The palimpsest Ms. O 39 Sup. (Rahlfs 1098) of the Ambrosian Library in Milan (late 9th cent. C.E.)& the sacred Tetragrammaton /Το παλίμψηστο χειρόγραφο O 39 Sup. (Rahlfs 1098) της Αμβροσιανής Βιβλιοθήκης του Μιλάνου (τέλη 9ου αι. Κ.Χ.)& το ιερό Τετραγράμματο

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Giovanni Mercati,

Codex rescriptus Bybliothecae Ambrosianae O 39 SVP:
phototypice expressus et transcriptus.
Codices ex ecclesiasticis Italiae bybliothecis delecti
phototype expressi iussu Pii XI. Pont. Max. consilio
et studio procuratorum Bybliothecae Vaticanae; Vol. 8, 1958,

frag. 11, fol. 105r (pp. 10, 11).

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The Milan Palimpsest Greek
Milan, Ambrosian Library, O 39 Sup. A Palimpsest, Rahlfs 1098. The upper text is of little value, being merely a late (thirteenth century or later) copy of the Orthodox service book known as the Οκτώηχος. But two of the lower leaves are copies of a text based, in some form, on Origen’s Hexapla. The Hexapla of course contained six columns: Hebrew (in Hebrew letters). Hebrew (transcribed in Greek letters), Aquila, Symmachus, LXX, and Theodotian (plus occasional other versions). The Milan fragments include five of these columns: Hebrew in Greek letters (except that the tetragrammaton is written in Hebrew), Aquila, Symmachus, LXX, and — it is believed — Quinta. (The inclusion of Quinta in this manuscript is part of why there are so many vexed questions about Theodotian, Quinta, and kaige.) The total text is minimal — about 150 verses of Psalms. And the copy is much later than Origen’s original — it’s thought to be ninth or tenth century. But it gives us one of our few looks at the actual format of the Hexapla. * *