The Fayyum Fragment (Papyrus Vindobonensis Greek 2325 [P. Vienna G. 2325]) is a papyrus fragment containing text that could be from part of the New Testament, and consists of only about 100 Greek letters. The fragment was originally discovered in Al-Fayyum, Egypt, and was translated in 1885 by Gustav Bickell after it was found in the papyrus collection of Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria in Vienna.
The surviving manuscript is badly damaged and has fewer than a hundred Greek letters preserved. Because of its style of handwriting it is believed to have been copied around the end of the third century. The text seems to parallel Mark 14:26–31, appearing to present a more abbreviated account. It is unclear whether the fragment is an abridged version of the synoptic gospels, or a source text on which they were based, perhaps the apocryphal Gospel of Peter.
Text
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Papyrus Vindobonensis 2325
|-
! Greek
! Translation
|-
| <poem lang="grc"><div style='margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em'>...ε]ξαγειν ως ε[ι]πε[ν] οτι, Α[παντες]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[εν ταυτη] τη νυκτι σκανδαλισ[θησεσ-]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[θε κατα] το γραφεν· Παταξω τον [ποιμε-]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[να, και τα] προβατα διασκορπισθησ[ονται. ει-]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[ποντος το]υ Πετ{ρου}· Και ει παντες, ο[υκ εγω....]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[...Ι{ησου}ς· Πρι]ν αλεκτρυων δις κοκ[κυσει τρις]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[...με α]παρν[ηση.]</div></poem>
|<poem><div style='margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em'>...l]ead out, when he s[a]i[d]: A[ll]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>of you [on this] night will be scandaliz[ed]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[according to] what is written: I shall strike the [shep-]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>herd and the] sheep shall be scatter[ed. When]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[said] Pet{er}: Even if all, n[ot I....]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[...J{esu}s: Befor]e a cock twice cr[ows, thrice]</div><div style='margin-left: 3em; text-indent: -2em'>[you will d]en[y me].</div></poem>
|}
Reconstruction
Textual comparison with the texts in the three synoptic gospels leads to the above reconstruction of missing letters:
{| class="wikitable"
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!Κατὰ Ματθαίον, 26: 30-34
!Κατά Μάρκον, 14: 26-30
!Fragment
!Κατά Λουκάν, 22: 34, 39
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Textual source
- Stanley E. Porter and Wendy J. Porter, New Testament Greek Papyri and Parchments. Vol. 1: Text; Vol. 2: Plates, Mitteilungen aus der Papyrussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (MPER) XXX (Berlin; New York: de Gruyter, 2008).
See also
- List of Gospels
References
External links
- Early Christian Writings