The 'Textual Mechanics' of Early Jewish LXX/OG Papyri and Fragments

overall form and format description

marginal markings (outside the writing blocks)

overall style of writing (within the writing blocks)

• serifs (i.e. horizontal strokes, esp. along the bilinear planes)
• finials, hooks and/or loops (other, less angular flourishes)
• shading (very subtle end strokes), blobs

use of internal spacing (absence of ink)

explicit in-line markings (presence of ink)

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Now let us turn to the detailed evidence.

The Manuscript Fragments

Here are brief descriptions of the Jewish and possibly Jewish fragments (including a few unidentified, perhaps "parabiblical" early pieces) arranged in roughly chronological order (according to paleographical approximations).\9/

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\9/Items are presented with the Goettingen Septuagint Institute (or "Rahlfs") number in brackets, where available, followed by the van Haelst number (vh###) and Aland's [AT##]. Other attempts to identify and discuss aspects of the early Jewish biblical papyri are noted by Hurtado (his n.6), and by Tov in his forthcoming study (above, n.7).

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Attention will be given especially to the aforementioned "presentational" issues, as described by the respective editors and reevaluated, when possible, by the present author from available photographs -- and with the problematic issues described above also in mind.

1. 4Q122=LXXDeut, Deuteronomy 11 [#819; unknown to vh];

From Qumran, cave 4; ed. E.Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 195 (plate 43), with paleographical comments by P.Parsons, 11-12.

Very few consecutive letters are preserved on these tiny, misshapen fragments, making precise judgments especially problematic. The manuscript seems to have contained 26-29 letters per line, but the length of each column cannot be determined.

The hand is literary, but not elegant, tending to a thick informal upright bilinear round style (R and perhaps U descend below the plane; there is a tendency to vertical oval shape with QO, and S has a flattened top), perhaps with some tendencies to ligatured (note the long middle stroke of E) and to cursive forms (e.g. some representations of A), which might suggest "documentary" influence. It is moderately decorated, with small flourishes on the top and base of most verticals (and the left upper diagonal of U) in the form of short hooks or blobs (mostly to the left, except on the top right vertical of N). No shading of ink strokes is evident.

There is some evidence of spacing between at least three of the possible 7 word breaks, but no preserved left margins and not enough words to determine the extent and nature of the use of spacing or associated devices.

No nomina sacra or other special markings are preserved.

[[link appended excerpts]]

2. PRyl 458, Deuteronomy 23-28 [#957 = vh057 = AT28];

Location of the find is unknown (purchased with other papyri in 1917 by Rendel Harris; cartonnage, possibly from the Fayum); ed. C.H.Roberts, Two Biblical Papyri ... (Manchester Univ Press 1936) (with one photo) and PRyl 3 (1938) (no photos); additional photos are found in E.Wu%rthwein, The Text of the Old Testament (1957, Eerdmans 1995\2).

The papyrus itself is light colored and of good quality. Originally it was about 28 cm tall with at least 30 lines per column, and columns about 10 cm wide with 27-29 letters per line (average). These fragments are written in a relatively bilinear (FY extend above and below the imagined lines, and IRTU below) square/round upright (but the rounded letters, especially S tend to "lean" back to the left at the top), highly decorated "elegant" formal book hand, with no clear evidence of shading.

The use of spacing is noteworthy, with both smaller and larger spaces employed between various word groups, but no word division as such. Roberts comments: "our text ... shows no sign of documentary influence and we cannot ascribe to this cause the systematic use of [spacing] found here" (26), and wonders about possible influence from Hebrew or Aramaic. See now the investigations by Emanuel Tov mentioned above.

No nomina sacra occur, or other special markings.

[[link appended excerpts]]

3. 7Q1 LXXEx, Exodus 28 [#805 = vh038 = AT18];

From Qumran cave 7; ed. M.Baillet (with J.T.Milik & R.de Vaux), DJD 3 (1962) 142-43 & plate 30. Brief paleographical comments by P.Parsons in DJD 8 (1990) 25.

Probably 19-20 letters per line average; column height cannot be determined on the basis of the two small preserved fragments. The hand is a highly decorated formal upright with strict bilinearity in the few preserved letters -- none protrude above or below the projected lines (there are no occurrences of FY); no shading is obvious.

No unusual formatting appears in the small extant fragments and there are no occurrences of nomina sacra or other special markings.

[[link appended excerpts]]

4. 4Q119=LXXLev\a, Leviticus 26 [#801 = vh049];

From Qumran cave 4; ed. E. Ulrich DJD 9 (1992) 161 & plate 38; paleographical analysis by P.Parsons, 7.

Full scroll height about 20 cm, with at least 1.3 cm top margin and 1.5 bottom; about 28 lines per column, with an average of 47- 48 letters per line (about 10 cm wide, with at least .8 cm between columns). There are faint traces of horizontal guidelines, with the letters dropped from the line. This produces greater linearity at the top of the roughly bilinear (with FY extending both above and below, and BRU and occasionally I below) upright informal round (tending to oval in places) rather cramped writing. Sporadic ornamentation, with left hooks at the feet of some RF letters, and a downward hook sometimes on the left horizontal of T. No shading. See Turner's "informal round" style?

A textual break marked by an inline blank of about 3-4 letter widths and a horizontal paragraphos mark below that line on the left margin indicates the start of Lev 26.21. Otherwise there are a few possibly intentional short spaces between some words or clauses at other points in the fragment, but no observable pattern.

No nomina sacra are preserved in the fragment, or other special markings. Iota adscript is used. An interlinear correction occurs (apparently by the original copyist), and perhaps a couple of "strike-over" corrections as well.

[[link appended excerpts]]

5. 7Q2 LXX EpJer, Epistle of Jeremiah (Baruch 6) [#804 = vh312 = AT144];

From Qumran cave 7; ed. M.Baillet (with J.T.Milik & R.de Vaux), DJD 3 (1962) 143 & plate 30.

Parts of 5 lines (21 total letters) are preserved, with probably originally 23-24 letters per line; there is no way to know the size of the column(s). The hand appears to be bilinear, formal upright round/square, relatively thick but perhaps shaded on some horizontals and obliques, with subtle ornamentation (small but full serifs, curved flourishes) on most non-rounded letters. There are no preserved examples of the letters KMRFY, among others, and both a larger and a smaller form of S appears.

No spacing appears in the preserved material, although it is tempting to reconstruct it for one of the lacunae. There are no abbreviations, nomina sacra, or other special marks.\10/

[[link appended excerpts]]

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\10/Qumran cave 7 has produced several other small Greek fragments that have not yet been identified convincingly. In general, many of them seem to be bilinear and decorated with serifs and/or hooks. Spacing may be present on 7Q5 and 7Q15, and 7Q16 may have a paragraph mark (see also 7Q7?). Since they are probably of Jewish provenance, they are also of possible relevance as attesting Jewish literary activity and scribal practices. In his forthcoming article (above, n.7) Tov notes the following suggested identifications with LXX/OG locations, any of which if verifiable would qualify the respective fragment(s) for inclusion in the present list:

7Q4 Numbers 14.23-24
7Q5 Exodus 36.10-11; Numbers 22.38
7Q6.1 Psalm 34.28; Proverbs 7.12-13
7Q6.2 Isaiah 18.2
7Q8 Zechariah 8.8; Isaiah 1.29-30; Psalm 18.14-15; Daniel 2.43; Qohelet 6.3

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6. PFouad 266a, Genesis 3-38 [#942 = vh056 = AT3];

Unknown provenance (acquired by P.Jouget in 1943); ed. Zaki Aly and Ludwig Koenen, Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy ... (Bonn: Habelt 1980) (includes plates); the descriptions and notes are by Koenen.

The height of the roll is unknown, while the preserved columns are about 15 cm wide (about 38 letters per line, average), and the width of vertical margins is unknown. It is good quality papyrus, written by the same hand or in the same scribal tradition as #848 (item 8 below) in a highly decorated rigorous bilinear formal upright (only F extends above and below the projected lines, and Y above); horizontal strokes tend to be thicker than verticals (obliques are mostly thick); there are full lower serifs on TUFY, and sometimes on I and on the left verticals of GHKNPR; half-serifs or hooks occur on most other vertical strokes, and on some obliques (especially also with thickened ends, or delicate "blobs"); the right vertical of P is rounded, and there is a tendency to rounding on the right vertical of H. The horizontal stroke in Q is short, and does not touch the circle on either side; the horizontal midstroke on E is relatively longer, and does connect on the left.

