L’ordre des Évangiles : une nouvelle mise à jour

Abstract

The standard sequence of the Gospels spread progressively since the second half of the fourth century, following the choice of the great Greek scriptoria (Alexandria, Caesarea, Antiochia, Constantinople); it enters the Latin area through Jerome’s translation at the end of the fourth century. After Theodor Zahn (1892), Bruce M. Metzger (1997), and a first updating (1999), it is possible today to complete significantly the list of the witnesses of thirteen various sequences recorded in manuscripts of the Gospels, in commentaries of the Gospels, in lists of canonical books of the Bible, and in occasional mentions. The earlier history is determined by progress in the manufacturing of the codex, which allowed to copy, one, then two, three, four Gospels in one codex and, at last, the complete Bible in thick pandectes. Chronological and other thoughts could have guided the choice of the sequences. Their multiplicity is especially perceptible in the Latin area, heavily dependent on Greek manuscripts, badly preserved or lost. This multiplicity is also perceptible in other early versions (Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Gothic).