Manuscript
Papyrus Bodmer II (P66)
Also known as P66 · 𝔓66 · P. Bodmer II
A nearly complete Gospel of John, with a working scribe's corrections still visible on the page.
papyrinew-testamentgospel-of-johntextual-criticism
Overview
Papyrus Bodmer II (P66)(c. AD 200–350 — genuinely contested. Martin: c. 200. Orsini & Clarysse (2012): 200–250. Orsini (2015): c. 250–325. Nongbri (2014): early fourth century.)— Egypt; part of the Bodmer papyri acquired in the 1950s
John 1–14 survives largely whole, with fragments of chapters 15–21.
What makes this copy unusual is not the text but the traffic on it: the scribe went back over his own work and corrected it hundreds of times, sometimes against a second copy. You are looking at proofreading from the third century.
Its date is one of the genuinely open questions in the field. The first editor, Victor Martin, put it around AD 200. Orsini and Clarysse read the hand as 200–250; Orsini later moved to roughly 250–325; Nongbri argues an early fourth-century date is at least as likely. The range below covers the argument instead of picking a winner.
Manuscript Details
- Date
- c. AD 200–350 — genuinely contested. Martin: c. 200. Orsini & Clarysse (2012): 200–250. Orsini (2015): c. 250–325. Nongbri (2014): early fourth century.
- Language
- Greek
- Script
- Greek book hand (uncial)
- Material
- Papyrus
- Current location
- Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cologny (Geneva)
- Discovery location
- Egypt; part of the Bodmer papyri acquired in the 1950s
- Contains books
- John
- Tags
- papyri · new-testament · gospel-of-john · textual-criticism
Significance
An early, nearly complete Gospel — and a rare look at how copying actually worked. The corrections show a scribe who cared whether he had got it right, which is the human fact underneath every argument about transmission.
Where this witness is read
Papyrus Bodmer II (P66) is one of the manuscripts named in the places your Bible carries a footnote. Each passage below shows what this witness reads and the case each way.
- John 7:53 - 8:11The Woman Caught in AdulteryPapyrus 66 (P66) (c. AD 200) reads: Does not contain the passage. John 8:12 follows directly on John 7:52.
- John 5:4The angel who troubled the water at BethesdaThe earliest papyrus copies of John (P66, P75) (about AD 200 – 3rd century) reads: No angel, no troubling of the water — the explanation is simply absent.