Related pages
Introduction
In contrast to all other historical documents, there are many hundreds of ancient documents containing portions of the New Testament. Generally the earlier texts of the New Testament were written on papyrus made from the pith of a tall wetland sedge or reed (Cyperus papyrus). Later texts were written on parchment (skins of sheep, calves or goats) or on the higher quality vellum made from calf skin. These texts are known as uncials. The most important of these are the Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus.
The text of the New Testament
None of the original copies of the books of the NT have ever been found. The science of textual criticism seeks to recreate the most accurate version of the Greek text, closest to that originally written by the apostles. This is then used to make translations into modern languages.
NT papyri
There are a large number of fragments or larger portions of the NT written on papyrus, which are considered to be closest to the original text of the NT. So far, around 140 have been discovered and identified. This page lists these documents, showing their date, their contents, where they are kept and links to websites giving further information and images.
Numbering of the papyri
The papyri were first allocated numbers in the early twentieth century by Caspar René Gregory using the Gothic Blackletter character 𝔓 representing the letter 'P'. The number is merely the order of registration and has no connection to the age of the papyrus or its origin.
Codex or scroll
The majority of the manuscripts are fragments or pages from a codex, which is a book with binding and the text written on both sides of the papyrus. The front is known as the 'recto' and the reverse side is known as the 'verso'. A page of papyrus was made by laying strips from the papyrus reed horizontally and vertically. On the front (recto) side the fibres run horizontally, parallel to the lines of writing, making it the preferred and first side for writing. On the reverse (verso) side the fibres run vertically, at right angles to the writing, making the process of writing more difficult.
A few manuscripts were written on a scroll, with the writing on one side only, or otherwise written on the reverse (verso) side of an existing document. Sometimes the reverse (verso) side was used for notes or comments.
Text types
As the Gospel spread in the second century, many copies of books of the NT were made, often by people who were not professional scribes, so their accuracy can be reduced. Early manuscripts are normally closer to the original text because they have not been copied as many times as later manuscripts. The three main text types are Alexandrian, Byzantine and Western.
Alexandrian text type
These are normally considered by critical scholars to be the oldest and the most faithful witnesses to the original text of the NT. They tend to be shorter and the the style of writing less polished. The accounts in the Gospels are rarely harmonised with the other Gospels. These include the codices from the early fourth century like the Codex Vaticanus (B, or 03) and the Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph ℵ, or 01).
Byzantine or Majority text type
These include the vast majority of later medieval Greek minuscules, including the Textus Receptus, which was the basis for the King James Version. The style of writing is smoother and they include many additions and harmonisations across parallel gospel accounts. They are considered to be a less reliable witness to the original Greek text.
Western text type
These tend to have freer paraphrasing and often expand the text to aid interpretation. This type is represented by the Codex Bezae (D, or 05).
Categories of manuscripts
Greek manuscripts of the NT are given a category which was introduced by Kurt and Barbara Aland in their Text of the New Testament in 1981. Earlier Alexandrian manuscripts are category I, and later Byzantine manuscripts are category V.
Category I
"Manuscripts of a very special quality which should always be considered in establishing the original text". Category I manuscripts are presumed to be closer to the original text.
Category II
"Manuscripts of a special quality, but distinguished from manuscripts of Category I by the presence of alien influences". These are similar to category I, but usually contain some influences from Byzantine or Egyptian texts.
Category III
"Manuscripts of a distinctive character with an independent text... particularly important for the history of the text".
Category IV
"Manuscripts of the D text". These contain a few manuscripts which follow the text of the Codex Bezae (D).
Category V
"Manuscripts with a purely or predominantly Byzantine text."
Uncategorised
Most uncategorised manuscripts are too short to determine which group they belong to.
Textual variants
A textual variant is where there are differences in spelling, grammar or word order between different manuscripts. These arose as scribes hand-copied ancient manuscripts, either accidently or deliberately. The vast majority of variants are minor differences in spelling or wording, or differences in style. Some variants are larger where phrases or passages are added or removed, but there are very few of these. The most well-known of the larger differences are the account of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 7:53 - 8:11) and the longer ending of Mark's Gospel (Mark 16:9-20).
The most important manuscripts
Many of the papyri are very small fragments, so are do not have much influence on determining the text of the NT. The most important are the three larger Chester Beatty papyri from the third century: P45 which contains the Gospels and Acts, P46 containing most of Paul's letters, and P47 containing the Book of Revelation. The Bodmer papyri are also important: P66 containing the Gospel of John, and P75 containing Luke and John.
Contents
Most of the manuscripts only contain portions of NT text. Some also include commentaries (P59, P60, P63, P80), some are lectionaries (P2, P3, P44), some are talismans (P50, P55, P78), others are scraps of writings, glossaries or songs (P10, P12, P42, P43, P62, P72, P99).
List of NT papyri (P1 - P141)
Each table below contains information about ten manuscripts, giving the approximate date, content, number of fragments or pages, and the name of the museum or library. A number of links are provided if available. Links to the museum or library holding the manuscript showing digital images and the Wikipedia page. The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) in Texas, USA. The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF / Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung) in the University of Munster in Germany. The 'Locations' table lists each museum or library and the papyri held there. The 'NT Books' table lists the New Testament books and the papyri which contain passages from that book.