Spacing of about half the width of a letter is occasionally found, especially before and after some proper names.

No examples of the tetragrammaton have survived on these eight small fragments, nor any unusual markings, but QEOS is found (Gen 4.6) uncontracted and unaccompanied by the tetragrammaton, contrary to the majority of witnesses in this passage (compare #905, item 19 below). Iota adscript is frequent.

[[link appended excerpts]]

7. 4Q120=LXXLev\b, Leviticus 2-5 [#802 = vh046 = AT22];

From Qumran cave 4; ed. E.Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 168 (plates 39- 41), with paleographical analysis by P.Parsons, 10.

A tall scroll, about 31 cm high (about 38 lines per column), with columns of about 10-11 cm in width (23-29 letters).

This fragment is written in a highly decorated bilinear script, with no significant shading (compare #848 and #943b, items 8 and 13 below).

Spacing is used before and after the divine name (represented by IAW) and occasionally between sense-divisions or sentences. Paragraph signs also occur at the left margin. The manuscript also uses iota adscript (usually); and contains some corrections.

[[link appended excerpts]]

8. PFouad 266b, Deuteronomy 17-33 [#848 = vh56 = AT27];

Unknown provenance (acquired by P.Jouget in 1943); ed. Zaki Aly and Ludwig Koenen, Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy ... (Bonn: Habelt 1980) (includes plates); the descriptions and notes are by Koenen.

The height of the roll was about 24 cm, with 21-23 lines per column, while the preserved columns vary from about 15.5 to 16.5 cm wide (about 37 letters per line, average, but line endings are irregular and the final letters sometimes cramped), and the width of vertical margins varies from about 1.5 cm down to 0.2 cm(!), with a tendency for the lower lines gradually to "move" their beginnings more to the left ("Mass' Law"). Similarly, there is a tendency for the top lines in a column to have more space between them than those at the bottom.

The text is written on good quality papyrus, by the same hand or in the same scribal tradition as #942 (item 6 above) in a highly decorated rigorous bilinear formal round/square upright (only F extends above and below the projected lines, and Y above); horizontal strokes tend to be thicker than verticals (obliques are mostly thick); there are full lower serifs on TUFY, and sometimes on I and on the left verticals of GHKNPR; half-serifs or hooks occur on most other vertical strokes, and on some obliques (especially also with thickened ends, or delicate "blobs"); the right vertical of P is rounded, and there is a tendency to rounding on the right vertical of H. The horizontal stroke in Q is short, and does not touch the circle on either side; the horizontal midstroke on E is relatively longer, and does connect on the left.

Paragraph markers are frequent at the left margin between the lines, and spacing of varying widths is found throughout to indicate various units (or sometimes with no apparent function). Spacing around proper names does not seem to be a feature of #848, unlike its sister MS #942 (item 6 above). At Deut 21.1, along with a paragraph sign, there is a large diagonal slash in the left margin. Its function (if any) is not clear. There are a few corrections, and a marginal gloss at the bottom of one column. Iota adscript is normal.

The tetragrammaton appears frequently, in small square Aramaic/Hebrew letters (resembling PIPI) that are oriented to the base line (not hung from the top), preceded but not followed by a high dot with the entire ensemble occupying the space of about 5-6 letter widths of which perhaps half (distributed on each side of the tetragrammaton) is blank. The first copyist left the dot marker and blank space, which was filled in later, presumably by another hand.

[[link appended excerpts]]

9. PFouad 266c, Deuteronomy 10-33 [#847 = vh56 = Aland01];

Unknown provenance (acquired by P.Jouget in 1943); ed. Zaki Aly and Ludwig Koenen, Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy ... (Bonn: Habelt 1980) (includes plates); the descriptions and notes are by Koenen.

The height of the roll may have been about 24 cm (as with #848, item 8 above), with about 21 lines per column, but the width of the columns was much smaller, around 17 cm (about 24 letters per line, average, but with a great deal of variation), and the width of vertical margins may have been around 1 cm.

The text is written on good quality papyrus, and although in some ways the hand is similar to ##942 and 848 (items 6 and 8 above), it is less formal in execution, while still generally bilinear (the top flourish on A usually breaks the upper plane; and the foot of U sometimes drops below the lower line; there do not seem to be any examples preserved of FY) and round/square (with some oval tendencies in the rounded letters); no obvious shading but highly decorated -- usually there are full lower serifs on TU, and sometimes on I (also on top); half-serifs or hooks occur on most other vertical strokes; the right vertical of P is rounded, but not the right vertical of H. The horizontal stroke in Q connects the two sides and sometimes extends beyond the right arc.

One paragraph stroke is preserved, and small spacing is used similarly to #848 (item 8 above) but also in connection with the start of proper names (as in #942, item 6 above), but not after such names.

There are no instances of the tetragrammaton, but QEOS is uncontracted, as expected. Interlinear corrections appear. The dieresis/trema is found once on an initial vowel, but no other diacritics or explicit punctuation marks occur.

[[link appended excerpts]]

10. 4Q127 Exodus Paraphrase (?) [no Goettingen #; unknown to vh];

From Qumran cave 4; ed. E.Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 223f (plate 47), with paleographical analysis by P.Parsons, 12f.

Dimensions undetermined (no complete line or vertical fragment extending through an entire column's height has been preserved). The writing is similar to #802 (see above, item 7); an informal round/square highly decorated (but no shading) literary script ("ineptly written," so Parsons). Some spacing (e.g. with proper names) and paragraph markings, plus a marginal "coronis" (as in #848, item 8 above) and a few corrections by the original hand. No occurrences of nomina sacra or tetragrammaton are preserved.

[[link appended excerpts]]

11. 4Q126 unidentified Greek [no Goettingen #; unknown to vh];

From Qumran cave 4; ed. E.Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 219 (plate 46), with paleographical analysis by P.Parsons, 12.

The dimensions represented in these 8 fragments are undetermined. The hand is similar to #802 (item 7 above) and #803 (item 12 below) -- a highly decorated bilinear, but with no shading.

Some use of spacing occurs for larger as well as smaller units. Fragment 2 seems to have KURIO[], preceded by a short space.

[[link appended excerpts]]

12. 4Q121=LXXNum, Numbers 3-4 [#803 = vh051];

From Qumran cave 4; ed. E.Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 188 (plates 42- 43), with paleographical analysis by P.Parsons, 11.

Large format, more than 25 cm tall (34 lines per column), with columns about 10.5-11 cm wide (27-34 letters per line) and perhaps a 1.5 cm margin between. Some use of spacing. Iota adscript. Highly decorated pronouncedly bilinear round/square hand (some oval letters, which tend to lean backwards) with no shading, similar to #802 (item 7 above). No occurrence of the tetragrammaton. A few corrections.

[[link appended excerpts]]

13. 8HevXIIgr = Nahal Hever Minor Prophets [#943 = vh285];

From the Cave of Horror, Nahal Hever (Wadi Habra), Israel; ed. E.Tov, DJD 8 (1990), with paleographical analysis by P.Parsons, 19-26.

Dimensions can vary somewhat from column to column (especially widths), but in general the material was about 35 cm tall (42 lines per column for hand A, 33 for hand B) with column widths averaging around 9 cm (7.5-11.5 range), and about 1.7 average margins between. It is possible that the original scroll was around 10 meters long, if it was a single scroll containing all the Minor Prophets. It is also possible that two separate scrolls (hand A and hand B, thus #943a-b) are represented by the fragments. The leather inscribed by hand B is also coarser than that by hand A.

Scribe A uses spacing for sections and sub-sections (with some enlarged initial letters), but not for words as such; scribe B spaces between most words as well. Both hands are bilinear round/square in conception (but not necessarily in execution; hand A is especially inconsistent) and heavily ornamented (but not with full serifs). Hand A shows no consistent shading, while hand B does. Parsons concludes that hand B was "a much more fluent and consistent copyist than hand A" (22). Paragraph marks also occur in hand A, and some marginal marks.

