Papyrus 75Edit

Papyrus 75 (P75), also known as Papyrus Bodmer II, is a Greek manuscript of the New Testament that is part of the Bodmer Papyri collection. The surviving leaves preserve substantial portions of the gospels of Luke and John, making it one of the earliest continuous witnesses to these texts that has come down to us from antiquity. Dating paleographically to roughly the late 2nd or early 3rd century CE, P75 plays a central role in discussions of early Christian textual transmission. The manuscript was acquired as part of the Bodmer collection assembled by Martin Bodmer and is currently housed at the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana in Cologny near Geneva, Switzerland. Its importance rests not only in the size of the surviving fragments but in how its readings illuminate early textual history for the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John.

Overview

Physical description

Papyrus 75 is written on papyrus in Greek and in an early form of uncial script. The materials and script style place it within the broader category of early Christian manuscripts that circulated in the Mediterranean world, especially in Egypt, where many early papyri have been preserved. The manuscript exhibits lacunae—gaps where material has not survived—yet, where legible, it preserves a substantial portion of the two gospels it contains. For readers of papyrus studies, P75 serves as a useful example of how early Christian scribes handled larger gospel units in a single manuscript.

Contents and textual scope

The leaves preserve substantial portions of the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. Because it includes material from both gospels, P75 has been a focal point for scholars studying early text-types and the relationship between Luke and John in the second and third centuries. In critical editions, the readings found in P75 are cited in apparatus where they bear on particular variants in Luke and John. The manuscript’s text is often discussed in tandem with other early witnesses, such as the Papyrus 66 and the Papyrus 52 family, to establish a broader picture of early textual transmission.

Provenance and current home

The Bodmer Papyri were assembled in the mid-20th century by Martin Bodmer and are kept at the Bodmer Library (Bibliotheca Bodmeriana) in Cologny, Switzerland. P75’s presence in this collection reflects a broader effort to preserve early Christian texts in a curated, scholarly environment where researchers can compare readings across multiple manuscripts. The Bodmer collection has become a cornerstone for studies in early Christian textual criticism and the historical geography of manuscript production.

Textual character and significance

Scholars generally regard P75 as a valuable witness to the Alexandrian stream of the New Testament text, though, like most early papyri, it contains readings that do not fit a single neat category. Its mixture of readings, some aligning with early Alexandrian manuscripts and others that appear independent, has made it a touchstone for debates about the diversity of early gospel texts and how quickly textual standardization occurred. In critical editions, P75 is cited for its contributions to the understanding of Luke’s and John’s early textual lineages and for illustrating how early Christian communities copied and circulated gospel material.

Historical context and scholarly debates

Dating and historical setting

Paleographers date Papyrus 75 to the late 2nd or early 3rd century CE. This places it among the earlier layers of extant gospel manuscripts and makes it an important data point in conversations about when the gospels acquired their present forms. Debate continues over the precise dating window, with some scholars arguing for a slightly earlier placement within the 2nd century and others favoring a more conservative early 3rd-century date. The dating matters because it affects how researchers assess the development of the text and the pace of transmission within early Christian communities, especially in Egypt where many papyrus witnesses originate.

Text-type and readings

While P75 is typically discussed in connection with the Alexandrian textual tradition, it does not fit a single, uniform profile. Its readings contribute to the ongoing discussion about how early gospel texts circulated among different Christian communities and how scribes in different regions may have adapted them. Textual critics use P75 alongside other early witnesses to map where Luke and John diverge or converge with other early manuscripts, and to consider whether certain readings reflect a shared ancestral text or independent scribal developments.

Discovery and publication

As part of the Bodmer collection, P75 has been studied extensively since its acquisition in the mid-20th century. The manuscript has been cited in discussions of early New Testament manuscripts and is frequently referenced in scholarly work on the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. The Bodmer collection as a whole has influenced modern critical editions by providing a broader base of early textual witnesses for comparison with more complete codices and other papyri.

Scholarly debates and controversies

Date and provenance: The precise dating and geographic origins of P75 continue to be refined. Some scholars emphasize Egyptian environment and early Christian communities as the likely setting for the manuscript’s production and use, while others stress the broader Mediterranean circulation of gospel texts in this period.
Relationship to other witnesses: Debates persist about how closely P75’s readings align with other early manuscripts (for example, versus the standardizing tendencies seen in later codices). Its readings are used to test hypotheses about the early textual landscape and the degree to which Luke and John shared common textual history in certain passages.
Implications for Luke and John: Because P75 contains portions of both gospels, it becomes part of the discussion about how early the texts of Luke and John were fixed, edited, or harmonized in the early Christian centuries, and how the two gospels may reflect different textual streams even within the same manuscript culture.

Influence on modern textual criticism

Papyrus 75 is frequently cited in introductions to the study of the New Testament papyri and in discussions of early gospel texts. Its combination of Luke and John material provides a concrete example of how early Christians copied and circulated gospel materials, and it is often included in critical apparatuses to illustrate readings that may diverge from other early witnesses. Its presence in the Bodmer collection makes it accessible to scholars conducting cross-comparisons with the other Bodmer papyri and with widely used editions such as Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament and the UBS Greek New Testament. For students and researchers, P75 helps illuminate the complexities of early manuscript culture, where multiple textual strands coexisted and were transmitted through independent scribal communities.