Chester Beatty Papyri: Difference between revisions
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The term '''"Chester Beatty Papyri"''' can also generally refer to the collection of manuscripts that Alfred Chester Beatty acquired over his lifetime, which include non-Biblical papyri such as the [[Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus]]. |
The term '''"Chester Beatty Papyri"''' can also generally refer to the collection of manuscripts that Alfred Chester Beatty acquired over his lifetime, which include non-Biblical papyri such as the [[Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus]]. |
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== Old Testament manuscripts == |
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Originally, there were believed to be eight manuscripts in the Chester Beatty collection that contained portions of the Old Testament. However, what was believed to be two different manuscripts actually belonged to the same codex, resulting in a total of seven Old Testament manuscripts in the collection, all following the text of the [[septuagint]]. |
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* P. IV and V – Two manuscripts that contain portions of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], one dated to the late 3rd century, and one the early 4th century. These manuscripts are significant because the next oldest Greek Old Testament texts of Vaticanus and Sinaiticus have extensive [[Lacuna (manuscripts)|Lacunae]] in Genesis. |
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* P. VI – A manuscript of the [[Book of Numbers]] and [[Deuteronomy]], consisting of around 50 partial leaves out of 108 and many very small fragment, dated to the first half of the 2nd century. It is the earliest manuscript in the collection, but is predated by two other less extensive Greek papyri manuscripts of these books, [[Papyrus Fouad 266|''P. Fouad'' 266]] and ''[[Papyrus Rylands 458|P. Rylands 458]]''. |
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* P. VII – A manuscript of the [[Book of Isaiah]], heavily deteriorated, with Coptic (Old Fayumic) marginal notes, dated to the 3rd century. |
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* P. VIII – Two fragmentary leaves from the [[Book of Jeremiah]], ''c.'' 200 |
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* P. IX/X – A manuscript of the Books of [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], and [[Book of Esther|Esther]]. What remains is 50 out of an original 118 leaves, 29 of which are in the Chester Beatty Library (8 of Ezekiel, 8 of Esther, and 13 of Daniel), and another 21 of Ezekiel are in the [[Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library|Princeton University Library]]. All of the manuscripts are the most substantial, early examples of the corresponding books. The bottom portion of the leaves are missing, and the manuscript is dated to the 3rd century. Ezekiel is written in a different handwriting than the other two books. Daniel was originally counted as X, because it was mistakenly attributing it to another manuscript. It was later decided that all three books belonged to the same codex. Daniel contains some significant variations regarding the ordering and omission of certain text (chapters 7-8 come before 5-6, and parts of chapters 4 and 5 are missing). |
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* P. XI – Two fragmentary leaves from [[Ecclesiastes]], dated to the 4th century. |
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== New Testament manuscripts == |
== New Testament manuscripts == |
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Revision as of 01:34, 14 February 2013
The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri or simply the Chester Beatty Papyri are a group of early papyrus manuscripts of biblical texts. The manuscripts are in Greek and are of Christian origin. There are eleven manuscripts in the group, seven consisting of portions of Old Testament books, three consisting of portions of the New Testament (Gregory-Aland no. P45, P46, and P47), and one consisting of portions of the Book of Enoch and an unidentified Christian homily. Most are dated to the 3rd century. They are housed in part at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland, and in part at the University of Michigan, among a few other locations.
The papyri were most likely first obtained by illegal antiquity traders. Because of this, the exact circumstances of the find are not clear. One account is that the manuscripts were in jars in a Coptic graveyard near the ruins of the ancient city of Aphroditopolis. Other theories have proposed that the collection was found near the Fayum instead of Aphroditopolis, or that the location was a Christian church or monastery near instead of a graveyard. Most of the papyri were bought from a dealer by Alfred Chester Beatty, after whom the manuscripts are named, although some leaves and fragments were acquired by the University of Michigan and a few other collectors and institutions.
