PAPYRUS 2

Arturo Campillo S.

The photograph shows a part of the Papyrus 2 (P2), one of the oldest copies of the New Testament. It is written in Greek and Coptic (ancient Egyptian). It is a fragment of papyrus dated to the sixth century.

This fragment contained one column per page, approximately 6.6 cm by 5.8 cm, with 13 lines per page. [1] [2] We can see the use of Nomina Sacra (an abbreviated form used for names or titles that appear more frequently).

The part shown in the photograph is the passage of Luke, Chapter 7, verses 22-26, written in Coptic. On the other side, it shows the corresponding passage  of John chapter 12, verses 12-15.

The fragment appears to be a lectionary (liturgical book) [3]. The Greek text of this codex is mixed [4].

Italian papyrologis Ermenegildo Pistelli dated the manuscript in the fifth or sixth century, while the German theologian and textual critic Ernst von Dobschütz placed it in the sixth or seventh century.

Kurt Aland, german theologian and scholar specialized in the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, placed it in Category III of the manuscripts of the New Testament [5], ie, he considered it important in relation to the history of traditions, and less to establish the original text.

The P2 is now in the Egyptian Museum in Florence, Italy. [6]

References:

[1] K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack, Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments, (Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1994), p. 3.

[2] University of Münster: Institute of New Testament Textual Research. (Consulted June 29, 2015): http://nttranscripts.uni-muenster.de/AnaServer?NTtranscripts

[3] Maldfeld, Georg and Metzger, Bruce M. "Detailed List of the Greek Papyri of the New Testament," Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 68, No. 4. (Dec., 1949), p. 361.

[4] Maldfeld & Metzger (1949), p. 364

[5] Aland, Kurt ; Aland, Barbara (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. Rodas (trad.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company . p. 96.

[6] University of Münster: Institute of New Testament Textual Research. (Consulted June 29, 2015).

"Η ΚΑΙΝΗ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΕ, Cum Lectionibus Variantibus"
of John Mill (1707)

Arturo Campillo S.

In 1707, the English theologian John Mill wrote "Η ΚΑΙΝΗ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΕ, Cum Lectionibus Variantibus", which tried publish a text of the New Testament based on the oldest Greek text known in his time, including those passages cited by the Fathers of the Church.

His work is a classic biblical textual criticism, not only for the care he put in it, but because among the 100 basic manuscripts that he use, he detected 30,000 differences between them. 

Mill provided the most extensive collection of variant readings to that date, and gave his position on some of them, including the heavenly witnesses, but "did not venture to form a text of his own but reprinted Stephanus' text of 1550 without intentional variation" (Metzger & Ehrman, Text of the NT, 4th ed, p. 154).

Thanks to Jeff Cate and Steve Avery for the feedback of this text.

(Source of the images:

http://www.csntm.org/printedbook/viewbook/JohnMillNovumTestamentum1707).