New Sayings of Jesus and Fragment of a Lost Gospel from Oxyrhynchus

I. NEW SAYINGS OF JESUS

are introduced by the formula 'Jesus saith,' and there is the same mingling of new and familiar elements; but the second series of Sayings is remarkable for the presence of the introduction to the whole collection (ll. 1-5), and another novelty is the fact that one of the Sayings (ll. 36 sqq.) is an answer to a question, the substance of which is reported (ll. 32-6). It is also noticeable that while in the first series the Sayings had little if any connexion of thought with each other, in the second series the first four at any rate are all concerned with the Kingdom of Heaven. That the present text represents the beginning of a collection which later on included the original 'Logia' is very probable; this and the other general questions concerning the papyrus are discussed on pp. 19-34.

Excluding the introduction, there are parts of five separate Sayings. The single column of writing is complete at the top, but broken at the bottom and also vertically, causing the loss of the ends of lines throughout. From ll. 7-8, 15, 25, and 30, which can be restored with certainty from extant parallel passages, it appears that the lacunae at the ends of lines range from twelve to sixteen or at most eighteen letters, so that of each line, as far as l. 33, approximately only half is preserved. The introduction and the first and fourth Sayings admit of an almost complete reconstruction which is nearly or quite conclusive, but in the second, third, and fifth, which are for the most part entirely new, though the general sense may often be caught, the restorations are, except in a few lines, rather hazardous. The difficulties caused by the lacunae are enhanced by the carelessness of the scribe himself, who makes several clerical errors; in two cases (ll. 19 and 25) words which were at first omitted have been added by him over the line.

(b) TEXT.

We proceed now to the text, giving first a transcription of the papyrus and then a reconstruction in modern form. Square brackets [ ] indicate a lacuna, round brackets ( ) the resolution of an abbreviation, angular brackets < > a mistaken omission in the original, braces { } a mistaken addition. Dots within brackets represent the approximate number of letters lost; dots outside brackets indicate letters of which illegible traces remain. In the accompanying translation supplements which are not practically certain are enclosed in round brackets.

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