Each of the respective sections (A and B) has a different rendering of the archaic Hebrew tetragrammaton, and probably hand A actually wrote the material in continuity with the Greek (not after the Greek was completed), from left to right. It is not clear whether hand B followed the same procedure (see Tov, DJD 8, p. 14).

It is possible that we have remnants of two scrolls here; in any event, two different hands worked on the materials that have survived, and the second hand presents virtual word division in those sections.

[[link appended excerpts]]

14. POx 3522 Job 42 [Goettingen #??; unknown to vh];

From Oxyrhynchos; ed. P.Parsons, POx 50 (1983) 1 (with plate).

Dimensions may be as small as 14 cm tall (15 lines per column), or as large as 29 cm (39 lines) or even 32 cm (46 lines), depending on the identification of the poorly represented (3 legible letters!) 2nd column, with 19-22 letters per line. Informal (even careless) upright bilinear (some ovals, tending to lean left) with moderate ornamentation (mostly by hooks on some vertical strokes); no shading; some ligatures and cursive tendencies; dieresis/trema on the initial letter of I+WB.

Use of spacing followed by an exaggerated letter for sense divisions. Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew, written consectutively by the original scribe from left to right.

[[link appended excerpts]]

15. POx 4443 Esther E + 8-9 [Goettingen #??; unknown to vh];

From Oxyrhynchos; ed. K.Luchner, POx 65 (1998) 4ff (with plate).

About 30 cm tall, with writing block 20 cm (31 lines) by 7 cm (25 letters average) and about 2 cm between columns. Has paragraph markers with enlarged initial letters of next line projecting into the left margin, and initial letters of most other lines also enlarged. Otherwise relatively bilinear with minimal ornamentation (some hooks and flourishes), and various "documentary" tendencies (ligatures, cursive forms, etc.).

Some spacing for word/phrase separation and at line ends before paragraph markers; dieresis/trema occurs several times, and iota adscript (not always where expected!). Otherwise no punctuation or special markings.

No occurence of tetragrammaton; "nomina sacra" are uncontracted -- e.g. QEOU, SWTHRIAN, ANQRWPOIS in E.16 (reconstructed) and 18, 23, 24.

[[link appended excerpts]]

16. PFouad 203 prayer/amulet? [no Goettingen #; vh911];

Unidentified provenance; Ed P.Benoit, RevBiblique 59 (1951) 549-65.

From the top of the middle column (of three), 19 lines (about 17- 18 letters per line) are preserved, but it is not possible to determine how much has been lost below. I have not seen a photo of this material but the editor provides an extensive paleographical description and classes the hand as clearly "literary," carefully written without any cursive forms.

Roberts MSB 78: "There can be little doubt of the Jewish origin [of this manuscript], a prayer against evil spirits, written on a roll of papyrus and attributed to the late first or early second century."\11/

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\11/Roberts continues, MSB 78: "Both PLond Christ 5 (=vh921), a leaf from a liturgical book of the third century [vh reports 4- 5th ce!], and POx 17.2068 (=vh966), some fragments of a papyrus roll of the fourth century, have been thought to be Jewish [e.g. by G.D.Kilpatrick]; but in the latter the contraction of QEOS, the eccentric nomen sacrum BS = BASILEUS, and the apparent echoes of Revelation 15.3 and 1 Timothy 1.17 in l. 7 render the suggestion doubtful. To these should be added the Vienna text of The Penitence of Iannes and Iambres: it was written on the recto of a roll and nomina sacra are left uncontracted [p.61f n.5 calls this PVindobGr 29456 (=vh1068); p.63 n.3 refers to the forthcoming ed of Jannes/Jambres material by A. Pietersma and also to the republication of the Vienna fragment by P.Maraval in ZPE 25 (1977) pp. 199ff.]."

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17. PYale1 recto and verso of Genesis 14 [#814 = vh012 = AT6];

Largely bilinear upright round/square lettering but with descenders on RUYF and sometimes I, and enlarged B. Also FY and sometimes KI extend above the projected top line. There is no evidence of perpendicular or baseline serifs, but some decorative hooks, especially at the top of some diagonals, notably KU (see also ADL). The writing almost fits Turner's "Formal Round: Biblical Majuscule/Uncial" style (ed1, 25f = ed2, 21f) but is less disciplined, with horizontal strokes (especially on tau and epsilon) frequently touching the adjacent letter; no consistent shading is visible from the photographs.

The text includes mid-points after most proper or gentilic names, some breaks between verse-units, possibly some smaller breaks as well, and mid-points to offset number shorthand TIH (318).

The editor, Bradford Welles, dated PYale 1 to around the year 90 and especially because of the codex form considered it unquestionably Christian. Treu would date it at least a century later , and wonders if it might be of Jewish origin. Turner also dates it to late 2nd or early 3rd c [Codex "OT 7" pp. 90, 164].

Roberts also dates this text later than 100 [see van Haelst], but considers it definitely of Christian origin not only because of its codex form but because "the numeral 318 is written not in words but in symbols, contrary to the usual practice of Graeco- Jewish manuscripts; moreover, in this passage the symbols had for the author of the epistle of Barnabas [9.7-9; see further Hurtado] a mystical significance which the words could not have conveyed and it is reasonable to think that they had the same meaning for the writer of PYale 1" [MSB 78].

18. PBodl 5, Psalms 48-49 [#2082 = vh151 = AT68];

Ed J.W.B.Barns and G.D.Kilpatrick, Proc Br Acad 43 (1964), 229-32 (plate).

Originally 35-40 lines per page.

The photographs are difficult to read, but the hand appears to be a "delicate" round/square minimally decorated bilinear similar to #905 (item 19 below).

Stichometric format (with some long lines continued at the end of the next line and marked with guidelines accordingly). Uncontracted forms of QEOS and ANQRWPOS are restored ("conclusively," so Treu, but not so confidently Roberts MSB 78) in the gaps. Roberts thinks it "definitely" Christian (as did the original editors, because of the codex format), Treu is less sure.

19. POx 656 Genesis 14-27 [#905(U4) = vh013 = AT8];

Oxyrhynchos; ed. Grenfell & Hunt, POx 4 (1904) 28f (plate).

Page dimensions at least 11 by 24 cm, 41-42 lines per page (Turner, Codex OT 9).

Carefully written in a round/square large upright hand with minimal decoration (similar to #2082, item 18 above). Some use of spacing as well as explicit high and middle stops. No abbreviations except the stroke representing N at the end of some lines -- QEOS and KURIOS are uncontracted in the first hand. Some corrections have been made by a second hand, which also seems to have added the numeration at the top of each page.

Treatment of tetragrammaton passages warrants further comment. At Gen 15.8 (where the absence of KURIE is a variant in the MSS) there was a blank, four letters in width, filled in with KURIE by another hand. Presumably the manuscript being copied represented the tetragrammaton here in non-Greek letters, and space was left to be filled in by someone expert in the desired script. In Gen 24.40, no attempt is made to represent the tetragrammaton, in accord with a minority textual variant.

The remaining two passages are especially interesting since they both occur at the end of lines at Gen 24.31 (line 122) and 24.42 (line 166; see the photo), and in neither case is the full form of the word KURIOS preserved! In the first of these passages, only the first letter K can be seen before the fragment breaks off (where space for 1-3 letters would have remained, based on the format of the surrounding lines), and in the second passage only KU appears, although there is some room for additional letters after that on the preserved blank surface (the editors complete the word by supplying RIE in the margin of the lacuna preceding the next line, which would be highly unusual!). It seems to me more likely that only the abbreviated KU (without any mark of abbreviation) was supplied in the second instance, and possibly in the first as well!

[[link appended excerpts]]

20. POx 1007 = PLitLond 199, Genesis 2-3 [#907 = vh005];

Oxyrhynchos; ed. A.S.Hunt, POx 7 (1910) 1-3 (plate).

Relatively square page format, about 16 cm high, with two columns of about 33 lines each and 20-25 letters per line.

Basically upright "formal mixed" bilinear lettering (FY break the upper and lower planes, and R the lower), with oval tendencies and minimal decoration -- some loops/hooks on some vertical strokes, but no serifs as such. A blank space of about one letter width appears between chapters 2 and 3; otherwise no clear evidence of punctuation or word division.

