Uncial 0115: Luke’s Transfiguration and Mission Sayings
Uncial 0115: Luke’s Transfiguration and Mission Sayings is the independently registered Greek New Testament witness GA 0115, controlled by its manuscript number, present shelfmark, physical form, and surviving biblical contents.
- Artifact date
- Ninth or tenth century AD
- Findspot
- Identified by Johann Martin Augustin Scholz within a Paris manuscript volume; its original workshop is unknown
- Current location
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Grec 314, fols. 179–180
What archaeologists can actually examine
two parchment leaves, preserving Luke 9:35–47 and 10:12–22, joining the transfiguration aftermath, the disciples’ dispute, mission warning, and Jesus’ thanksgiving. The surviving writing surface uses two leaves about 25 by 18 centimeters written in two columns of twenty-three Greek majuscule lines.
A controlled physical identity
GA 0115 and Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Grec 314, fols. 179–180 identify this witness independently of broad manuscript names or subject matter.
The writing surface is evidence
two parchment leaves, preserving Luke 9:35–47 and 10:12–22, joining the transfiguration aftermath, the disciples’ dispute, mission warning, and Jesus’ thanksgiving. The surviving writing surface uses two leaves about 25 by 18 centimeters written in two columns of twenty-three Greek majuscule lines.
Directly preserved Scripture
The extant leaves physically preserve Luke 9:35–47; Luke 10:12–22; the connection is textual and material rather than merely thematic.
The limits remain visible
This is a ninth or tenth century ad witness rather than an autograph or an object from the events narrated in Luke 9:35–47; Luke 10:12–22. Only two parchment leaves survive, the stated date is palaeographic, and the original copying center and early ownership are not fully documented. Broken margins, erased writing, later reuse, or lacunae must not be silently reconstructed as surviving text.
Follow the evidence from discovery to debate
Move through the find in a deliberate order: establish its provenance, examine the surviving object, place it in time, and then weigh the scholarly interpretation.
How the find came to light
Identified by Johann Martin Augustin Scholz within a Paris manuscript volume; its original workshop is unknown. The Gregory–Aland number GA 0115 and the repository designation Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Grec 314, fols. 179–180 control identity independently of generic labels such as “uncial fragment.” Modern custody does not establish ancient provenance, so this dossier separates find or collection history, likely copying context, publication, and present location. The record was also checked against the live Watchman 33 inventory by GA number, shelfmark, contents, and source URLs before selection. Digital photographs extend access, but the parchment itself remains the archaeological object.
What you are looking at
two parchment leaves, preserving Luke 9:35–47 and 10:12–22, joining the transfiguration aftermath, the disciples’ dispute, mission warning, and Jesus’ thanksgiving. The surviving writing surface uses two leaves about 25 by 18 centimeters written in two columns of twenty-three Greek majuscule lines. Material, ruling, lineation, ink, letter formation, corrections, marginal systems, bilingual writing, and reuse are evidence alongside the copied words. The selected image depicts GA 0115 itself, not a generic manuscript. It represents one photographed side or leaf and must not be mistaken for every missing page of the original codex.
Where it belongs in history
The display date “Ninth or tenth century AD” follows current registry and palaeographic assessment. Letter forms, ruling, page design, material, ink, and comparison with related hands can support a range, but they do not supply an exact calendar year. This manuscript directly preserves Luke 9:35–47; Luke 10:12–22 in the period when it was copied. That is evidence for the transmission and use of those texts, not proof that the physical leaf was present when the narrated events occurred.
Consensus, questions, and debate
GA 0115 contributes a physically controlled witness to the textual history of Luke. Its readings are evaluated passage by passage against other Greek witnesses, early translations, patristic citations, scribal corrections, and the history of the codex. A text-type or Aland-category label summarizes patterns; it does not decide every reading or rank the manuscript’s theological value. The INTF registry controls the international manuscript identity, CSNTM provides an independent manuscript catalog and images where available, and published bibliography locates editions and collations.
The biblical record beside the artifact
The surviving parchment directly preserves Luke 9:35–47; Luke 10:12–22. It materially witnesses the copying, reading, organization, and transmission of these biblical passages in ninth or tenth century ad.
Luke 9:35–47
35And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
36And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.
37¶ And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him.
38And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
39And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.
40And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.
41And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.
42And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare [him]. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.
43¶ And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,
44Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
45But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.
46¶ Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.
47And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,
Luke 10:12–22
12But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
13Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.
15And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
16He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
17¶ And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
18And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
20Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
21¶ In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
22All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and [he] to whom the Son will reveal [him.]
A responsible historical conclusion
Uncial 0115: Luke’s Transfiguration and Mission Sayings makes textual transmission visible at human scale. Its surviving surface shows how a biblical book was copied, formatted, corrected, translated, read, erased, or preserved. The connected Bible pages let readers move from the object to the precise passages it contains, while stable registry and repository identifiers make the claims independently checkable. Its fragmentary condition is instructive rather than embarrassing: confidence rests on comparing bounded evidence, not on asking one leaf to carry more history than it preserves.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
NT.VMR manuscript workspace: GA 0115
University of Münster INTFOfficial registry workspace used to confirm the identity, contents, date, and current repository of GA 0115.
CSNTM catalog: GA 0115
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsIndependent manuscript catalog used to check the physical description, shelfmark, contents, and available digital images of GA 0115.
A Bibliography of Greek New Testament Manuscripts
Cambridge University PressScholarly bibliographic framework for tracing published catalogs, facsimiles, collations, and textual studies of registered Greek New Testament manuscripts.
Uncial 0115: Luke’s Transfiguration and Mission Sayings image and rights record
Wikimedia CommonsSource page for the authentic GA 0115 manuscript image used here; the historical manuscript image is marked public domain.
A surviving leaf of Uncial 0115 · Historical manuscript image via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
View the image source and license