The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 66

are the heavens. They will perish, but you re
main, and all will grow old like a garment,
and like a mantle you will roll them up. Like a gar
ment

1 uion Son may of course have been abbreviated (as in 𝔓⁴⁶), but see 4495->3 n.

2 Most manuscripts read "for the age of the age". Spacing suggests that 4498 is likely to have followed B 33, supported by the Vulgate manuscripts, in omitting "of the age". "And" is included in 𝔓⁴⁶ א A D* 0150. 0243. 33. 1739, but omitted by D² K L P Ψ 056. 075. 0142. 0151. 0243. 0278. 1881 𝔐.

"The rod of uprightness is the rod": so 𝔓⁴⁶ א¹ ("the rod of uprightness" omitted in א) A B 0150. 0243. 33. 1739; "the rod of uprightness is the rod" in D K L P Ψ 056. 075. 0142. 0151. 0278. 1881 𝔐.

4–5 The normal text, with no significant variants, is "God has anointed you, your God, with the oil of gladness beyond your companions, and at the beginning". The simplest solution would be to suppose that the writer of the papyrus has merely transposed the words "your God"; but this would result in a supplement which is 5 or more letters too long for line 5 and we should have to suppose that there was some omission, e.g., of "your" or "and at" before "the beginning". It may well be that the papyrus had a hitherto unattested variant reading at this point.

7 It is unlikely that "heavens" was abbreviated in a text as early as this; cf. LXV 4446-> 1–2 n.

9–10 "Like a garment": so 𝔓⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739 Vulgate manuscripts; omitted by D¹ K L P Ψ 056. 075. 0142. 0150. 0151. 0243. 0278. 33. 1881 𝔐 Latin, Sahidic, Bohairic; Athanasius.

W. E. H. COCKLE

4499. REVELATION II 1–3, 13–15, 27–29, III 10–12, V 8–9, VI 5–6, VIII 3–8, 11–IX 5, 7–16, 18–X 4, 8–XI 5, 8–15, 18–XII 5, 8–10, 12–17, XIII 1–3, 6–16, 18–XIV 3, 5–7, 10–11, 14–15, 18–XV 1, 4–7

118/48(a)
𝔓¹¹⁵
fr. (e) 6.2 × 6.3 cm
Late third or early fourth century
Plates III–VIII, XI–XII

Numerous fragments from a papyrus codex provide scattered but extensive portions of the book of Revelation. The codex is of particular interest because of the relatively low number of manuscripts in the textual tradition of this book (compared to other New Testament writings), the amount of text preserved, and its relatively early date.

The codex is written in a medium size, right-sloping (sometimes upright), rather informal hand, rapidly but regularly written. Although letters in the main are made separately, the hand tends to be somewhat cursive, especially alpha and omega. Delta has its descending diagonal capping the left-hand one, iota keeps normally to the base of the line, alpha is made in one movement, mu with uprights almost parallel and straight and its middle curve normally reaching the base line, omicron small and suspended; the plump theta has its cross-bar projecting to both sides; rho, phi, chi and psi reach below the lower line, sometimes kappa and upsilon as well. This manner belongs within Turner’s "formal mixed" group (GMAW² p. 22) or Cavallo-Maehler’s "sloping pointed majuscule" (GBEBP p. 4).