The tetragrammaton is rep resented by paleo-Hebrew double yod (two yods with a line through them both; a form found already on coins from the 2nd century bce [[locate a photo?]]), and QEOS is contracted, but no other nomina sacra contractions occur (e.g. ANQRWPOS is fully written several times). Treu, following Kahle (Cairo Geniza), considers the text to be of Jewish origin. Roberts is more cautious:

"Either we have an instance of a Jewish scribe being influenced by Christian practice or we must assume that a Christian copying a Jewish manuscript preserved the Hebrew form of the Name, as a few later manuscripts, e.g. the Marchalianus [MS Q], do" (MSB ...). Apparently Roberts does not consider the possibility that the tradition of abbreviating QEOS may itself be of Jewish origin, along with abbreviating the tetragrammaton.

21. POx 1166 = PLitLond 201, Genesis 16 [#944 = vh014 = AT9];

Oxyrhynchos; ed. A.S.Hunt, POx 9 (1912) (plate).

At least 28 lines per column, about 14-15 letters per line.

The calligraphic style in this scroll fragment differs significantly from all that we have seen above; this is in an attractive large undecorated bilinear round/square "Biblical Uncial/Majuscule" with thick strokes except for the horizontals (thus "shaded"). KURIOS and QEOS (as reconstructed) are contracted, but not ANQRWPOS. A medial point occurs two (or three?) times (e.g. before 16.10 and 16.11), once clearly followed by a short blank space; no other spacing appears. A rough breathing mark also occurs in 16.10, O( AGGELOS KU.

This is an especially important text for the discussion of Jewish or Christian scribal practice. Roberts sees the evidence as ambiguous, finally concluding that "It is perhaps more likely to be Christian than Jewish" (MSB 77; but see his earlier comments in JTS 50 [1949] 157). Treu is less sure.\12/ If this text is Jewish in origin, it suggests that the "biblical majuscule" style may have come into Christianity from Judaism, and that the use of nomina sacra was no less Jewish than Christian in this early period!

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\12/The fragment contains a variant that might also be relevant to this discussion: in Gen 16.11 which parallels the familiar wording of Matt 1.21 "she shall bear a son," #944 has paidion in agreement with some MSS of Philo, while all other known witnesses to the Genesis and the Matthew passages have uion. Was this an old Jewish reading that survived in our fragment (and in Philo) despite the temptation that Christian scribes might have had to harmonize the text with Matthew? Or is it evidence for Christian revisionary activity to make the Genesis text (on the birth of Ishmael) more different from the Matthew wording (Ishmael is a "servant/son," while Jesus is simply "son")?

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22. PBerlin 17213, Genesis 19 [#995 = vh015 = AT10];

Provenance unknown; ed. K.Treu, Archiv fuer Papyrusforschung 20 (1970) 46f (plate).

Fragments of 8 and 9 lines from a page that originally contained 27-28 lines of about 26-27 letters each. The script is in a relatively bilinear round/square hand that tilts slightly to the left at the top, with little obvious decoration (some feathering) or shading, and regular ligaturing of some letters (e.g. alpha, epsilon, and tau with what follows them).

There is a mid-stop with a space at the end of 19.17, and a space of about 3 letter widths at the end of 19.18, where most texts have a form of KURIOS. Treu comments: "...as though the scribe omitted the word unintentionally.... Or perhaps this resulted from a vorlage that had the Hebrew divine name here?" Roberts suggests that this is "a secular sense" of the designation "lord" (MSB 77 n.2), but it is at best ambiguous, referring to one or two divine messengers, and the textual variants in the context show that a tetragrammaton type of understanding was not impossible.

23. POx 1075 = PLitLond 203, Exodus 40 [#909 = vh044 = AT21];

Oxyrhynchos. Ed A.S.Hunt POx 8 (1911) (plate).

The remains of 23 lines plus a simple subscription at the end of the book of "Exodus," with about 19-23 letters per line. On the reverse side and in a different and slightly later hand from the 3rd/4th ce are 17 lines from near the beginning of the Apocalypse (POx 1079 = vh559 = NT18).

The Exodus scroll is clearly written in a "sloping uncial hand of medium size," bilinear in concept but erratically executed without literary formalism; there is sporadic ornamentation (no serifs as such) and appears to be some consciousness of word or phrase division (a few very small spaces, and some slightly enlarged letters) in addition to the one high-stop and space after 40.28. Dieresis/trema occurs on the first letter of "Israel." At the end of the text are found three pointed space fillers (> > >) after the last word (underlined, to separate it from the subscription?) and then centered (or indented) on a separated line the title ECODOS[...] with short lines above and below to set it off as well.

KURIOU is contracted as KU with an overstroke (in slightly enlarged letters followed by a small space -- it is possible that this was originally a blank space filled in later, probably by the same hand) but not "sons of Israel."

The reuse of this roll within a generation or so to inscribe a Christian apocalypse inclines one to believe that the Exodus text was also Christian in origin, but as Treu is quick to point out, "Jewish manuscripts in the possession of Christians are attested" (as well as the opposite -- see the reused Cairo Geniza copies of the Hexapla and of some church fathers). Roberts does not discuss this fragment in MSB.

24. Cairo Ostrakon 215, Judith 15 [#999 = vh080];

Fayum; ed. J. Schwartz, RevBiblique 53 (1946) 534-37 (plate).

This unusual fragmentary piece containing at least 19 lines (often with 50 letters or more) from Judith 15.1-7 is written in a sloping but neat semi-cursive hand with minimal ornamentation and no evidence of spacing or added marks of any sort. "Israel," "sons of Israel," and "Jerusalem" are spelled out in full.

The editor discusses some pros and cons of whether to classify the fragment as Jewish or Christian, and leaves the question open. Treu (143f and n.81) and Roberts (MSB 78) seem to agree.

25. PLitLond 202 = BM P 2557, Genesis 46-47 [#953 = vh030 = AT14];

Provenance unknown; ed. H.J.M.Milne, Catalogue... (1927) 165f (no plate).

The page was originally about 14 by 17 cm, with 16-17 lines per page, written in a "medium-sized upright laterally compressed cursive hand of a type familiar in documents of the period of Diocletian. Punctuation by a middle point and a small space in the line. The I has the diaeresis once [on the first letter of the name Joseph, but not normally]" (Milne). An apostrophe separating double consonants "gg" and "ng" also seems to be present (judging from the transcript). "Father" and "Israel" occur without contraction.

26. PVindob 39777 = StudPal 11.114 = PWien Rainer 18, Ps 68/69, 80/81 (Symmachus) [Goettingen #?? = vh167];

Fayum or Heracleopolites Nome; ed. C.Wessely in Melanges ... Chatelain (1910) 224-29 [identified as Aquila], with handwritten replica in Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyruskunde ... Theologischen Inhalts 2 (1911) [corrected identification to Symmachus].

Roberts MSB 77: "The Tetragrammaton is in the archaic Hebrew characters; the writing is noticeably elegant." In the handwritten facsimile, it appears to be moderately decorated with cursive tendencies and frequent ligatures and no pattern of spacing. QEOU is uncontracted.

27. PAlex 203, Isaiah 48 [Goettingen #?? = vh300];

Provenance unknown; ed. A.Carlini, Ann. Sc. Norm. Sup. Pisa, series 3, vol 2.2 (1972) 489-94 (plate).

The two best preserved columns (of three) differ significantly in width, with the first averaging about 11 letters, and the second about 15; the columns seem to have contained 24-25 lines (not 27 as the editor estimates).

The writing style fits Turner's "formal mixed" classification, with a combination of petit rounded letters (except omega) some medium sized forms (e.g. alpha, iota, rho) and otherwise bold strokes. The result is a relatively attractive upright hand with minimal decoration and a hint of shading (the photo is somewhat blurred, making subtle judgments difficult). One dieresis/trema is visible, on the first letter of the name Jacob. There is a wider space than normal between the last line of 48.11 and the first line of 48.12, and possibly a space was present in the line on which 48.16 begins. Otherwise, no spacing between letters is obvious.

The editor claims that KURIOS is contracted at one point (48.17), although the photo is not clear, and my reconstruction suggests that it was also contracted in the two other occurrences in this material. Possibly the one reconstructed occurrence of QEOS was similarly shortened. Other nomina sacra -- Israel and heaven -- do not seem to have been contracted (although the evidence for "Israel" seems ambiguous in both instances).

