Textus Receptus Bibles
Wessex Gospels c.1175
Anglo-Saxon
| 19:1 | Ænd þa se hælend ge-ændede þas spræche he ferde fram galilëë & com on iudeissce ændes begeonden iordane. |
| 19:2 | & him felgyde michele manega. & he hy ge-hælde þær. |
| 19:3 | Ða genehlacten hym to farisei hine costniende. & cwæðen. is alyfd anigen men his wif to for-latenn. for anigen þingen. |
| 19:4 | Ða andswerede he heom. ne ræde ge se þe on fruman worhte. he worhte wepman ænd wimman. |
| 19:5 | & cwæð. For-þam se man for-læt fader & moder & hine to hys wife ge-þeot. & beoð tweigen on anen flæsce. |
| 19:6 | Witodlice ne synd hyo twegen ac an flæsc. Ne ge-twæme nam (sic) man þa þe godd ge-samnode. |
| 19:7 | Ða cwæðen hyo. hwi het moyses syllan hiw-gedales boc & hio forlæten. |
| 19:8 | Ða cwæð he moyses for eower heorte heardnysse lyfde eow eower wif to forlæten. Soðlice næs hit on fremde Note: read frimðe. swa. |
| 19:9 | Soðlice ic segge eow swa hwa swa for-læt hys wif buton forleigre & oðer fettað se unriht-hameð. & se þe for-læte after hym nymð. se unriht-hæmeð. |
| 19:10 | Þa cwæðen hys leorningcnihtes. Gif hit swa ys. þam men mid hys wife. ne fremeð Note: MS. fremed. nane men to wifienne. |
| 19:11 | Þa cwæð he. ne under-foð ealle men þis word. ac þam þe hyt ge-seald ys. |
| 19:12 | soðlice synd be-listnode þe of heore moder innoðe cumað. & eft synd be-listnode þe hye sylfe belistnodon for heofonum rice. under-nime se þe under-nymen mæg. |
| 19:13 | Þa wæren hym ge-brohte litlinges to. þt he hys hand on hyo asette. & hyo gebletsede. Ða þreatode hys leorning-cnihtes hyo. |
| 19:14 | Ða cwæð se hælend. læteð þa litlingas. & nelle ge hyo for-beodan cuman to me. swilcre ys heofena rice. |
| 19:15 | & þa he heom hys hand on asette. þa ferde he þanon. |
| 19:16 | & þa ge-nehlahte hym an man to. & cwæð. Lä gode lareow hwæt godes do ich þæt ich eche lyf hæbbe. |
| 19:17 | Ða cwæð he. Hwæt axost þu me be gode. An god is god. soðlice gyf þu wylt on lyf becuman heald þa bebode. |
| 19:18 | Þa cwæð he hwilce. Þa cwæð se hælend. ne do þu man-slyht. ne do þu unriht-hameð. ne stell þu. ne sæge þu lease gewytnesse. |
| 19:19 | wurðe þinne fæder & þine moder. & lufe þine nextan swa þe selfne. |
| 19:20 | Ða cwæð se geonga. Eall þis ich ge-heold. hwæt ys me gyt wana. |
| 19:21 | Þa cwæð se hælend. Gyf þu wylt beon fulfremed ga & be-chep al þæt þu hafst & syle hyt þearfen. & þonne hæfst þu goldhord on heofene. & cum & folge me. |
| 19:22 | Þa se gonge man gehyrde hys word. þa geode he unrot aweig. Soðlice he hæfde mycele ehte. |
| 19:23 | Witodlice se hælend cwæð to hys leorning-cnihten. Soðlice ich eow segge þæt ærfedlice se wælige gæð on godes riche. |
| 19:24 | & æft ich eow segge þæt æþelicor beoð þam olfende to ganne þurh nædle eage. þanne se welega on heofene riche gä. |
| 19:25 | Ða hys leorning-cnihtes þis ge-hyrdon. hyo wundreden & cwæðen. hwa mæg þys ge-healden. |
| 19:26 | Ða quoth. se hælend un-æðelic þæt ys mid mannen. ac ealle þing synde mid gode æðelice. |
| 19:27 | Þa answerede petrus & cwæð. Nu we for-leten ealle þing & felgden þe. hwæt beoð us to mede. |
| 19:28 | Ða cwæð se hælend. Soð ich eow segge þæt ge þe me felgedon on æchnunge. þanne mannes sune syt on hys magen-þrimme. þæt ge sitteð ofer twelf settl. demende twelf mægðe israel. |
| 19:29 | & ælc þe for-læt for minen namen hys hus oððe hys ge-broðre. oððe hys ge-swustre oððe fæder oððe moder. oððe wif oððe bearn. oððe land. be hundfealden he on-fehð lean & hafð eche lyf. |
| 19:30 | Soðlice manega fyrmeste beoð ytemeste. & ytemeste fyrmesta. |
Wessex Gospels c.1175
The Wessex Gospels (also known as the West-Saxon Gospels) are a full translation of the four gospels of the Christian Bible into a West Saxon dialect of Old English. Designated Royal MS 1 A XIV, it is historically important.
- The Wessex Gospels are the oldest translations into English without the Latin.
- The gospels are written in the Old English West Anglo-Saxon dialect of Northumbria.
- Royal MS 1 A XIV is written on parchment and is also known as the Codex Evangeliorum Anglice.
- The title written at the top of the page, ‘Text[us] iv evangelior[um] anglice’, is reproduced in the 14th-century catalogue of the Benedictine Christ Church library, but at the Reformation this book was one of many acquired from religious houses by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1532 to 1534, whose name is written at the top of the page.
- Seven extant copies exist today. The earliest version dates from 990AD.
- Royal MS 1 A XIV was copied directly from MS 441 in the Bodleian library at Oxford. We know this as the same passages have been omitted from both. It has a transmission jump of 185 years.
- MS 441 (990AD) is extant and still resides in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, England. It was given to the library by Baron Hatton in 1671. Paleographical evidence suggests a Canterbury origin. The earliest extant evidence of ownership is through Archbishop Matthew Parker (1504-75).
- MS Corp. Ch Coll Camb 140 (1000AD) is in Corpus Christi College Cambridge.
- Royal MS 1 A XIV (1175AD) is in the British Library and was presented to the British Museum by King George II in 1757 from the Old Royal Library.
- Royal MS 1 A XIV once belonged to the Prince of Wales: Henry Frederick, (1594-1612), eldest child of King James the First.
Why is this important?
- Desiderius Erasmus had access to these MSS before starting his translation of the Textus Receptus. In the five years prior to starting his translation work Erasmus was Professor of Divinity at Cambridge at a time when the university's benefactors owned these manuscripts.
- The King James Bible translators had access to these manuscripts. All the six KJV translation companies where housed at Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster and all had access to the Wessex Gospels.
- The codex contains the long ending in Mark chapter 16.
- The codex contains the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11)