Eusebian Canon

Canon tables from the Gospel of Walters MS 3, f. 13 v and f. 14 r , France, 10th century, Walters Art Museum .

The Eusebian Canon or the Eusebian Classifications , also known as the Ammonian Classifications , is a system of subdividing the four Gospels that was used in late antiquity through the Middle Ages , before the chapter and verse division used in modern Bibles prevailed from the 13th or 16th century.

Authorship

Until the 19th century it was commonly assumed that these classifications were made by Ammonius of Alexandria at the beginning of the 3rd century (approx. 220). He should have created it together with the "Harmony of the Gospels" (lost). Traditionally it was believed that he divided the four gospels into small numbered sections that were similar in content or parallel in their narratives. He then wrote the numbers of the sections of the last three Gospels with the corresponding scribes in parallel columns next to the corresponding sections of the Gospel of Matthew, which he had chosen as the basis of his harmony.

Today it is believed that the work of Ammonius was revised and restricted by Eusebius of Caesarea (265–340). Eusebius reports about this in his letter to Carpianus ( Epistula ad Carpianum ). He explains that he placed the parallel passages of the last three Gospels next to the text of Matthew. The classifications traditionally assigned to Ammonius are now ascribed to Eusebius, who, however, was always assigned the final form of the tables. In numerous Latin Bible manuscripts and Gospels, as a preface to the Gospels, there is a letter from St. Jerome to Pope Damasus I , in which Jerome writes about his translation of the Bible, the Vulgate , and also explains the canons in which “Eusebius followed Ammonius ".

The structure of the Eusebian Canon

f. 24 v from the Gospels of Echternach , 11th century.

The Gospels are divided into a total of 1165 sections, of which 355 for Matthew , 235 for Mark , 343 for Luke and 232 for John . However, the number varies somewhat in the various manuscripts. The passages can be found in the margin of almost all Greek and Latin Bible manuscripts.

example

The following example of a text page, f. 24 v from the Gospels of Echternach , illustrates the Eusebian classifications. The first section on this page begins with the words et circumibat Iesus totam Galileam ( Mt 4,23 VUL ). Next to it on the left is MT XXIII, so it is the 23rd section of the Gospel of Matthew, the red Roman I underneath means that it is the "Canon I", a section where a correspondence can be found in all four Gospels. The corresponding passages in the other three Gospels are listed below: MR XXVII, LC XVII, IO XLVI.

The following section MT XXIIII belongs to "Canon X", ie it can only be found in the Gospel of Matthew. Section 25 (MT XXV) belongs to "Canon V" and has an equivalent for Lukas (LC XLVII), but not for Markus and Johannes.

The canon tables

The London canon tables are two folios of a Byzantine manuscript from the 6th or 7th century and show the typical arcade shape.

In most Gospels there is a summary and comparison of the sections in the form of "canon tables". These canon tables are usually arranged in several columns, flanked by columns and roofed with round arches. The division into ten "canons" indicates in how many and which Gospels a section can be found: in all four (Canon I), in three, (Canon II to IV), in two (Canon V to IX), in only one (Canon X):

blackboard	Matthew	Markus	Luke	John
	In quo quattor
Canon I.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	In quo tres
Canon II.	Yes	Yes	Yes
Canon III.	Yes		Yes	Yes
Canon IV.	Yes	Yes		Yes
	In quo duo
Canon V.	Yes	Yes
Canon VI.	Yes		Yes
Canon VII.	Yes			Yes
Canon VIII.		Yes	Yes
Canon IX.		Yes		Yes
	In quo Matth. proprie
Canon X	Yes
	In quo Marc. proprie
Canon X		Yes
	In quo Luc. proprie
Canon X			Yes
	In quo Ioh. proprie
Canon X				Yes

Of all the manuscripts of the 1st millennium, the Armenian Echmiadzin Gospels of 989 preserved the purest form of ten canon tables at the beginning of the text sheets.

literature

Carl Nordenfalk: The late antique cannon tables. Art-historical studies of the Eusebian Gospel Concordance in the first four centuries of its history. (Text volume) Oscar Isacson's Boktryckery, Gothenburg 1938

Web links

Commons : Eusebian Canon - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Jerome's preface to the Gospels (Latin.)
^ Bruce M. Metzger : Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, p. 42, ISBN 978-0-19-502924-6
↑ Carl Nordenfalk, p. 70

[1] Jerome's preface to the Gospels (Latin.)

[2] Bruce M. Metzger : Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, p. 42, ISBN 978-0-19-502924-6

[3] Carl Nordenfalk, p. 70