28. PHarris 31, Psalm 43 [#2108 = vh148 = AT67];

Unknown provenance; ed. J.E.Powell, Rendel Harris Papyri 1 (1936) (plate); identified by G.D.Kilpatrick, JTS 50 (1949) 176-177.

Beginning of six fragmentary lines, stichometric (longest line has 44 letters, shortest 23 -- thus perhaps a page rather than a roll?). "The writing is of the elegant character referred to above [in connection with Jewish biblical manuscripts]" (Roberts MSB 77) -- shaded and modestly ornamented (mostly by feathering), with slightly enlarged initial letters. QEOS is uncontracted.

29. POx 1225, Leviticus 16.33f [#947 = vh048 = AT23];

Oxyrhynchos; ed. A.S.Hunt, POx 10 (1914) (plate).

Parts of only 12 lines are preserved, with about 15-20 letters per reconstructed line. The style is a heavy, slightly sloping "formal mixed" tending towards "biblical majuscle" (but with relatively smaller O E S forms). There is a hint of ornamentation by means of some subtle thickening and/or feathering at the end of some strokes, and also a hint of shading. The ink is brownish in color rather than the more usual black.

In this short amount of text, three instances of dieresis/trema occur, and three middle stops, without any accompanying spacing (which suggests that they may have been added by a later hand). No nomina sacra are visible, although the editor has supplied -- perhaps unnecessarily -- the contracted form of "Israel" in one reconstruction, preceded by the full form of YI+W[N] (with dieresis/trema on the iota).

30. PLitLond 211, Daniel 1.17f (Theodotion) [#925 = vh319];

Upper Egypt, from the cover of a Sahidic codex; ed. H.I.Bell in Budge, Coptic Biblical Texts (1912) xiv (no plate).

Parts of 8 lines are preserved. Since I have not seen a reproduction of this piece, here are Roberts' comments: "A fragment of a parchment roll of Daniel in the version of Theodotion, written in the first half of the fourth century; QEOS is uncontracted. This too exemplifies the light and elegant script found in other Jewish texts" (MSB 77).

Listing of other early fragments

Summary and Conclusions

There are various ways in which this complex body of literary "presentational evidence" can be analyzed, depending to a large extent on what sort of conclusions are being tested or what hypotheses developed. There are few "control" criteria, such as date, to assist the process. Intuitions are important, but also need careful testing. My own approach tends to assume that developments of this nature came into early Christian circles by means of the Greek Jewish world unless the evidence clearly indicates otherwise; my impression is that Roberts (and Hurtado) would assume the Christian origin of such practices unless there were contrary evidence. So how is the evidence to be evaluated?

It would be useful to have an appropriate and unambiguous term to denote the sorts of features under analysis, some of which have come back into the spotlight partly as a result of scholarly reconsideration of the "oral" side of ancient textual culture. Hurtado seems to prefer "material culture" (659 n.14), but that seems to me unnecessarily imprecise. Something like "textual presentation" or even "textual mechanics" gets closer to the point -- the conventions involved in laying out the text,

from choice of material (e.g. papyrus, leather, pottery, etc.)

to its mode of packaging (roll, codex, ostrakon, etc.)

to the details of how the writing is organized relative to the writing surfaces (dimensions of writing material, size of columns and letters, column/page layout)

as well as relative to itself (paragraphing and marginal markers, use of spacing in relation to lines and letters, punctuating, abbreviating, form of numbers, form of corrections and notations, use of diacritics, etc.), perhaps sometimes with a view to facilitating (public) reading.

"Style": A central point in the overall discussion is the assessment of relevant Greek transcriptional styles. Colin Roberts has moved farther than most in this area, in which he was very experienced -- although sometimes his desire to illuminate early Christian "orthodox" development seems to me to problematize aspects of his presentation.

Roberts sees most of the clearly "Jewish" LXX/OG texts as more professionally written -- more "literary" and "elegant" in appearance than most of the earliest "Christian" texts -- although exactly what features indicate the degree of "literaryness" for him would be useful to know with more precision (e.g. "bilinearity" or consistent height of letters, use of "serifs" and other embelleshments on non-rounded basic strokes, thickness of strokes, shading, etc.). For him this observation goes hand in hand with his explanation of certain "documentary" (in contrast to "literary") tendencies in the early Christian materials (e.g. the use of spacing/punctuation, diacritics, abbreviated numbers and special contractions, less formal script, cursive tendencies, ligatures).\13/

---

\13/Roberts, MSB 76: "There seems to have been a distinctive style of writing used for Jewish copies of the scriptures in Greek from the second century B.C. onwards and still used, with modifications of course, down to the third century A.D. [\fn/ The style of these Jewish manuscripts needs closer examination and definition than they have as yet been given, especially in the use of serifs (for these see GMAW, p.25).]; a parallel would be the development of the so-called Biblical Uncial or Biblical Majuscule.... But not all Greek manuscripts known to be Jewish are written in this style, witness the roll of the Minor Prophets from Engedi [actually, Nahal Hever], and parallels to it can be found among the secular literary papyri." See also P.Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 23f, on the Minor Prophets scroll (item 13 above): "...the use of enlarged initials at line-beginning (hands A and B) and phrase-beginning (hand A) and (set out in the margin) to mark a new section (hand A) gives this manuscript a documentary look. ... The fact is itself remarkable. Early Christian books show the same characteristic; copies of the Greek classics do not. It has therefore been tempting to argue that the texts of the Early Church stood closer to the world of business than to that of literature, and to draw conclusions about the social milieu in which the texts circulated or the esteem in which they were held. Now we see the same thing in a Jewish manuscript of pre-Christian date. This may suggest that the Christians inherited the practice, rather than inventing it; the problem remains, why Greek-speaking Jews should have adopted it in the first place" (23f). Parsons adds, in his comparisons of the various Dead Sea Scroll Greek scripts: "This makes it clear that serifed hands are common enough (but not universal) in Judaean material assignable to the period i B.C.-i A.D." (25).

===

The range of hands and styles even within the Judean Desert fragments, which were produced within a fairly limited period of time, is noteworthy, and is also reflected in the Egyptian materials contemporary with the Judean. A detailed comparative analysis of the relevant features remains to be made, but I doubt that it will result in identifying "schools" or traditions of scribal culture except in very broad terms. Of course, comparison with what was happening at the same time in the larger Greco- Roman world will also be very relevant.\14/ If, in general, the Roman period (moving into the "common era") witnessed a tendency for literature to be copied less elegantly than it had been before, the presence of such a "decline" in Jewish texts, and its reflection in Christian materials would seem less significant than otherwise.

---

\14/Note, for example, Turner's strictures on giving too much weight to the use and forms of "serifs" in classifying styles of Greek hands (ed1, 25 = ed2, 21)!

===

Nevertheless, progress has been made in this survey simply by recognizing the extent of the problem and sampling some of the possibilities. A next step in assessing these phenomena more carefully would require availability of excellent reproductions of the extant fragments in a framework that facilitates close comparison and contrast (e.g. by computerized paleographic analysis). Hopefully, the Internet can be used to provide such a resources in the near future, if permissions from the current "owners" of the materials can be obtained to display high quality digitized images.

Scroll/Codex: Of course, the main vehicle for Greek literary production at the start of the period we are examining was the roll, and a major point of discussion is the introduction of the codex format and its very rapid acceptance in emerging (Egyptian) Christianity -- where the roll also survives, but not in such relative abundance.\15/ How soon and under what conditions Jewish authors and copyists accepted the codex format is not clear. But as Treu pointed out forcefully, the mere fact that a fragment of LXX/OG is in codex format does not necessarily mean that it must be of Christian origin. Whether there will ever be sufficient evidence to support my suspicion that the codex form came into early Christianity from Judaism remains to be seen. Probably not in my lifetime. But it is almost certain that at least one Jewish codex can be identified in the raw data of this report (as even Roberts gradually came to admit) -- POx 656, from the late 2nd or early 3rd century ce (item 19; see also 20 and 22).

