Papyrus Chester Beatty V Explained

The Papyrus Chester Beatty V (also named as Rahlfs 962, LDAB 3109, TM 61952, TC OT11, vHTR 7 and Rep I AT 4) is a fragment of a Greek Septuagint (an early translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek) manuscript written on papyrus. It belongs to the Chester Beatty papyri. Using the study of comparative writing style (palaeography), it has been dated to the late 3rd century CE.^[1]

Description

Twenty-seven leaves are preserved, of which 17 are in good condition and the other 10 are fragments.^[2] It contains portions of Genesis (8:13-9:1; 24:13-25:21 and 30:24-46:33) in Koine Greek. The text is written in single columns in cursive script. It is the oldest testimony of these passages in the Egyptian version of the Septuagint text.

Actual location

The fragments were acquired in Egypt before the end of 1931 by the American collector Alfred Chester Beatty and are now in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin with the siglum P. Ch. Beatty V.

Sources

• Kilpatrick. G. D.. Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri IV and V. New Edition with Text-critical Analysis. By A. PIETERSMA. Pp. xii+203, 8 plates. (American Studies in Papyrology XVI.) Toronto and Sarasota: Samuel Stevens Hakkert and Company, 1977. N.p. Two Manuscripts of the Greek Psalter in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. By A. PIETERSMA. Pp. x+79, 10 plates. (Analecta Biblica, 77.) Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1978. N.p. Étude sur la LXX origénienne du Psautier. By M. CALOZ. Pp. 480. (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, 19.) Fribourg Suisse: Éditions Universitaires; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1978. N.p.. The Journal of Theological Studies. 35. 1. 1984. 214–220. 10.1093/jts/35.1.214.
• Book: Mugridge, Alan. 2016. Copying Early Christian Texts: A study of scribal practice. 32. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. 9783161546884.
• Book: Pietersma, Albert. Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri IV and V: A New Edition with Text-critical Analysis. 16. American studies in papyrology, ISSN 0569-8642. American Society of Papyrlogists. 1977. 9780888660169.
• Book: Robinson, James M.. The Story of the Bodmer Papyri: From the First Monastery's Library in Upper Egypt to Geneva and Dublin. James Clarke & Company Limited. 2013. 9780227903506.

Notes and References

1. Book: Edgar, David Hutchinson . Bradford A. . Anderson . Jonathan . Kearney . Chapter 15. The Chester Beatty Biblical Collection: A Treasury of Early Christian Manuscripts in an Irish Library . Ireland and the Reception of the Bible: Social and Cultural Perspectives . The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies / Scriptural Traces . 2018 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 9780567678881 . https://books.google.com/books?id=i35QDwAAQBAJ.
2. Book: Kenyon, Frederic G. . The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri. Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible . Fasciculos IV. Genesis (Pap. V) A . 3 . 1936 . Emery Walker Limited . London .