Papyrus 115
Papyrus 115 (P. Oxy. 4499, designated by 115 in the Gregory-Aland numbering) is a fragmented manuscript of the New Testament written in Greek on papyrus. It consists of 26 fragments of a codex containing parts of the Book of Revelation, and probably nothing more.[1] It dates to the third century, c. 225-275 AD.[2] Grenfell and Hunt discovered the papyrus in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.
New Testament manuscript | |
![]() Red arrow points to χιϛ (616), "number of the beast" in P115 | |
Name | P. Oxy. 4499 |
---|---|
Text | Rev 2-3, 5-6, 8-15 |
Date | c. 275 |
Found | Oxyrhynchus, Egypt |
Now at | Ashmolean Museum |
Cite | Juan Chapa, Oxyrynchus Papyri 66:11-39. (#4499) |
Size | 26 fragments; 15.5 x 23.5 cm; 33-36 lines/page |
Type | Alexandrian, close agreement with A & C |
Category | I |
Note | Gives number of the beast as 616 |
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115 was not deciphered and published until the end of the twentieth century. It is currently housed at the Ashmolean Museum.[3]
Description
The original codex had 33-36 lines per page of 15.5 cm by 23.5 cm. The surviving text includes Revelation 2:1-3, 13-15, 27-29; 3:10-12; 5:8-9; 6:5-6; 8:3-8, 11-13; 9:1-5, 7-16, 18-21; 10:1-4, 8-11; 11:1-5, 8-15, 18-19; 12:1-5, 8-10, 12-17; 13:1-3, 6-16, 18; 14:1-3, 5-7, 10-11, 14-15, 18-20; 15:1, 4-7.[1]
The manuscript has evidence of the following nomina sacra: ΙΗΛ , ΑΥΤΟΥ , ΠΡΣ , ΘΩ , ΘΥ , ΑΝΩΝ , ΠΝΑ , ΟΥΝΟΥ , ΟΥΝΟΝ , ΚΥ , ΘΝ , ΑΝΟΥ , ΟΥΝΩ.
The manuscript uses the Greek Numeral system, with no number extant as being written out in full.[1]
The manuscript is a witness to the Alexandrian text-type, following the text of Codex Alexandrinus (A) and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C).[4]
An interesting element of 115 is that it gives the number of the beast in Revelation 13:18 as 616 (chi, iota, stigma (ΧΙϚ)), rather than the majority reading of 666 (chi, xi, stigma (ΧΞϚ)), as does Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus.
According to the transcription of the INTF, a conjectured reading of the manuscript, due to the space left, is [χξϛ] η χιϛ (666 or 616), therefore not giving a definite number to the beast.[5]
Textual variants[6]
8:12
9:11
- ο απολλυων : 115, 1740.
- απολλυων : 47, א, pc, gig, 2344.
9:13
11:15
12:3
- πυρρος μεγας : 47, 115, 2053, א.
- μεγας πυρρος : A, P, 051, 1841, pm, lat, sa.
- πυρος μεγας : C, 046, 1611, 1854, 2329, 2344, pm, syh.
13:8
- το ονομα αυτου : C 1854, 2053, pc, Irlat, Prim.
- το ονομα : 115, , co, Bea.
- τα ονοματα αυτων : 47, א, P, 051, 1006, 1841, 2329, al, lat.
13:13
14:6
- κατοικουντας : 115, A, 2049, 69.
- καθημενους : 47, א, C, P, 1611, 1854, 2053, 2329, pc, syph, Origen.
14:20
See also
- List of New Testament papyri
- Oxyrhynchus papyri
- Stigma (letter)
References
- Comfort, Philip W.; David P. Barrett (2001). The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 664–677. ISBN 978-0-8423-5265-9.
- Juan Chapa, Oxy. Pap., 66:11-39, no. 4499
- "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- Philip W. Comfort, Encountering the Manuscripts. An Introduction to New Testament Paleography & Textual Criticism, Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005, p. 77.
- http://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/community/vmr/api/transcript/get/?docID=10115&pageID=160&format=html
- Taken from NA27 Edition Apparatus, and http://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/nt-transcripts Archived 13 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Juan Chapa, Oxyrynchus Papyri 66:11-39. (no. 4499).
- Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), pp. 664–677.
- David C. Parker, A new Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Revelation: P115 (P. Oxy. 4499), in: Manuscripts, Texts, Theology: Collected Papers, 1977-2007, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2009, pp. 73–92.
External links
- Oxford University 'P. Oxy. LXVI 4499'
- Image of the fragments of P. Oxy. LXVI 4499