The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 73

A nomen sacrum sacred name in the standard abbreviated form occurs in across 10. Phonetic writing of David occurs in down 8. The section of Psalm 17 in across 1–21 is written continuously without division into stichoi lines of verse.

Such a collection of scriptural excerpts is to be ascribed to the well-known genre of testimonia collections of proof-texts, i.e. collections of Old Testament quotations ordered by subject and introduced by short headings, very popular in Qumran literature and early Christianity. Their themes concern messianism, eschatology, the Law, Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, the downfall of Israel, and the vocation of the Gentiles. An instructive example of a Christian testimonia collection is a codex of the fourth century, vH 299 = P. Oslo II 11 + P. Ryl. iii 460 (Rahlfs–Fraenkel 242–4 and 269, LDAB 3177), which contains Isaiah 42:3–4, 66:18–19, 52:15–53:3, 53:6–7, 53:11–12, Genesis 26:13–14, an unidentified text, 2 Chronicles 1:12, and Deuteronomy 28:8–11. According to A. Falcetta, BJRL 83 (2001) 3–19, the excerpted passages focus on the theme of God’s servant persecuted and eventually rewarded, to be interpreted as praefiguratio prefiguration/foreshadowing of Christ’s life, which becomes a model for the believer.

For 4933 one can similarly identify a common theme. A remarkable feature is the presence of Amos 9:11–12, focusing on the restoration of the fallen tent of David, a very popular passage interpreted in a messianic sense and often included in collections of testimonia. A similar interpretation, to judge from the exegesis of Church Fathers, could be applied to Jeremiah 38:26 and Psalm 17:10: in the Jeremiah passage, the figure of God as liberator of his people and guarantor of its prosperity, followed by the image of the divine fulfilment of the human soul, and the awakening and the sweet sleep are to be interpreted as a praefiguratio of the resurrection; in Psalm 17 God’s role as saviour of David from the enemies through his descent in the world is to be interpreted as praefiguratio of Christ’s katabasis descent into the underworld at the end of the world. Thus the three passages of 4933 share a messianic dimension and seem to be used to illustrate Christ’s mission, focusing on three main aspects: the redemption of mankind through the resurrection (Jeremiah 38:25–6), the foundation of the Church as the restored tent of David (Amos 9:11–12), and Christ’s katabasis and victory on sin and death (Psalm 17). This is further supported by the fact that Pseudo-Epiphanius, Testimonia ex divinis et sacris scripturis, includes Jeremiah 38:26 in the section concerning the resurrection of Christ, and Amos 9:11 and Psalm 17:10 in the section concerning the advent of the Messiah.