Impact On Biblical Scholarship
Along with Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Sinaiticus has proven to be one of the most valuable manuscripts for establishing the original text (textual criticism) of the Greek New Testament, as well as the Septuagint. It is the only uncial manuscript with the complete text of the New Testament, and the only ancient manuscript of the New Testament written in four columns per page which has survived to the present day. With only 300 years separating the Codex Sinaiticus and the original manuscripts of the New Testament, it is considered to be very highly accurate, as opposed to most later copies, in preserving obviously superior readings where many later manuscripts are in error.
The Codex Sinaiticus reading of John 9:4 alone is significant to the traditional orthodox interpretation of the omnipotence of the ministry of Jesus Christ. The Codex has, "We must do the works of him who sent us while it is day; night comes, when no man can work." This inclusion of Christ among those who must do their work "while it is day" (during one's lifetime) is an indication to some biblical commentators that his was a ministry of limited time and scope.
For the Gospels, Sinaiticus is generally considered among scholars as the second most reliable witness of the text (after Vaticanus); in the Acts of the Apostles, its text is equal to that of Vaticanus; in the Epistles, Sinaiticus is the most reliable witness of the text. In the Book of Revelation, however, its text is corrupted and is considered of poor quality, and inferior to the texts of Codex Alexandrinus, Papyrus 47, and even some minuscule manuscripts in this place (for example, Minuscule 2053, 2062).
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