Logia Fragmets

From... http://www.archive.org/stream/sayingsofourlord00egypiala/sayingsofourlor...
also see...http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3318/04-frag-nf.html
INTRODUCTION ON the edge of the Libyan desert, 1 20 miles south of Cairo. a series of low mounds, covered with Roman and early Arab pottery, marks the spot where stood the capital of the Oxyrhynchite nome. The wide area of the site, and the scale of the buildings and city walls, where trace- able, testify to its past size and importance ; but it declined rapidly after the Arab conquest, and its modern representa- tive, Behnesa, is a mere hamlet. A flourishing city in Roman times, and one of the chief centres of early Chris- tianity in Egypt, Oxyrhynchus offered a peculiarly attrac- tive field for explorers who, like ourselves, make the recovery of Greek papyri, with all the manifold treasures they may bring, their principal aim. The result of our excavations there during the last winter, an account of which will be published in the next Archaeological Report of the Egypt Exploration Fund, amply justified our anticipations. The ancient cemetery, to which for various reasons the first three weeks' work was devoted, proved on the whole unproductive; but in the rubbish-heaps of the town were found large quantities of papyri, chiefly Greek, ranging in date from the first to the eighth century, and embracing every variety of subject. No site, with the probable exception of Arsinoe, has proved so fertile in this respect ; and for the examination and editing of the papyri discovered much time will be required. For the present we are concerned with a single fragment, the remarkable character of which seemed to demand its prompt publica- tion. The document in question is a leaf from a papyrus book containing a collection of Logia or Sayings of our Lord, of which some, though presenting several novel features, are familiar, while others are wholly new. It was 2111210 6 AOFIA IHCOY found at the very beginning of our work upon the town, in a mound which produced a great number of papyri belong- ing to the first three centuries of our era, those in the immediate vicinity of our fragment belonging to the second and third centuries. This fact, together with the evidence of the handwriting, which has a characteristically Roman aspect, fixes with certainty 300 A.D. as the lowest limit for the date at which the papyrus was written. The general probabilities of the case, the presence of the usual con- tractions found in biblical MSS., and the fact that the papyrus was in book, not roll, form, put the first century out of the question, and make the first half of the second unlikely. The date therefore probably falls within the period 150-300 A.D. More than that cannot be said with any approach to certainty. Any attempt to distinguish between second and third century uncials is, in the present paucity of dated material, extremely precarious ; and we are the less inclined to enter upon it now, since we anticipate that the Oxyrhynchus collection, which contains a large number of uncial fragments,, will eventually throw much light upon the question. But in the meantime we are of opinion that the hand of the Logia fragment is far from belonging to the latest type of uncials used before 300 A.D., and that therefore the papyrus was probably written not much later than the year 200. The fragment measures 5f x 3! inches, but its height was originally somewhat greater, as it is unfortunately broken at the bottom. In the top right-hand corner of the verso side the numeral I A has been written by a later hand. As it was usual to foliate the right-hand pages of a book, the position of the numeral here is one good reason for sup- posing the leaf to have been so placed that the verso side came uppermost. Other considerations point to the same conclusion. The shorter lines on the verso have been supplemented at the end by a y-shaped character in order to give an appearance of even length, but on the recto side this supplementary sign has not been used. Now it is more probable that the scribe wished to make his lines SAYINGS OF OUR LORD 7 look regular at the outer margin of the page than at the inner, which is much less conspicuous in turning, over the leaves of a book. Further, it is noticeable that a strip of papyrus has been gummed along the left edge of the recto. The outer edge is that part of the leaf which is the first to become worn, and hence it is there that a strengthen- ing strip would be expected. But only if the recfo^was the under side could its left edge occupy the outer position. The importance of this question will be seen later (v. note on Log. i). Some of the regular contractions used in biblical MSS., 1C, 0C, TIP, ANOC, appear in the papyrus, and N at the end of a line is occasionally represented by a horizontal stroke above the final letter. Several common mistakes in spell- ing occur, A I for in lines 6 and 7, and 1 for I in lines 13, i6 3 and 35. A more serious error is OIKOAOMHM6NH in line 36 ; YTHAOYC, two lines lower, seems to