In uncial MSS. the contractions are usually limited to a few very common forms (9C, IC, IIHP, AAA, etc., i. e. ^ioq, 'l7](7ovc, Trarijp, AaveiS ; comp. Scrivener, Introduction, p. 43). A few more occur in later uncial copies, in which there are also some examples of the ascrijit iota, which occurs rarely in the Codex Sinaiti- cus. Accents are not fotuid in MSS. older than the 8th century. Breathings and the apostrophe (Tischendorf, Proh<j. p. cxxxi) occur somewhat earlier. The oldest punctuation after the simple interval is a stop like the modern Greek colon (in A, C, D), which is accompanied by an interval, proportioned in some cases to the length of the pause. In E (Gosp.) and Bo (Apoc.), which are MSS. of the 8th century, this point marks a full stop, a colon, or a comma, according as it is placed at the top, the middle, or the base of the letter (Scrivener, p. 42). The present note of interrogation (;) came into use in the 9th century.
A very ingenious attempt was made to supply an ef-
fectual system of punctuation for public reading by Euthalius, who published an arrangement of Paul's Epistles in clauses (cm'xoi) in 458, and another of the Acts and Catholic Epistles in 490. The same arrange- ment was applied to the Gospels by some unknown hand, and probably at an earlier date. The method of subdivision was doubtless suggested by the mode in which the poetic books of the O. T. were written in the MSS. of the Sept. The great examples of this method of writing are D (Gospels), H3 (Ep.), D, (Ep.). The Cod. Laud. (E^ Acts) is not strictly stichometrical, but the parallel texts seem to be arranged to establish a verbal connection between the Latin and Greek (Tre- gelles, in Home's Introd. iii, 187). The (st'{\oi varj' considerably in length, and thus the amount of vellum consumed was far more than in an ordinary MS., so that the fashion of writing in " clauses" soon passed away ; but the numeration of the CTixo*- i» the several books was still preserved, and many MSS. (e. g. A Ep., K Gosp.) bear traces of having been copied from older texts thus arranged.
The earliest extant division of the N. T. into sec- tions occurs in Cod. B. This division is elsewhere found only in the palimpsest fragment of Luke, S. In the Acts and the Epistles there is a double division in B, one of which is by a later hand. The Ejjistles of Paul are treated as one unbroken book divided into 93 sections, in which the Epistle to the Hebrews originally stood between the Epistles to the Galatians and the Ephesians. This appears from the numbering of the sections, which the writer of the MS. preserved, though he transposed the book to the place before the Pastoral Epistles.
Two other divisions of the Gospels must be noticed. The first of these was a division into " chapters" t^Kifpa- Xata, n'rXoi, breves'), which correspond to distinct sec- tions of the narrative, and are on an average a little more than twice as long as the sections in B. This di- vision is found in A, C, 11, Z, and must therefore have come into general use some time before the 5th century. The other division was constructed with a view to a harmony of the Gospels. It owes its origin to Ammo- nius of Alexandria, a scholar of the 3d century, who con- structed a Harmony of the Evangelists, taking Matthew as the basis round which he grouped the parallel pas- sages from the other Gospels. Eusebius of Cassarea com- pleted his labor with great ingenuity, and constructed a notation and a series of tables, wliich indicate at a glance the parallels existing to any passage in one or more of the other Gospels, and the passages which are peculiar to each. There is every reason to believe that the sections as they stand at present, as well as the ten " Canons," which give a summarj' of the Har- mony, are due to Eusebius, though the sections some- times occur in MSS. without the corresponding Canons. The Cod. Alex. (A) and the Cottonian fragments (N) are the oldest MSS. which contain both in the original hand. The sections occur in the palimpsests C, K, Z, P, Q, and it is possible that the Canons may have been there originallj', for the vermilion {Kiin'ajiapiv, Euseb. Ep. ad Ccnp.) or paint with which they were marked would entirely disappear m the process of preparing the parchment afresh.
The division of the Acts and Epistles into chapters came into use at a later time. It does not occur in A or C, which give the Ammonian sections, and is com- monly referred to Euthalius, who, however, says that he borrowed the divisions of the Pauline Epistles from an earlier father; and there is reason to believe that the division of the Acts and Catholic Epistles which he published was originally the work of Pamphilus the Martyr (Montfau(;on, Bibl. Coislin. p. 78). The Apoca- lypse was divided into sections by Andreas of Ca^sarea about A.D. 500. This division consisted of 24 \uyoi, each of which was subdivided into three '-chapters" {Kt(pa\aia).
The titles of the sacred books are from their nature
NEW TESTAMENT
29
NEW TESTAMENT
additions to the original text. The distinct names of the Gospels imply a collection, and the titles of the Epistles are notes by the possessors and not addresses by the writers (luidi'pov a, /3', etc.). In their earliest form they are (luite simple, According to Matthew, etc. {kcitu Ma^5aiov, k. t. A.); To the liomans, etc. (jrpuc 'Pitjf^iaiovc, K. T. X.); First of Peter, etc. {nirpov a); Acts of Apostles {npd^tig ci-rroffTuXuiv) ; Apocali/pse. These headings were gradually amplified till tliey as- sumed such forms as The Holy Gospel according to John ; The first Catholic Epistle of the holy and all-praiseicoi-thj Peter; The Apocali/pse of the hohj and most glorious Apostle and Evangelist, the beloved virgin who rested on the bosom of Jesus, John the Divine. In the same way the original subscriptions {vTroypacpai), which were merely repetitions of the titles, gave way to vague tra- ditions as to the dates, etc., of the books. Those ap- pended to the Epistles, which have been translated in the A. v., are attributed to Euthalius, and their singular inaccuracy (Paley, HorcB Paulince, ch. xv) is a valuable proof of the utter absence of historical criticism at the time when they coidd find currency.