Oxyrhynchus Gospels

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The Oxyrhynchus Gospels are two fragmentary manuscripts discovered among the rich finds of discarded papyri at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. They throw light on early non-canonical Gospel traditions.

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Oxyrhynchus 840

Oxyrhynchus 840 (P. Oxy. V 840), found in 1905, is a single small vellum parchment leaf with 45 lines of text written on both sides in a tiny neat hand that dates it to the 4th century, almost square, less than 10 cm across. It is kept at the Bodleian Library, MS. Gr. th. g. 11 (P). [1] The text probably predates 200, but no more is determinable from this evidence. In his introduction in The Complete Gospels, Philip Sellew notes that this fragment was likely a talisman text, kept as an amulet, perhaps worn around the neck. Michael J. Kruger who did his PhD dissertation on this fragment [2] concludes that this could be not an amulet[ clarification needed ] but a miniature codex. [3] The text itself has been dated to the first half of the second century. Sellew calls it "similar to the New Testament gospels in its style and tone."

The fragment begins with the end of a warning to an evildoer who plans ahead, yet fails to take the next life into account. There follows sections of a narrative unparalleled in any other known gospel tradition, about Jesus' encounter with "a Pharisee, a leading priest" who tries to order Jesus and the disciples out of the Temple as ritually unclean. Jesus responds by contrasting ritual cleanliness — gotten by bathing like a harlot in the water used by dogs and pigs — against the life-giving (metaphorical) water that comes down from heaven in baptism.

Jesus is called "Savior" (Greek : Σωτήρ), which is rare in the New Testament, but not unparalleled. [4] The author of the fragment also believes that laymen have to change their clothes to enter the temple, for which there is no other evidence. The author is distinctly hostile to Judaism, but as he knows little about it, the text is presumably not from Judea; the author's vague grasp of details of Temple rituals have suggested a Johannine circle, perhaps in Syria. [5]

Oxyrhynchus 1224

Oxyrhynchus 1224 (P. Oxy. X 1224), now at the Bodleian Library, MS. Gr. th. e. 8 (P), [1] consists of two small papyrus fragments from the late 3rd or early 4th century. It contains six passages, each about a sentence. Two of the longer ones are parallel to Mark 2:17 and Luke 9:50, but the differences in phrasing show they are textually independent of the Gospels. A precise date for composition is unknown; 50 is possible, [6] though a date of around 150 AD. is more widely accepted by scholars. [7] John Dominic Crossan notes the mutilated condition in his introduction to the fragmentary text in The Complete Gospels resulting in highly conjectural reconstructions of the text, which, however, "does not seem to be dependent on the New Testament gospels.... As an independent gospel, it belongs, insofar as its fragmentary state allows us to see, not with discourse gospels involving the risen Jesus (e.g., the Secret Book of James and the Gospel of Mary ), but with sayings gospels involving the earthly Jesus (e.g., Q document and the Gospel of Thomas ). Crossan suggests that the document might have been written as early as the mid-first century.

See also

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The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 102</span> New Testament manuscript

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 103</span> New Testament manuscript

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 105</span> New Testament manuscript

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 111</span> New Testament manuscript

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 119</span> New Testament manuscript

Papyrus 119, designated by 𝔓119, is an early copy of a small part of the New Testament in Greek found among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. It is a manuscript of the Gospel of John.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 120</span> New Testament manuscript

Papyrus 120, designated by 𝔓120, is an early copy of a small part of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John. The surviving texts of John are verses 1:25-28,38-44, they are in a fragmentary condition. The manuscript palaeographically has been assigned to the 4th century (INTF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 121</span> New Testament manuscript

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 122</span> New Testament manuscript

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Dirk D. Obbink is an American papyrologist and classicist. He was Lecturer in Papyrology and Greek Literature in the Faculty of Classics at Oxford University until 6 February 2021, and was the head of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project until August 2016. Obbink was also a fellow and tutor in Greek at Christ Church Oxford, from which role he was suspended in October 2019, as a result of allegations that he had stolen some of the Oxyrhynchus papyri and sold them to the Museum of the Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1</span>

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It was among the first of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt. It was discovered on the second day of excavation, 12 January 1897, in the garbage mounds in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the early half of the 3rd century. Grenfell and Hunt originally dated the fragment between 150 and 300, but "probably not written much later than the year 200." It was later discovered to be the oldest manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5 is a fragment of a Christian homily, written in Greek. It was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the late third or early fourth century. It is housed in the Bodleian Library. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 36 contains customs regulations by an unknown author, written in Greek. It was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the second or the early third century. It is housed in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It is one of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt between 1897 and 1904 in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the middle or late of the 3rd century. It is one of only three Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of Thomas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655</span>

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It is one of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt between 1897 and 1904 in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the early 3rd century. It is one of only three Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of Thomas.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 210 is an early Christian fragment, written in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a codex. It is dated to the third century. Currently it is housed in the Cambridge University Library (4048) in Cambridge.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 228 is a fragment of the Laches, a dialogue of Plato, written in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a roll. It is dated to the second century. It is housed in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus 137</span> New Testament manuscript

Papyrus 137, is an early fragment of the New Testament in Greek. The fragment is from a codex, written on both sides with text from the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark; verses 7–9 on the recto side and 16–18 on the verso side. The manuscript has been dated paleographically to the later 2nd or earlier 3rd century, and has been published in the Oxyrhynchus papyrus series as P.Oxy. LXXXIII 5345.

References

  1. 1 2 "MSS. Greek theology (Gr. th.)". Bodleian Library . Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ, Eerdman Publishing 2003, p 439, footnote 40
  3. ↑ Michael J Kruger, Journal of Theological Studies 53 (2003), p 93
  4. ↑ e.g. Luke 1:69, 2:11; John 4:42; Acts 5:31, 13:23
  5. ↑ Sellew's note to 2:2; for Syria, see Geoff Trowbridge, "The Oxyrhynchus 840 Gospel".
  6. ↑ Miller's introduction, Complete Gospels, p.416, and notes to fragments 5 and 6.
  7. ↑ Craig A. Evans, Ph.D., Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels, p. 61

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