New Testament papyrus fragment of the Gospel of Luke in Greek, 3rd-4th century AD
New Testament manuscript
Papyrus 4 (𝔓4, part of Suppl. Gr. 1120) is an early New Testament papyrus of the Gospel of Luke in Greek. Opinions differ as to its age. It has been dated anywhere from the late second century to the fourth century.
Description
It is one of the earliest manuscripts (along with 𝔓75)[1] of the Gospel of Luke and contains extensive sections of its first six chapters.[2] It is currently housed in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Suppl. Gr. 1120) in Paris.
It contains texts of Luke: 1:58-59; 1:62-2:1; 2:6-7; 3:8-4:2; 4:29-32, 34-35; 5:3-8; 5:30-6:16
The Greek text-type of this codex is a representative of the Alexandrian. Aland placed it in Category I.[3] There is agreement with 𝔓75 in 93%.[4]
Some early accounts stated that 𝔓4 was used as stuffing for the binding of a codex of Philo, written in the late third century and found walled up in a house at Coptos.[6] Apparently this account was incorrect, however, as the fragments were actually found stashed between pages of the codex of Philo, not in the binding.[7]
Philip Comfort and David Barret in their book Text of the Earliest NT Greek Manuscripts argue that 𝔓4 came from the same codex as 𝔓64+67, the Magdalen papyrus, and date the texts to 150-175.[8] Willker tentatively agrees stating 'The [3rd century] dating given is that of NA. Some date it into the 2nd CE (e.g. Roberts and Comfort). This is quite probable considering the use as binding material for a 3rd CE codex'.[2] Comfort and Barret also show that 𝔓4 and 𝔓64+67 have affinities with a number of late 2nd century papyri.[9] Roberts (1979), Skeat (1997),[10] Willker[2] and Stanton[11] also date the text to the late 2nd century, leading Gregory to conclude that '[t]here is good reason to believe that 𝔓4 ... may have been written late in the 2nd century...'.[10]Frederic Kenyon dated 𝔓4 to the fourth century. In 2018, Brent Nongbri argued that it was not possible with current knowledge to date 𝔓4 to a specific century, and that any dates from the 2nd to 4th centuries were equally reasonable.[12] Charlesworth has concluded 'that 𝔓64+67 and 𝔓4, though written by the same scribe, are not from the same ... codex.'[13]
^Philip W. Comfort, David P. Barrett, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton 1999, s. 43.
^NA26, p. 170.
^Roberts (1979) p. 8
^Nongbri, Brent (August 21, 2018). God's Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts. Yale University Press. p. 256–260. ISBN 978-0300215410.
^Comfort (2001) pp. 50-53, see also Comfort (1999)
^i.e. P. Oxy. 224, 661, 2334, 2404 2750, P. Ryl. 16, 547, and P. Vindob G 29784
^ a bGregory (2003), p.30
^Stanton (1997) p. 327
^Nongbri, Brent (August 21, 2018). God's Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts. Yale University Press. p. 263–268. ISBN 978-0300215410.
^Charlesworth (2007), p.604
References
Charlesworth, SD (2007) T. C. Skeat, P64+67 and P4, and the Problem of Fibre Orientation in Codicological Reconstruction, New Test. Stud. Vol.53, pp. 582–604, doi:10.1017/S002868850700029X
Comfort, Philip W. "New Reconstructions and Identifications of New Testament Papyri," Novum Testamentum, Vol. 41, Fasc. 3., (Jul., 1999) pp. 214–230.
Comfort, Philip W.; David P. Barrett (2001). The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 46–71. ISBN 978-0-8423-5265-9.
Gregory, A. The Reception of Luke and Acts in the Period Before Irenaeus, Mohr Siebeck, (2003) ISBN 3-16-148086-4, p. 28
C. R. Gregory, Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament, Hinrichs, p. 45.
Head, P. M. (2005), Is P4, P64 and P67 the Oldest Manuscript of the Four Gospels? A Response to T. C. Skeat, New Test. Stud. 51, pp. 450–457, doi:10.1017/S0028688505000238
Roberts, Colin. Manuscript, Society, and Belief in Early Christian Egypt Longwood (June 1979) ISBN 0-85672-710-5 pp. 8+23
Skeat, T. C. (1997), The Oldest Manuscript of the Four Gospels?, New Test. Stud. 43, p. 1-34
Stanton, G. N. (1997), The Fourfold Gospel, New Test. Stud. 43, p. 327
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Papyrus 4.
Willker, Wieland. A Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels, (undated+unfinished)
"Handschriftenliste". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 13 August 2011.