Papyrus_75

Papyrus 75

Papyrus 75

Early Greek New Testament manuscript

Papyrus 75 (formerly Papyrus Bodmer XIV–XV, now Hanna Papyrus 1), designated by the siglum 𝔓75 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus. It contains text from the Gospel of Luke 3:18–24:53, and John 1:1–15:8.[1]: 101  It is generally described as "the most significant" papyrus of the New Testament to be discovered so far.[1]: 244  Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been traditionally dated to the third century.[1]: 101  It is due to this early dating that the manuscript has a high evaluation, and the fact its text so closely resembles that of the fourth-century Codex Vaticanus (B).[2]: 405–407 

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It is currently housed in the Vatican Library (Hanna Papyrus 1) in Rome.

Description

The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book), made of papyrus, in single quire format (a single quire being a collection of pages placed on top of each other, then folded in half to create a book), measuring 27 x 13 cm. It has between 38–45 lines per page,[3] containing most of the text of the Gospel of Luke and the beginning of the Gospel of John.[2]: 405  It originally contained about 144 pages, 102 which have survived, of which 20 are fragmentary.[4]: 58  [5]: 194  The papyrus is of a smooth and fine quality, with the verso (vertical striped side) nearly as smooth as the recto (horizontal striped side), and feels like hand-woven linen.[5]: 195  The writing is a clear and careful majuscule.[4]: 58  𝔓75 is one of the earliest manuscripts (along with 𝔓4) of the Gospel of Luke,[6] containing most of Luke 3:18–24:53.[6][7] An unusual feature of this codex is that when the Gospel of Luke ends, the Gospel of John begins on the same page.[5]: 194 

It uses a staurogram (⳨) in Luke 9:23, 14:27, and 24:7.[8]

Text

The Greek text of this codex is considered a representative of the Alexandrian text-type. (The text-types are groups of different manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups, which are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine).[4]: p205-230  Textual critic and biblical scholar Kurt Aland placed it in Category I of his New Testament manuscript text classification system.[1]: 101  Category I manuscripts are described as being manuscripts "of a very special quality, i.e., manuscripts with a very high proportion of the early text, presumably the original text, which has not been preserved in its purity in any one manuscript."[1]: 335 

The text is closer to Codex Vaticanus (B) than to Codex Sinaiticus (א‎). Agreement between 𝔓75 and B is 92% in John,[5]: 211–212  and 94% in Luke.[9] It concurs with 𝔓111.[10]

According to Aland, 𝔓75 is the key for understanding the primitive textual history of New Testament,[11] but recently palaeographer and religious history scholar Brent Nongbri has argued that restricting the date of 𝔓75 to the late second or early third century is not realistic, and that the similarity of the text of 𝔓75 to that of Codex Vaticanus might be better explained by considering both books as products of the fourth century.[2][12]

Some notable readings

The manuscript lacks the Pericope of the Adulteress, usually placed in translations at John 7:53–8:11. This omission is supported by: 𝔓66 א‎ B A(vid) C(vid) L N T W X Δ Θ Ψ 0141 0211 3 9* 22 33 72 96 97 106 108 123 131 139 157 179* 249 250 253 565 1241 1333 1424 2768 a f l q sy ly pbo bopt; Or Hiermss; plus according to Tischendorf, at least 50 others (see manuscript evidence against PdA).[13][14]: 322 

Luke 8:21

αυτον (him) – 𝔓75 705 b
αυτους (them) – Majority of manuscripts[14]: 213 

Luke 11:4

αλλα ρυσαι ημας απο του πονηρου (but deliver us from evil)
omit – 𝔓75 א‎*, 2b B L ƒ1 700 vg sys sa, bobt
incl. – Majority of manuscripts[14]: 230 

Luke 16:19

Ανθρωπος δε τις ην πλουσιος, ονοματι Ν[ιν]ευης, και ενεδιδυσκετο (There was a rich man, with the name N[in]eue, who clothed himself) –𝔓75 36 37 sa
Ανθρωπος δε τις ην πλουσιος, και ενεδιδυσκετο (There was a rich man, who clothed himself) – Majority of manuscripts[15][14]: 214 
(A scholion of uncertain date have ευρον δε τινες και του πλουσιου εν τισιν αντιγραφοις τουνομα Νινευης λεγομενον (There is also found, in certain copies, the name of the rich-man being called Ninevah).)[16]

Luke 23:34

ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν· Πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς, οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν τί ποιοῦσιν (And Jesus said: Father forgive them, they know not what they do.)
omit – 𝔓75 א‎2a B D* W Θ 070 579 1241 a d sys sa bopt
incl. – Majority of manuscripts[14]: 283 

Luke 22:43–44

omit – 𝔓75 א‎2a A B N T W 579 ℓ 844 sys sa bopt
incl. – Majority of manuscripts[14]: 278 

Luke 24:26

βασιλειαν (kingdom) – 𝔓75*
δοξαν (glory) – majority of mss[14]: 289 

John 10:7

ο ποιμην} (shepherd) – 𝔓75 sa, ac
η θυρα (door) – majority[14]: 332 

History

The codex was discovered in the 1950s and once belonged to the Swiss book collector Martin Bodmer (thus its original designation, P. Bodmer XIV–XV). It was sold in 2006 and donated to the Vatican Library, which now refers to the manuscript as "Hanna Papyrus 1 (Mater Verbi)".[17] The history before its discovery is unknown, but it is generally agreed the codex was originally made and used in Egypt.[5]: 195–196  Evidence for this comes from a piece of papyrus stuck to the back of the codex's leather case, on which there was Coptic writing.[5]: 196  Its writing appearance and use of paragraphos to indicate a change of speaker, also points towards an Egyptian provenance.[5]: 196 

