Papyrus 6 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by or by ε 021 (in von Soden's numbering), is a fragmentary early copy of the New Testament in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Coptic (Akhmimic). It is a

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

of the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

that has been dated paleographically to the 4th century. The manuscript also contains text of the

First Epistle of Clement The First Epistle of Clement () is a letter addressed to the Christians in the city of Corinth. The work is attributed to Clement I, the fourth bishop of Rome and was almost certainly written by him. Based on internal evidence some scholars say ...

, which is treated as a canonical book of the New Testament by the

Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...

. The major part of the codex is lost. The Greek text of the codex has several unusual textual variants.

Description

The codex contains text of the

in Coptic (Akhmimic dialect) on the first 26 pages of the manuscript, Coptic

Epistle of James The Epistle of James is a Catholic epistles, general epistle and one of the 21 epistles (didactic letters) in the New Testament. It was written originally in Koine Greek. The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience. It survives in manusc ...

on the pages 91–99, and Greek and Coptic Gospel of John on the page 100. Pages 27–90 have not survived. About 25 pages contained the rest of the text of the First Epistle of Clement and one page of text of James 1:1-12, but there were about 28 pages with unknown content. According to Friedrich Rösch there is not space for the

Second Epistle of Clement The Second Epistle of Clement (), often referred to as 2 Clement (pronounced "Second Clement"), is an early Christian writing. It was at one point possibly considered canonical by the Coptic Orthodox Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. 1 and 2 Cl ...

. The original size of pages probably measured 28 cm by 15 cm. According to the reconstruction the text of the codex was written in one column per page, 30 lines per page. It is written in

uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

letters. The

nomina sacra In Christian scribal practice, (singular: , Latin for 'sacred name') is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A consists of two or more letters from the original w ...

are written in an abbreviated way (ις̅, θυ̅). About 200 fragments of the codex have survived. 15 fragments from the four original leaves contain the Greek text of the Gospel of John. ; Contents The Greek text of the codex contains: Gospel of John 10:1-2,4-7. 9–10; 11:1-8,45-52. The Coptic (Akhmimic) text of the codex contains: First Epistle of Clement 1:1-26:2; John 10:1-12,20; 13:1-2,11-12; James 1:13-5:20.

Text

The Greek text of this codex is a representative of the

Alexandrian text-type In textual criticism of the New Testament, the Alexandrian text-type is one of the main text types. It is the text type favored by the majority of modern textual critics and it is the basis for most modern (after 1900) Bible translations. Over 5,8 ...

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and Biblical studies, biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the ''Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Institut für neutest ...

placed it in Category II of New Testament manuscripts, because it has some alien readings. : �ευσαν εις αυτον τιν�ς δε εξ αυ : �ων απηλθον προς τ�̣υ̣ς φαρισαιους : �αι ειπαν αυτοις αεπ̣ο̣ιησεν ις̅ : �υνηγαγον ουν οι αρ�ι̣ερεις : �αι οι φαρισαιοι συνεδριο�̣ και ελε : �ον τι ποιουμεν οτι ουτο�̣ ο̣ α̣ν̣θρ̣ω̣ : �ος πολλα ποιει σημειαεαν : �φωμεν αυτον ουτωςπαντες̣ : �ιστευσουσιν εις αυτονκ̣αι ελευ : �ονται οι ρωμαιοι και αρο�̣σιν ημων : �αι τον τοπον και το εθνο�̣· : �ις δε τις εξ αυτων καια�ας : �ρχιερευς ων του ενιαυτο�̣ εκειν �υ : ειπεν αυτοις υ�ε �ς ουκο̣ιδατ̣ � : ουδεν ουδε λο�̣ι̣ζε̣ �θε ο�̣ι συμ : �ερει υμιν ι�̣ � εις αν�̣ρω : �ος αποθαν�̣ υ �ερ του λαο�̣ : �αι μη ολον τοε �νος αποληται του : το δε αφ εαυτουουκ ε̣ �πενα̣λλα̣ : �ρχιερευς ωντου ε �ια�̣του̣ εκ̣ �ι : νου επροφητευσεν οτι ε�̣ελ̣λ̣ε̣ � : ις̅ αποθνησκειν υπερ το�̣ εθ̣ �ους : �αι ουχ υπερ του εθνους μονον : αλλ ινα και τα τεκ�̣α του ��̣̅ �α : διεσκορπισμενασυναγαγη ε̣ι̣ς ε̣ν̣ In John 10:4-5 it has singular word order τ �ν φωνην των αλλο�ριων. Other manuscripts have reading την φωνην αυτου αλλοτριω or αυτου την φωνην αλλοτριω.

Eberhard Nestle Eberhard Nestle (1 May 1851, Stuttgart – 9 March 1913, Stuttgart) was a German biblical scholar, textual critic, orientalist, editor of the '' Novum Testamentum Graece'', and the father of Erwin Nestle. Life Nestle was a son of the upper tr ...

