Coincidence of Numerical Abbreviations in the Western Paulines

This study tests the possibility that the presence of numerical shorthand in a literary manuscript can hold genealogical significance. The number-writing techniques of a family of New Testament manuscripts are compared, concentrating on coincidental usage of alphabetic numerals in specific passages. It is shown that some - though not all - scribes mimicked the distinctive number-styles of their Vorlage(n), which suggests that in certain cases such abbreviations can function as visual indications of a manuscript’s genealogy.