---

\15/The previous state of this question has been defined by the study produced jointly by Roberts and T.C.Skeat, The Birth of the Codex (1983; also released with a 1987 date). ===

Spacing: Whether roll or codex, comprehending the texts required some mental gymnastics on the part of the reader, especially when little or no visual assistance was available to identify larger or smaller sense units or ideally, words. In general, traditional literary Greek texts are in scriptio continua -- an uninterrupted flow of letters -- with occasional breaks or indicators for larger units. As Roberts correctly points out, in many -- perhaps most -- of the early Christian texts with which he deals (not only LXX/OG texts), there are various helps for indicating sense units, whether spaces or lines in the left margin (paragraphoi) or punctuation marks, or exaggerated initial letters or letters that protrude into the left margin. Roberts explains this as part of what he calls the "documentary" influence on early Christian scribal practice.

What Roberts notes (e.g. in editing item 2) but fails to pursue with the same vigor or consistency is that despite their relatively more "literary" flavor the clearly Jewish fragments almost all show evidence of the same sort of "aids to the reader" phenomenon. Indeed, the second hand (or, if I am right, second scroll) of the Nahal Hever Greek Minor Prophets materials [#943b, item 13b above] uniquely engages in actual word division of an obvious sort. To me, this kind of evidence deserves much closer exploration than it has received thus far, and Emanuel Tov is making a major contribution to this discussion by his careful analysis of such phenomena in the Judean Desert materials and in other biblical texts (see n.7 above). Spacing occurs in the Jewish materials whether "elegant" or not, early or late. It also occurs quite early in materials of clearly Christian origin. To view this as coincidental seems highly unlikely, given the fact that early Christianity developed out of Judaism! This not so unambiguously "documentary" practice -- which has not yet received the attention it deserves in the study of Greco-Roman literature in general\16/ -- almost certainly has been inherited by Christian scribes, if not from their Jewish examples (which seems to me most likely), then from the scribal culture of the Greco-Roman world at large.

---

\16/A small (yet large!) step in this direction is taken by William A. Johnson in his Yale dissertation on The Literary Papyrus Roll: Formats and Conventions -- An Analysis of the Evidence from Oxyrhynchus (1992); witness his long list of corrections to the editions of these literary papyri (22-70), where he regularly notes the omission in the editions of signs of paragraphing, punctuation, and occasionally spacing. See also his brief note on "The Function of the Paragraphus in Greek Literary Prose Texts" in ZPE 100 (1994) 65-68.

===

Special Words: Some of the spacing issues in these early Jewish and Christian texts are associated with the appearance of personal or ethnic names and certain special words that, for present purposes, fall into three categories: (1) the tetragrammaton, (2) "nomina sacra," and (3) number symbolism.

Jewish scribes were selfconscious about the representation of the tetragrammaton -- the special revered 4 letter name of the Jewish God -- and had available a variety of devices, from paleo-Hebrew, to square Hebrew (thus Greek PIPI), to abbreviated Hebrew (ZZ), to the semi-transliteration (also an abbreviation?) IAW and the use of substitutes such as ADONAI and KURIOS ("Lord"), or even to using dots and blank spacing. If convincing evidence has not yet emerged that they also used a Greek abbreviated formation such as KS (see items 19, 21, 23, 27 above), that surprises me less than the claim that such abbreviation must have been a Christian invention.

Roberts certainly wants to see it otherwise, and traces the practice that became so prevalent, if not pervasive, in Christian MSS of abbreviating a select group of "nomina sacra" terms to the initial and original Christian sacralizing of "the Name" Jesus, which then led to similar treatment for "Lord," and for "God," and for the other "nomina sacra." Hurtado introduces some considerations (see n.4 above) to strengthen this argument. Nevertheless, I remain skeptical. Though it admittedly remains ambiguous, some of the evidence presented above suggests that Jewish scribes sometimes may have used contractions of QEOS, and perhaps a few other frequently used words, in the development of their scribal traditions (see items 20, 21[?], 27, and n.11 above).

One other "special words" detail that comes up in the discussion is treatment of numbers. Roberts argues that good literary Greek texts invariably (or perhaps, normally) spell out numbers rather than using symbols, while Christian texts -- again following "documentary" influences -- usually employ the symbols. In our early texts, examples are few, and I have not systematically explored all of the early fragments of Greek Jewish scriptures for this feature. If PYale 1 (item 17), a codex fragment of Genesis that should probably be dated no earlier than the 2nd century ce, is of Jewish origin, Roberts' hypothesis would be in trouble since number symbols are found in that material. But the combination of codex and symbolized number in PYale 1 unites to make it difficult for Roberts even to consider the possibility that the text is of Jewish origin. Treu is not so troubled, and leaves open the possibility. Obviously I agree that this should be an open question.

Concluding Remarks

This just scrapes the surface of the variety of information and of issues that can emerge from close study of these early LXX/OG materials. Roberts recreates a developmental historical hypothesis about early Christianity in Egypt from the details as he interprets them, and in general, the hypothesis makes a great deal of sense. But he does not consistently engage the question of what we can learn about Greek speaking/writing/reading Judaism in Palestine and Egypt from the same materials, and in that regard, often fails to be convincing about details.

The evidence is clear that prior to the emergence of Christianity, Greek speaking/writing Jews had access to a range of scriptural (and other) works copied in a highly "professional" manner. That these manuscripts were produced by specifically Jewish copyists cannot be assumed, although in some instances, the treatment of the tetragrammaton and the apparently selfconscious attention to indicating significant sense units by means of spacing suggests that the task must have been entrusted to persons who were familiar with those sorts of special literary traditions. The differences in overall "style" between some of the early Jewish manuscripts suggests that our preserved witnesses represent varieties of technique that had developed in Jewish literary circles. Whether on the basis of this evidence one can mount economic arguments (these Jews were rich enough to afford such quality), or liturgical ones (the spacing techniques were developed to assist in oral reading in the synagogues), or even issues of cultural-educational status (these Jews knew what was appropriate to their social station) I will leave to others. The data suggests variety, and that is what we should have expected. And as new situations developed in the transition to Roman rule and influence, we should expect changes to evidence themselves, not only in our Jewish to Christian trajectories, but in the surrounding world as well.

Early Christianity was formed in large measure in close relationship (positive and negative) to the types of Judaism present in the Greco-Roman world in the first century of the common era. The "scriptural" preoccupations of many early Christian representatives surely were influenced by the established Jewish frameworks of the time. Thus in the end -- if one can responsibly speak of such an end -- I would expect to find that the debt of early Christianity to its Jewish heritage is even greater in these areas of "textual mechanics" and transmitted scribal craft than our scholarly traditions and approaches have permitted us to recognize.

//08 July 1999 draft #6//

Appended Excerpts [[to be linked]]

1. 4Q122=LXXDeut Deuteronomy 11 [#819; not known to vh] parchment roll, 2nd bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 195 (plate 43): "The manuscript is inscribed in a literary hand not particularly elegant, though not careless; its uncial letters seem to be somewhat influenced by cursive forms. ... Space for word division appears between some words but not between others, and an unexpected space appears within the word ERUQRAS after the upsilon. Few, if any, clearly complete words survive, and ERUQRAS fragiley bears the sole possibility for the identification of the manuscript." These scraps would have been unknown to Roberts and Treu.

Parsons, DJD 9 (1992) 11-12: The letters ... are of irregular heights and widths. ... The letters are written with a thick pen, but without organised contrasts. ... There are small decorative hooks or blobs on the feet of some uprights, as well as on the tops of K and U. ... The scroll is written in an informal hand with some ligatures. The overall impression is of a script rather earlier than the others of this find. It is comparable with [some texts] ... of the early second century BCE, or ... of the mid-second century BCE. ... But it should be emphasised that, with so small a sample, the dating must be more than usually uncertain."

Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "The hand of this scrap shows no similarities with [#943a-b]; it is an informal script of Ptolemaic look with some cursive tendencies and no decoration except some terminal hooks and blobs."

2. PRyl 458 Deuteronomy 23-28 [#957 = vh057] papyrus roll, 2nd bce; John Rylands Library, Manchester ENG.

[excerpts]

Roberts, Two Biblical Papyri ... (Manchester Univ Press 1936) (with a facsimile): "The hand is a book hand, stylised and careful and of considerable elegance, if rather formal; its most striking feature is the use of decorative serifs, particularly noticeable on N, U and T. At first sight it has a somewhat archaic appearance, but this may well be deceptive and the formal character of the hand as a whole must be taken into consideration. [Then refers to similar hands, esp in PTeb]" 22f.