have been corrected. The character used to fill up superfluous space at the end of a line has already been alluded to. There is a slight tendency towards division of one word from another. Stops, breathings, and accents are entirely absent. We print first a reproduction of the Greek text as it stands in the original. Restorations are enclosed in square brackets, and dots inside the latter indicate the approxi- mate number of letters lost. Dots outside brackets repre- sent letters of which only illegible traces remain. Dote underneath a letter mean that the reading is uncertain. We next give the several Logia in modem form, accompanied by an English translation and notes. Finally we proceed to a few general remarks, suggested by a consideration of the contents of the fragment. Here and throughout we hope that the speed with which this little book has been produced will be accepted as an excuse for shortcomings. During its preparation we have consulted Mr. F. C. Conybeare, Mr. J. Rendel Harris, Dr. M. R. James, and Mr. C. H. Turner. To their advice and suggestions we owe much ; but for the opinions expressed in these pages we alone must be held responsible. 3 AOriA IHCOY II TEXT Verso. IA KAI TOT6 6KBAA6IN TO KAPOC TO N TO) 00AAMO) 7 TOY AAA4>OY COY Arl 5 FT CAN MH NHCT6YCH TAI TON KOCMON OY MH 6YPHTAI THN BACIA6I AN TOY 0T KAI 6AN MH CABBATICHT6 TO CAB 7 10 BATON OYK OYC9e TO TTPA Aerei TU [CJTHN N MCO) TOY KOCMOY KAI N CAPK6I O)4>0HN AYTOIC KAI 6YPON HAN 15 TAC M66YONTAC KAI OYA6NA 6YPON A6ITGJ TA N AYTOIC KAI TTO 7 Nei H YYXH MOY 6HI 7 TOIC YIOIC TOON ANCON 20 OTI TYAOI 6ICIN TH KAP AIA AYT(x)[N] KAI . . BAjC SAYINGS OF OUR LORD Recto. 22 [ ]..[. T]HN TTTOOxfa [Aerjei [ft OTTJOY CAN OOCIN [ ]e[. . .] . . eeoi KAI 25 [. .]CO . [. .] eCTIN MONOC [. .]TGO rO) IMI MT AY T[OY] erei[p]ON TON Aieo KAKei eYPHceic /we CX I CON TO HYAON KAfO) 30 eKei eiMi Aerei ft OY K eCTIN AKTOC HPO *HTHC eN TH TTPIAI AY T[0]Y OYA6 IATPOC TTOI6I eepAneiAC eic TOYC 35 reiNOOCKONTAC AYTO" Aerei IT TTOAIC OIKOAO MHMNH EH AKPON [OJPOYC YTHAOYC KAI C THPITM6NH OYT6 n 40 [C]IN AYNATAI OYT6 KPY [B]HNAi Aerei Tc AKOYCIC [.JjCTOe . . TION COY TO 10 AOriA IHCOY III THE LOGIA WITH TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES LOGION I, 11. 1-4. ] KCU Tore 8iaj8A.o/feis eK/3aAeiy TO Kaptyos TO ev TU> TOV abe\. If we are right in maintaining that the verso side of this leaf came first in the book (v. p. 7), there is nothing to show whether the whole of the saying as found in Luke and Matthew preceded. If the recto side had come first, there would have been good reason for thinking that the saying appeared in a shortened form, since it is unlikely that more than a few lines are lost at the bottom of the leaf. LOGION 2, 11. 4-1 1. Ae'yei 'Irjo-ovy, eai> /AT) vrjoreva-rjTf TOV Ko OVK o\}rc cannot here mean 'fast' literally. Can T(u, K KOO-/X&), and the frequent references in St. John to ' the world ' in a metaphorical sense. The idea plays an important part in Gnostic writings, though of course not in them alone. Cf. Pistis Sophia, one of the chief Gnostic works which have been preserved (p. 250, Schwartze's transl. p. 158), Dixi vobis olim : aTTOTd toti et vXy toti. It is noticeable that ' I said to you aforetime,' or some similar phrase is the common formula used in that book for introducing quotations from the Gospels. The phrase ' ye shall not find the kingdom of God ' recalls Matt. vi. 33, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God/ &c. LOGION 3, 11. 1 1-2 1. Ae'yei 'Irjo-ous, e[ h fxeVw TOV Kooyxou, Kal ev aa/m &(f)6r)v avrois, KOL evpov Travras nfOvovras nal ovbeva evpov bi\l/u>VTa fv avrols, KCH Travel y V^X 7 ? M ou ^ T0 ' ? v '' s v av6pv, on rv^Xoi, flcriv rf Kapbiq avroi)[y] . . . 'Jesus saith, I stood in the midst of the world, and in the flesh was I seen of them, and I found all men drunken, and none found I athirst among them, and my soul grieveth over the sons of men, because they are blind in their heart . . .' 12 AOriA IHCOY In 1. 13 CAPK6I has been corrected by the original hand from CAPKI. Of the latter half of 1. 21 only very faint vestiges remain. At the end of it the horizontal stroke which looks like the top of C might only be part of a long cross-bar of ; and the dot which is discernible before this stroke, and which we have doubtfully transcribed as I, could be the bottom of a long P in the previous line. The beginning of this Logion was probably suggested by Baruch iii. 38 /iera TOVTO firl rrjs yf)$ a>$0r?, Kal tv rots avdput- TTOIS (rvvaveo-Tpatyr) a passage which was applied by several of the early Fathers to Christ's sojourn upon earth. Cf. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. iv. 20 ; Cyprian, Testim. ii. 6. Con- sidered by themselves the aorists eoT^r, &tf>driv, evpov might suggest a post-resurrection point of view ; but the present tense -novel which follows does not support this, and there is no difficulty in referring the sentence to the period of the ministry. For 'athirst' cf. Matt. v. 6, and for the general tenour of the Logion, John i. 10. LOGION 4, 1. 