Codex Sinaiticus

== History ==

=== Early history ===

==== Provenance ====
Little is known of the manuscript's early history. According to Hort, it was written in the West, probably in Rome, as suggested by the fact that the chapter division in the Acts of the Apostles common to Sinaiticus and Vaticanus occurs in no other Greek manuscript, but is found in several manuscripts of the Latin [[Vulgate]].<ref>Brook F. Westcott and Fenton J. A. Hort, ''Introduction to the New Testament in the Original Greek'' (New York: Harper & Bros., 1882; reprint, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1988), pp. 264–267.</ref> [[Armitage Robinson|Robinson]] countered this argument, suggesting that this system of chapter divisions was introduced into the Vulgate by [[Jerome]] himself, as a result of his studies at [[Early centers of Christianity#Caesarea|Caesarea]].<ref>Robinson, A., ''Euthaliana'', pp. 42, 101.</ref> According to [[Frederic G. Kenyon|Kenyon]] the forms of the letters are Egyptian and they were found in Egyptian papyri of earlier date.{{r|Kenyon|p=128}} [[Victor Gardthausen|Gardthausen]],<ref>{{Cite book | first=Victor | last=Gardthausen | author-link=Victor Gardthausen | title=Griechische paleographie | volume=2 | pages=124–125 | year=1913 | publisher=Verlag von Veit & Co. | location=Leipzig | language=de | url=https://archive.org/details/griechischepaleo02gard }}</ref> Ropes and [[Sidney Jellicoe|Jellicoe]] thought it was written in [[Egypt]]. Biblical scholar [[J. Rendel Harris]] believed that the manuscript came from the [[Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima|library of Pamphilus]] at Caesarea Maritima.{{r|Kenyon|p=128}} [[Burnett Hillman Streeter|Streeter]],{{r|Streeter}} Skeat, and Milne also believed that it was produced in Caesarea.{{r|Skeat-lastchap}}

==== Date ====
The codex can be dated with a reasonable degree of confidence between the early fourth century and the early fifth century.<ref name="nongbri">{{Cite journal | first=Brent | last=Nongbri | title=The Date of Codex Sinaiticus | journal=Journal of Theological Studies | volume=73 | year=2022 | issue=2 | pages=516–534 | doi=10.1093/jts/flac083 | doi-access=free}}</ref> It could not have been written before about 325 because it contains the [[Eusebian Canons]], which is a ''[[terminus post quem]]''. The ''terminus ante quem'' is less certain. Milne and Skeat relied on small cursive notes to assert that the date of the production of the codex was not likely to be much later than about 360.{{r|Metzger-Palaeo}} More recent research suggests that these cursive notes could be as late as the early fifth century.{{r|nongbri}}

Tischendorf theorized that Codex Sinaiticus was one of the [[Fifty Bibles of Constantine|fifty copies of the Bible]] commissioned from [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]] by [[Roman emperor]] [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine]] after his conversion to Christianity (''De vita Constantini'', IV, 37).<ref>{{Cite book | first=Ira Maurice | last=Price | title=The Ancestry of Our English Bible an Account of Manuscripts, Texts and Versions of the Bible | page=146 | year=1923 | publisher=Sunday School Times Co. | location=Philadelphia | url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924029271595/page/n9/mode/2up}}</ref> This hypothesis was supported by [[Pierre Batiffol]].<ref>Pierre Batiffol, ''Codex Sinaiticus'', in DB. 1, 1883–1886.</ref> Gregory and Skeat believed that it was already in production when Constantine placed his order, but had to be suspended in order to accommodate different page dimensions.{{r|Skeat-lastchap}}

[[Frederic G. Kenyon]] argued: "There is not the least sign of either of them ever having been at Constantinople. The fact that Sinaiticus was collated with the manuscript of Pamphilus so late as the sixth century seems to show that it was not originally written at Caesarea".<ref>{{Cite book | first=Frederic G. | last=Kenyon | title=Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament | page=83 | year=1912 | publisher=Macmillan & Co. | location=London | url=https://archive.org/details/handbooktotextua00keny/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref>