"What is paleographically of most interest about the text is the scribe's system of punctuation, or rather of interspacing. ...The writer regularly leaves a space not only at the end of a verse or sentence, but at the end of a KWLON or group of words. At the end of a verse, as in [Dt 24.1], a wider space is left and a high point added; otherwise the writer's principle seems to be to leave a fairly large space at the end of a sentence or clause ... and a smaller one at the end of a group of words. The interspacing does not seem to follow the sense of the passage [in some instances]. But there is no attempt at word division. ... Our text ... shows no sign of documentary influence and we cannot ascribe to this cause the systematic use of [spacing] found here. ... Possibly it may be due to Aramaic influence, as word division is found in the Aramaic papyri of the fifth century B.C. The Nash papyrus, however -- a Hebrew text, probably liturgical, which contains the Decalogue and the Shema and was written not later than the second century A.D. -- has spacing between words but no verse division. ... This system [otherwise] is not to be found in Biblical manuscripts; its origin may perhaps be due to Aramaic influence or if, as is possible, this roll was the property of some Jewish synagogue, to the exigencies of public reading" (25- 28).

3. 7QLXXEx Exodus 28 [#805 = vh038]; papyrus roll, 2nd/1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpt]

Parsons DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This small serifed bilinear hand has some similarities with hands A and B [of #943 Minor Prophets] (note the pointed alpha, and wide tau hooked down at the left)."

4. 4Q119=LXXLev\a Leviticus 26 [#801 = vh049]; parchment roll, 2nd/1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 161 (plate 38): "The scribe used the customary scriptio continua but with occasional spaces for word-division, as after SPORON (line 6), UMWN (line 12), etc. Of the 12 lines whose beginnings are preserved, only two (lines 19, 23) show the division of a word between lines. A new section at 26.14 (line 21) is marked by an interval of about three letters' width within the line and by a horizontal paragraph-mark in the left margin."

Parsons, DJD 9, 7: "The script ... is approximately bilinear .... The letter forms tend toward the oval/rectangular, but not consistently. ... There is no consistent use of shading as part of the style. ... There is no consistent use of ornament, but there are sporadic terminal hooks, notably on the foot of R and the left extremity of T. ...The scribe displays a pinched, plain hand of no great pretensions .... The general impression is of a script ... unlikely to be later than the first century BCE, ... or much earlier. C.H.Roberts (apud Kahle, 616) thought of first century BCE, with the end of the second 'not out of the question'."

Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This is a pinched, undecorated hand ... with a pronounced Ptolemaic look; not similar to [#943a-b], and probably earlier"

5. 7QLXX EpJer Epistle of Jeremiah (Baruch 6) [#804 = vh312]; papyrus roll, 2nd/1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This tiny scrap shows a broad bilinear script without ornament (except for a half-serif on the foot of tau)."

6. PFouad 266a Genesis 3-38 [#942 = vh056] papyrus roll, 1st bce; Egyptian Papyrological Society, Cairo.

[excerpts]

Zaki Aly & Ludwig Koenen, Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy ... (Bonn: Habelt 1980) (includes plates). Descriptions are by Koenen. For #942 (Koenen 3): "The papyrus is of good quality. ... The use of the tetragrammaton is not attested for this roll, but may be inferred from the fact that 942 has probably been written by the same hand as 848 [see below] or, at least, by a scribe belonging to the same school and scribal tradition. Little blanks indicate new cola [footnote: "The practice was obviously the same as in 848 and 847" [see below]]. There is also a tendency to mark Hebrew names by little blanks before and after the names."

Turner, Greek Manuscripts\2 #56 (describing #848, below, which is virtually identical to the 9 small fragments of #942): "Medium to large, formal, upright, rounded capitals, written slowly. ... Markedly bilinear, the lower line outlined by horizontal strokes on the feet of letters [full feet on TU, half feet or hooks on most other verticals and on some obliques], the upper indicated by high horizontals; even R and U fall inside the parallels, only F protrudes [below and above, and Y slightly above, but not below]."

7. 4Q120=LXXLev\b Leviticus 2-5 [#802 = vh046]; papyrus roll, 1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Ed. E.Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 168 (plates 39-41): "The scribe used the customary scriptio continua, but with spaces before and after the divine name and occasionally with spaces between sense-divisions or sentences. Signs to mark a new paragraph occur at the left margin of frg. 27 between lines 6 and 7 (= Lev 6.1 [5.24]) and of frg. 32." It also uses iota adscript (usually); and contains some corrections. The tetragrammaton occurs as IAW twice, and KURIOS is not found in these fragments.

Parsons, DJD 9 (1992) 10: "The scribe used a bilinear script ..., with square/circular letter forms. The upper line is broken by the risers of F and Y; the lower line, emphasised by the serifs, is hardly broken at all. ... There is hardly any noticeable shading. ... Ornament ... is frequent. ... This is a full round hand, carefully executed, comparable with the Fouad Deuteronomy [#848 below] ... and the second script of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll [below #943]. ... Such scripts may belong to the first century BCE, ... but they may extend well into the first century CE. ... This example has a slightly old-fashioned look ..., and could reasonably be assigned to the first century BCE."

8. PFouad 266b Deuteronomy 17-33 [#848 = vh56]; papyrus roll, 1st bce; Egyptian Papyrological Society, Cairo.

[excerpts]

Koenen, Three Rolls 4-5: "The quality of the papyrus is the same as in the case of 942, and both rolls have probably been written by the same scribe. The columns of 848 are smaller (... [about] 37 letters per line); the height of the writing area varies between 15.5-16.5 cm. (21-23 lines). The upper margin was originally at least 3.5 cm., the lower margin 4 cm. This indicates close to 24 cm. for the height of the entire roll. Kolleseis [joins between sheets of papyri] are occasionally visible, but since too much of the roll is missing, the length of the kollemata [sheets] cannot be determined. The intercolumnation varies around an average of 1.5 cm., but occasionally it narrows down to 0.2 cm. Towards the bottoms the lines have the tendency to begin progressively more to the left, thus producing slightly longer lines (Mass's Law). Paragraphoi marking the beginning of verses are used throughout, though not regularly. An additional long oblique stroke marks the beginning of chapter 21 [footnote: "... This is the only instance; a reason for this special treatment is not apparent. ...]. Frequently small blanks indicate new verses, sentences, or cola [footnote: "... The size varies according to the function of the blank. In addition, there occur blanks for which I see no reason...."], while Hebrew names are not surrounded by blanks, as is the case in 942. The ends of lines are occasionally left blank in order to start the next verse on a new line. Corrections are rare. A gloss appears on the lower margin on pl. 6. col.4."

The tetragrammaton is represented by small square Hebrew letters (slightly more than half the height of the Greek, written along the bottom part of the line) inserted into a space equivalent to about "5-6 Greek letters (i.e. about the size of KU/RIOS written in full) and marked ... by a high dot at its beginning [preceded by a space]. A second scribe filled in the Hebrew letters. They cover only the middle of the blank, usually the space of 2 1/2 - 3 letters" (Koenen 5-6).

Turner, Greek Manuscripts\2 #56: "The ends of lines are not even. Letters may be reduced in size at the line-end. Medium to large, formal, upright, rounded capitals, written slowly. Contrast between thick horizontals and downward obliques, and fine verticals [RAK Note: this is not obvious from the photos]. Markedly bilinear, the lower line outlined by horizontal strokes on the feet of letters [full feet on TU, half feet or hooks on most other verticals and on some obliques], the upper indicated by high horizontals; even R and U fall inside the parallels, only F protrudes [below and above, and Y slightly above, but not below]." "...Few orthographical errors. Iota adscript is written."