22. Traces of two letters are discernible in the middle of the line, but, though excluding certain combinations, they are too scanty to afford a positive clue. 61 is possible. The inserted above the line is by the same hand as the rest of the MS. As it is uncertain how much has been lost after 1. 21, 1. 22 may contain the end of the preceding saying ; but more probably it forms part of a distinct one. The word irrooxet'a does not occur in any saying of our Lord recorded in the Gospels, so this Logion was very likely new. LOGION 5, 11. 23-30. [A.e'y]et ['lycrovs, oii]ov tav SMTIV [. . . .]e[. . .] #eot KCU [. ,](ro . e [. .] eariy /xo'vos [. .]TCO eyw ei/ii per avr[ou]' lyei- /)OZ> TOV \L00V KCLKei ev?o-6t? j,f, CTi(TOV TO v\0 * Jesus saith, Wherever there are .... and there is one .... alone, I am with him. Raise the stone and there thou shalt find me, cleave the wood and there am I.' SAYINGS OF OUR LORD 13 The meaning of this remarkable Logion, the beginning of which is unfortunately mutilated, constitutes the chief difficulty of the fragment. First as to the reading : In 1. 23 immediately before OY there is part of a stroke which may very well be the end of the cross-bar of TT. In 1. 24 the remains of the letter before 01 are consistent with 6 only, and those of the letter preceding suit A better than X or A, which seem to be the only alternatives. Before this there is the bottom of a perpendicular stroke, which would be consistent with H, I, N, TT and perhaps r and Y. At the beginning of 1. 25 what we have read as C may equally well be the second half of TT ; and . might possibly be one letter, 00, though this does not correspond with the vestiges so well. In 1. 26 the first letter of which any part is preserved may be T, TT, or I"; but [6] TO) would not fill the lacuna. In 1. 27 there is not room for AYT[CON], and moreover the tip of a letter is visible, which suits Y. It seems fairly certain that the Logion offers a general parallel to Matt, xviii. 20 ' For where two or three are gathered together,' &c. though with considerable diver- gences. An extension of that verse which comes nearer to our passage is found in Ephraem Syr. Evang. Concord. Expos, c. 14 (v. Resch, Agrapha, p. 295), where the im- portant addition ubi unus est corresponds to p.6vos here, and suggests that 61 C should be read either at the begin- ning of 1. 25 or before GCTTN. The meaning may then be that wherever there are several believers, or even only one, Jesus is always present. No explanation can however be considered satisfactory, unless it enables the lacunae in 11. 25 and 26 to be plausibly filled up, and provides an adequate conjecture for the word ending in 601, which is the real key to the whole passage. If A660I is the right reading there, a contrast seems to be intended between the many ungodly and the one true believer : ' Where all men else are unbelievers, if one alone is (faithful), I am with him.' But a0eoi is hardly a natural word in this connexion ; and some such adjective as TTIOTOJ would be required in 1. 25, and it is difficult to see how this can be I4 AOriA IHCOY obtained. Further, unless el is lost at the beginning of 1. 25, both the explanations suggested require either eorty to be a mistake for ?y, or xat to be a mistake for *cet. The whole passage should be compared with an extract from the Gnostic ' Gospel of Eve ' quoted by Epiphanius, Haer. 26, 3 eycb exet eiju-t, Kal o-uAAe'ycdi; eavrbv (rvAAeyets. But the idea here, that Christ is in His believers (cf. John xiv. 20), is rather different from that of our passage and Matt, xviii. 20, where it is only promised that He will be with them. It is, however, some- what tempting to connect the quotation with the remark- able but difficult sentence, ' Raise the stone,' &c., as imply- ing the presence of Christ in all things ; cf. Eph. iv. 6. Another possible explanation of these words would be to regard them as a parallel to Matt. vii. 7, ' Ask and it shall be given you/ and as intended to teach the effort required in order to find Christ. LOGION 6, 11. 30-35. Ae'yei 'lr)?7 ovre 7re[o-]eu> 8warat oure Kpu[/3]^rai. 'Jesus saith, A city built upon the top of a high hill, and stablished, can neither fall nor be hid.' The scribe certainly wrote YYHAOYC, but he appears to have partially rubbed out the C. The idea in Matt. v. 14 here appears in an expanded form. The additional matter suggests the parable of the house built upon a rock, Matt. vii. 24, 25. But it is not really admissible to suppose that this Logion is a mere conflation of the two passages, since there is no reference here to the rock, which is the essential point of the parable. In Matt. v. 14 the ordinary reading is TTO'AIS Ket^eVrj. But Exploration Fund would pr inual irnile plates of the more important papyri, under the .renfell and Hunt. A subscription of one guinea will entitle subs: the annual volume, and a donation of 25 will constitute life- membership. Subscriptions may be sent either to the under- the honorary treasurers of the '' Ir. 11. A. 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