Papyrus 98

New Testament manuscripts
papyri • uncials • minuscules • lectionaries

Papyrus 98
Apocalypse 1:13-2:1
Name	P. IFAO inv. 237b [+a]
Sign	98
Text	Book of Revelation 1:13-2:1
Date	2nd century
Script	Greek
Found	1971
Now at	French Institute of Oriental Archeology
Size	15 x 16 cm
Note	in bad condition

Papyrus 98 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by ⁹⁸, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Book of Revelation. The manuscript palaeographically had been assigned to the late 2nd century.^[1]

Description

The surviving text of Revelation are verses 1:13-2:1 in a fragmentary condition. The script is a well-formed and large.^[1] It was formed in a scroll. The biblical text is on the side verso. On the recto is another documentary text dated to the end of the 1st century or the beginning of the 2nd century.^[1] Side verso of the scroll was used for the biblical text at the end of the 2nd century.

It has error of dittography in the first line – περι̣εζωσμμ̣εν̣ον instead of περιεζωσμενον.^[1]

Text

It is still not placed in any of Aland's Categories of New Testament manuscripts. "The text shows several differences from that printed in Nestle-Aland 27th".^[1]

[Recto]

περ]ι̣εζωσμμ̣εν̣[ον προς τοις μαστοις ζωνην

χρυ]σεν ^[1:14] και η κ̣ε[φαλη αυτου και αι τριχες λευκαι

ως] εριον λευκον [ως χιων και οι οφθαλμοι αυτου ως

φλ]οξ πυρος ^[1:15] και [οι ποδες αυτου ομοιοι χαλκολιβανω

ως] εν καμινω πε[πυρωμενης και η φωνη αυτου ως

φωνη υδατων π̣[ολλων ^[1:16] και εχων εν τη δεξια χειρι

αυτου αστερες [ζ̅ και εκ του στοματος αυτου ρομ

φαια διστομος ο[ξεια εκπορευομενη και η οψις αυ

το̣υ ως ο η̣λ̣ιος φ[αινει εν τη δυναμει αυτου ^[1:17] και οτε ει

δ̣ο̣ν̣ αυτον ε[π]εσα [προς τους ποδας αυτου ως νεκρος

και εθηκε̣ τ̣η̣ν̣ [δεξιαν αυτου επ εμε λεγων

μη φοβ̣[ο]υ̣ ε̣γ̣ω̣ [ειμι ο πρωτος και ο εσχατος ^[1:18] και εγε

νομεν̣ ν̣εκ̣ρ̣ο̣[ς και ιδου ζων ειμι εις τους αιωνας

τ̣ω̣ν̣ α̣ι̣ω̣ν̣ω̣ν̣ [και εχω τας κλεις του θανατου και

του α̣δ̣ο̣υ̣ ^[1:19] γ̣ρ̣α̣ψ̣ο̣ν̣ [ουν α ειδες και α εισιν και α μελλει

γε̣ν̣ε̣[σ]θ̣α̣ι̣ [μετα ταυτα ^[1:20] το μυστηριον των ζ̅

α̣στερ̣ω̣ν̣ [ους ειδες επι της δεξιας μου και τας

ζ̅ λυχνει[α]ς [τας χρυσας οι ζ̅ αστερες αγγελοι των

ζ̅ εκκλησ̣ι̣ω̣ν̣ ε̣ι[σιν και αι λυχνιαι αι ζ̅ ζ̅ εκκλεσιαι

εισ]ι̣[ν ^[2:1] τω αγγελω της εν εφεσω εκκλησιας γραψον ταδε λεγ

ε̣ι̣ [ο κρατων τους ζ̅ αστερας εν τη δεξια αυτου ο^[2]

In Rev 1:18 it lacks prhase και ο ζων as Latin Codex Gigas and some manuscripts of Vulgate. It is the only one Greek manuscript which does not contain this phrase.^[3]

History

Probably the manuscript was written in Egypt.

The first publisher was Wagner in 1971,^[4] he did not know that it was biblical text. Hagedorn discovered that it was text of Rev. 1:13-2:1.^[1]

Present location

The manuscript is currently housed at the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (P. IFAO inv. 237b [+a]) at Cairo.^[1][5]

See also

Bible portal

• List of New Testament papyri

References

Further reading

• D. Hagedorn, P.IFAO II 31: Johannesapokalypse 1,13-20, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 92 (1992), pp. 243-247.
• Comfort, Philip W.; David P. Barrett (2001). The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 629–632. ISBN 978-0-8423-5265-9. 

Image

• Image from ⁹⁸