Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible

Jim Spinti tells me that today, Eisenbrauns' "Deal of the Day" is

Codex Sinaiticus: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible
by David C. Parker

Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers Publication date: 2010 Bibliographic info: 195 pages Language(s): English

Cover: Cloth with Dustjacket ISBN: 1-59856-576-1 ISBN13: 978-1-59856-576-8

List Price: $34.95
Your Price: $17.48

Get the book here.

Publisher's description

Despite its rather austere appearance, the Codex Sinaiticus is a treasure beyond price. Produced in the middle of the fourth century, its bound parchment pages hold the full canon of the Christian Bible and more—the handwritten Greek text of the earliest surviving copy of the complete koine New Testament; the earliest and best copies of some Septuagint texts, the Old Testament Scriptures as they were adopted by the first-century church; and two late first-century Christian texts, the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas. The sections are heavily marked by early correctors. Told here is the compelling story of how the Codex Sinaiticus was created and used in the ancient church; how it was preserved for centuries at the monastery of St. Catherine’s, Mount Sinai; its subsequent history and how its pages came to be divided and dispersed; and how it has been compiled again and made accessible to a worldwide audience for the first time. Publication in June 2009 coincides with the launch of the Codex Sinaiticus Project website, which includes a digitized “virtual edition” of one of the most famous and remarkable manuscripts in the history of the church, the Bible, and book production in general.

D. C. Parker’s outstanding research and excellent storytelling skills simultaneously illuminate the chronology of bookmaking in Western culture and the effects of that technology on the presentation of the biblical canon. Offering a fascinating look at the task of making a Bible in the year 350, he discusses how included books were chosen—or not; physical elements of production—layout, ink, parchment, binding, and budget; the jobs of scribes and correctors; and the role of annotators. As readers follow the travels of the pieces of the Codex Sinaiticus through the twentieth century, they’ll discover key personalities and places, and absorb the details of the current production of the Internet electronic edition of this singular document. 

I can tell you that I picked up my own signed copy in conjunction with this event.

For a review see here.

Nestle-Aland 28 in Press

The long awaited 28th edition of Nestle-Aland's Novum Testamentum Graece will likely appear some time later this year. It has been preliminary announced by various booksellers. Thus, CBD gives the publication date 26/12 2012, whereas Amazon has 31/12 2012.

The fullest description I have found so far is in a new catalogue from the German Bible Society (in my translation) where the publication date is September 2012:

After years of preparation the new edition of Novum Testamentum Graece ("Nestle-Aland") is now published. Thus, the world-wide standard edition of the Greek New Testament has become available in a fundamentally revised and improved edition.

A main focus of this revision is on the textcritical apparatus, which has become better structured for increased clarity. For example, the reference to variants with sed or et and the differentiation between consistently cited witnesses of the first and second order, respectively, has now been abandoned. In addition, this edition for the first time includes the readings of the newly discovered papyri, registered as P117-127, which especially in Acts open up interesting perspectives.

A [another] main focus of the revision has been on the Catholic Letters, whereby the adaptation to the Editio Critica Major edition (ISBN 978-3-438-05605-4) has entailed over 30 changes [to the critical text; cf. an overview by W. Willker here]. The reference passages in the margin have been systematically verified and extended, especially with references to early Jewish literature.

Publisher: Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung, Münster / Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart

NA28 will be available in the following variants, all in the format 13,3 x 18,7 cm:

Blue hardcover (1008 pp.), ISBN 978-3-438-05140-0: €28
Black leather imitation, ISBN 978-3-438-05155-4: €38
Blue leather imitation, ISBN 978-3-438-05156-1: €38 
With Greek English dictionary (1239 pp.), ISBN: 978-3-438-05160-8: ca €36
With Greek-German dictionary (1219 pp.), ISBN: 978-3-438-05159-2: ca €36
Greek-English edition (1728 pp.) with New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible, ISBN: 978-3-438-05162-2: ca €45 EUR

I have no information about the planned CD-Rom which would link the text and apparatus of the digital Nestle-Aland with additional transcripts and apparatus published on the internet.