106, 0107, 0109, 0145, 0167, 0183, 0200, 0209, 0210, 0239, 0259, 0262		𝔓⁷³, 0103, 0104, 0211
700		𝔓⁴², 𝔓⁶¹	𝔓⁶⁰
750		019, 0101, 0114, 0156, 0205, 0234	𝔓⁴¹, 095, 0126, 0127, 0146, 0148, 0161, 0229, 0233, 0238, 0250, 0256		07, 047, 054 (?), 0116, 0134
800		044 (Catholic epistles)	044 (except Catholic epistles)
850	33 (except Gospels)	010, 038, 0155, 0271, 33 (Gospels), 892, 2464	012, 025 (except Acts, Rev), 037, 050, 0122, 0128, 0130, 0131, 0132, 0150, 0269, 565		09, 011, 013, 014, 017, 018, 020, 021, 025 (Acts, Rev), 030, 031, 034, 039, 041, 045, 049, 053 (?), 063, 0120, 0133, 0135, 0136 (?), 0151, 0197, 0248, 0255, 0257, 0272, 0273 (?), 461
900		1841	0115, 1424 (Mark)		1424 (except Mark), 1841
950	1739 (Catholic epistles, Paul)	0177, 0243 (?), 1739 (Acts), 1891, 2329	051, 075, 0105, 0121a, 0121b, 0140, 0141, 0249, 307, 1582, 1836, 1845, 1874, 1875, 1912, 2110, 2193, 2351		028, 033, 036, 046, 052, 056, 0142, 1874, 1891
1050	1175, 1243, 2344	81, 323, 945, 1006, 1854, 1962, 2298	28, 104, 181, 323, 398, 424, 431, 436, 451, 459, 623, 700, 788, 1243, 1448, 1505, 1838, 1846, 1908, 2138, 2147, 2298, 2344, 2596 (?)		103, 104, 181 (Rev), 398, 431, 451, 459, 945, 1006, 1448, 1505, 1846, 1854, 2138, 2147, 2298
1100		256, 1735	1735, 1910		256
1150	1241 (Catholic epistles)	36, 1611, 2050, 2127	1 (Gospels), 36, 88, 94 (?), 157, 326, 330, 346, 378, 543, 610, 826, 828, 917, 983, 1071, 1241 (Gospels, Acts, Paul), 1319, 1359, 1542b, 1611, 1718, 1942, 2030, 2412, 2541, 2744		1 (except Gospels), 180, 189, 330, 378, 610, 911, 917, 1010, 1241, 1319, 1359, 1542b (?), 2127, 2541
1200			1573		1573 (?)
1250	2053, 2062	442, 579, 1292, 1852	6 (Catholic epistles, Paul), 13, 94, 180, 206, 218 (epistles), 263, 365, 441, 614, 720, 915, 1398, 1563, 1641, 1852, 2374, 2492, 2516, 2542, 2718 (?)		6 (Gospels, Acts), 94 (?), 180, 206, 218 (except epistles), 263, 365, 597, 720, 1251 (?), 1292, 1398, 1642, 1852, 2374, 2400, 2492 (?), 2516
1300			1342
1350		1067, 1409, 1506, 1881	5, 209, 254, 429 (except Paul), 453, 621, 629, 630, 1523, 1534, 1678 (?), 1842, 1877, 2005, 2197, 2200, 2377		5 (?), 189, 209, 254, 429 (Paul), 1067, 1409, 1506, 1523, 1524, 1877, 2200
1400			2495
1450		322	69, 205, 322, 467, 642, 1751, 1844, 1959, 2523, 2652		69, 181, 205, 429 (Rev.), 467, 642, 886, 2523, 2623, 2652 (?)
1500			61 (epistles, Rev), 522, 918, 1704, 1884		61 (Gospels, Acts), 522, 918, 1704
1550-			849, 2544 (Paul)		2544 (except Paul)

Number of manuscripts by century and category

Century	Category I	Category II	Category III	Category IV	Category V
II	3
II/III	6
III	25		1	2
III/IV	8			2
IV	5	8	10
IV/V	1	7	7
V	2	16	19	1	2
V/VI		6	6
VI		15	31		12
VI/VII	1	4	3
VII	2	8	17		4
VII/VIII		2	1
VIII		6	12		5
VIII/IX		1	1
IX	3	7	12		5
IX/X		1	2		2
X	1	5	18		10
XI	3	7	24		16
XI/XII		2	2		1
XII	1	5	24		16
XII/XIII			1		1
XIII	2	4	21		18
XIII/XIV			1
XIV	1	4	17		12
XIV/XV			1
XV		1	11		9
XVI			5		4
XVI/XVII			2		1

[1] Aland: 106f, 332-337.

[2] Wisse, Frederik (1982). The Profile Method for the Classification and Evaluation of Manuscript Evidence, as Applied to the Continuous Greek Text of the Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 21. ISBN 0-8028-1918-4.

[3] Waltz, Robert B. (2013). The Encyclopedia of New Testament Textual Criticism. p. 116–133. Retrieved 8 September 2021.

[4] Philip Comfort, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Tyndale House Publishers 2001, pp. 73–74.