LEMMA: Leuven Multilingual Manuscript Research Centre

The LEMMA Research Centre is based in the Research Unit of Biblical Studies (RUBS) at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies (FTRS) at KU Leuven. Its core research area is the study of manuscripts to investigate the multilingual and multicultural contexts of New Testament texts and contents. Proceeding from primary evidence, scholars connected to LEMMA work in a variety of disciplines, including primarily New Testament Textual Criticism, Documentary Papyrology, Early Christianity and Digital Humanities. The centre’s scientific goal is to increase the knowledge and understanding of the New Testament, that is its texts and their transmission, its historical contexts and its theological contents based on primary sources in multiple languages and cultural environments.

NEWS SUMMARY

Congratulations: Prof. Hugh Houghton awarded €2.5M ERC Advanced Grant

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Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

7–9 April 2027: TransLATINg the Bible: the Creation, Transmission, and Reception of the Latin Bible Call for Papers
9–10 March 2027: On the Fringes of the Catena Format: Catena-Commentaries, Composite Exegesis, and the Posterity of Catenae Call for Papers

LEMMA News

Welcome to new team member Dr. Joey McCollum Read More
The GA 629 Conference took place at the Irish College in Leuven from 10 to 12 June 2026 Read More
Fritz Thyssen Funding for Dr. Robert Turnbull to study Arabic Versions of Paul Read More
The LEMMA team was selected as a finalist for the 2026 KU Leuven Team Science Award Read More
ARC Discovery Early Career Award for Dr. Robert Turnbull Read More
New International Collaboration: BICROSS goes Down Under Read More

Project News

BICROSS Bilingual Catalogue online
- Browse the catalogue of New Testament bilingual manuscripts at: www.trismegistos.org/bicross
1COR Milestone Announcements:
- Vetus Latina fascicle of 1Cor 1:1–3:22 published
  - Congratulations to Dr. Anna Persig on her edition of Vetus Latina 1Cor 1:1–3:22 Read more
- Transcription Phase Complete Read more
  - Browse the synopsis at: http://www.epistulae.org/synopsis/1Cor/index.html
  - Download the XML files from: www.epistulae.org

Dissemination

A New reading of 1Cor 3:2 Read here
A tenth-century Gospel of John and its ancient commentary – a blog entry by Andrew Patton Read
Join Christina M. Kreinecker on her time travelling adventure with the Biblical Time Machine to revisit ancient documentary papyri – Learn more here and Listen here
Bilingual Observations on 1 Corinthians: watch a paper by Christina M. Kreinecker on YouTube Watch here
"To the Core of 1 Corinthians": TRN-Interview with postdoctoral scholar Andrew Patton Read here

Publications

"The Transmission of the Genealogy of Jesus in Greek New Testament Manuscripts: Variation in Format and Text" in JTS (2026) by Andrew Patton Read more
"A Rediscovered Vulgate Manuscript: the Text of 1 Corinthians in MS 7-2-41, Sevilla, Institución Colombina" in Revue Benedictine (2026), 135 (2), 299–319 by Anna Persig More about the journal
"The Use of Sense-Lines in Codex Laudianus. A Formal Analysis" in Vulgata in Dialogue 9 (2025): 48–62 by Tilke Nelis Read online
"Contra Graecum: Bilingual Observations from 1 Corinthians" in NTS 71 (2025): 156–170 by Christina M. Kreinecker Read online
Vetus Latina edition of 1Cor 1:1–3:22 published by Anna Persig Read more
"Altered, Not Antique: The Latinized Greek Text of 1 Corinthians in GA 629" by Andrew Patton in TC 30 (2025): 37–55 Read online
"A New Leaf of GA 2311" by Andrew Patton in Novum Testamentum 67 (2025): 402–407 Read More
Revelation 19–21 in the Exegesis of Early Christian Roman Africa by Martina Vercesi Read More
The Imperial Ousiai of Roman Egypt (Trismegistos Online Publication Special Series VIII) by Yanne Broux Download here
Codex Sinaiticus Arabicus and its Family. A Bayesian Approach by Robert Turnbull Read More
"A Disordered Genealogy and a New Family of Greek New Testament Manuscripts" by Andrew Patton in Novum Testamentum 66.3 (2024): 402–422 Read here
Everyday Life in Graeco-Roman Times edited by Kreinecker, Kloppenborg, and Harrison Read More
February 2024: Release of 21 additional electronic transcriptions of 1Cor View online

"Can A Slave Serve Two Masters?" by Afetameafu Alabi in NTS 70 (1/2024): 38–50 Read More
"Direct Copying in a Group of Gospel Manuscripts with Catenae" by Andrew Patton in NTS 9.4 (2023): 445–461 Read Online
"Unchaining the Scriptures" by Andrew Patton in TC 28 (2023): 131–148 Read Online
More Light from the Ancient East by Arzt-Grabner, Kloppenborg, and Christina M. Kreinecker Read More
Oxford Handbook of the Latin Bible by Hugh Houghton (with contributions by Anna Persig and Christina M. Kreinecker) Read More

Projects

1COR

1COR is an FWO Odysseus Type I project (G0E9821N) to investigate the text, transmission and translation of 1 Corinthians in the first millennium.

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BICROSS

The BICROSS project is an ERC-CoG project to investigate the significance of bilingual manuscripts for detecting cross-language interaction in the NT.

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NTT

The New Testament in Translation (NTT) project is a Start-Up Grant project by KU Leuven Internal Funds to investigate translations in and of the NT texts.

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