Bible Query - Early
Manuscripts of Philemon
Q: In Phm, what are early New Testament manuscripts we have preserved today?
A: Here are many of them.
p87 contains Phm 13-15, 24 (partial) ,25b with gaps (c.125 A.D.) Handwriting is nearly identical to p46. The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts has a photograph of p87 on p.607.
The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts has a photograph of p87 on p.608 says the original editors dated p87 to "early third century" because the handwriting is nearly identical to p46, and p46 used to be thought third century. Since 046 is now known to be earlier this is redated to dated middle to late 2nd century. A second line of evidence is that the letters of both p46 and p87 are nearly identical to Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 841 ( second hand 120-130 A.D.). A third line of evidence is that p87 has "startling similarities" to p52, dated early second century.
p61 Romans 16:23,25-27; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2, 2-6; 5:1-3, 5-6, 9-13; Philippians 3:5-9, 12-16, Colossians 1:3-7, 9-13, 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3; Titus 3:1-5, 8-11, 14-15 Philemon 4-7. c.700 A.D.
c.700 A.D. - 1968 - The Text of the New Testament.
About 700 A.D. - 1975 - Aland et al. Third edition.
About 700 A.D. - 1998 - Aland et al. Fourth revised edition.
Sinaiticus [Si] 340-350 A.D.
Philemon was not preserved in Vaticanus [B]
Alexandrinus [A] c.450 A.D.
Bohairic Coptic [Boh] 3rd/4th century
Sahidic Coptic [Sah] 3rd/4th century
Ephraemi Rescriptus [C] 5th century
I Washington D.C. 5th century (Phm 2, others?)
Claromontanus [D] 5th/6th century
Palestinian Syriac [Syr Pal] from c.6th century
Peshitta Syriac [Syr P] 411-435 A.D... Over 350 manuscripts.
Harclean Syriac [Syr H] 616.A.D Thomas of Harkel
The Text of the New Testament p.167, written back in 1968, says there are at least 10 uncial manuscripts (with four correctors) and 42 miniscule manuscripts.
Q: In Phm, what are the manuscript variations with the Textus Receptus, the basis for the KJV?
A: Jay P. Green, Sr. in the Interlinear Bible records variations in approximately 5 words between the Textus Receptus and the majority text. These are in 4 places. (Philemon 6,7,12,17, with two words in verse 12) Green does not record any additional alternates.
Q: In Phm, what are some of the manuscript variations?
A: The Letter to Philemon has a total of about 329 Greek words and a word-for-word accuracy of 98.2%, with only 6 words in question. These are in 4 verses (5 places), out of 25 total verses. Below are the variations with the primary choice and the top alternate choice. Aland, from which this primarily is based, also gives a judgment of the degree of certainty for each variation.
Phm 2 "the sister" (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, original Claromontanus, some Sahidic Coptic, Bohairic Coptic) vs. "the beloved" (Corrected Claromontanus, Byzantine Lectionary, a Sahidic manuscript, Chrysostom)
Phm 6 "our" vs. "your (plural)"
Phm 12 "whom I sent back yours" vs. "whom I sent back to you" (2 words)
Phm 25 "lord" vs. "our lord" (Sinaiticus does not have "our" and Alexandrinus and the Byzantine Lectionary do) (p87 has a gap here)
Phm 25 Add the word "amen" at the end (Aland, NRSV) (Alexandrinus does not have "amen" and Sinaiticus and the Byzantine Lectionary do. p87 c.125 A.D. also has amen at the end)
Phm 25 no subscript vs. "To Philemon" (Sinaiticus, Ephraemi Rescriptus, some Ethiopic) vs. "To Philemon written from Rome, by/of/through/via Onesimus a servant." (Later manuscripts) 2 words not counted in the totals
Bibliography for this question: The Greek New Testament Third Edition by Kurt Aland et al., The Greek New Testament Fourth Edition by Kurt Aland et al., Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by George Ricker Berry, the Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, The Expositor's Bible Commentary volume 8, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament 2nd edition by Bruce M. Metzger, The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts edited by Philip W. Comfort and David P. Barrett, The Expositor's Greek Testament edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, and footnotes in the NASB, NIV, NKJV, and NRSV Bible translations. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible : An Introduction to Paleography by Bruce M. Metzger also has interesting information on the characteristics and quality of the copying of each manuscript.
Q: In Phm, how do the early manuscripts compare with each other?
A: The table below shows each of the places in question, and the number says which variant is in each manuscript.
|
Place |
words |
048 |
p61 |
p87 |
Si |
A |
C |
D |
I |
Sah |
Boh |
Ital |
Vg |
Eth |
Chrys |
Byz |
Arm |
Geo |
Syr Pal |
Syr H |
Syr P |
|
Phm 2 |
1 |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1?/2? |
1 |
1/ 3 |
1/ 2?/3 |
(1) |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1/ 3 |
3 |
(2) |
||||
|
Phm 6 |
1 |
1? |
2 |
- |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
- |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2/ 3? |
(3) |
1/2 |
1/2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
||
|
Phm 12 |
2 |
5 |
- |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
- |
(6) |
(6) |
4/ 6 |
4/ 6? |
- |
4?/(6) |
4 |
(6) |
(6) |
(4) |
(4) |
(6) |
|
|
Phm 25a |
1 |
- |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
- |
2 |
2 |
1/ 2 |
1?/2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
||||
|
Phm 25b |
1 |
1? |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
- |
1 |
1/2 |
1/ 2 |
1?/2/3 |
- |
2 |
1? |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
||
|
postscript |
2 |
2 |
2 |
- |
1/2 |
||||||||||||||||
|
Place |
words |
048 |
p61 |
p87 |
Si |
A |
C |
D |
I |
Sah |
Boh |
Ital |
Vg |
Eth |
Chrys |
Byz |
Arm |
Geo |
Syr Pal |
Syr H |
Syr P |
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