B or not B? The Place of Codex Vaticanus in Textual History and in Septuagint Research

Abstract

Codex Vaticanus (B) has become the most important single manuscript of the Septuagint as a result of historical circumstances, as it was the basic manuscript for the diplomatic editions from around 1600 until the 20th century, and as it remains the dominant manuscript in the critical editions. It is probably still the most important single manuscript, yet it has its worth no longer unto itself, but only in the context of the other manuscripts and the other textual traditions. B as a manuscript from the 4th century is older than the other extant codices and older than the manuscripts of the Antiochene texts, yet one has to keep in mind that it is not older than the text of the Antiochene fathers and that it is younger than Josephus, the Old Latin, the Sahidic translation and (although they are in Hebrew) the Qumran texts. Keywords:Antiochene text; Codex Vaticanus; kaige ; manuscripts; Septuagint