==== Scribes and correctors ====
Tischendorf believed four separate scribes copied the work (whom he named A, B, C and D), and five correctors amended portions (whom he designated a, b, c, d and e). He posited one of the correctors was contemporaneous with the original scribes, and the others worked during the sixth and seventh centuries. After Milne and Skeat's reinvestigation, it is now agreed Tischendorf was incorrect, as scribe C never existed.{{r|scribes-corr|p=22–50}} According to Tischendorf, scribe C wrote the poetic books of the Old Testament. These are written in a different format from the rest of the manuscript – they appear in two columns (the rest of books is in four columns), written stichometrically. Tischendorf probably interpreted the different formatting as indicating the existence of another scribe.{{r|Jongkind|p=22–50, 12–13}} The three remaining scribes are still identified by the letters Tischendorf gave them: A, B, and D.{{r|Jongkind|pp=22–50, 12–13}} There were in fact more correctors, with at least seven (a, b, c, ca, cb, cc, e).{{r|Aland}}

Modern analysis identifies three scribes:

* Scribe A wrote most of the historical and poetical books of the Old Testament; almost the whole of the New Testament; and the Epistle of Barnabas
* Scribe B was responsible for the Prophets and for the Shepherd of Hermas
* Scribe D wrote the whole of Tobit and Judith; the first half of 4 Maccabees; the first two-thirds of the Psalms; and the first five verses of Revelation

Scribe B was a poor speller, and scribe A was not much better; the best scribe was D.{{r|Jongkind|p=90}} Metzger states: "scribe A had made some unusually serious mistakes".{{r|Metzger-Palaeo}} Scribes A and B used ''nomina sacra'' in contracted forms most often (ΠΝΕΥΜΑ contracted in all occurrences, ΚΥΡΙΟΣ contracted except in 2 occurrences), whereas scribe D mostly used the uncontracted forms.{{r|Jongkind|pp=77–78}} Scribe D distinguished between sacral and nonsacral uses of ΚΥΡΙΟΣ.{{r|Jongkind|pp=80–81}} His spelling errors are the substitution of ΕΙ for Ι, and Ι for ΕΙ in medial positions, both equally common. Otherwise substitution of Ι for initial ΕΙ is unknown, and final ΕΙ is only replaced in the word ΙΣΧΥΕΙ. The confusion of Ε and ΑΙ is very rare.{{r|Jongkind|p=90}} In the Book of Psalms, this scribe has ΔΑΥΕΙΔ instead of ΔΑΥΙΔ 35 times, while scribe A normally uses an abbreviated form {{overline|ΔΑΔ}}.{{r|scribes-corr|p=94}} Scribe A made the most phonetic errors: confusion of Ε and ΑΙ occurs in all contexts.{{r|Jongkind|p=90}} Milne and Skeat characterised scribe B as "careless and illiterate".{{r|scribes-corr|pp=53–55}} The work of the original scribe is designated by the [[siglum]] {{larger|{{script|Hebr|[[א]]}}}}*.{{r|Aland}}

[[File:Caesarea Maritima BW 2010-09-23 09-26-26 stitch.jpg|thumb|In the sixth or seventh century, the codex may have been housed at Caesarea]]

