Greek Majuscule Script
Note: The majuscule font used on this page is GFS Jackson, which can be downloaded from https://greekfontsociety-gfs.gr/typefaces/majuscule.
The script (style of handwriting) used in the earliest NT manuscripts is called book hand or majuscule script.1 Majuscules generally resemble modern capital letters, with the exception of alpha, omega, and sigma. Only one form of sigma was in use in the early centuries (no distinction was made between final and other forms of sigma).
| Lower Case | Majuscule | Lower Case | Majuscule |
| α | α | ν | ν |
| β | β | ξ | ξ |
| γ | Γ | ο | ο |
| δ | δ | π | π |
| ε | ε | ρ | ρ |
| ζ | ζ | σ | Σ |
| η | η | τ | τ |
| θ | θ | υ | υ |
| ι | ι | φ | φ |
| κ | κ | χ | χ |
| λ | λ | ψ | ψ |
| μ | μ | ω | ω |
Nomina Sacra
Scribes of the earliest NT manuscripts usually employed contractions of commonly used words. These contractions are called nomina sacra (“holy names”; singular nomen sacrum). Some are two-letter contractions, others three. The scribe would usually write the first and last letters of the word and then indicate that it was a nomen sacrum by writing a horizontal bar above the word. Although their use varies from one manuscript to another, fifteen “standard” nomina sacra are typical:2
| Word | Contraction |
|---|---|
| ἄνθρωπος | ανοΣ |
| Δαυίδ | δαδ |
| θεός | θΣ |
| Ἱερουσαλήμ | ιλημ |
| Ἰσραήλ | ιηλ |
| Ἰησοῦς | ιΣ |
| κύριος | κΣ |
| μήτηρ | μηρ |
| οὐρανός | ουνοΣ |
| πατήρ | πηρ |
| πνεῦμα | πνα |
| σταυρός | ΣτΣ |
| σωτήρ | σηρ |
| υἱός | υΣ |
| Χριστός | χΣ |
Of course, only the nominative forms are listed in the table above. The forms as they would have been written would have been inflected (i.e., the last letter changes). For Χριστός these would usually be written:
- χΣ (nom.)
- χυ (gen.)
- χω (dat.)
- χν (accus.).
Or another example for πνεῦμα:
- πνα (nom., accus.)
- πνΣ (gen.)
- πνι (dat.)
Example
Consider the text of John 1:1-3. In a papyrus manuscript, the text would have been written in uncial script with no word divisions, using the nomina sacra. The line length varies from one manuscript to another, but was somewhere between ten and thirty letters per line.
ΕΝΑΡΧΗΗΝΟΛΟΓΟΣ
ΚΑΙΟΛΟΓΟΣΗΝ
ΠΡΟΣΤΟΝΘΝΚΑΙ
θΣΗΝΟΛΟΓΟΣΟΥ
ΤΟΣΗΝΕΝΑΡΧΗ
ΠΡΟΣΤΟΝΘΝΠΑΝ
ΤΑΔΙΑΥΤΟΥΕΓΕΝΕ
ΤΟΚΑΙΧΩΡΙΣΑΥΤΟΥ
ΕΓΕΝΕΤΟΟΥΔΕΕΝ
ΟΓΕΓΟΝΕΝ
- As distinct from minuscule or cursive script (See Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 4th ed. [New York: Oxford University Press, 2005], 17). The term majuscule is often imprecisely interchanged with uncial. ↩︎
- See Metzger,Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: AnIntroduction to Greek Palaeography (New York: Oxford University Press,1981), 15 and Metzger and Ehrman, Text ofthe New Testament, 23–24. ↩︎