Peter M. Head, «The Habits of New Testament Copyists. Singular Readings in the Early Fragmentary Papyri of John», Vol. 85 (2004) 399-408
After an introduction that discusses the role that singular readings have played in the analysis of scribal habits, including an earlier study of synoptic gospel manuscripts by the same author, this study examines singular readings in the early fragmentary papyri of John’s Gospel. The study confirms earlier research showing that the most common singular readings concern spelling and that word order variations, word substitutions and harmonisations to context are also not uncommon. Omission of words is more common than addition.
The Habits of New Testament Copyists 405
deduced from the length of lines in the manuscript (26). One word missing: At
fol. 1, recto, line 12 there appears to be insufficient space for the autou of
John 1,37 (after maqhtai): this would require a line length of 32 letters,
whereas a line with 27 letters is already at the long end of the possible
range (27). A substitution: At line 19 of the second folio of the recto of the first
fragment (P. Oxy 208) the editors all agree that the space is insufficient for o
legetai didaskale (John 20,16) and have suggested o legetai k–e– [kurie]
(which would be much neater in terms of space) (28).
Two other singular readings have been suggested, but neither seems very
secure. At fol. 1, recto, line 22 (P. Oxy 208) there is insufficient space for
a[delfo" Simwno" Petrou ei" ek twn d]uo (John 1,40), which would require
28 letters in the missing space (or 33 letters for the line). Since twn is omitted
in several other manuscripts (01 C) it is probably not necessary to presuppose
a singular omission of some other word; on the other hand Elliott & Parker
think the space requires the omission of another word, most likely Petrou
(which would be a singular omission) (29). At line 7 of the recto of the second
fragment (POxy 1781; John 16,17) there appears to be extra space which
would require some additional material. The text of NA27, oun ek twn
m]aqhtwn, offers only 9 letters to fill a space proportionally available to about
15 letters. Elliott & Parker introduce eipan from the preceding line (despite
the evidence of final nu which can be seen in the photograph and is given, in
my view correctly in the editio princeps). This suggests that our scribe may
have added a word singularly or may have made some other error in this
section.
In summary, therefore, the singular readings of this manuscript include
two singular omissions of single words, another of two words, and another of
nine words (although all but a single word omission were subsequently
corrected), along with two singular spellings. Further evidence of probable
omissions is present in material that is not actually extant but where the
reconstruction is agreed by two different editors are: one case of the omission
of a single word; and one case of the substitution of a new word in place of
another. We could note that Grenfell & Hunt had already rightly noted the
“tendency to brevity, especially in omitting unnecessary pronouns,
conjunctions, etc.†(30).
P22 (P. Oxy 1228; Glasgow, UL MS General 1026/13) consists of two
fragments from the top of two consecutive columns of a roll (the recto is
(26) At fol. 1, verso, line 5 there is insufficient space for all the introductory material in
John 1,25. Between line 5 (kai hrw[…) and line 6 (…|ptizei") there is space for 15-20
letters while the text of NA27, reflecting the manuscript tradition, contains 29 letters. The
suggestion of Grenfell & Hunt, the original editors, that P5 lacked kai eipan autw (12
letters), remains the most plausible solution, OxyPap II (1899) 6; supported by ELLIOTT –
PARKER, John. The Papyri, 28. This is not, however, a singular omission since the same
words are omitted in minuscule 251 (according to Von Soden).
(27) So GRENFELL – HUNT, OxyPap II (1899) 7; supported by ELLIOTT – PARKER, John.
The Papyri, 29.
(28) GRENFELL – HUNT, OxyPap II (1899) 7; supported by ELLIOTT – PARKER, John.
The Papyri, 34. Codex Bezae has o legetai kurie didaskale.
(29) GRENFELL – HUNT, OxyPap II (1899) 7; cf. ELLIOTT – PARKER, John. The Papyri, 29.
(30) GRENFELL – HUNT, OxyPap II (1899) 9.