A [[Palaeography|paleographical]] study at the [[British Museum]] in 1938 found the text had undergone several corrections. The first corrections were done by several scribes before the manuscript left the scriptorium.{{r|metz-ehrman|pp=65–68}} Readings which they introduced are designated by the siglum {{larger|{{script|Hebr|א}}}}<sup>a</sup>.{{r|metz-ehrman|pp=66–67}} Milne and Skeat have observed the superscription to 1 Maccabees was made by scribe D, while the text was written by scribe A.{{r|scribes-corr|p=33}} Scribe D corrects his own work and that of scribe A, but scribe A limits himself to correcting his own work.{{r|Jongkind|p=44}} In the sixth or seventh century, many alterations were made ({{larger|{{script|Hebr|א}}}}<sup>b</sup>) – according to a [[colophon (book)|colophon]] at the end of the book of [[Esdras]] and [[Book of Esther|Esther]], the source of these alterations was "a very ancient manuscript that had been corrected by the hand of the holy martyr [[Pamphilus of Caesarea|Pamphylus]]" ([[martyr]]ed in 309). If this is so, material beginning with [[1 Samuel]] to the end of Esther is Origen's copy of the [[Hexapla]]. From this colophon, the corrections are concluded to have been made in [[Caesarea Maritima]] in the sixth or seventh centuries.{{r|metz-ehrman|pp=66–67}} The pervasive [[iotacism]], especially of the {{lang|grc|ει}} diphthong, remains uncorrected.<ref name="Gregory">{{Cite book | last=Gregory | first=Caspar René | author-link=Caspar René Gregory | title=Textkritik des Neuen Testaments | volume=1 | publisher=J.C. Hinrichs | year=1900 | location=Leipzig | url=https://archive.org/stream/textkritikdesne00greggoog#page/n31/mode/2up|access-date=18 March 2010  |language=de }}</ref>{{rp|19}}

=== Discovery ===
The Codex may have been seen in 1761 by the Italian traveller [[Vitaliano Donati]], when he visited the [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]] at Sinai in [[Egypt]]. His diary was published in 1879, in which was written:
<blockquote>In questo monastero ritrovai una quantità grandissima di codici membranacei... ve ne sono alcuni che mi sembravano anteriori al settimo secolo, ed in ispecie una Bibbia in membrane bellissime, assai grandi, sottili, e quadre, scritta in carattere rotondo e belissimo; conservano poi in chiesa un Evangelistario greco in caractere d'oro rotondo, che dovrebbe pur essere assai antico.<ref>Lumbroso, G. (1879). ''Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei'', p. 501.</ref></blockquote> 
<blockquote>
''In this monastery I found a great number of parchment codices ... there are some which seemed to be written before the seventh century, and especially a Bible (made) of beautiful vellum, very large, thin and square parchments, written in round and very beautiful letters; moreover there are also in the church a Greek Evangelistarium in gold and round letters, it should be very old.'' 
</blockquote>
The "Bible on beautiful vellum" may be Codex Sinaiticus, and the gold evangelistarium is likely [[Lectionary 300]] on the Gregory-Aland list.<ref name="kirsopp-sinai">{{Cite book | first=Kirsopp | last=Lake | author-link=Kirsopp Lake | year=1911 | title=Codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus: The New Testament, the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas | location=Oxford | publisher=Clarendon Press }}</ref>{{rp|V}}

[[File:Tischendorf um 1870.jpg|thumb|left|140px|[[Constantin von Tischendorf|Tischendorf]] in 1870]]
German Biblical scholar [[Constantin von Tischendorf]] wrote about his visit to the monastery in ''Reise in den Orient'' in 1846 (translated as ''Travels in the East'' in 1847), without mentioning the manuscript. Later, in 1860, in his writings about the Sinaiticus discovery, Tischendorf wrote a narrative about the monastery and the manuscript that spanned from 1844 to 1859. He wrote that in 1844, during his first visit to the Saint Catherine's Monastery, he saw some leaves of parchment in a waste-basket. They were "rubbish which was to be destroyed by burning it in the ovens of the monastery",{{r|Skeat-lastchap|p=313}} although this is firmly denied by the Monastery. After examination he realized that they were part of the Septuagint, written in an early Greek uncial script. He retrieved from the basket 129 leaves in Greek which he identified as coming from a manuscript of the [[Septuagint]]. He asked if he might keep them, but at this point the attitude of the monks changed. They realized how valuable these old leaves were, and Tischendorf was permitted to take only one-third of the whole, i.e. 43 leaves. These leaves contained portions of 1 Chronicles, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and Esther. After his return they were deposited in the [[Leipzig University Library]], where they remain. In 1846 Tischendorf published their contents, naming them the 'Codex Friderico-Augustanus' (in honor of [[Frederick Augustus II of Saxony|Frederick Augustus]] and keeping secret the source of the leaves).<ref>[[Constantin von Tischendorf]], [https://archive.org/stream/Tischendorf.iv.monumentaSacraInedita.newcollection.subscript.6vols.1857-1870/02.MonumentaSacraInedita.NCVP.FragSacra.v2.Tischendorf.Subscript.1860.#page/n269/mode/2up ''Monumenta sacra inedita''] (Leipzig 1855), vol. I, pp. 211 ff.</ref> Other portions of the same codex remained in the monastery, containing all of Isaiah and 1 and 4 Maccabees.<ref>Tischendorf, C. v. (1866). ''When Were Our Gospels Written? An Argument by Constantine Tischendorf. With a Narrative of the Discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript'', New York: American Tract Society.</ref>

