Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 46:1 (NA 1995)
Article: Exploring The Common Identification Of Three New Testament Manuscripts: "P"
Author: Philip W. Comfort

TynBul 46:1 (1995) p. 43

Exploring The Common Identification Of Three New Testament Manuscripts: P⁴, P⁶⁴ And P⁶⁷

Philip W. Comfort

Summary

This article explores the common identity of three very early Gospel manuscripts. Some scholars have believed that p^4,, p⁶⁴ and p⁶⁷ all came from the same codex; others have doubted. The newly proposed dating of p⁶⁴ to the late first century makes this exploration all the more vital. This article examines the provenance and paleography of all three papyri in an attempt to demonstrate a common scribe. Then the article presents an argument for dating p⁴ to the second century.

I. Introduction

Carsten Thiede has recently published a redating of the manuscript known as p⁶⁴, which has three fragments of Matthew’s Gospel. Formerly dated ca. 200, Thiede has now dated this manuscript to the first century.1 This dating, if accurate, is extremely significant because it places a manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew within the same century it was written.

The manuscript p⁶⁴ (at Magdalene College Library. Oxford: Gr. 17) has been identified as belonging to the same Matthean codex as p ⁶⁷ (at Fundación San Lucas Evangelista, Barcelona: inv. no. 1). p ⁶⁴ contains Matthew 26:7-8, 10, 14-15, 22-23, 31-33, and p⁶⁷ preserves portions of 3:9, 15; 5:20-22, 25-28. p ⁶⁴ was first published in 1953 by

TynBul 46:1 (1995) p. 44

Colin Roberts in an article entitled, ‘An Early Papyrus of the First Gospel’.2 p ⁶⁷ was first published by P. Roca-Puig in 1957 in a booklet called Un Papiro Griego del Evangelio de San Mateo (Barcelona). After Roberts realised that p⁶⁴ and p⁶⁷ were two parts of the same manuscript and then confirmed this with Roca-Puig, the latter published another article in 1961 in which he gives a full presentation of the entire manuscript.3 Colin Roberts appended a note to this article explaining how he had ...