Rylands Papyrus P52 — a scrap of John
A copy of John's Gospel was circulating in Egypt within roughly a century of the events it describes.
UmstrittenHandschrift2nd century AD
A credit-card-sized fragment with a few lines of John 18 on each side — Pilate's questioning of Jesus. It is generally the earliest surviving piece of any New Testament book, and it was found in provincial Egypt, far from where John was written, showing how quickly the text travelled.
…art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king…
- Gefunden
- Egypt; acquired 1920, identified 1934, 1934 — Identified by C. H. Roberts among the Rylands papyri
- Heute in
- John Rylands Library, Manchester (Greek P. 457)
- Sprache
- Greek
- Wie es zu uns kam
- Ausgegraben oder noch dort stehend, wo es errichtet wurde.
Was er zeigt
The date is estimated from handwriting alone, which is imprecise. The original proposal was AD 100–150; a later study argued 125–175, and some scholars would widen the range further. It is early, but a precise date should not be claimed for it.
Wie Historiker es nutzen
A standard reference point in secular papyrology and textual criticism, with the dating dispute openly discussed.
In der Schrift
Verbunden mit
Quellen
- Rylands Library Papyrus P52 — overview and bibliography
- Orsini & Clarysse, "Early New Testament Manuscripts and Their Dates", ETL 88 (2012)
Diese Texte liegen vorerst auf Englisch vor. Übersetzungen folgen.