In 1845, [[Archimandrite]] [[Porphyrius Uspensky]] (1804–1885), at that time head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem and subsequently Bishop of [[Chigirin]], visited the monastery and the codex was shown to him, together with leaves which Tischendorf had not seen.<ref group="n">Uspienski described: "Первая рукопись, содержащая Ветхий Завет неполный и весь Новый Завет с посланием ап. Варнавы и книгой Ермы, писана на тончайшем белом пергаменте. (...) Буквы в ней совершенно похожи на церковно-славянские. Постановка их прямая и сплошная. Над словами нет придыханий и ударений, а речения не отделяются никакими знаками правописания кроме точек. Весь священный текст писан в четыре и два столбца стихомерным образом и так слитно, как будто одно длинное речение тянется от точки до точки." (Порфирий (Успенский), ''Первое путешествие в Синайский монастырь в 1845 году'', Petersburg 1856, с. 226.)</ref> In 1846, Captain C. K. MacDonald visited Mount Sinai, saw the codex, and bought two codices ([[Minuscule 495|495]] and [[Minuscule 496|496]]) from the monastery.{{r|Gregory|pp=195–196}}

[[File:AlexII.JPG|thumb|The codex was presented to [[Alexander II of Russia]]]]
In 1853, Tischendorf revisited the Saint Catherine's Monastery to get the remaining 86 folios, but without success. Returning in 1859, this time under the [[patronage]] of Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia]], he was shown Codex Sinaiticus. He would later claim to have found it discarded in a rubbish bin. (This story may have been a fabrication, or the manuscripts in question may have been unrelated to Codex Sinaiticus: Rev. J. Silvester Davies in 1863 quoted "a monk of Sinai who... stated that according to the librarian of the monastery the whole of Codex Sinaiticus had been in the library for many years and was marked in the ancient catalogues... Is it not likely... that a manuscript known in the library catalogue would have been jettisoned in the rubbish basket." Indeed, it has been noted that the leaves were in "suspiciously good condition" for something found in the trash.<ref group="n">Davies' words are from a letter published in ''The Guardian'' on 27 May 1863, as quoted by Elliott, J.K. (1982) in ''Codex Sinaiticus and the Simonides Affair'', Thessaloniki: Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies, p. 16; Elliott in turn is quoted by Michael D. Peterson in his essay "Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus: the Saga Continues", in ''The Church and the Library'', ed. Papademetriou and Sopko Boston: Somerset Hall Press (2005), p. 77. See also notes 2 and 3, p. 90, in Papademetriou.</ref>) Tischendorf had been sent to search for manuscripts by Russia's [[Tsar]] [[Russian Emperor Alexander II|Alexander II]], who was convinced there were still manuscripts to be found at the Sinai monastery.<ref name="Parker">{{Cite book | first=D. C. | last=Parker | author-link=David C. Parker | title=Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible | publisher=The British Library | location=London | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-7123-5803-3 }}</ref>{{rp|140–142}} The text of this part of the codex was published by Tischendorf in 1862:
* Konstantin von Tischendorf: ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus.'' Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig 1862.
This work has been digitised in full and all four volumes may be consulted online.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.teylersmuseum.nl/en/collection/books/141a-9-bibliorum-codex-sinaiticus-petropolitanus-auspiciis-augustissimis-imperatoris-alexandri-ii-ex-tenebris-protraxit-in-europam-transtulit-ad-iuvandas-atque-illustrandas-sacras-litteras-edidit-constantinus-tischendorf|title=Bibliorum Codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus : Auspiciis augustissimis Imperatoris Alexandri II; ex tenebris protraxit in Europam transtulit ad iuvandas atque illustrandas sacras litteras edidit Constantinus Tischendorf|website=Teylers Museum}}</ref>
It was reprinted in four volumes in 1869:
* Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 1. Prolegomena.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.).
* Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 2. Veteris Testamenti pars prior.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.).
* Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 3. Veteris Testamenti pars posterior.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.).
* Konstantin von Tischendorf, G. Olms (Hrsg.): ''Bibliorum codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. 4. Novum Testamentum cum Barnaba et Pastore.'' G. Olms, Hildesheim 1869 (Repr.).

