Papyrus 75
Papyrus 75 (Bodmer Papyrus XIV-XV) (𝔭75), one of the earliest Greek New Testament papyri of the Alexandrian text type, written between 175 and 225 CE (AD). It is a well-preserved Greek papyrus codex containing the Gospels of Luke and John, which was discovered at Dishna in southern Egypt in 1952, among the Dishna Papers, also known as the Bodmer Papyri, a group of twenty-two papyri. They were purchased by Martin Bodmer and deposited at the Bodmer Library in Switzerland. Papyrus 75 was purchased from the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana by Frank Hanna III and donated to the Vatican Library in March 2007.
Papyrus Bodmer 14-15 (Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV), which originally consisted of 36 double leaves placed one on top of the other to make a total of 144 pages [of which 101 leaves have survived,] forming what is called a Codex which can be considered a quire. (Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV) is the oldest discovery containing the text of two gospels together, the Gospels of Luke and John. The photo shows a page which contains the end of the Gospel of Luke, and the beginning of the Gospel of John.
In the first century AD, “assemblies” of overlapping sheets, folded and sewn together with a piece of string, were quickly used by Christians, as we learn from a famous passage where Paul asks Timothy not to forget “the parchments,” that is, the “membranes” (2 Tim 4:13).
2 Tim 4:13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the SCROLLS.
“and the books” One of the great presuppositions of the Bible is that God’s people will read. The existence of Scripture is in itself an argument for the necessity of reading. The fact that God inspired a book indicates his desire for his servants to be readers.
This new format, a single notebook, offered enormous advantages over traditional parchment: less bulky and less expensive. At the same time, it facilitated the reading of a specific passage, all of which were important factors for public reading during important liturgical celebrations. However, the codex itself, until the third century, had a rather limited capacity (although it was always twice that of a scroll), due to the technique used, namely the stacking of folded papyrus sheets to form a single quire. For mechanical reasons, it is impossible to stack and fold more than about fifty sheets, whose height and width are determined by aesthetic and commercial considerations. Therefore, a manuscript like P75 could not contain more than two Gospels. However, since all Gospel lists begin with Matthew, one might assume that, along with the surviving papyrus, another volume was also made, now completely lost, which contained the two missing Gospels, Matthew and Mark. Which suggests that during this period, the four Gospels circulated together.
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS MANUSCRIPT?
Well, what is the importance of the following phrases in Luke 24? –
• Luke 24:3: “of the Lord Jesus.” At the tomb in the morning, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
• Luke 24:5: “He is not here, but is risen.”
• Luke 24:12 – But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping down, he saw only the linen cloths lying there; and he went home, amazed at what had happened.
• Luke 24:36 – “And he said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” When Jesus appeared among them.
• Luke 24:40 – You see my hands and feet (a spirit…) “And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.”
• Luke 24:51 – “And was taken up into heaven.”
• Luke 24:52 – “And they worshipped him.”
Imagine that these verses are not in any Bible?
Before the discovery of this papyrus, there were editors of certain Bibles in Western languages who did not believe that these verses were authentic… they believed that certain copyists embellished terms like Jesus Christ by adding Lord Jesus Christ, and also they relied on a particular manuscript, the Codex of Beza.
So, we can understand how discovering manuscripts becomes important for the Christian faith. When Papyrus 75 was discovered and its text published, it became clear that all the passages of Luke 24 were present in the manuscript.
These codices are more than just envelopes containing texts; they are ancient artifacts that tell us how early Christians used and valued these books.