The papyri were first announced on November 19, 1931, although more leaves would be acquired over the next decade. Frederic G. Kenyon, in an 8 volume work that spanned 1933-58, published the manuscripts in The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible. The papyri are usually cataloged as P. Chester Beatty followed by a corresponding Roman numeral between I-XII, one for each manuscript.
The term "Chester Beatty Papyri" can also generally refer to the collection of manuscripts that Alfred Chester Beatty acquired over his lifetime, which include non-Biblical papyri such as the Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus.
New Testament manuscripts
There are three New Testament manuscripts that are part of the Chester Beatty Papyri. The first, P. I, is labeled under the Gregory-Aland numbering system as P45 and was originally a codex of 110 leaves that contained the four canonical gospels and Acts. 30 fragmentary leaves remain, consisting of two small leaves of the Gospel of Matthew chapters 20/21 and 25/26, portions of the Gospel of Mark chapters 4-9, 11-12, portions of the Gospel of Luke 6-7, 9-14, portions of the Gospel of John 4-5, 10-11, and portion of the Acts of the Apostles 4-17. The ordering of the gospels follows the Western tradition, Matthew, John, Luke, Mark, Acts. These fragments are palaeographically dated to the first half of the 3rd century.
P46 is the second New Testament manuscript in the Chester Beatty collection (P. II), and was a codex that contained the Pauline Epistles dating c. 200. What remains today of the manuscript is roughly 85 out of 104 leaves consisting of Romans chapters 5-6, 8-15, all of Hebrews, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, virtually all of 1–2 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians 1-2, 5. The leaves have partially deteriorated, resulting in the loss of some lines at the bottom of each folio. The manuscript split up between the Chester Beatty Library and the University of Michigan. Scholars do not believe the Pastoral epistles were included originally in the codex, based on the amount of space required in the missing leaves; they conclude 2 Thessalonians would have occupied the final portion of the codex. The inclusion of Hebrews, a book that was questioned canonically and not considered authored by Paul, is notable. The placement of it following Romans is unique against most other witnesses, as is the ordering of Galatians following Ephesians.
P. III is the last New Testament manuscript, P47, and contains 10 leaves from the Book of Revelation, chapters 9-17. This manuscript also dates to the 3rd century, and Kenyon describes the handwriting as being rough.
Apocrypha manuscript
The last manuscript in the Chester Beatty Papyri, XII, contains chapters 97-107 of the Book of Enoch and portions of an unknown Christian homily attributed to Melito of Sardis. The manuscript is placed in the 4th century. The Book of Enoch is listed as "The Epistle of Enoch" in the manuscript. Chapters 105 and 108 are not included, and scholars believe they were later additions. XII is the only Greek witness to certain parts of Enoch. As for the homily, XII was the only known copy of the text at the time of its discovery. Two manuscripts which contain the text, P. Bodmer XIII and P. Oxy. 1600, have since been found. The manuscript also contains the only manuscript witness to the Apocryphon of Ezekiel, although it is cited by Clement of Alexandria (Paedagogus I. ix. 84.2–4). Overall, the handwriting is rough and most likely from a scribe who did not know Greek well. Campbell Bonner of the University of Michigan published this manuscript in his 1937 The Last Chapters of Enoch in Greek and 1940 The Homily on the Passion by Metito Bishop of Sardis.
References
- Bruce, F.F. "The Chester Beatty Papyrii," The Harvester 11 (1934): 163-164.
- "Chester Beatty Papyri". 'The Anchor Bible Dictionary. vol. 1. Doubleday: 1992. pp. 901–903
- Kenyon, Frederic G.. "Chapter 9 – The Age of Discoveries (continued): The Chester Beatty Papyri." The Story of the Bible. London: J. Murray, 1936.
- Kenyon, Frederic G. The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible. London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1933, 1937. Fasciculus I: General Introduction, Fasciculus II: The Gospels and Acts, Fasciculus III, Supplement: Pauline Epistles.