Greek 165

Sinai Greek 165 is a manuscript of the Four Gospels written on parchment in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is a small manuscript for personal reading, but it also contains rubrics to allow it to be used as a lectionary in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.

The Gospel of Saint John ends on folio 421 recto,

Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ, ὃσα ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἅτινα ἐὰν γράφηται καθ’ ἕν, οὐδὲ αὐτὸν οἶμαι τὸν κόσμον χωρῆσαι τὰ γραφόμενα βιβλία. Ἀμήν.

’And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.’ (John 21:25)

The scribe has tapered the text, with ornaments to either side, and written the concluding ‘Amen’ in the form of a cross. He then added, Τέλος τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωάννην ἅγιον εὐαγγέλιον, ‘The end of the holy Gospel according to John.’ Beneath this, he drew a cross as an interlocking knot.