2007/08/08 by C.-B. Amphoux · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Historical and Linguistic Studies #Theology and Canon Law Studies #Humanities #Art #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1093/jts/flm024
openalex publication_date 2007/08/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
In the margins of the pages that contain the New Testament, Codex Vaticanus (Vat. Gr. 1209)—one of the principal manuscripts of the Greek Bible—presents the reader with dots, usually arranged horizontally in the form of an umlaut. These are diacritical marks, and the consensus is that they should be recognized as indicating variant passages. In this article, which is limited to the Gospel according to Mark, I argue that the variants signalled by these dots are Latin rather than Greek, and that they exercised an influence on the revision of the Latin version which became the Vulgate of the Gospels. Thanks to these dots we have a resource for understanding the conditions under which the textual tradition of the Gospels split in two during the fourth century, and thus left an enduring mark on the transmission of these writings.