New Testament manuscript | |
Name | Papyrus Bodmer VII-IX |
---|---|
Sign | 𝔓72 |
Text | Jude, 1 Peter, 2 Peter |
Date | 3rd/4th century |
Script | Greek |
Now at | Cologny/Geneva; Vatican City, Bibl. Bodmeriana; Bibl. Vaticana |
Size | 14.5 by 16 cm |
Type | Alexandrian text-type |
Category | I |
Hand | documentary hand |
Note | resembles 𝔓50 |
Papyrus 72 (𝔓72, Papyrus Bodmer VII-VIII) is the designation used by textual critics of the New Testament to describe portions of the so-called Bodmer Miscellaneous codex, namely the letters of Jude, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter. These books seem to have been copied by the same scribe, and the handwriting has been paleographically assigned to the 3rd or 4th century.[1]
Although the letters of Jude (P.Bodmer VII) and 1-2 Peter (P.Bodmer VIII) in this codex do not form a single continuous text, scholars still tend to refer to these three texts as a single early New Testament papyrus.[2]
Papyrus 72 is the earliest known manuscript of these epistles, though a few verses of Jude are in a fragment 78 (P. Oxy. 2684).[3]
P.Bodmer VII (Jude) and P.Bodmer VIII (1-2 Peter) form part of a single book (the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex). This book appeared on the antiquities market in Egypt and was bought by the Swiss collector Martin Bodmer.[a] The same scribe who copied P.Bodmer VII and VIII is also thought to have copied P.Bodmer X and XI.[5]
The manuscript contains the usual nomina sacra for Messiah, Jesus, God, Lord, Spirit, Father, plus a few non-standard ones: ΔΥΜΙ (power), Σαρρα (Sarah), Αβρααμ (Abraham), Νωε (Noah), Μιχαης (Archangel Michael), and Ενωχ (Enoch).
A facsimile edition of Bodmer Papyrus VIII was published in 2007 by Testimonio Compañía Editorial.[6]
The Greek text of this codex is a representative of the Alexandrian text-type. According to Aland in 1-2 Peter it has normal text, in Jude free text, both with certain peculiarities. Aland placed it into I Category. It is close to the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.[7]