Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 66:1 (NA 2015)
Article: A New LXX Fragment Containing Job 7:3-4 And 7:9
Author: Lincoln H. Blumell

TynBull 66:1 (2015) p. 95

A New LXX Fragment
Containing Job 7:3-4 And 7:91

Lincoln H. Blumell

([email protected])

Summary

This article presents an edition of a papyrus fragment from LXX Job that is housed in the Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan. The fragment likely dates to the sixth century AD and comes from a codex. On the recto the fragment contains Job 7:3-4 and on the verso Job 7:9.

P.Mich.inv. 1252_3 is a rectangular papyrus fragment that measures 7:5 × 11:5 cm (H × W) and preserves LXX Job 7:3-4 on the recto and 7:9 on the verso. The fragment is stored in the Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan and while the piece comes from Egypt the exact provenance is unknown.2 The fragment belongs to the bottom part of a codex and preserves the last four lines of each page; from the bottom of the last line on the recto to the bottom edge of the papyrus there is a blank space of 5.2 cm, and on the verso the blank space measures 5.5 cm. The text is written with dark brown ink and the extant lines of text average anywhere from five to fourteen letters per line. While the fragment is riddled with lacunae and the text is effaced in some places, in other places the text is relatively clear. Identification

TynBull 66:1 (2015) p. 96

of this fragment was initially made based on the extant text preserved on lines 3 and 4 of the recto. A search for this text on the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae revealed that LXX Job 7:4 was a potential match and upon further examination this was confirmed; this subsequently led to the identification of the rest of the text on the fragment.3

Palaeographically the hand of the text is practised and regular with fluid and rounded letter forms that are characteristic of Alexandrian majuscule:4 alpha is written with a single stroke and a loop at the top; mu is rounded and written with a single stroke; the tau has roundels at the end of the crossbar; and the rho has a serif at the bottom of the vertical stroke. The letterforms share a number of distinct palaeographic affinities with the following texts: P.Amh. I 192 (mid sixth century AD; Deuteronomy 32:3-10); P.Grenf. II 112 (c. AD 577; Festal Letter); P.Oxy. XV 1820 (sixth ...