| New Testament manuscript | |
 | |
| Name | P. Chester Beatty III |
|---|---|
| Sign | 𝔓47 |
| Text | Book of Revelation 9:10-17:2 † |
| Date | c. 200-300 |
| Script | Greek |
| Found | Egypt |
| Now at | Chester Beatty Library |
| Cite | F. G. Kenyon,The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri III, (London, 1934). |
| Type | Alexandrian text-type |
| Category | I |
| Note | close toSinaiticus,0308 |
Papyrus 47, also known asP. Chester Beatty III, is an early GreekNew Testamentmanuscript written onpapyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising theChester Beatty Papyri. It is designated by thesiglum𝔓47 in theGregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts.[1] Manuscripts among theChester Beatty Papyri have had several places of discovery associated with them, the most likely beingthe Faiyum.[2] Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the early 3rd century CE.[3] The manuscript contains text from theBook of Revelation chapters 9 through 17. It is currently housed at theChester Beatty Library (Inv. 14. 1. 527) inDublin.[4][1]
In November 2020, theCSNTM in conjunction withHendrickson Publishers released a new 1:1 high-resolution imaged facsimile edition of𝔓47 on black and white backgrounds, along with𝔓45 and𝔓46.[5]
The manuscript is acodex (precursor to the modernbook format), written with black ink on papyrus. The manuscript is quite fragmented, containing the text of Revelation 9:10-11:3; 11:5-16:15; and 16:17-17:2. The extant part of the manuscript comprises 10 leaves arranged as a single quire.[6] The original size of the pages was 24x14cm, with around 23-30 lines each page[6] The writing column was quite small, comprising 19x10cm, with 1-4 lines lost at the top of each page.[7] Due to the first five leaves facing back to front (also known asverso torecto), and the last five leaves facing front to back (recto toverso), this is evidence the extant leaves are from the middle portion, and likely that only the book of Revelation was included in the manuscript.[7] It is calculated that the manuscript likely had 30-32 leaves in total to house the text.[7]
Biblical scholarFrederic Kenyon describes the writing as "rather rough in character, thick in formation, and with no pretensions to calligraphy."[7]: xii Based on the graphic style, he dated the manuscript to the 3rd century CE.[7]: xii
The manuscript evidences the followingnomina sacra (names/titles considered sacred inChristianity, which received suspended abbreviations with a horizontal line above):ΑΘΝ (ἀνθρώπων /man),ΘΣ (θεός /God),ΙΥ (Ἰησοῦ /Jesus),ΚΣ (κύριος /Lord/Master),ΠΝΑ (πνεῦμα/τα /spirit orspirits),ΠΡΣ (πατρός /father),ΧΥ (χριστοῦ /Christ/Messiah),ΕΣΤΡΩ (ἐσταυρώθη /crucified).[7]: xii
The Greek text of this codex is considered a representative of theAlexandrian text-type. The text-types are groups of different manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups, which are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names:Alexandrian,Western, andByzantine.[8]: 205–230 Biblical scholarKurt Aland ascribed it as aNormal text, and placed it inCategory I of his New Testament manuscript classification system.[4]
The text of this manuscript is closest toCodex Sinaiticus (א), and together they are witnesses for one of the early textual types of the Book of Revelation.[9] Another type is represented by the manuscriptsPapyrus 115 (𝔓115),Codex Alexandrinus (A), andCodex Ephraemi (C).[9] The text in𝔓47-א is considered to be an inferior witness to the text of Revelation as opposed to that of𝔓115-A-C.[9]: 76, 301, 391
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