Minuscule 2053 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), Oα31 (von Soden), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on 138 parchment leaves (26.8 by 21 cm). Paleographically it has been assigned to the 13th century.K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack, "Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments", Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1994, p. 165.
Description The codex contains only the text of the Book of Revelation with the commentary on that Bοοk by Oecumenius. The text is written in two columns per page, in 24 lines per page.C. R. Gregory, "Textkritik des Neuen Testaments", Leipzig 1900, vol. 1, p. 323.
Text
The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Alexandrian text-type. Textual value is higher than Codex Sinaiticus (in Revelation) and is comparable with manuscripts Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Ephraemi, Minuscule 2062, and Minuscule 2344. It is one of the best witnesses for the Book of Revelation, sometimes even superior to the Papyrus 47.Helmut Koester, Introduction to the New Testament, New York: Walter de Gruyter 1995, pp. 31-32. Aland placed it in Category I. It was not examined by the Claremont Profile Method.
History
The manuscript was written in the 13th century in Messina.
The codex currently is housed at the Biblioteca Universitarià (99), in Messina.
See also
List of New Testament minuscules Textual criticism
References
Further reading
Herman C. Hoskier, "Der Apokalypse Text in dem Kommentar-Codex Messina 99", AJP 35 (1914), pp. 179-191.