Papyrus 115

Papyrus 115 (P. Oxy. 4499, designated by ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵ in the Gregory-Aland numbering) is a fragmented manuscript of the New Testament written in Greek on papyrus. It consists of 26 fragments of a codex containing parts of the Book of Revelation, and probably nothing more.[1] It dates to the third century, c. 225-275 AD.[2] Grenfell and Hunt discovered the papyrus in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.

Papyrus ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵

New Testament manuscript papyri uncials minuscules lectionaries
Red arrow points to χιϛ (616), "number of the beast" in P^115
Name	P. Oxy. 4499
Text	Rev 2-3, 5-6, 8-15
Date	c. 275
Found	Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
Now at	Ashmolean Museum
Cite	Juan Chapa, Oxyrynchus Papyri 66:11-39. (#4499)
Size	26 fragments; 15.5 x 23.5 cm; 33-36 lines/page
Type	Alexandrian, close agreement with A & C
Category	I
Note	Gives number of the beast as 616

Grenfell and Hunt

Bernard Grenfell		Arthur Hunt

${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵ was not deciphered and published until the end of the twentieth century. It is currently housed at the Ashmolean Museum.[3]

Description

The original codex had 33-36 lines per page of 15.5 cm by 23.5 cm. The surviving text includes Revelation 2:1-3, 13-15, 27-29; 3:10-12; 5:8-9; 6:5-6; 8:3-8, 11-13; 9:1-5, 7-16, 18-21; 10:1-4, 8-11; 11:1-5, 8-15, 18-19; 12:1-5, 8-10, 12-17; 13:1-3, 6-16, 18; 14:1-3, 5-7, 10-11, 14-15, 18-20; 15:1, 4-7.[1]

The manuscript has evidence of the following nomina sacra: ΙΗΛ , ΑΥΤΟΥ , ΠΡΣ , ΘΩ , ΘΥ , ΑΝΩΝ , ΠΝΑ , ΟΥΝΟΥ , ΟΥΝΟΝ , ΚΥ , ΘΝ , ΑΝΟΥ , ΟΥΝΩ.

The manuscript uses the Greek Numeral system, with no number extant as being written out in full.[1]

The manuscript is a witness to the Alexandrian text-type, following the text of Codex Alexandrinus (A) and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C).[4]

An interesting element of ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵ is that it gives the number of the beast in Revelation 13:18 as 616 (chi, iota, stigma (ΧΙϚ)), rather than the majority reading of 666 (chi, xi, stigma (ΧΞϚ)), as does Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus.

According to the transcription of the INTF, a conjectured reading of the manuscript, due to the space left, is [χξϛ] η χιϛ (666 or 616), therefore not giving a definite number to the beast.[5]

Textual variants[6]

8:12

και το τριτον της σεληνης:

Omit. : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵.

Incl. : א, A.

9:11

ο απολλυων : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵, 1740.

απολλυων : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, א, pc, gig, 2344.

9:13

δ/τεσσάρων

Incl. : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {M}}}$, vg^cl, sy^ph.

Omit. : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, א, A, 0207, 1611, 2053, 2344, pc, lat, sy^h, co.

11:15

λεγουσαι : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵, א, C, 051, 1006, 1611, 1841, 1854, 2329, 2344, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {M}}}$^A.

λεγοντες : A, 2053, 2351, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {M}}}$^K.

12:3

πυρρος μεγας : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵, 2053, א.

μεγας πυρρος : A, P, 051, 1841, pm, lat, sa.

πυρος μεγας : C, 046, 1611, 1854, 2329, 2344, pm, sy^h.

13:8

το ονομα αυτου : C 1854, 2053, pc, Irlat, Prim.

το ονομα : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {M}}}$, co, Bea.

τα ονοματα αυτων : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, א, P, 051, 1006, 1841, 2329, al, lat.

13:13

εκ του ουρανου

Omit. : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵, 175.

Incl. : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, א, A, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {M}}}$.

14:6

κατοικουντας : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵, A, 2049, 69.

καθημενους : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, א, C, P, 1611, 1854, 2053, 2329, pc, sy^ph, Origen.

14:20

βχ (2600) : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$¹¹⁵.

αχ / χιλιων εξακοσιων (1600) : ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁴⁷, א^c2, A, 42, 69, 82, 93, 177, 325, 456, 498, 627, 699, 1849, 2138, 2329, ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {M}}}$.

See also

• List of New Testament papyri
• Oxyrhynchus papyri
• Stigma (letter)

References

1. Comfort, Philip W.; David P. Barrett (2001). The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 664–677. ISBN 978-0-8423-5265-9.
2. Juan Chapa, Oxy. Pap., 66:11-39, no. 4499
3. "Liste Handschriften". Münster: Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
4. Philip W. Comfort, Encountering the Manuscripts. An Introduction to New Testament Paleography & Textual Criticism, Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005, p. 77.
5. http://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/community/vmr/api/transcript/get/?docID=10115&pageID=160&format=html
6. Taken from NA27 Edition Apparatus, and http://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/nt-transcripts Archived 13 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

• Juan Chapa, Oxyrynchus Papyri 66:11-39. (no. 4499).
• Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), pp. 664–677.
• David C. Parker, A new Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Revelation: P115 (P. Oxy. 4499), in: Manuscripts, Texts, Theology: Collected Papers, 1977-2007, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2009, pp. 73–92.

External links

• Oxford University 'P. Oxy. LXVI 4499'
• Image of the fragments of P. Oxy. LXVI 4499