Erwin Nestle Erwin Nestle (22 May 1883 in Münsingen, Germany – 21 November 1972 in Ulm, Germany), son of Eberhard Nestle, was a German scholar who continued editing his father's "Nestle Edition" of the New Testament The New Testament (NT) is t ...

Barbara Aland Barbara Aland (née Ehlers, 12 April 1937 – 10 November 2024) was a German theologian and professor of New Testament Research and Church History at the University of Münster until 2002. She was internationally recognized for her work on the ' ...

and

(eds), ''

Novum Testamentum Graece (''The New Testament in Greek'') is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek published by ''Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft'' (German Bible Society), forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical crit ...

'', 26th edition, (Stuttgart: ''

Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft The Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft ("German Bible Society") is a religious foundation regulated by public law. It is involved in publishing and in spreading the message of the Bible. The Society publishes the Bible in the original languages and in ...

'', 1991), p. 282. A26/ref> In John 10:5 it reads ακολουθησωσιν, the reading of the codex is supported by the manuscripts:

Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonical ...

, Regius, Washingtonianus, Koridethi, Athous Lavrensis, 0250. The alternative reading ακολουθησουσιν occur in the manuscripts A, B, D, Δ,

700 The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Avar and Slavic tribes co ...

, and other. In John 10:6 it has singular reading τι ην α for τι; the reading of the codex is not supported by any other manuscript.Peter M. Head, ''The Habits of New Testament Copyists Singular Readings in the Early Fragmentary Papyri of John'', Biblica 85 (2004), p. 407 In John 10:10 it has unique addition: δ]ε (between ο and κλεπτης) – ο δε κλεπτης instead of ο κλεπτης. In John 11:1 it reads ην δε τις εκει for ην δε τις; the reading of the codex is not supported by any other manuscript. In John 11:2 name Mariam has an unusual spelling with using Coptic letters (Mariham). In John 11:5 it has singular reading της μαρθαν και την αδελφεν αυτης. In John 11:45 it has reading οι ελθοντες προς την Μαριαμ along with the manuscripts

Papyrus 59 Papyrus 59 (in the Gregory- Aland numbering), signed by 𝔓59, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of John. The manuscript has been palaeographically assigned to the seventh century. ; Contents Gos ...

, Vaticanus, Ephraemi, Regius,

minuscule 33 Minuscule 33 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 48 ( Soden), before the French Revolution was called ''Codex Colbertinus 2844''. It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated palaeographically to the 9th century. ...

; other manuscripts read οι ελθοντες μετα Μαριαμ.

History

Caspar René Gregory Caspar René Gregory (November 6, 1846 – April 9, 1917) was an American-German theologian. Life Gregory was born to Mary Jones and Henry Duval Gregory in Philadelphia. He was the brother of the American zoologist Emily Ray Gregory. After comp ...

did not try to estimate its date.

Frederic G. Kenyon Sir Frederic George Kenyon (15 January 1863 – 23 August 1952) was an English palaeographer and biblical and classical scholar. He held a series of posts at the British Museum from 1889 to 1931. He was also the president of the British Academy ...

''Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament''
London², 1912, p. 120. Friedrich Rösch suggested the 5th or 6th century, according to him the earlier date of the codex is excluded by presence 1 Epistle of Clement. Some scholars date it even so late as 7th-8th century. Currently it is dated by the

INTF The Institute for New Testament Textual Research ( — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its Greek initial text on the basis of the entire manuscri ...

to the 4th century. It is difficult to date the manuscript on the palaeographical ground because of its fragmentary nature. The manuscript was discovered in Egypt. It was the second manuscript with translation 1 Epistle of Clement into Coptic and the first in Akhmimic dialect. The Greek text of the codex was published by Gregory in 1908. Friedrich Rösch published the text of the whole manuscript Coptic and Greek in 1910. It is currently housed at the

Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

(Pap. copt. 379. 381. 382. 384) in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

References

* Wolfgang Kosack, Novum Testamentum Coptice. Neues Testament, Bohairisch, ediert von Wolfgang Kosack. Novum Testamentum, Bohairice, curavit Wolfgang Kosack. / Wolfgang Kosack. neue Ausgabe, Christoph Brunner, Basel 2014. .

External links

*
Digital image of P6
at

CSNTM The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to digitally preserve Greek New Testament manuscripts. Toward that end, CSNTM takes digital photographs of manuscripts at institu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papyrus 0006 New Testament papyri Greek-Coptic diglot manuscripts of the New Testament 4th-century biblical manuscripts Apocryphal epistles Bibliothèque nationale de France collections Gospel of John papyri First Epistle of Clement papyri

Description

Text

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links