Papyrus 115

Papyrus ${\mathfrak {P}}$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

Papyrus 115 (P. Oxy. 4499, designated by ${\mathfrak {P}}$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 3rd century, ca. 225-275 AD.^[2] Grenfell and Hunt discovered the papyrus in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.

${\mathfrak {P}}$¹¹⁵ was not deciphered and published until the end of the 20th 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 textual variant of ${\mathfrak {P}}$¹¹⁵ is that it gives the number of the beast in Revelation 13:18 as 616 (chi, iota, sigma (ΧΙϚ)), rather than the majority reading of 666 (chi, xi, sigma (ΧΞϚ)), as does Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus.

According to the transcription of the INTF, the manuscript read [χξϛ] η χιϛ (666 or 616), therefore not giving a definite number.^[5]

Textual Variants^[6]

8:12

Omit και το τριτον της σεληνης: ${\mathfrak {P}}$¹¹⁵.

Include και το τριτον της σεληνης: א, A.

9:11

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

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

9:13

Include δ/τεσσάρων: ${\mathfrak {P}}$¹¹⁵, $\mathfrak{M}$, vg^cl, sy^ph.

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

11:15

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

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

12:3

πυρρος μεγας: ${\mathfrak {P}}$⁴⁷, ${\mathfrak {P}}$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: ${\mathfrak {P}}$¹¹⁵, $\mathfrak{M}$, co, Bea.

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

13:13

Omit εκ του ουρανου: ${\mathfrak {P}}$¹¹⁵, 175.

Include εκ του ουρανου: ${\mathfrak {P}}$⁴⁷, א, A, $\mathfrak{M}$.

14:6

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

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

14:20

βχ (2600): ${\mathfrak {P}}$¹¹⁵.

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

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/manuscript-workspace/?docID=10115&pageID=160
6. Taken from NA27 Edition Apparatus, and http://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/nt-transcripts

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

Grenfell and Hunt

Bernard Grenfell		Arthur Hunt