LUX VERITAS

LUX VERITAS

Library of Sacred Texts

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Manuscripts

Papiro P52

Oldest NT

2 chapters · read and listen

Chapters

12

Reading note

A papyrus fragment with portions of John 18 in Greek, held at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. It is generally dated to the 2nd century and is among the earliest witnesses to the New Testament. Selection read in the King James Version text of John (1611, public domain); Portuguese and Spanish are Lux Veritas translations from it. It is not a transcription of the manuscript.

Source: King James Version (London: Robert Barker, 1611), excerpts from John, King James Version translators (1611) · public domain

About this book: context, authorship and themes ↓

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Identification, date, and setting

P52, also catalogued as P. Ryl. Gr. 457, is a small fragment of a Greek papyrus codex kept at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. It bears parts of John 18 on both sides. CSNTM catalogues it as a second-century manuscript; this is a palaeographic judgment based on comparisons of handwriting. Brent Nongbri cautions that the often repeated date of about 125 CE implies a precision this method cannot supply. The fragment is a copy of the Gospel, not John's autograph or a work composed by its copyist.

Structure of the two parts in this edition

The site's file arranges the material in two editorial parts. The first, labelled recto, presents John 18:31–33: Pilate refers the case back to the Jewish authorities, hears that they cannot execute anyone, and asks Jesus whether he is king of the Jews. The second, labelled verso, presents John 18:37–38: Jesus speaks of bearing witness to the truth, and Pilate replies with his question. These are not original chapters of the papyrus; the object preserves only fragments of lines, whereas the continuous text shown here is a reading reconstruction.

Themes and key passages

The question about kingship in 18:33 prepares the answer in 18:37, where Jesus connects his coming with witness to the truth. Pilate's question in 18:38 lies on the other side of the fragment. The transition between recto and verso does not preserve all the intervening verses on the object. Writing on both sides helps identify it as a codex leaf and cautions against treating it as a complete leaf of the Gospel.

Summary by parts

Part 1, recto: A conversation about who may judge and execute Jesus leads Pilate to enter the headquarters again. He then asks whether Jesus is king (John 18:31–33).

Part 2, verso: Pilate returns to the question of kingship. Jesus answers that he came to testify to the truth and that those who belong to the truth hear his voice; Pilate asks what truth is (John 18:37–38). The interval between the two faces belongs to John 18 but does not appear as a third part in the local file.

Reception and value of the manuscript

P52 is studied as material evidence for the circulation of John's Gospel in Greek. Its preservation in Manchester and digital images allow the object to be examined, while the text of John belongs to a much wider New Testament manuscript tradition. An approximate date helps situate the copy; by itself it cannot fix the year when the Gospel was composed or prove beyond doubt that P52 is the oldest surviving Christian manuscript. Its textual reach is limited to portions of John 18:31–33 and 18:37–38.

Sources

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