Fayyum Fragment
The Fayyum Fragment is a papyrus fragment containing text that could be from part of the New Testament, and consists of only about 100 Greek letters. The fragment was originally discovered in Al-Fayyum, Egypt, and was translated in 1885 by Gustav Bickell after it was found in the papyrus collection of Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria in Vienna.
The surviving manuscript is badly damaged and has fewer than a hundred Greek letters preserved. Because of its style of handwriting it is believed to have been copied around the end of the third century. The text seems to parallel Mark 14:26-31, appearing to present a more abbreviated account. It is unclear whether the fragment is an abridged version of the synoptic gospels, or a source text on which they were based, perhaps the apocryphal Gospel of Peter.
The text reads:
...ε]ξαγειν ως επε οτι, Α τη νυκτι σκανδαλισ το γραφεν· Παταξω τον προβατα διασκορπισθησ υ Πετ· Και ει παντες, ο ν αλεκτρυων δις κοκ παρν | ...l]ead out, when he si: A of you night will be scandaliz what is written: I shall strike the herd and the] sheep shall be scatter Pet: Even if all, n e a cock twice cr en. |
Textual comparison with the texts in the three synoptic gospels leads to the above reconstruction of missing letters:
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Κατὰ Ματθαίον, 26: 30-34
Καὶ ὑμνήσαντες
ἐξῆλθον εἰς
τὸ Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν.
Τότε λέγει αὐτοῖς
ὁ Ἰησοῦς·
Πάντες ὑμεῖς
σκανδαλισθήσεσθε
ἐν ἐμοὶ
ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ,
γέγραπται γάρ·
Πατάξω τὸν ποιμένα,
καὶ διασκορπισθήσονται
τὰ πρόβατα
τῆς ποίμνης.
μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἐγερθῆναί
με προάξω ὑμᾶς
εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν.
ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ
ὁ Πέτρος
εἶπεν αὐτῷ·
Εἰ πάντες
σκανδαλισθήσονται
ἐν σοί,
ἐγὼ οὐδέποτε
σκανδαλισθήσομαι.
ἔφη αὐτῷ
ὁ Ἰησοῦς·
Ἀμὴν λέγω σοι
ὅτι ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ
νυκτὶ πρὶν ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι
τρὶς ἀπαρνήσῃ με.
Κατά Μάρκον, 14: 26-30
Καὶ ὑμνήσαντες
ἐξῆλθον εἰς
τὸ Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν.
Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς
ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι·
Πάντες
σκανδαλισθήσεσθε,
ὅτι γέγραπται,
Πατάξω τὸν ποιμένα,
καὶ τὰ πρόβατα
διασκορπισθήσονται·
ἀλλὰ
μετὰ τὸ ἐγερθῆναί
με προάξω ὑμᾶς
εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν.
ὁ δὲ Πέτρος
ἔφη αὐτῷ·
Εἰ καὶ πάντες
σκανδαλισθήσονται,
ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐγώ.
καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ
ὁ Ἰησοῦς·
Ἀμὴν λέγω σοι
ὅτι σὺ σήμερον ταύτῃ τῇ
νυκτὶ πρὶν ἢ δὶς ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι
τρίς με ἀπαρνήσῃ.
Fragment
...ε]ξαγειν
ως επε
οτι,
Α
σκανδαλισ τη νυκτι
κατα] το γραφεν·
Παταξω τον προβατα
διασκορπισθησυ Πετ·
ει-]
ν αλεκτρυων
δις κοκ παρν
Κατά Λουκάν, 22: 34, 39
'''
Καὶ
ἐξελθὼν ἐπορεύθη
κατὰ τὸ ἔθος εἰς
τὸ Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν:
ἠκολούθησαν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ μαθηταί.
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν,
Λέγω σοι,
Πέτρε,
οὐ φωνήσει σήμερον ἀλέκτωρ ἕως
τρίς με ἀπαρνήσῃ εἰδέναι.
Textual source
- Stanley E. Porter and Wendy J. Porter, New Testament Greek Papyri and Parchments. Vol. 1: Text; Vol. 2: Plates, Mitteilungen aus der Papyrussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek XXX.