P.Bodmer XXIV (Rahlfs 2110)
MS.000170.1-.49
Manuscript
ca. AD 225–325
Egypt
Greek
Ink on Papyrus
Dimensions of a nearly complete folio (.45): approximately 9.1 × 4.9 in. (23.0 × 12.5 cm)
On View in The History of the Bible, The Written Tradition
This papyrus codex originally contained approximately 84 leaves (168 pages) of an ancient Psalter. More than half of the codex survives, preserving most of Psalms 17:45-118:44 in Greek (18:44-119:44 in most English versions). All 49 surviving leaves (98 pages) are in Museum of the Bible’s collection. The text was written by two different scribes whose handwriting differed noticeably in size, so the amount of text varies from 33 to 44 lines per page. This manuscript takes its name from Martin Bodmer, a Swiss collector, who purchased the manuscript in the 1950s.
Created around the 3rd–4th century AD in Egypt. Discovered in 1952 in Egypt; [1] Purchased in 1952 by Martin Bodmer (1899–1971); Under the care of the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana; Privately purchased in 2010 by Green Collection, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Donated in 2012 to Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes: [1] Albert Pietersma, “Bodmer Papyri,” in “The Anchor Bible Dictionary,” v. 1 (Doubleday, 1992) 766–767. Pietersma states that the place of discovery is believed to have been “Pabau, (near Dishna), the ancient headquarters of the Pachomian order of monks.” The author of the original edition, Rodolphe Kasser, thought that the Psalter could have come from anywhere in Egypt, from Thebes to Memphis, only ruling out the delta. See Rodolphe Kasser, “Papyrus Bodmer XXIV” (Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1967), 7.
Selected References:
Albert Pietersma, “Bodmer Papyri,” in “The Anchor Bible Dictionary,” v.1 (Doubleday, 1992), 766–767.
Albert Pietersma, “Articulation in the Greek Psalms,” in “Tradition of the Text,” eds. Gerard J. Norton and Stephen Pisano (Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz, 1991), 184–202.
Albert Pietersma, “The Edited Text of P. Bodmer XXIV,” in “The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists,” v. 17, no. 1–2 (Michigan Publishing, 1980), 67-79.
Rodolphe Kasser, “Papyrus Bodmer XXIV” (Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1967).
Museum of the Bible Publications:
Jennifer Atwood and Stacey L. Douglas, eds. “Passages: Exploring the Bible in Four Movements. An Exhibition Guide.” (Museum of the Bible, 2015), 14.
David Trobisch, Jennifer Atwood, Jonathan Kirkpatrick, and Rory P. Crowley, “Verbum Domini II: God’s Word Goes Out to the Nations” (Museum of the Bible and Abilene Christian University Press, 2012), 19–21.
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