The complete publication of the codex was made by [[Kirsopp Lake]] in 1911 (New Testament), and in 1922 (Old Testament). It was the full-sized black and white facsimile of the manuscript, "made from negatives taken from St. Petersburg by my wife and myself in the summer of 1908".{{r|kirsopp-sinai}}

The story of how Tischendorf found the manuscript, which contained most of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, has all the interest of a romance. Tischendorf reached the monastery on 31 January; but his inquiries appeared to be fruitless. On 4 February, he had resolved to return home without having gained his object:
[[File:Sinai litografia.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lithograph]] of [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]], based on sketches made by [[Porphyrius Uspensky]] in 1857.]]
<blockquote>
On the afternoon of this day I was taking a walk with the steward of the convent in the neighbourhood, and as we returned, towards sunset, he begged me to take some refreshment with him in his cell. Scarcely had he entered the room, when, resuming our former subject of conversation, he said: "And I, too, have read a Septuagint" – i.e. a copy of the Greek translation made by the Seventy. And so saying, he took down from the corner of the room a bulky kind of volume, wrapped up in a red cloth, and laid it before me. I unrolled the cover, and discovered, to my great surprise, not only those very fragments which, fifteen years before, I had taken out of the basket, but also other parts of the Old Testament, the New Testament complete, and, in addition, the Epistle of Barnabas and a part of the Shepherd of Hermas.<ref>See {{Cite book | first=Constantin von | last=Tischendorf | title=When Were Our Gospels Written? An Argument by Constantine Tischendorf, with a Narrative of the Discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript | year=1866 | publisher=American Tract Society | location=New York | url=https://archive.org/details/whenwereourgospe0000tisc/page/n5/mode/2up}}</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Chappel of bush litografia.jpg|thumb|left|The Chapel of the [[Burning bush|Burning Bush]] in Saint Catherine's Monastery; a lithograph from the album of Porphyrius Uspensky]]
After some negotiations, he obtained possession of this precious fragment. James Bentley gives an account of how this came about, prefacing it with the comment, "Tischendorf therefore now embarked on the remarkable piece of duplicity which was to occupy him for the next decade, which involved the careful suppression of facts and the systematic denigration of the monks of Mount Sinai."<ref>Bentley, James (1986). ''Secrets of Mount Sinai''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, p. 95.</ref> He conveyed it to Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]], who appreciated its importance and had it published as nearly as possible in facsimile, so as to exhibit correctly the ancient handwriting. In 1869 the Tsar sent the monastery 7,000 [[ruble]]s and the monastery of [[Mount Tabor]] 2,000 rubles by way of compensation.{{r|kirsopp-sinai|p1=VI|Parker|pp2=145–146}} The document in Russian formalising this was published in 2007 in Russia and has since been translated.<ref>[http://lenta.ru/news/2010/02/18/sinaiticus/ В архивах МИД РФ нашли документ о правах на Синайский кодекс] at the Lenta.ru</ref>

