Ian N Mills
@iannelsonmills.bsky.social
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion & Classics, @HamiltonCollege | Ph.D. in Religion, Duke University | Cohost of @NTReviewPod | New Testament and the History of Christianity
Another six medieval Bibles at the Houghton Library today... and not a single copy of Laodiceans.
But here's a Latin New Testament unlike any I've ever seen.
But here's a Latin New Testament unlike any I've ever seen.
November 24, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Another six medieval Bibles at the Houghton Library today... and not a single copy of Laodiceans.
But here's a Latin New Testament unlike any I've ever seen.
But here's a Latin New Testament unlike any I've ever seen.
Searched through six Latin Bibles at Harvard's Houghton Library today and turned up two copies of Laodiceans!
Delighted to be joined by my undergraduate research assistant (pictured) from Hamilton College.
Delighted to be joined by my undergraduate research assistant (pictured) from Hamilton College.
November 21, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Searched through six Latin Bibles at Harvard's Houghton Library today and turned up two copies of Laodiceans!
Delighted to be joined by my undergraduate research assistant (pictured) from Hamilton College.
Delighted to be joined by my undergraduate research assistant (pictured) from Hamilton College.
Today I got to hold a physical copy of my first book!
a.co/d/3oYOCv4
a.co/d/3oYOCv4
October 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Today I got to hold a physical copy of my first book!
a.co/d/3oYOCv4
a.co/d/3oYOCv4
I'll try not to take it personally.
September 28, 2025 at 10:15 PM
I'll try not to take it personally.
Is there a technical name for this kind of string of dots?
September 16, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Is there a technical name for this kind of string of dots?
The best part of waking up is, in fact, new manuscripts in your inbox—especially when they happen to contain unique and hitherto unrecognized paratexts.
September 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
The best part of waking up is, in fact, new manuscripts in your inbox—especially when they happen to contain unique and hitherto unrecognized paratexts.
Fascinating header to Laodiceans, tucked in the back of a thirteenth century Bible.
August 31, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Fascinating header to Laodiceans, tucked in the back of a thirteenth century Bible.
New article on a Syro-Latin reading in Luke coming soon to New Testament Studies.
August 27, 2025 at 1:24 AM
New article on a Syro-Latin reading in Luke coming soon to New Testament Studies.
Chilling this morning with some Oxyrhinchus Papyri.
August 19, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Chilling this morning with some Oxyrhinchus Papyri.
One of my favorite manuscript discoveries:
This Latin Bible contains a "Second Epistle to the Colossians."
Ep(istu)la Pauli ad Colocenses. S(e)c(un)da.
This Latin Bible contains a "Second Epistle to the Colossians."
Ep(istu)la Pauli ad Colocenses. S(e)c(un)da.
August 16, 2025 at 3:57 PM
One of my favorite manuscript discoveries:
This Latin Bible contains a "Second Epistle to the Colossians."
Ep(istu)la Pauli ad Colocenses. S(e)c(un)da.
This Latin Bible contains a "Second Epistle to the Colossians."
Ep(istu)la Pauli ad Colocenses. S(e)c(un)da.
"This book is groundbreaking."
Ehrman's endorsement for The Hypothesis of the Gospels.
You can pre-order: a.co/d/6ADGpLl
Ehrman's endorsement for The Hypothesis of the Gospels.
You can pre-order: a.co/d/6ADGpLl
August 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
"This book is groundbreaking."
Ehrman's endorsement for The Hypothesis of the Gospels.
You can pre-order: a.co/d/6ADGpLl
Ehrman's endorsement for The Hypothesis of the Gospels.
You can pre-order: a.co/d/6ADGpLl
My research assistant.
August 7, 2025 at 8:08 PM
My research assistant.
Sometimes you have to puzzle over marginalia to figure out what a copyist or reader thought about your text. And sometimes things are a little more clear.
Hoc ep(istu)la n(on) e(st) Pauli
"This Epistle is not by Paul"
Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 5
Hoc ep(istu)la n(on) e(st) Pauli
"This Epistle is not by Paul"
Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 5
August 6, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Sometimes you have to puzzle over marginalia to figure out what a copyist or reader thought about your text. And sometimes things are a little more clear.
