TESTI DI FREER. - Greek biblical manuscripts (of the Septuagint version and of the New Testament), forming part of the collection of C. L. F. (d. 25 Sept. 1919) at Detroit (U.S.A.) and now preserved at Washington (Smithsonian Institution). Of particular importance is ms. W (e 014) purchased by F. at al-Gizah (Egypt) in 1906, reproduced in collotype and studied by N. A. Sanders.

It is a parchment codex of 26 quires and 374 pp. (215 X 145 mm.; 205 X 15) of which two at the end of John are blank, written in a single column of 30 lines, of 27-30 letters. The text is divided into paragraphs and appears to have been emended by 4 correctors. The omissions number about a dozen. It comprises the 4 Gospels in the order: Matthew, John, Luke, Mark. It lacks only John 14, 25-16, 7 to Mark 15, 13-38. The script is uncial, inclined to the right, and that of the first quire (John 1, 1-5, 11) appears older. The date of composition is disputed (4th-6th cent. [Gregory]; 4th-5th [H. A. Sanders]; 4th [Grenfell]; 5th [Kenyon]). It presents a hybrid text: Mt.-Lk. 8, 13-24 approach A(ntiochene) (in Matthew, out of 1505 variants, 1205 agree with A: the others with B and D; in Luke, 1112 with A, 189 with D, and 98 with B). John 5, 12-end, and Lk. 1, 1-8, 12 agree with B (Hesychian recension: John 987 with B and 8 with A; in John 5-10 B prevails first, then N. Luke, 347 with D, 126 with D and 4 with A). Mark 1, 1-5, 30 agrees with the Old Latin versions, especially with e; Mark 5, 31-end, to a lesser degree (186 with the Old Latin versions, 116 with D, 24 with N and 16 with B). John 1-5, 11 agrees with the Old Latin versions as does Mark 1, 1-5, 30. Therefore A mixed with D and B predominates in Mt.-Lk. 8, 13-end; B mixed with D and A in Lk. 1, 8-12 and John 5, 12-end; D in Mark 1, 5-30 and John 1, 5-11; the Caesarean text in Mark 5, 31-end. P. 45 (Chester-Beatty) approaches W for Mark and Luke. W testifies to the diffusion of the Western text (D) in Egypt and confirms the opinion that the readings considered proper to the Old Latin versions come from an earlier Greek text, and not from corruption or paraphrase of it. Characteristic of W is the long ending after Mark 16, 14, called "the Freer logion," in a fuller form than in St. Jerome (Adv. pelag., II, 15; PL 23, 576). It is reproduced in the apparatus of the critical editions of the New Testament. Although not authentic, it has very ancient origins (first half of the 2nd cent., according to Gregory). W also contains I Cor. 10, 29 and fragments of the Epistles to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to the Hebrews, to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon. Originally it consisted of 208-12 leaves and can be dated to the 5th-6th cent. It reproduces the 1910 as ACP 17, 37.

Bibliography8 works

Bibl.: H. A. Sanders, Facsimile of the Washington Ms. of the Four Gospels in the F. Collection, Michigan 1912; id., The N. T. Ms. in the F. Collection, New York 1912; id., The Washington Ms. of the Epistles of Paul, ibid. 1918; E. J. Goodspeed, The Washington Ms. of the Gospels, in American Journal of Theology, 17 (1913), pp. 240-49, 395-411, 399-613; 18 (1914), pp. 131-146, 268-81; M.-I. Lagrange - St. Lyonnet, Critique textuelle, II, La critique vaticanelle, Paris 1935; B. Botte, s. v. in D.B. III, coll. 525-30; G. Bonaccorsi, Nuovi manoscritti biblici e la finale di s. Marco, in Rivista storico-critica delle scienze teologiche, 4 (1908), pp. 521-537, etc.

Bonaventura Mariani

@incollection{ec5_freer_testi_di, author = {Mariani, Bonaventura}, title = {Freer, testi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1761}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/freer-testi-di} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Testi di Freer

About this entry