The codex is regarded by the monastery as having been stolen, which is proven by a  receipt given by Tischendorf to the authorities at the monastery promising to return the manuscript from St. Petersburg ‘to the Holy Confraternity of Sinai at its earliest request’, a copy of which is on display in the publicly-accessible area of the monastery.<ref>Ihor Ševčenko’s article ‘New Documents on Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus’, published in the journal Scriptorium, xviii (1964) pp. 55–80.</ref>
This view of Tischendorf's role in the transfer to Saint Petersburg has been contested by several scholars in Europe. New Testament scholar [[Bruce Metzger]] wrote:

<blockquote>
Certain aspects of the negotiations leading to the transfer of the codex to the Tsar's possession are open to an interpretation that reflects adversely on Tischendorf's candour and good faith with the monks at Saint Catherine's Monastery. For an account intended to exculpate him of blame, see Erhard Lauch's article 'Nichts gegen Tischendorf' in ''Bekenntnis zur Kirche: Festgabe für Ernst Sommerlath zum 70. Geburtstag'' (Berlin, c. 1961), pp.15-24; for an account that includes a hitherto [i.e., before 1964] unknown receipt given by Tischendorf to the authorities at the monastery promising to return the manuscript from Saint Petersburg 'to the Holy Confraternity of Sinai at its earliest request'.<ref>See Ihor Ševčenko, "New Documents on Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus", published in the journal ''Scriptorium'', xviii (1964), pp. 55–80.</ref>{{r|metz-ehrman|p=64}}
</blockquote>

[[File:St Catherines From Sinai.JPG|thumb|View of Saint Catherine's Monastery]]

=== Simonides ===
On 13 September 1862 [[Constantine Simonides]] (1820–1890), skilled in calligraphy and with a controversial background with manuscripts, made the claim in print in ''[[The Guardian|The Manchester Guardian]]'' that he had written the codex himself as a 19-year-old boy in 1839 in the [[Agiou Panteleimonos monastery|Panteleimonos monastery]] at [[Mount Athos|Athos]].<ref>{{Cite book | title=The Codex Sinaiticus and the Simonides Affair | first=James Keith  | last=Elliott | publisher=Patriarchal Institute of Patristic Studies | location=Thessalonica | year=1982 | page=16 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sravnika.narod.ru/sin/sin3.htm | title=Странное объявление Симонидеса о Синайском кодексе и ответ Тишендорфа }}</ref> [[Constantin von Tischendorf]], who worked with numerous Bible manuscripts, was known as somewhat flamboyant, and had ambitiously sought money from several royal families for his ventures, who had indeed funded his trips. Simonides had a somewhat obscure history, as he claimed he was at Mt. Athos in the years preceding Tischendorf's contact, making the claim at least plausible. Simonides also claimed his father had died and the invitation to [[Mount Athos|Mt. Athos]] came from his uncle, a monk there, but subsequent letters to his father were found among his possessions at his death. Simonides claimed the false nature of the document in ''The Manchester Guardian'' in an exchange of letters among scholars and others, at the time. Henry Bradshaw, a British librarian known to both men, defended the Tischendorf find of Codex Sinaiticus, casting aside the accusations of Simonides, which later have been disproved. Since Bradshaw was a social 'hub' among many diverse scholars of the day, his aiding of Tischendorf was given much weight. Simonides died shortly after, and the issue lay dormant for many years.<ref>Letters of Constantine Simonides, Grolier Library, NY</ref>

In answer to Simonides in ''[[Allgemeine Zeitung]]'' (December 1862), Tischendorf noted only in the New Testament were there many differences between it and all other manuscripts. [[Henry Bradshaw (scholar)|Henry Bradshaw]], a bibliographer, combatted the claims of Constantine Simonides in a letter to ''The Manchester Guardian'' (26 January 1863). Bradshaw argued that Codex Sinaiticus brought by Tischendorf from the Greek monastery of Mount Sinai was not a modern forgery or written by Simonides.<ref>{{Cite book | last=McKitterick | first=David | year=1998 | title=A History of Cambridge University Press | volume=2 | chapter=Scholarship and Commerce (1698–1872) | location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-30802-X | page=369 }}.</ref> The controversy seems to regard the misplaced use of the word 'fraud' or 'forgery' since it may have been a repaired text, a copy of the Septuagint based upon Origen's Hexapla, a text which has been rejected for centuries because of its lineage from [[Eusebius]] who introduced Arian doctrine into the courts of Constantine I and II.

