Manuscript
The Nash Papyrus
Also known as Nash Papyrus · Cambridge MS Or.233
A scrap of Egyptian papyrus carrying the Ten Commandments and the Shema — the oldest Hebrew Bible text known until the Dead Sea Scrolls turned up.
hebrew-bibleold-testamenttorahdiscovery
Overview
The Nash Papyrus(c. 150–100 BC (middle of the second century BC))— Bought from a dealer in Egypt, said to be from the Fayyum
Four fragments, joined. They carry the Ten Commandments followed immediately by the Shema — Deuteronomy 6:4–5, "Hear, O Israel."
The Commandments here are not copied from Exodus or from Deuteronomy but blended from both, the way somebody prays them rather than the way a scribe copies a scroll. It is most likely a devotional or liturgical text, possibly from a phylactery.
Walter Llewellyn Nash bought it from an Egyptian dealer in 1902 and gave it to Cambridge in 1903. On its discovery it was announced as the oldest Hebrew manuscript of any kind in existence — and it was, until 1947.
Manuscript Details
- Date
- c. 150–100 BC (middle of the second century BC)
- Language
- Hebrew
- Script
- Square Hebrew
- Material
- Papyrus
- Current location
- Cambridge University Library (MS Or.233)
- Discovery year
- 1902
- Discovery location
- Bought from a dealer in Egypt, said to be from the Fayyum
- Contains books
- Exodus 20 / Deuteronomy 5 (the Ten Commandments, blended) · Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (the Shema)
- Tags
- hebrew-bible · old-testament · torah · discovery
Significance
A clean lesson in how superlatives work. For forty-five years this was the oldest Hebrew biblical text anyone had; then the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and it stopped being true. The papyrus did not change — the evidence did, and the honest claim moved with it.
The passages the manuscripts argue over
The places where the manuscripts differ — the ending of Mark, the woman caught in adultery, the three heavenly witnesses — with the case each way.