Date

The codex was originally assigned palaeographically to 175–225 CE by Victore Martin and Rodolphe Kasser.[2]: 408  They compared the handwriting to manuscripts P.Oxy.XXI 2293, P.Oxy.XXII 2322, P.Oxy.XXIII 2362, P.Oxy.XXIII 2363, and P.Oxy.XXII 2370.[2]: 408  However this palaeographical comparison was called into question in 2016, where Brent Nongbri argued on the basis of comparative evidence, that handwriting very similar to that of 𝔓75 was still in use in the fourth century.[2] There were also other codicological features which accorded with manuscripts firmly dated to the fourth century.[2]

One of Nongbri's arguments against the original dating was due to the manuscripts used as comprandi were themselves mainly dated based on palaeographical grounds, hence served no independent value for determining the date of 𝔓75.[2]: 408  As such, as they're not securely dated manuscripts, having no definitive terminus ante or post quem (before/after) dates gives nothing objective to use when dating undated manuscripts.[2]: 408  Martin and Kasser did provide two dateable examples, P.Flor. I 61 and P.FuadUniv. 19, albeit Nongbri argued the writing on either were not as alike as the original editors suggested.[2]: 409 

An alternative dating of 225–275 was suggested by Eric G. Turner,[18] however he does not appear to have provided any palaeographical parallels for this dating.[2]: 413 

It is currently dated by the INTF to 200–225 CE.[3]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
  2. [2]
    Nongbri, Brent (2016). "Reconsidering the Place of Papyrus Bodm XIV–XV (𝔓75) in the Textual Criticism of the New Testament". Journal of Biblical Literature. 135 (2): 405–437. doi:10.15699/jbl.1352.2016.2803.
  3. [3]
    "Document ID: 10075". Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  4. [4]
    Metzger, Bruce Manning; Ehrman, Bart D. (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516667-1.
  5. [5]
    Edwards, Sarah Alexander (1976). "P75 under the Magnifying Glass". Novum Testamentum. 18 (3): 190–212. doi:10.2307/1560562. JSTOR 1560562. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  6. [6]
    Gregory, Andrew (2003). The Reception of Luke and Acts in the Period Before Irenaeus. Hemsbach: Mohr Siebeck. p. 28. ISBN 3-16-148086-4., p. 28Gregory (2003) p.28
  7. [7]
    Willker, Wieland. "A Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels" (PDF).
  8. [8]
    Hurtado, Larry W. (2006). The Earliest Christian Artifacts. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cambridge, U.K: Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 141. ISBN 0-8028-2895-7.
  9. [9]
    Fee, Gordon D. (1993). "𝔓75, 𝔓66, and Origen: The Myth of Early Textual Recension in Alexandria". In Epp, Eldon J. (ed.). Studies in the Theory & Method of NT Textual Criticism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. pp. 247–273. ISBN 978-0802827739.
  10. [10]
    Comfort, Philip Wesley (2005). Encountering the Manuscripts: An Introduction to New Testament Paleography & Textual Criticism. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers. p. 76. ISBN 0-8054-3145-4.
  11. [11]
    Reconsidering 𝔓75 in the Frame of a Various Egyptian Tradition
  12. [12]
    Orsini, Pasquale (1995). "I papiri Bodmer: scritture e libri". Journal of the Italian Research Group on "Origen and the Alexandrian Tradition" (21): 77.
  13. [13]
    Tischendorf, Constantin von (1869). Novum Testamentum Graece. Vol. 1 (8th ed.). Leipzig: Giesecke & Devrient. pp. 826–830.
  14. [14]
    Aland, Barbara; Aland, Kurl; J. Karavidopoulos; C. M. Martini; Metzger, Bruce Manning (2012). Novum Testamentum Graece (28 ed.). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. ISBN 978-3-438-05159-2.
  15. [15]
    Comfort, Philip Wesley; Barrett, David P. (2001). The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts (2 ed.). Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. p. 551. ISBN 978-0-8423-5265-9.
  16. [16]
    Metzger, Bruce Manning (1977). The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-19-826170-4.
  17. [17]
    Head, Peter M. (2015-02-19). "Evangelical Textual Criticism: A New Name for 𝔓75". Evangelical Textual Criticism. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  18. [18]
    Turner, Eric G. (1977). The Typology of the Early Codex. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-151-280786-8.

Bibliography

  • V. Martin, R. Kasser, Papyrus Bodmer XIV–XV: Evangiles de Luc et Jean, Vol. 1, Papyrus Bodmer XIV: Evangile de Luc chap. 3–24; vol. 2, Papyrus Bodmer XV: Evangile de Jean chap. 1–15, Cologny-Geneva: Biblioteca Bodmeriana, 1961.
  • Aland, Kurt (2009). "Neue Neutestamentliche Papyri III". New Testament Studies. 22 (4): 375–96. doi:10.1017/S0028688500010080. S2CID 170642717.

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