Not every scholar and Church minister was delighted about the codex find. [[John William Burgon|Burgon]], a supporter of the [[Textus Receptus]], suggested that Codex Sinaiticus, as well as codices [[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Vaticanus]] and [[Codex Bezae]], were the most corrupt documents extant. Each of these three codices "clearly exhibits a fabricated text – is the result of arbitrary and reckless recension."<ref name="burgon">{{Cite book | first=John William | last=Burgon | title=The Revision Revised | year=1883 | location=London | publisher=John Murray }}</ref>{{rp|9}} The two most weighty of these three codices, {{larger|{{script|Hebr|א}}}} and [[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|B]], he likens to the "two false witnesses" of {{bibleref|Matthew|26:60}}.{{r|burgon|p=48}}

However, independent discoveries of other fragments of the codex in recent history (see below) prove its authenticity, and disprove all theories of it being a forgery.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Finding Additional Leaves of the Codex Sinaiticus in a Book Binding | url=https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=952 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=New fragment of Codex Sinaiticus discovered | date=September 2009 | url=https://ntweblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-fragment-of-codex-sinaiticus.html }}</ref><ref name="Sarris">{{Cite web | title=The Discovery of a New Fragment from the Codex Sinaiticus | first=Nikolas | last=Sarris | url=https://www.academia.edu/44594833/The_discovery_of_a_new_fragment_from_the_Codex_Sinaiticus }}</ref>

=== Recent history ===
In the early 20th century [[Vladimir Beneshevich]] (1874–1938) discovered parts of three more leaves of the codex in the bindings of other manuscripts in the library of Mount Sinai. Beneshevich went on three occasions to the monastery (1907, 1908, 1911) but does not tell when or from which book these were recovered. These leaves were also acquired for St. Petersburg, where they remain.<ref>Бенешевич Владимир Николаевич, "Памятники Синая археологические и палеографические", Вып. 2, Sankt Petersburg, 1912; V. N. Beneshevich, "Catalogus Codicum Manuscriptorum Graecorum qui in Monasterio Sanctae Catherinae in Monte Sina Asservantur" St. Petersburg (1911).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.katapi.org.uk/BibleMSS/Sinaiticus.htm |title=Katapi.org.uk |publisher=Katapi.org.uk |access-date=4 February 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Russian National Library building.jpg|thumb|A two-thirds portion of the codex was held in the National Library of Russia in [[St. Petersburg]] from 1859 until 1933]]
For many decades, the Codex was preserved in the [[Russian National Library]]. In 1933, the [[Soviet Union]] sold the codex to the [[British Museum]] (after 1973 [[British Library]]) for £100,000 raised by public subscription (worth £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|100000|1933|r=-5}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}).<ref name="metz-ehrman">{{Cite book | last1=Metzger | first1=Bruce Maning | last2=Ehrman | first2=Bart D. | title=The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration | edition=4th | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=New York; Oxford | year=2005 | url=https://archive.org/details/TheTextOfNewTestament4thEdit/mode/2up }}</ref>{{rp|64}} After coming to Britain it was examined by Skeat and Milne using an [[ultra-violet]] lamp.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Theodore Cressy | last=Skeat | editor=James Keith Elliott | chapter=A four years work on the Codex Sinaiticus: Significant discoveries in reconditioned manuscripts | title=The collected biblical writings of T. C. Skeat | page=9 | year=2004 | publisher=Brill | location=London | isbn=9004139206 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=td_OLXo4RvkC&pg=3}}</ref>

