Papyrus 115
New Testament manuscript From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Testament manuscript From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Papyrus 115, also known as P. Oxy. 4499, is a fragmented manuscript of the New Testament written in Greek on papyrus. It is designated by the siglum 𝔓115 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It consists of 26 fragments of a codex containing parts of the Book of Revelation.[1] Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), the manuscript is dated to the third century, c. 225-275 AD.[2] Scholars Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Hunt discovered the papyrus in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.
| New Testament manuscript | |
Red arrow points to χιϛ (616), "number of the beast" in P115 | |
| Name | P. Oxy. 4499 |
|---|---|
| Text | Rev 2-3, 5-6, 8-15 |
| Date | c. 275 |
| Found | Oxyrhynchus, Egypt |
| Now at | Ashmolean Museum |
| Cite | Juan Chapa, Oxyrynchus Papyri 66:11-39. (#4499) |
| Size | 26 fragments; 15.5 x 23.5 cm; 33-36 lines/page |
| Type | Alexandrian, close agreement with A & C |
| Category | I |
| Note | Gives number of the beast as 616 |
 |
 | |
𝔓115 was not deciphered and published until 2011. It is currently housed at the Ashmolean Museum.[3]
The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book) although in a very fragmentary condition. In its original form it was sized 15.5 cm by 22 cm, with 33-36 lines per page.[4][1]: 665 The surviving text includes Revelation 2:1-3, 13-15, 27-29; 3:10-12; 5:8-9; 6:5-6; 8:3-8, 11-13; 9:1-5, 7-16, 18-21; 10:1-4, 8-11; 11:1-5, 8-15, 18-19; 12:1-5, 8-10, 12-17; 13:1-3, 6-16, 18; 14:1-3, 5-7, 10-11, 14-15, 18-20; 15:1, 4-7.[1][4] Due to the writing on the pages having a tendency to be narrower when the binding is on the right hand side, it is likely the codex was bound before the copyist started writing in it.[1]: 665 After its publication, scholar David C. Parker notes the manuscript "is a significant contribution to our understanding of the text of the book of Revelation",[4] and as such "may shed light on a crucial period in the development of the text of Revelation."[4]
There are some textual corrections in the manuscript which may be evidence the copyist had access to more than one examplar.[4]: 77 Out of 165 variant readings in the manuscript, only nine are considered "singular" or "unique" readings.[4]: 77-78 Five of these are according to Parker "obviously false", and there are therefore only four new textual readings.[4]: 78-79 Parker concludes that "none of these readings is [sic] original."[4]: 79 After a full overview of the manuscript, Parker summises: "It is sometimes suggested that the papyri have not had any genuine effect on the printed text of the New Testament. The example of this witness alone is sufficient to disprove the claim."[4]: 91 Biblical scholar Philip Comfort declares that "𝔓115 has superior testimony to that of 𝔓47, which aligns with א and together form the second-best witness to the book of Revelation."[5][1]: 665
The manuscript has evidence of the following nomina sacra (names/titles considered sacred in Christianity): ΙΗΛ (Israel), ΑΥΤΟΥ (his), ΠΡΣ (Father), ΘΩ/ΘΝ/ΘΥ (God), ΑΝΩΝ/ΑΝΟΥ (man), ΠΝΑ (Spirit), ΟΥΝΟΥ/ΟΥΝΟΝ/ΟΥΝΩ (heaven), ΚΥ (Master/Lord). The manuscript uses the Greek numeral system, with no number extant as being written out in full.[1]
The manuscript is considered to be a witness to the Alexandrian text-type, following the text of Codex Alexandrinus (A) and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C).[5] In a comparison of the textual readings of this manuscript, Parker notes it is "usually right" when it agrees with A as opposed to C, incorrect when it disagrees with both, and only right less than half the time when it disagrees with A.[4]: 91 Accordingly, this shows that the text seen in A "confirms the superior quality" of A as opposed to the text seen in C. The textual variants against Codex Sinaiticus א and 𝔓47 show that 𝔓115 is more often right in reading the same as א as opposed to 𝔓47.[4]: 91 The manuscript also agrees with some later minuscules, which Parker states that "new discoveries sometimes show late witnesses to contain variants that are far older than we could have known."[4]: 91 According to Parker, the agreement of readings between this manuscripts and A and C "confirms the high quality of 𝔓115."[4]: 91
An interesting element of 𝔓115 is that it apparently gives the number of the beast in Revelation 13:18 as 616 (chi, iota, stigma / ΧΙϚ), rather than the majority reading of 666 (chi, xi, stigma / ΧΞϚ)), as does Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus. According to the transcription of the INTF, a conjectured reading of the manuscript, due to the space left, is [χξϛ] η χιϛ (666 or 616), therefore not giving a definite number to the beast.[6]
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