The Stichometry of Nicephorus is a stichometry attributed to Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople (c. 758-828). The work appears at the end of the Chronographikon Syntomon. It consists of a list of New Testament and Old Testament works categorized between canonical, disputed, and apocryphal, along with the total number of lines in each text.The work was composed in the 9th century. Some manuscripts attribute the work anonymously rather than to Nicephorus[1]. It is significant in the area of canon studies as it includes counts for Christian texts which have been lost over the course of time. This has enabled modern scholars to determine how much of various fragmentary texts from the New Testament apocrypha and Old Testament apocrypha remain missing.
The New Testament writings considered disputed:
The Old Testament writings considered disputed:
- Book of Enoch
- Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
- Prayer of Joseph
- The testament of Moses
- Assumption of Moses
- A work titled "Abraham", possibly the Apocalypse of Abraham[2]
- Eldad and Modad
- Apocalypse of Elijah
- Apocalypse of Zephaniah
- Apocalypse of Zechariah
External links
- The stichometry of Nicephorus (English, Greek, Latin)
- Teubner edition with critical apparatus in Nikephoros, Chronographikon syntomon in: Nicephori Archiepiscopi Constantinopolitani, Opuscula historica, ed. C. de Boor, Leipzig 1880, p. 80–135, esp. 132 – 135. (Greek, Internet Archive)
- In a collection of documents on the history of the Christian canon by E. Preuschen, Analecta (Freiberg and Leipzig: Mohr, 1893), pp. 156–8. (Greek, Internet Archive).