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The Reading Culture of Early Christianity

Papyrus **109**


Name	P. Oxy. 4448
Sign	𝔓¹⁰⁹
Text	Gospel of John 21:18-20, 23-25
Date	150-200 A.D.
Script	Greek
Found	Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
Now at	Sackler Library
Cite	W. E. H. Cockle, OP LXV (1998), pp. 19-20
Size	7.9 x 4.1 cm
Type	unknown
Category	?

Papyrus 109 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by siglum 𝔓¹⁰⁹, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John, containing verses 21:18-20 & 21:23-25 in a fragmentary condition. The INTF has paleographically assigned the manuscript to the early 3rd century CE. [200-225 A.D.] Papyrologist Philip Comfort dates the manuscript to the middle-late 2nd century C.E. 150-200 A.D.]. The manuscript is currently housed in the Papyrology Rooms (P. Oxy. 4448) of the Sackler Library at Oxford. The original manuscript probably measured 12 cm x 24 cm, with 26 lines per page. The handwriting script is representative of the Reformed Documentary style. The text is too small to determine its textual character.

Comfort: P109 dates middle to late second century; the manuscript, though small, resembles P66, dated to the middle of the second century (see comments in our introduction to P66). However, the limited number of extant letters in P109 prohibits a full-scale comparison with P66.

In the case of the New Testament papyri manuscripts, our early evidence for the Greek New Testament, size is irrelevant. They range from centimeters encompassing a couple of verses to a codex with many books of the New Testament. But all of them add something significant. And often, monumental. It can be from support for an original reading to establishing which family of manuscripts were the earliest. A tiny fragment that may date to about 100-150 A.D. or 150-200 A.D. that is established as belonging to the Alexandrian family gives us credence that the Alexandrian text is the earliest form of the text. In addition, it validates our two greatest vellum codices: Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. Early on, the supporters of the Byzantine text tried to argue that the Byzantine manuscripts were the earliest and the most accurate. In addition, they claimed the Alexandrian family had removed material from the New Testament. Well, this was debunked when the 20th century arrived because of all the 144 Papyrus Greek NT manuscripts and all of those dating to the first three centuries after the first century, none are of the Byzantine family, and the rest are Alexandrian, with a couple being Western. The argument from the Alexandrian supporters that the Byzantine was later, and their scribes added to the Bible, was true. The general rule, the earlier the manuscript, the more accurate. So, the early papyri can validate the original reading for almost all of our textual variants.

Textual Variants

John 21:18 (1)

αλλοι : 𝔓¹⁰⁹ 𝔓⁵⁹ א‎ C² D W 1 33 565 pc sy^h(mg) pbo,

αλλος : A Θ Ψ ƒ¹³

\mathfrak{M}

lat

John 21:18 (2)

αποισουσιν σε : 𝔓¹⁰⁹ 𝔓⁵⁹ א‎² D W 1 33 565 pc sy^h(mg) pbo,

οισει : A B C*^(vid) Θ Ψ ƒ¹³

\mathfrak{M}

lat sy^s^{, p}^{, h}

ποιησουσιν σοι οσα: א‎*

επογουσιν σε : D*

απαγουσιν σε : D¹

οισουσιν σε : C²

John 21:23

τι προς σε

incl. : 𝔓¹⁰⁹ א‎¹ A B C^*vid W Θ Ψ ƒ¹³

\mathfrak{M}

lat sy^p^{, h}

omit. : א‎* C^2vid 1 565 pc a e sy^s

John 21:25

ουδ : 𝔓¹⁰⁹ א‎¹ B D W Θ Ψ ƒ¹³

\mathfrak{M}

ουδε : A C

Transcription

John 21:18-20. 23-25

¹⁸ [λες οταν δε γηρασης εκτε]ν̣ε̣ι[ς

τας χειρας σου κ]αι αλλοι

[αποι]ο̣υσιν̣ σ̣ε̣

[οπου ου θελεις ¹⁹ τ]ουτο̣ δ̣ε

[ειπεν σημαινων ποιω] θ̣α̣

[νατω δοξασει τον θν και]

[τουτο ειπων λεγει αυ]τ̣ω̣ ακο

[λουθει μοι ²⁰ επιστραφ]ε̣ι̣ς̣ ο̣

[πετρος βλεπει τον] μ̣αθ̣η̣

²³ μ[ε]νε̣[ιν εως ερχομαι τι]

προς σ̣[ε ²⁴ ουτος εστιν ο μα]

θητης [ο και μαρτυρων πε]

ρι τουτ̣[ων και ο γραψας]

τ̣α̣υ̣[τα και οιδαμεν οτι]

[αληθης αυτου η μαρτυρια]

ε̣σ[τιν ²⁵ εστιν δε και αλλα]

πολ̣λ̣[α α εποιησεν ο ιης̅ α]

τινα̣ [εαν γραφηται καθ εν]

ο̣υ̣δ̣ [αυτον οιμαι τον κοσμον]

REFERENCES

PHILIP W. COMFORT; DAVID P. BARRETT (2019). THE TEXT OF THE EARLIEST NEW TESTAMENT GREEK MANUSCRIPTS. VOL. 1 GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN: KREGEL ACADEMICS. P. 110.
B. P. Grenfell & A. S. Hunt, Oxyrhynchus Papyri XIII, (London 1919), p. 10.
Edward D. Andrews (2020) FROM SPOKEN WORDS TO SACRED TEXTS: Introduction-Intermediate New Testament Textual Studies, Cambridge, Ohio, Christian Publishing House.
KURT ALAND; BARBARA ALAND (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. P. 97.
David Alan Black, New Testament Textual Criticism, Baker Books, 2006, p. 65.
“LISTE HANDSCHRIFTEN” MÜNSTER: INSTITUTE FOR NEW TESTAMENT TEXTUAL RESEARCH.
Attribution: This article incorporates some text from the public domain: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and Edward D. Andrews