Hoc ep(istu)la n(on) e(st) Pauli
"This Epistle is not by Paul"
Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 5
Hoc ep(istu)la n(on) e(st) Pauli
"This Epistle is not by Paul"
Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 5
Sorry for the delay. Lots of manuscripts mark Laodiceans as pseudepigraphic—even in the title. I've just never seen "alias" before. I've also found some nice comparanda for this form of "s" after all.
Usually I'd welcome it! But I do think I've solved this one. If you think I'm wrong, feel free!
Usually I'd welcome it! But I do think I've solved this one. If you think I'm wrong, feel free!
July 29, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Sorry for the delay. Lots of manuscripts mark Laodiceans as pseudepigraphic—even in the title. I've just never seen "alias" before. I've also found some nice comparanda for this form of "s" after all.
Usually I'd welcome it! But I do think I've solved this one. If you think I'm wrong, feel free!
Usually I'd welcome it! But I do think I've solved this one. If you think I'm wrong, feel free!
Someone over on Facebook suggested "a(lia)s." (as in pseudonymous). And I think that has to be right. And I finally found an analog for the second letter form as "s".
July 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Someone over on Facebook suggested "a(lia)s." (as in pseudonymous). And I think that has to be right. And I finally found an analog for the second letter form as "s".
The first letter in the mystery word looks like this "a" in laodicie.
July 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
The first letter in the mystery word looks like this "a" in laodicie.
The library only provides me with a few pages (screen shots from my phone attached). The other letter titles are all standard (no extra letters). And I haven't been able to find anything comparable to what appears to be the second letter in the OP.
July 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The library only provides me with a few pages (screen shots from my phone attached). The other letter titles are all standard (no extra letters). And I haven't been able to find anything comparable to what appears to be the second letter in the OP.
Any guesses what the two letters at the end of this title mean? 14th century Latin Bible.
July 29, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Any guesses what the two letters at the end of this title mean? 14th century Latin Bible.
Finishing up an article enroute to Acadia. Oliver is loving New Hampshire!
July 11, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Finishing up an article enroute to Acadia. Oliver is loving New Hampshire!
At the end of the Greek text, our copyist has left us a fascinating "explanation" of the text
I think it says something like:
"These things (I leave) with you in order that like-minded people who have the same love might contemplate them."
I think it says something like:
"These things (I leave) with you in order that like-minded people who have the same love might contemplate them."
May 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
At the end of the Greek text, our copyist has left us a fascinating "explanation" of the text
I think it says something like:
"These things (I leave) with you in order that like-minded people who have the same love might contemplate them."
I think it says something like:
"These things (I leave) with you in order that like-minded people who have the same love might contemplate them."
So does this Glasgow manuscript preserve a long lost Greek original? If it did, I wouldn't be talking about it on this website.
No, it's a transcription of Fabricus' 1703 Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti—which prints the Greek retrojection from Elias Hutter's New Testament Polyglot.
No, it's a transcription of Fabricus' 1703 Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti—which prints the Greek retrojection from Elias Hutter's New Testament Polyglot.
May 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
So does this Glasgow manuscript preserve a long lost Greek original? If it did, I wouldn't be talking about it on this website.
No, it's a transcription of Fabricus' 1703 Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti—which prints the Greek retrojection from Elias Hutter's New Testament Polyglot.
No, it's a transcription of Fabricus' 1703 Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti—which prints the Greek retrojection from Elias Hutter's New Testament Polyglot.
Now it's important to note that there is no Greek text of Laodiceans. The closest thing we have is a Greek title in one 9th century bilingual manuscript, Codex Boernerianus.
For more on that, you'll need to read my manuscript study/reception history/edition.
For more on that, you'll need to read my manuscript study/reception history/edition.
May 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Now it's important to note that there is no Greek text of Laodiceans. The closest thing we have is a Greek title in one 9th century bilingual manuscript, Codex Boernerianus.
For more on that, you'll need to read my manuscript study/reception history/edition.
For more on that, you'll need to read my manuscript study/reception history/edition.
But at the end of the Bible, on the back few pages, in a much later hand, we find a Greek text of Laodiceans!
May 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
But at the end of the Bible, on the back few pages, in a much later hand, we find a Greek text of Laodiceans!