Papirus Chester Beatty: Perbedaan antara revisi

 

 

 

 

== Character of the collection ==

All of the manuscripts are [[codex|codices]], which was surprising to the first scholars who examined the texts because it was believed that the papyrus codex was not extensively used by Christians until the 4th century. Most of the manuscripts dated to the 3rd century, with some as early as the 2nd. The manuscripts also helped scholars understand the construction of papyrus codices. There is significant variation between the construction of each manuscript. Page size ranges from about 14 by 24.2 cm (P. III) to 18 by 33 cm (P. VI). Some of the manuscripts were constructed of a single gathering (quire) of papyrus sheets (Pap. II, VII, IX + X), while in others the gathering varies from a single sheet (I) to five (V) or seven (VII). The largest codex (P. IX/X) is believed to have contained roughly 236 pages.

 

 

Since all but two (P. XI, XII) of the eleven manuscripts are dated before the 4th century, they present significant [[textual criticism|textual]] evidence for the Greek Bible as it existed in Egypt prior to the Diocletianic persecutions where Christian books are said to have been destroyed and a century or more earlier than the [[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]] and [[Codex Sinaiticus]]. Although some of the scholars who first studied the collection considered some of the New Testament manuscripts, especially ''P. Chester Beatty'' I (P⁴⁵) to be of the [[Caesarean text-type]], this has little support today. The textual character is generally described as being eclectic, mixed, or unaligned. The manuscripts provided many new textual variations, especially because the Old Testament manuscripts predated the revision activity of [[Lucian]] and [[Origen]] and others, and the New Testament manuscripts are some of the earliest yet quite extensive examples of the corresponding books.

 

 

 

* P. IV and V – Two manuscripts that contain portions of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], one dated to the late 3rd century, and one the early 4th century. These manuscripts are significant because the next oldest Greek Old Testament texts of Vaticanus and Sinaiticus have extensive [[Lacuna (manuscripts)|Lacunae]] in Genesis.

 

The last manuscript in the Chester Beatty Papyri, XII, contains chapters 97-107 of the [[Book of Enoch]] and portions of an unknown Christian homily attributed to [[Melito of Sardis]]. The manuscript is placed in the 4th century. The Book of Enoch is listed as "The Epistle of Enoch" in the manuscript. Chapters 105 and 108 are not included, and scholars believe they were later additions. XII is the only Greek witness to certain parts of Enoch. As for the homily, XII was the only known copy of the text at the time of its discovery. Two manuscripts which contain the text, ''[[Bodmer Papyri|P. Bodmer]]'' XIII and ''[[Oxyrhynchus Papyri|P. Oxy.]]'' 1600, have since been found. The manuscript also contains the only manuscript witness to the [[Apocryphon of Ezekiel]], although it is cited by [[Clement of Alexandria]] (''Paedagogus'' I. ix. 84.2–4). Overall, the handwriting is rough and most likely from a scribe who did not know Greek well. Campbell Bonner of the University of Michigan published this manuscript in his 1937 ''The Last Chapters of Enoch in Greek'' and 1940 ''The Homily on the Passion by Metito Bishop of Sardis''. {{clear}}

 

* [[Bodmer Papyri]]

 

* [[Frederic G. Kenyon|Kenyon, Frederic G.]]. [http://www.bible-researcher.com/kenyon/sotb9.html "Chapter 9 – The Age of Discoveries (continued): The Chester Beatty Papyri."] ''The Story of the Bible''. London: J. Murray, 1936.

* Kenyon, Frederic G. ''The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible''. London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1933, 1937. [http://www.biblecentre.net/nt/mss/kenyon/cb/int.htm Fasciculus I: General Introduction], [http://www.biblecentre.net/nt/mss/kenyon/cb/text.htm Fasciculus II: The Gospels and Acts], [http://www.biblecentre.net/nt/mss/kenyon/cb/Pauline%20Epistles%20-%20Plates.html Fasciculus III, Supplement: Pauline Epistles].