Lectionary 337 (designated ℓ 337 in the Gregory‑Aland numbering) is a Greek manuscript of the New Testament classified as an Evangelistarium, i.e., a lectionary containing prescribed Gospel readings for liturgical use.
Physical description
The codex is written on parchment leaves in Greek minuscule script. Palaeographic analysis places its production in the medieval period, generally assigned to the 12th or 13th century. The manuscript consists of a number of folios (the exact count varies among catalogues) and includes marginal annotations typical of liturgical books.
Contents
ℓ 337 contains selected pericopes from the four Gospels arranged according to the ecclesiastical calendar. The lectionary follows the Byzantine rite and presents the readings in the order used for Sunday services and major feast days.
Textual character
As with most Greek lectionaries, the text of ℓ 337 reflects the Byzantine textual tradition. It is cited sporadically in critical editions of the New Testament where its readings differ from the majority text.
Provenance and current location
Publicly available catalogues, such as the Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments (K. Aland et al.), list ℓ 337 but do not provide a definitive modern repository. Consequently, the precise holding institution (e.g., a national library or university collection) and shelf number are not reliably documented in the accessible scholarly literature.
Scholarly significance
Lectionary 337 contributes to the corpus of Byzantine lectionary manuscripts that illuminate the history of New Testament liturgical practice and the transmission of the Gospel text in the medieval Greek church. Its palaeographic and codicological features aid in dating and contextualising similar manuscripts.
References
- Aland, K., Aland, B., & Metzger, B. M. (1994). Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
- Metzger, B. M., & Ehrman, B. D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Note: While the existence and basic classification of Lectionary 337 are established, detailed information such as exact folio count, dimensions, and current repository remains insufficiently documented in publicly available encyclopedic sources.