Papyrus 52

New Testament manuscripts
Papyri • Uncials • Minuscules • Lectionaries

Papyrus 52 ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$
text	John 18 : 31-33, 37-38
language	Greek
date	approx. 125 AD
Found	Egypt
Storage location	John Ryland's Library
source	CH Roberts: An Unpublished Fragment of the Fourth Gospel in the John Rylands Library. Manchester 1935.
size	fragment
Type	can not be determined
category	I.

John Rylands Library Papyrus P52, recto (front side)

John Rylands Library Papyrus P52, verso (back)

The Papyrus 52 , also known as the John fragment is known, a fragment of a papyrus codex with dimensions of 8.9 × 5.8 cm. It is kept with the Rylands Papyri in the John Rylands Library in Manchester . The Greek text comes from the Gospel according to John . The front (recto) contains parts from Joh 18,31–33  EU , the back (verso) from Joh 18,37–38  EU .

Rylands ^{52 has} long been considered the earliest known fragment of a canonical text of the New Testament . The style of the script was classified as strictly Hadrianic (reign 117-138 AD). Mostly around 125 AD ± 25 years (i.e. a period from 100 to 150 AD) was mentioned. Such an exact time limitation of the small fragment based solely on the palaeographic findings is not possible. A recent study extends the possible time span into the third century. ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$

Greek text

The papyrus is written on both sides. The letters in bold below are visible on papyrus ⁵² . ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$

John 18: 31-33 (recto)

„ΕΙΠΟΝ ΑΥΤΩ ΟΙ ΙΟΥΔΑΙ ΟΙ ΗΜΙ Ν ΟΥΚ ΕΞΕΣΤΙΝ
ΑΠΟΚΤΕΙΝΑΙ OYΔΕΝΑ ΙΝΑ Ο Λ ΟΓΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΙΗΣΟΥ
ΠΛΗΡΩΘΗ ΟΝ ΕΙ ΠΕΝ ΣΗΜΑΙΝΩ Ν ΠΟΙΩ ΘΑΝΑΤΩ
ΗΜΕΛΛΕΝ ΑΠΟ ΘΝΗΣΚΕΙΝ Ε ΙΣΗΛΘΕΝ ΟΥΝ ΠΑΛΙΝ
ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΡΑΙΤΩ ΡΙΟΝ Ο ΠΙ ΕΙΠ
ΤΟΝΕΝ ΕΦΩ ΝΗΣΕΝ ΝΗΣΕΝ ΤΟΝ ΤΟΝ ΕΦΩ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ
ΤΩΝ ΙΟΥΔΑ ΙΩ N "

“[…] Said to him the Jews , “ We are not allowed to kill anyone, ”so that the word of Jesus, which he had said, to indicate what kind of death he should die, should come true. He g ing back into the Praeto Ministry of Pi latus and called Jesus and spra ch to him, "Are you the king of Ju de n?" [...] "

John 18: 37-38 (verso)

„ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΕΙΜΙ ΕΓΩ ΕΙΣ
ΤΟΥΤΟ ΓΕΓΕΝΝΗΜΑΙ ΚΑΙ (ΕΙΣ ΤΟΥΤΟ) ΕΛΗΛΥΘΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ
ΚΟ ΣΜΟΝ ΙΝΑ ΜΑΡΤ ΥΡΗΣΩ ΤΗ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ ΠΑΣ Ο ΩΝ
Ε Κ ΤΗΣ ΑΛΗΘΕ IΑΣ ΑΚΟΥΕΙ ΜΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΦΩΝΗΣ
Λ ΕΓΕΙ ΑΥΤΩ Ο ΠΙΛΑΤΟΣ ΤΙ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ
ΚΑ Ι Ο Ο ΕΙΠ
Ι ΤΟΥΣ Ι ΟΥΔΑΙΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΕΓΕΙ
ΑΥΤΟΙΣ ΕΓΩ ΟΥΔΕ ΜΙ ΑΝ ΕΥΡΙΣΚΩ ΕΝ ΑΥΤΩ ΑΙΤΙΑΝ "

"[...] I am a king. This is what I was born to do and I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is out of the truth listens to my voice. S prach to him Pilate, "What is truth?" Un d after he 's had said he went out again to the Ju , saying to them: "I n ic ht find him guilty." "

There appears to be insufficient space for the repeated phrase (ΕΙΣ ΤΟΥΤΟ) on the second line of the back, and it has been suggested that these words were inadvertently omitted by haplography .

The font is generously divided - the letters vary between 0.3 and 0.4 cm in height, the lines are approx. 0.5 cm apart, there is a 2 cm margin at the top, and on the reverse is part of the Inside edge preserved with a kind of reinforcement at the fold. The division is 18 lines per page and 29–33 characters per line. C. H. Roberts commented: “Judging by the spacing and size of the text, it is unlikely that the format has been influenced by economic considerations. Accordingly, the manuscript would have been intended for public reading. If the original text actually contained the entire text of the canonical Gospel according to John, then the book would have been about 130 pages in length, together with a cover sheet and the title that would be 66 sheets. When closed, it would have been about 21 × 20 cm. ”There are no indications that allow any conclusions to be drawn about the internal structure of the codex, and there are no traces of numbering. Roberts describes the handwriting as "heavy, curved and rather artistic", but still not the work of an "experienced scribe" (e.g. not a professional copyist).

