Papyrus 77 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by P⁷⁷, is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew verses 23:30-39. It is written in Greek and has paleographically been assigned a date from the early to middle 2nd century (100-150 C.E.). According to Comfort, Papyrus 77 together with Papyrus 103 probably belong to the same codex. See Comfort comments below.

The Text

The Greek text of this codex is a representative of the Alexandrian text-type. Aland ascribed it as a “at least normal text,” and placed it in Category I. P⁷⁷ has the closest affinity with Codex Sinaiticus.

Present Location

It is currently housed at the Sackler Library (P. Oxy. 2683) in Oxford.

Textual Variants

• 23:30: Rearranges the words αυτων κοινωνοι (their partners) to κοινωνοι αυτων (‘partners of them’).
• 23:37: Has variant spelling ορνιξ for ορνις (hen).
• 23:37: Originally omitted και from the text. Scribe added it later superlinearly between πτερυγας and ουκ.
• 23:38: According to the transcription from the University of Münster Institute for New Testament Textual Research, the scribe omitted ερημος (desolate). According to the transcription of Philip Comfort and David Barrett, however, the scribe included it.

Papyrus P¹⁰³

 

Name	P. Oxy. 4403
Sign	103
Text	Gospel of Matthew 13:55-56; 14:3-5
Date	2nd / 3rd century
Script	Greek
Found	Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
Now at	Sackler Library
Cite	J. D. Thomas, OP LXIV (1997), pp. 5-7
Size	[16] x [11] cm
Type	Alexandrian text-type
Category	I

Papyrus 103 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by P¹⁰³, is a copy of part of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew.

Description

The surviving texts of Matthew are verses 13:55-56 and 14:3-5: they are in a fragmentary condition. The manuscript has paleographically been assigned a date from the early to middle 2nd century (100-150 C.E.) Probably together with Papyrus 77 it belonged to the same codex.

The Text

The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Alexandrian text-type. According to Comfort it is proto-Alexandrian text. See Comfort Comments below.

In Matthew 13:55, the name of Jesus’ second brother reads […]ης so that either Ἰωάννης (John) and Ἰωσῆς (Joses) are possible original readings.

Ἰωάννης (John) א* D M U Γ 2 28 579 1424 Byz^mss vg^mss Origen^pt

Ἰωσῆς (Joses) K L W Δ Π 0106 f¹³ 22 565 1241 1582^mg Byz^mss it^k,qc co^sa,bomss Basil of Caesarea

Ἰωσῆ (Joses) 118 157 700* 1071 syr^h co^bomss

Ἰωσὴφ (Joseph) א² B C N Θ f¹ 33 700^c 892 lat syr^s,c,hmg mae-1 Codex Schøyen co^bomss Origen^pt

Location of the Text

The manuscript is currently housed at the Sackler Library (Papyrology Rooms, P. Oxy. 4403) in Oxford.

Philip W. Comfort

P. Oxy. 2683 and 4405, fragments of one leaf (one fragment published in 1968 and the other in 1997), fit side by side. The two fragments unquestionably belong to the same codex. In both fragments, the formation of letters is the same, and the number of letters per line (25–27) matches. Other identical features are punctuation (a midpoint between phrases and verses), breathing marks (rough and diaeresis), and spacing. Originally the writing would have occupied 7 cm x 11 cm (on a 11 cm x 16 cm codex page), with twenty lines per page.

It is quite likely that P103 also belonged to the same codex or at least was produced by the same scribe. The formation of the letters is remarkably similar (see especially the kappa, phi, and upsilon, the latter of which takes several shapes—one a long shaft with a shallow bowl on top, just as in P77). The only noticeable difference is in the formation of ξ. The average number of letters per line (25–27) is identical, as is the calculation that originally there would have been 20 lines per page. Other identical features are punctuation (a midpoint between phrases and verses) and breathing marks (diaeresis). The only difference in physical appearance is that P103 is not as bilinear as P77, but this difference is very slight. The editor of P103 (J. D. Thomas), noting all these similarities, suggests that P103 belongs to the same codex as P77, but cannot be certain. My opinion is that it is far more likely than not that P103 belongs to the same codex.

The original editor of P77 (Parsons) dated it to the late second century on the basis of its strong similarities to manuscripts like P. Oxy. 1082 and P. Oxy. 2663. The handwriting shows some similarities with P. Oxy. 1082 and P. Oxy. 2663 (both of the second century), but it has far more similarities with P. Oxy. 1622, a manuscript that must be dated pre-a.d. 148 (per the documentary text on the other side of Thucydides). Thus, P77/P103 could be dated to around the middle second century.

According to Parsons, the text of P77 has the closest affinity with א. The Alands describe the manuscript as having an “at least normal text, by a careless scribe.” However, the manuscript is clearly a literary production. According to Roberts, P77 was written “in an elegant hand [and] has what was or became a standard system of chapter division, as well as punctuation and breathing marks.” The additional fragments affirm the proto-Alexandrian character of the manuscript, showing more agreement with א than with B. Both these fragments also confirm that the manuscript was produced by a trained scribe.

REFERENCES

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: WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
2. Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett. The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts, 2 Volume Set (English and Greek Edition). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Academic; 3rd edition, 2019.
3. “LISTE HANDSCHRIFTEN”. MÜNSTER: INSTITUTE FOR NEW TESTAMENT TEXTUAL RESEARCH.
4. B. P. Grenfell & A. S. Hunt, Oxyrhynchus Papyri X, (London, 1914).
5. Edward D. Andrews. FROM SPOKEN WORDS TO SACRED TEXTS: Introduction-Intermediate New Testament Textual Studies. Cambridge, Ohio: Christian Publishing House; 2020.