Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1
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Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 (P. Oxy. 1) 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 ...
fragment of the
logia The term ''logia'' (), plural of ''logion'' (), is used variously in ancient writings and modern scholarship in reference to communications of divine origin. In pagan contexts, the principal meaning was "oracles", while Jewish and Christian writi ...
of Jesus written in Greek (''Logia Iesou''). It was among the first of the
Oxyrhynchus Papyri The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrology, papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient Landfill, rubbish dump near Oxyrhync ...
discovered by Grenfell and
Hunt Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
. It was discovered on the second day of excavation, 12 January 1897, in the garbage mounds in the Egyptian town of
Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...
. The fragment is dated to the early half of the 3rd century. Grenfell and Hunt originally dated the fragment between 150 and 300, but "probably not written much later than the year 200." It was later discovered to be the oldest manuscript of the
Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works ...
. __NOTOC__


Description

The manuscript was written on papyrus in codex form. The measurements of the original leaf were . The text 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, with one column per page and 21 lines per page, in a reformed documentary hand.
Larry Hurtado Larry Weir Hurtado (December 29, 1943 – November 25, 2019), was an American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, and Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature, and Theology at the University of Edinburgh ( ...
, ''The Earliest Christian Artifacts'' (Wm. Eerdmans 2006), p. 228.
The last line is fragmented. There is a pagination at the upper right corner (number ΙΑ = 11 on the verso). 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 (ΙΣ, ΘΥ, ΠΡΑ, ΑΝΩΝ).
Larry Hurtado Larry Weir Hurtado (December 29, 1943 – November 25, 2019), was an American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, and Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature, and Theology at the University of Edinburgh ( ...
, ''The Earliest Christian Artifacts'' (Wm. Eerdmans 2006), p. 239.
According to Grenfell and Hunt, who identified this fragment only as ''Logia Iesu'' ("Sayings of Jesus"), the original manuscript contained a collection of Jesus's sayings, which were independent of the four
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
s in their present form. They classified it as non-heretical and placed the origin of its sayings as earlier than 140 A.D. They observed some parallels with the works of
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...
.


History

Grenfell and Hunt did not realize they had discovered part of the
Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works ...
, as at the time there was no reference text. The only complete copy of the Gospel of Thomas was found in 1945 when a Coptic version was discovered at
Nag Hammadi Nag Hammadi ( ; ) is a city and Markaz (administrative division), markaz in Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about north-west of Luxor. The city had a population of close to 61,737 . History ...
with a collection of early Christian
Gnostic texts Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts, or lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. There is significant scholarly debate around what Gnosticism is, and therefore what ...
, and it was only after that discovery that the text of Oxyrhynchus Papyri I was able to be attributed. The fragment contains logia (sayings) 26–28 of the Gospel of Thomas on the recto, and logia 29–33 on the verso of the leaf. with what appears as the last two sentences of logion 77 in the Nag Hammadi Coptic version included at the end of logion 30. Greek from pOxy1 and Coptic from Nag Hammadi :Saying 26 (pOxy. 1.1-4) : : "... and then you will see clearly to cast out the speck that is in your brother’s eye." : : Nag Hammadi version: : Jesus said, "You see the mote in your brother's eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you cast the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote from your brother's eye." :Saying 27 (pOxy. 1.4-11) : :Jesus said, "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom of God. And if you do not keep the sabbath a sabbath, you will not see the father." : : Nag Hammadi version: : "If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the father." : Saying 28 (pOxy. 1.11-21) : :Jesus said, "I s od in the midst of the world and in the flesh I appeared to them. I found everyone drunk and none thirsty among them. My soul worries about the children of humanity because they are blind in thei hearts and heydo otsee." : : Nag Hammadi version: :Jesus said, "I took my place in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. I found all of them intoxicated; I found none of them thirsty. And my soul became afflicted for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave the world. But for the moment they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent." : Saying 29 (pOxy. 1.22) : :" . .he dwells in th poverty." : : Nag Hammadi version: :Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty." : Saying 30 + 77b (pOxy. 1.23-30) : : esus sad, Whre there are h et ey ar ithoutGod. And ere there is only o e I say, I am with hi Li the stone and there you will find me. Split the wood and I am there." : : Nag Hammadi version: :(30) Jesus said, "Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him." :(77b) ...Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." : Saying 31 (pOxy. 1.30-35) : :Jesus said, "A prophet is not acceptable in h homeland. Nor does a physician perform healings for those who know him." : : Nag Hammadi version: :Jesus said, "No prophet is accepted in his own village; no physician heals those who know him." : Saying 32 (pOxy. 1.36-41) : :Jesus said, "A city that has been built and established on the summit of a high untain can neither fa nor be hi en." : : Nag Hammadi version: :Jesus said, "A city being built on a high mountain and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden." : Saying 33 (pOxy. 1.41-42) : :Jesus said, “What you hear your one ear . . ." : : Nag Hammadi version: :Jesus said, "Preach from your housetops that which you will hear in your ear. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but rather he sets it on a lampstand so that everyone who enters and leaves will see its light." Grenfell and Hunt also discovered another two fragments of this apocryphal Gospel: P. Oxy. 654 and P. Oxy. 655. It was discovered by Hunt on the second day of the excavations. In November 1900, P. Oxy. 1 was given to the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
by the
Egypt Exploration Fund The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization founded in 1882 for the purpose of financing and facilitating the exploration of significant archeological sites in Egypt and Sudan, founded by writer Amelia Edwards and coin ...
.Bodleian Library MS.Gr.th.e.7(P)
– GPBC
The fragment is housed at the Bodleian Library
Ms. Gr. th. e 7 (P)
.


See also

*
Oxyrhynchus Papyri The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrology, papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient Landfill, rubbish dump near Oxyrhync ...
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2 *
Nag Hammadi Codex II Nag Hammadi Codex II (designated by siglum CG II) is a papyrus codex with a collection of early Christian Gnosticism, Gnostic texts in Coptic language, Coptic (Sahidic dialect). The manuscript has survived in nearly perfect condition. The codex ...
* British Library Or 4926


References


Further reading

* B. P. Grenfell, A. S. Hunt, ''Sayings of Our Lord from an early Greek Papyrus'' (Egypt Exploration Fund; 1897). * *
Nicholas Perrin Nicholas Perrin is an American religious scholar and the Senior Pastor at Corinth Reformed Church in Hickory, North Carolina. Formerly, he served as an academic administrator who served as the 16th president of Trinity International University, ...
, HC II,2 and the Oxyrhynchus Fragments (P. Oxy 1, 654, 655): Overlooked Evidence for a Syriac "Gospel of Thomas", Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 58, No. 2 (May, 2004), pp. 138–151


External links


P. Oxy. 1
at the Oxyrhynchus Online
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1
agraphos.com *
P. Oxy. 1
LDAB The Leuven Database of Ancient Books (LDAB) is a resource for all ancient written literary manuscripts, from 500 BC to AD 800. It currently lists more than 16.000 Greek, Latin, Coptic, Syriac and Demotic literary texts. It is said that it "attempt ...
{{Oxyrhynchus Papyri 001 Gnostic Gospels 3rd-century manuscripts