History and dating

The fragment belonged to a group of documents that Bernard Grenfell acquired at an Egyptian market in 1920. Because of this origin and the fact that the oldest New Testament papyri mainly come from Egypt because they were better preserved there because of the climatic conditions, an Egyptian origin is also assumed for this text. The first transcription and translation was not carried out until 1934 by Colin H. Roberts (1909–1990). Roberts found comparative manuscripts on papyrus, which were then dated to the period between 50 and 150, with the closest agreement with a Hadrianic date. Since the content was written towards the end of the 1st century at the earliest, he suggested a date in the first half of the 2nd century. In the seventy years since Roberts' essay, the dates of his comparative manuscripts have shifted to later decades (like most undated ancient papyri); however, in the meantime other comparative manuscripts that can be safely dated have also been used, the date of which extends into the third century.

The meaning of ⁵² is based on its possibly old age. The Gospel of John is believed to have been written in Asia Minor or Palestine. Since it is certainly not the original of the Gospel and it took a certain period of time to get the work to Egypt, the Gospel of John must have been written at least a few years before this date of ⁵² . This means that the date of origin of ^{52 would come} close to the assumed creation date of around 90. ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$

Textual criticism

Despite the small size of ⁵² , a plausible reconstruction is possible for most of the 14 rows. Because its size is small compared to the entire text of the Gospel of John, the fragment is only very rarely used as a testimony in the textual criticism of the Gospel. There were some disputes about whether the name ΙΗΣΟΥ (Ν) (Jesus) in the missing parts of recto lines 2 and 5/6 was originally written as a nomen sacrum and therefore appeared together with ΙΣ or ΙΗΣ . This would be in accordance with the otherwise customary representation practice in the preserved early Gospel manuscripts. Roberts originally suggested that the name of Jesus was probably written out in full (C. M. Tuckett followed him in this opinion). Later, however, Roberts changed his mind and was also supported by Larry W. Hurtado. ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$

The verses contained in ⁵² are also confirmed by the Bodmer Papyrus ⁶⁶ . This is usually dated to the beginning of the 3rd century. However, due to the small size of the surviving text from ⁵² , it has proven impossible to unequivocally assign it to the same pro- Alexandrian text type . ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$

literature

• Colin Henderson Roberts (Ed.): An Unpublished Fragment of the Fourth Gospel in the John Rylands libraryhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3DMN41504ucmf_0~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3Dn9~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DAn%20Unpublished%20Fragment%20of%20the%20Fourth%20Gospel% 20in% 20the% 20John% 20Rylands% 20library ~ PUR% 3D , Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 20: 45-55. The Manchester University Press 1935.
• Kurt Aland : Concise List of the Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament - in connection with Michael Welte, edited. by Kurt Aland. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994, 2nd revised and supplemented edition, ISBN 3-11-011986-2 , (Work on New Testament Text Research Vol. 1).
• Larry W. Hurtado: "P52 (P. Rylands Gr 457) and the Nomina Sacra ; Method and Probability." Tynedale Bulletin 2003. 54.1.
• Brent Nongbri: "The Use and Abuse of P52: Papyrological Pitfalls in the Dating of the Fourth Gospel." Harvard Theological Review 2005. 98: 23-52.
• Udo Schnelle : Introduction to the New Testament , 8. continuously revised. Edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2013.
• Christopher M. Tuckett: "P52 and Nomina Sacra ." New Testament Studies , 2001. 47: 544-48.

Web links

• John Rylands Library: St John Fragment
• 2koerbe - P52 explained in German
• Robert B. Waltz. NT Manuscripts: Papyri, Papyri ⁵² . ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$
• Oliver Achilles. How old is Papyrus 52? . Contains u. a. complete: Adolf Deißmann : A gospel sheet from the days of Hadrian. From: Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (1919–1945) , 74th volume, Berlin December 3, 1935

Individual evidence

1. ↑ C. H. Roberts, Unpublished Fragment, p. 11.
2. ↑ Kurt and Barbara Aland : The text of the New Testament. Introduction to the scientific editions as well as the theory and practice of modern textual criticism . 2nd supplemented and expanded edition. German Bible Society , Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-438-06011-6 , p. 109.
3. ↑ Kurt Aland in: Theologische Realenzyklopädie 6, 1980, pp. 114–131: Bible manuscripts, New Testament , there p. 120: "Recently, however, the conviction seems to have gained acceptance that the year 125 represents the final limit."
4. ↑ Brent Nongbri : The Use and Abuse of P52: Papyrological Pitfalls in the Dating of the Fourth Gospel. HThR 98, 2005, pp. 23-48.
5. ↑ C. H. Roberts, Unpublished Fragment, p. 24.
6. ↑ C. H. Roberts, Unpublished Fragment, p. 27.
7. ↑ C. H. Roberts, Unpublished Fragment, p. 5.
8. ↑ The papyrus probably comes from Oxyrhynchos via detours ; on the generally accepted Egyptian origin cf. Ingo Broer: Introduction to the New Testament. Volume 1, Scientific Book Society, Würzburg 2006, p. 206.
9. ↑ Roberts, “An Unpublished Fragment of the Fourth Gospel in the John Rylands Library,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library XX, 1936: 45-55.
10. ↑ Ingo Broer: Introduction to the New Testament. Study edition . Echter, Würzburg 2006, ISBN 3-429-02846-9 , p. 207.
11. ↑ Ingo Broer: Introduction to the New Testament. Study edition . Echter, Würzburg 2006, ISBN 3-429-02846-9 , pp. 206-213.
12. ↑ Tuckett 2001: 544; New Testaments Manuscripts: Papyri ; "The oldest New Testament: P52" .