Textus Receptus Bibles
Wessex Gospels c.1175
Anglo-Saxon
| 15:1 | Soðlice him ge-nehlahte manfulle & synfulle. þæt hyo his word ge-hyron. |
| 15:2 | Ða murcneden þa farisei & þa bokeres & cwæðen. þes on-fegð synfulle & mid heom ett. |
| 15:3 | Ða cwæð he þis bispell to þam. |
| 15:4 | hwilc man is of eow þe hafed hund scepa. & gif he leost an of þam; hu ne for-læt he þa nigen & hund-nigentig on þam wæstene. & gæð to þan þe for-warð oððe he hit fint. |
| 15:5 | & þanne he hit fint. he hit sett on his eaxle ge-blissiende. |
| 15:6 | & þanne he ham cymð. he to-somne cleopeð hys freond. & his nehhe-bures. & cweð. Blissiað mid me for-þam ich funde min scep þe for-warð. |
| 15:7 | Ich segge eow þt swa beoð on heofene blisse be anen synfullen ðe deadbote deð; ma þanne ofer nigen & nigentig rithwisere (sic) þe deadbote ne be-þurfon. |
| 15:8 | Oððe hwilc wif hæfed tyen scillenges. gyf hyo for-leost ænne scilling. hu ne onelð hyo hire leoht-fet. & awent hire hus & secð geornlice oððe hyo hine fint. |
| 15:9 | Ænd þanne hyo hine fint; hyo cleopeð hire freond & nehhe-bures & cweð blissieð mid me. for-þam ich funde minne scilling þe ich for-leas. |
| 15:10 | Ich segge eow swa beoð blisse be-foran godes ænglen be anen senfulle þe deadbote deð. |
| 15:11 | Note: Homo quidam habebat duos filios. & dixit iunior patri suo. Pater da michi partem substantie que me contingit. He cwæð soðlice. Sum man hæfde twege sunes. |
| 15:12 | þa cwæð se ylder to his fader. Fader syle me minne dæl minre ehte. þe me to ge-byreð. Ða dælde he him his ehte. |
| 15:13 | Ða æfter feawa dagen ealle his þing ge-gaderede se gingre sune. & ferde wræclice on feor landen. & for-spilde þær his ehte libbende on his gælsan. |
| 15:14 | Ða he hyo hæfde ealle amerde. þa warð mycel hunger on þam rice. & he warð wædle. |
| 15:15 | Ða ferde he & folgede anen burh-sittenden men on þare rice. þa sende he hine to his tune þæt he heolde his swin. |
| 15:16 | Ða ge-wilnede he his wambe fellen of þam bean-coddan þe þa swin æten. & him man ne sealde. |
| 15:17 | Ða be-þohte he hine & cwæð. Eala hwu fela erdlinga on mines fæder huse hlaf ge-noh Note: MS. genohne, altered to ge-noh. hæbbeð. & ich her on hungre for-wurðe. |
| 15:18 | Ich arise & ich fare to minen fæder & ich segge him. Eala fader ic synegede on heofenas. & be-foran þe; |
| 15:19 | nu ich ne eom wurðe. þt ic beo þin sune ge-nemned. do me swa ane of þinen yrðlingen. |
| 15:20 | & he aras þa & com to his fader. & þa gyt þa he wæs feor his fæder he hine geseah. & warð mid mildheortnysse astyred. & agen hine earn & hine be-clypte & cyste hine. |
| 15:21 | Ða cwæð hys suna. Fader ic synegede on heofene & be-foran þe. nu ic ne eom wurðe þæt ic þin sune beo ge-nemned. |
| 15:22 | Ða cwæð se fader to his þeowan. bringeð raðe þanne sæleste gegyrlan & scridað hine & sylleð hym ring on his hand. & ge-scy to his foten. |
| 15:23 | & bringað an fet styric & of-sleað. & uten æten. & gewist-fullian; |
| 15:24 | for-þan þes min sune wæs dead. & he ge-edcuðede (sic). he for-warð & he is gefunden. Ða ongunnan hyo wistleacen. |
| 15:25 | Soðlice his yldre sune wæs on akere & he com ham. & þa he þam huse ge-nehlahte he ge-herde þanne sweig & þæt wyrd. |
| 15:26 | Ða cleopede he ænne þeow & axode hine hwæt þæt wære. |
| 15:27 | Ða cwæð he þin broðer is come. & þin fader of-sloh an fet chalf for-þan þe he hine halne on-feng. |
| 15:28 | Þa balh he hine & nolde ingan. Ða eode his fader ut & angan hine biddan. |
| 15:29 | Ða cwæð he to his fæder andsweriende. Efne swa fela geare ic þe þeoweda. & ic næfre þin bebod ne forgymde; & ne sealdest þu me næfre an tycchen. þt ic mid minen freonden ge-wistfullode. |
| 15:30 | Ac seoððan þes þin sune com þe his spede mid miltystren amerde; þu of-sloge him an fet chalf. |
| 15:31 | Ða cwæð he. sune þu ert symle mid me. & ealle mine þing synde þine. |
| 15:32 | þe ge-byrede ge-wistfullien & ge-blissian for-þan þes þin broðer wæs dead. & he ge-edcuðede (sic). he for-wearð. & ys gefunden. |
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)