Papyrus 72

Papyrus 72 (${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁷², Papyrus Bodmer VII-VIII) is the designation used by textual critics of the New Testament to describe portions of the so-called Bodmer Miscellaneous codex, namely the letters of Jude, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter. These books seem to have been copied by the same scribe, and the handwriting has been paleographically assigned to the 3rd or 4th century.[1] Although the letters of Jude (P.Bodmer VII) and 1-2 Peter (P.Bodmer VIII) in this codex do not form a single continuous text, scholars still tend to refer to these three texts as a single early New Testament papyrus.[2]

Papyrus 72

New Testament manuscript papyri uncials minuscules lectionaries
1 Peter 5:12–end and 2 Peter 1:1–5 on facing pages of Papyrus Bodmer VIII
Name	Papyrus Bodmer VII-IX
Sign	${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$^72
Text	Jude, 1 Peter, 2 Peter
Date	3rd/4th century
Script	Greek
Now at	Cologny/Geneva; Vatican City, Bibl. Bodmeriana; Bibl. Vaticana
Size	14.5 by 16 cm
Type	Alexandrian text-type
Category	I
Hand	documentary hand
Note	resembles ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$^50

Description

It is the earliest known manuscript of these epistles, though a few verses of Jude are in a fragment ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁷⁸ (P. Oxy. 2684).[3]

P.Bodmer VII (Jude) and P.Bodmer VIII (1-2 Peter) form part of a single book (the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex). This book appeared on the antiquities market in Egypt and was bought by the Swiss collector Martin Bodmer (Bodmer donated the letters of Peter, P.Bodmer VIII, to the Vatican in 1969.[4] The complete make-up of the book is generally reconstructed as: The Nativity of Mary (P.Bodmer V), the apocryphal correspondence of Paul to the Corinthians (P.Bodmer X), the eleventh ode of Solomon (P.Bodmer XI), Jude (P.Bodmer VII), Melito's Homily on the Passover (P.Bodmer XIII), a fragment of a hymn (P.Bodmer XII), the Apology of Phileas (P.Bodmer XX), Psalm 33 and 34 (P.Bodmer IX), and 1-2 Peter (P.Bodmer VIII). The same scribe who copied P.Bodmer VII and VIII is also thought to have copied P.Bodmer X and XI.[5]

The manuscript contains the usual nomina sacra for Messiah, Jesus, God, Lord, Spirit, Father, plus a few non-standard ones: ΔΥΜΙ (power), Σαρρα (Sarah), Αβρααμ (Abraham), Νωε (Noah), Μιχαης (Archangel Michael), and Ενωχ (Enoch).

A facsimile edition of Bodmer Papyrus VIII was published in 2007 by Testimonio Compañía Editorial.[6]

Text

1 Peter 2:7-12; 2:12-17 in Papyrus Bodmer VII-IX

The Greek text of this codex is a representative of the Alexandrian text-type. According to Aland in 1-2 Peter it has normal text, in Jude free text, both with certain peculiarities. Aland placed it into I Category. It is close to the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.[7]

See also

• List of New Testament papyri
• Bodmer Library

References

1. Aland and Aland, The Text of the New Testament (2nd ed.), 100
2. Nongbri, "The Construction of P.Bodmer VIII and the Bodmer 'Composite' or 'Miscellaneous' Codex," 409-410
3. Wasserman, "Papyrus 72 and the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex," 137
4. Nongbri, "The Construction of P.Bodmer VIII and the Bodmer 'Composite' or 'Miscellaneous' Codex," 396
5. Wasserman, "Papyrus 72 and the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex," 140 and 149-151
6. http://www.testimonio.com/en/facsimil-colecciones/st-peter-facsimile.html%5B%5D
7. Aland and Aland, The Text of the New Testament (2nd ed.), 100

Further reading

• Aland, Kurt and Barbara Aland. The Text of the New Testament. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
• Beare, FW (1961),The Text of I Peter in Papyrus 72, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 80, No.3, pp. 253–260.
• Wasserman, Tommy. "Papyrus 72 and the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex," New Testament Studies 51, (2005), 137-154. doi:10.1017/S0028688505000081
• Jones, Brice C. "The Bodmer 'Miscellaneous' Codex and the Crosby-Schøyen Codex MS 193: A New Proposal." JGRChJ (2011-2012), 9-20.
• Nongbri, Brent. "The Construction of P.Bodmer VIII and the Bodmer 'Composite' or 'Miscellaneous' Codex." Novum Testamentum 58 (2016), 394-410. doi:10.1163/15685365-12341535
• Kubo, Sakae. ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$72 and the Codex Vaticanus. Studies and Documents 27. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1965.
• Strickland, Phillip David. 2017. The Curious Case of ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$72: What an Ancient Manuscrtipt Can Tell us about the Epistles of Peter and Jude. Journal of the Evangelical Society 60.4:781-792.
• Images available for viewing at CSNTM, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$72".