In May 1975, during restoration work, the monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery discovered a room beneath the St. George Chapel which contained many parchment fragments. [[Kurt Aland]] and his team from the [[Institute for New Testament Textual Research]] were the first scholars who were invited to analyse, examine and photograph these new fragments of the New Testament in 1982.<ref>Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "Die Funde der Mönche vom Sinai" (Engl.: "The findings of the monks from the Sinai"), 5 November 1983, No. 109, page 10</ref> Among these fragments were twelve complete leaves from the ''Sinaiticus'', eleven leaves of the [[Pentateuch]] and one leaf of the [[The Shepherd of Hermas|Shepherd of Hermas]].{{r|Skeat-lastchap}} Together with these leaves 67 Greek Manuscripts of New Testament have been found (uncials [[Uncial 0278|0278]] – [[Uncial 0296|0296]] and some minuscules).<ref>[http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~wie/texte/Sinaiticus-75.html Codex Sinaiticus finds 1975] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629091431/http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~wie/texte/Sinaiticus-75.html |date=29 June 2008 }} with images</ref>

In June 2005, a team of experts from the United Kingdom, Europe, Egypt, Russia and United States undertook a joint project to produce a new digital edition of the manuscript (involving all four holding libraries), and a series of other studies was announced.<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/news/2005/pressrelease20050311.html World's oldest Bible goes global: Historic international digitisation project announced] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115042305/http://www.bl.uk/news/2005/pressrelease20050311.html |date=15 January 2010 }}, British Library: Press Room</ref><ref>[http://www.christiantoday.com/article/british.library.heads.project.in.digitalising.the.worlds.oldest.bible/2338.htm British Library Heads Project in Digitalising the World’s Oldest Bible] Christianity Today, 15 March 2005</ref><ref>{{Cite book | editor-first=Ulrich Johannes | editor-last=Schneider | title=Codex Sinaiticus: Geschichte und Erschließung der "Sinai-Bibel" | page=42 | year=2007 | publisher=Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig | location=Leipzig | isbn=978-3-934178-72-4 }}</ref> This will include the use of [[hyperspectral imaging]] to photograph the manuscripts to look for hidden information such as erased or faded text.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4739369.stm Oldest known Bible to go online]. ''BBC.com''. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 8 June 2006.</ref> This is to be done in cooperation with the British Library.<ref>Henschke, E. (2007). "Digitizing the Hand-Written Bible: The Codex Sinaiticus, its History and Modern Presentation", ''Libri'', vol. '''57''', pp. 45–51.</ref>

More than one quarter of the manuscript was made publicly available at [https://web.archive.org/web/20080818061315/http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/ The Codex Sinaiticus Website] on 24 July 2008. On 6 July 2009, 800 more pages of the manuscript were made available, showing over half of the entire text,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8135415.stm ''Historical Bible pages put online''] BBC News</ref> although the entire text was intended to be shown by that date.<ref>{{cite press release |title=The world's oldest Bible goes online |date=21 July 2008 |url=http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/project/article.aspx?newsid=15 |access-date=24 July 2008}}</ref>

The complete document is now available online in digital form and available for scholarly study. The online version has a fully transcribed set of [[digital page]]s, including amendments to the text, and two images of each page, with both standard lighting and raked lighting to highlight the texture of the parchment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090706/oldest_bible_090706/20090706?hub=TopStories |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707122714/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090706/oldest_bible_090706/20090706?hub=TopStories |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 July 2009 |title=ctv news story |publisher=Ctv.ca |date=6 July 2009 |access-date=4 February 2010}}</ref>

Prior to 1 September 2009, the [[University of the Arts London]] PhD student, Nikolas Sarris, discovered the previously unseen fragment of the Codex in the library of Saint Catherine's Monastery. It contains the text of Book of Joshua 1:10.<ref>"[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/fragment-from-worlds-oldest-bible-found-hidden-in-egyptian-monastery-1780274.html Fragment from world's oldest Bible found hidden in Egyptian monastery]". [[The Independent]], 2 Sep 2009.</ref>{{r|Sarris}}
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