Editing Rylands Library Papyrus P52 (section)

== Text-critical and historical significance ==

Finds of early Christian papyri from Egypt represent the earliest surviving indisputable physical evidence for Christianity and the Gospels.<ref>Larry W. Hurtado, ''The Earliest Christian Artefacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins'', Grand Rapids; Eerdemans, 2006,</ref> There is a considerable degree of overlap in the proposed ranges of dates for these papyri, and consequently it cannot be stated categorically that 𝔓{{sup|52}} is earlier than other New Testament fragments of apparent 2nd century date, such as [[Papyrus 90|𝔓{{sup|90}}]], [[Papyrus 104|𝔓{{sup|104}}]] and [[Papyrus 64|𝔓{{sup|64+67}}]]; it also cannot be stated categorically that it is earlier than some early apocryphal texts, such as [[Egerton Gospel|P. Egerton. 2]], P.Oxy. LX 4009. There are, in addition, a number of papyrus fragments of Old Testament books in Greek (chiefly Psalms) which have also been dated to the 2nd century, and whose characteristics have been advanced as indicating a Christian, rather than Jewish or pagan, origin.<ref>Roger S. Bagnall, ''Early Christian Books in Egypt'', Princeton; Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 11–12</ref> Nevertheless, since all of these papyri have been dated paleographically, and mostly with reference to the same dated documentary comparators, they may be considered as a manuscript cluster whose estimated dates will vary as a group, amongst which 𝔓{{sup|52}} is commonly recognised as having earlier features.<ref>Roger S. Bagnall, ''Early Christian Books in Egypt'', Princeton; Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 12–15</ref> Moreover, despite the small quantity of text, the text that survives in 𝔓{{sup|52}} is sufficient to provide early witness to a number of key historical claims about the [[Historical Jesus]]; though not mentioned by name, the verses in 𝔓{{sup|52}} show a man tried before the Roman authorities at a specific date (the governorship of Pontius Pilate), at a specific place (the Praetorium in Jerusalem), sentenced to a specific death (crucifixion), and all at the instigation of the Jewish Temple authorities.

If the early 2nd century dating of the 𝔓{{sup|52}} is in fact correct, then the fact that the fragment is from a [[codex]] rather than a [[scroll]] would testify to the very early adoption of this mode of writing amongst Christians, in stark contrast to the apparent practice of contemporary [[Judaism]]. Furthermore, an assessment of the length of 'missing' text between the recto and verso readings corresponds with that in the counterpart canonical Gospel of John; and hence confirms that there are unlikely to have been substantial additions or deletions in this whole portion. Other than two [[iotacism]]s ({{lang|grc|ΗΜ'''{{em|Ε}}'''ΙΝ, '''{{em|Ι}}'''ΣΗΛΘΕΝ}}), and in the probable omission of the second {{lang|grc|ΕΙΣ ΤΟΥΤΟ}} from line 2 of the verso, 𝔓{{sup|52}} agrees with the Alexandrian text base. In lines 4 and 5 of the recto, the reconstructed text reads {{lang|grc|"ΠΑΛΙΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΡΑΙΤΩΡΙΟΝ Ο ΠΙΛΑΤΟΣ"}}, in agreement with [[Papyrus 66|𝔓{{sup|66}}]] and with the {{lang|la|[[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]]}}, whereas the {{lang|la|[[Codex Sinaiticus]]}}, {{lang|la|[[Codex Alexandrinus]]}} and the [[Majority Text]] all have the alternative word order of {{lang|grc|"ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΡΑΙΤΩΡΙΟΝ ΠΑΛΙΝ Ο ΠΙΛΑΤΟΣ"}};<ref name="Roberts(1935), p. 29">Roberts(1935), p. 29.</ref> however, this is not considered a significant variant. Since this fragment is small – about {{cvt|9|x|6|cm}} – it cannot be proven that it comes from a full copy of the Gospel of John, but it may be presumed that the original text was at least of near full gospel length, to be worth the extra care and time required in writing in codex form. On the other hand, the generous scale and format of the codex pages of 𝔓{{sup|52}} are such that it is highly unlikely that it could originally have comprised the four canonical gospels; Roberts calculated that such a codex might have required 576 pages.<ref name="Roberts(1935), p. 20">Roberts(1935), p. 20.</ref>

𝔓{{sup|52}} is small, and although a plausible reconstruction can be attempted for most of the 14 lines represented, the proportion of the text of the Gospel of John for which it provides a direct witness is necessarily limited, so it is rarely cited in textual debate.<ref>Tuckett 2001:544</ref><ref>[http://www.skypoint.com/~waltzmn/ManuscriptsPapyri.html#P52 New Testament Manuscripts: Papyri]</ref><ref>[http://www.historian.net/P52.html "The oldest New Testament: P52"] Historian.net.</ref> There has, however, been some contention as to whether the name {{lang|grc|'ΙΗΣΟΥ'}} (Jesus) in the 'missing' portions of recto lines 2 and 5 was originally written as {{lang|la|[[nomina sacra|nomen sacrum]]}}; in other words, was it contracted to {{lang|grc|'ΙΣ'}} or {{lang|grc|'ΙΗΣ'}} in accordance with otherwise universal Christian practice in surviving early Gospel manuscripts. On the assumption that the nomina sacra were absent from 𝔓{{sup|52}}, Roberts originally considered that the divine name was more likely to have been written in full,<ref name="Roberts(1935), p. 18">Roberts(1935), p. 18.</ref> but later changed his mind.<ref name="Hurtado, p. 6">Hurtado, p. 6.</ref> This latter view is also the view of [[Larry W. Hurtado]],<ref>Hurtado, Larry W. ''P52 (P.Rylands Gr 457) and the Nomina Sacra; Method and Probability'', Tyndale Bulletin 54.1, 2003</ref> with [[Christopher M. Tuckett]] maintaining Roberts' original opinion.<ref>Christopher M. Tuckett, ''P52 and Nomina Sacra'', New Testament Studies 47, 2001 pp 544–48</ref> The verses included in 𝔓{{sup|52}} are also witnessed in Bodmer Papyrus 𝔓{{sup|66}} – usually dated to the beginning of the 3rd century CE – and there is also some overlap with [[Papyrus 60|𝔓{{sup|60}}]] and [[Papyrus 90|𝔓{{sup|90}}]] of the 7th and 2nd centuries respectively. No two of the four contain the same exact text as reconstructed for John 18:31–38, but 𝔓{{sup|52}} seems to represent an example of the same proto-[[Alexandrian text-type]]. [[Kurt Aland]] described it as a "Normal text", and placed it in [[Categories of New Testament manuscripts#Category I|Category I]], due to its age.<ref name=Aland/>