9. PFouad 266c Deuteronomy 10-33 [#847 = vh56] papyrus roll, late 1st bce; Egyptian Papyrological Society, Cairo.

[excerpts]

Koenen, Three Rolls 7: "The papyrus is of a quality similar to 942 and 848. Only 49 very small fragments of a few letters each are extant. ... The columns seem to have had [about] 21 lines. ... One might assume that the overall height of the roll 847 was the same (24 cm.) [as 848]. The width of the lines averages 24 letters ... but the number of letters per lines varies considerably. Kollesis may occur [once]. ... Paragraphos is extant on pl. 51 col. V. Small blanks separate verses, sentences, or cola [footnote: "... small blanks also occur elsewhere. ..."] and mark Hebrew names [footnote: "... all in front of the name. No example survives for a blank after those names. ..."]. A large blank precedes Moses' blessing of Dan, presumedly at the end of line (4?) of col VIII (pl.53) [[conjectural reconstruction]] in order that the blessing may begin at a new line.... No KURIOS or tetragrammaton is extant. QEOS is written in full; thus we may assume that the scribe did not use the Christian abbreviations of holy names, which came into use after 70 A.D. 'Inorganic' trema [or dieresis, a single or double dot above a vowel] indicating the beginning of a word) occurs once [51.IV.11; but not clear in photo]... [footnote: "'Inorganic' is the use of the trema which marks the initial or emphasizes the final vowel of a word, while its use for separating vowels in a cluster is called 'organic.' The 'organic' use is attested as early as the 2nd cent. B.C., though it does not become common before the 2nd cent. A.D. For 'inorganic' use I am not aware of any example before the end of the 1st cent. B.C. ...."]. ...Corrections are frequent."

"In many details, this hand is similar to 848 [above], but larger, thinner, more rounded and irregular, and less bilinear, though the extensions of letters above the 'upper line' and below the 'lower line' are only small (see particularly A). The letters are occasionally decorated by quite heavy strokes [Schubart's decorative style...]. Also the middle horizontal strokes are stressed" (6 n.28). In dating, Koenen has vacillated between 1st bce and 1st ce, preferring in his edition "the end of the 1st cent. B.C." (6 n.28 and see examples cited there). The use of serifs and hooks is similar to 848 and 942, but less obvious or obtrusive. It seems to be a more refined formal hand.

10. 4Q127 Exodus Paraphrase (?) [unknown to vh]; papyrus roll, late 1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 223f (very similar to 4QLXXLev\b = #802): "Where a margin is listed as questionable, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether the blank portion of the papyrus actually represents a margin, or rather a blank line above or below the extant text, or a space between words; it should be remembered, however, that in the Greek manuscripts from Cave 4 blank lines to signal a new paragraph are unusual." ... "Paragraphing is indicated in at least two places. Above KAI in line 3 of frg. 17 is a short horizontal line of 0.3 cm. There is also a coronis, or elaborate marginal marking, preserved on frg. 8 (cf. also frg. 18?)." ... "The manuscript dates from about the first century BCE or the earlier first century CE.... It is written in scriptio continua, with full or narrow spaces occasionally left before sentences (cf KAI in frg. 1 line 5) and before or after proper names (cf. each of lines 6-11 in frg. 1)." There are some corrections by the original scribe. There is no evidence of tetragrammaton passages.

Parsons, DJD 9, 12f: "The scroll is written in a bilinear hand ..., with the letter forms round and square [F (and probably Y) extend slightly below and also above the projected lines]. ... There is no noticeable shading. ... The tops of some uprights are hooked to the left; the feet of uprights and obliques are generally decorated with full or half serifs, sometimes in the form of angled hooks. ... The manuscript is rather ineptly written in a bilinear, decorated literary script. This ineptness is not necessarily personal, since many literary scripts of the early Roman period show the same characteristics .... It is likely that the manuscript was written in the first century BCE or the earlier first century CE. A date early in the period is certainly possible."

11. 4Q126 unidentified Greek [not known to vh]; parchment roll, late 1st bce; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 219 (plate 46): "The scribe used the customary scriptio continua, though leaving some full- letter spaces probably between sentences ... and half- or quarter-spaces occasionally between words." Eight frgs (double plates of some). Frg. 2 seems to have KURIO[], preceded by a short space.

Parsons, DJD 9, 12: "The script ... is bilinear. ... There is no shading. ... There are some half-serifs or hooks on the feet of uprights, and full serifs on the base of T and U. ... To judge from this very small sample, the scroll is written by a hand of the same kind as those of 4Q120[Lev\b = #802] and 4Q121[Num = #803] (but more shakily executed), and it can be assigned to the same date (i.e. the first century BCE or possibly the early first century CE)."

Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "A decorated hand of the same type as [#803], but not so elegant."

12. 4Q121=LXXNum Numbers 3-4 [#803 = vh051]; parchment roll, turn of the era; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Ulrich, DJD 9 (1992) 188 (plates 42-43): "The scribe does not usually leave a space for word-division. He does leave a single space for some sense-divisions, occasionally at the end of a 'verse,' but not always, and occasionally at other points within a 'verse.' Thus in counting letters per line, for this manuscript one should not count spaces between words, except possibly before some sense-divisions." Uses iota adscript; two or three corrections; no occurrences of tetragrammaton, but "in reconstruction, spacing would seem to allow either KURIOS or YHWH, whereas IAW ... and the (Christian) abbreviation KS would be too short. Palaeo-Hebrew or PIPI forms in a Greek manuscript this early are improbable" [why?!].

Parsons, DJD 9, 11: The scribe used a bilinear script ..., with the letter-forms square/circular [FY and sometimes A extend above the projected top line (but not below?)]. ... Shading [is not] ... notable. ... Ornament ... is frequent: the tops of uprights and obliques are occasionally decorated with hooks, and the feet of uprights and obliques are regularly decorated with heavy full and half-serifs (these are sometimes oblique, sometimes formed as a hook in a single movement with the main stroke). The serifs are notably long, and may run into the serif preceding or following; this marks the lower line all the more emphatically. ... The script is similar to that of 4Q120[Lev\b = #802], but with heavier ornament. This too could be of late Ptolemaic date; but the early Roman period cannot be excluded."

Parsons, DJD 8 (1990) 25: "This bilinear script (the descenders of rho and phi are curtailed), heavily ornamented with half- and full serifs, has some similarities with [#943a], but it is much more elegant and finely written; a distinctive feature is that the oval letters tend to lean backwards."

13. 8HevXIIgr = Nahal Hever Minor Prophets [#943 = vh285]; parchment roll(s), turn of the era; Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem.

[excerpts]

Tov, DJD 8 (1990) 9ff: "The text of the scroll has been subdivided into paragraphs with both minor and major breaks .... What has not been observed by these scholars is that the scroll contains also a division into 'verses' and that in all three divisions the scroll agrees to a great extent with the Masoretic tradition, not only regarding the system of subdividing the text, but also regarding the location of the divisions themselves. ..." "In addition to the open and closed sections the scroll indicates with one or two spaces the beginning of what in MT is a new verse. This practice is known from a few Hebrew sources (1QpaleoLev [limited evidence] and 4QDan\a,d/ [reported by S. J. Pfann]; the situation with regard to 1QIs\a/ is not clear) as well as from two early Greek biblical sources: PFouad 266 [see #848] and PRyl Greek 458 [= #957]. [[para]] It is relatively easy to recognize these spaces in the scroll since in the section written by scribe A there are otherwise no spaces between words. ... The second scribe left spaces between most words, and for the beginnings of new verses he left more than one space. Likewise, the scribe of PRyl Greek 458 [= #957] often left spaces within the verse, and between verses he left more than one space. ..."

It is possible that we have remnants of two scrolls here; in any event, two different hands worked on the materials that have survived, and the second hand presents virtual word division in those sections.

Peter Parsons describes the hands (19ff): With scribe A (the bulk of the preserved material) "the script is in intention bilinear (only F reaches well above the line; the descenders of R F and Y are normally curtailed), although uncertainty in execution, and the enlargement of initial letters, gives an irregular impression. ...[[para]]... The script is profusely ornamented. The feet of verticals and descending obliques carry blobs or hooks or half-serifs (horizontal or angular or arched) or -- rarely -- full serifs; hooks and half-serifs normally point to the right; they may be very large." For scribe B, "the script is bilinear (allowing for the enlargement of some line-initials), except for R and F (this scribe makes no attempt to curtail them). ... The general [horizontal] effect is round and square. ...[[paragraph]]... The feet of uprights, the tops of uprights in I, K, N, F, and the left- hand tips of U and X, take decoration in the form of blobs, hooks and half-serifs (horizontal or oblique), rarely full serifs; hooks and half-serifs more often (but not consistently) point to the left." In general, A "aspires to be a book-hand ..., but the performance is inconsistent." Hand B "is a much more fluent and consistent copyist than hand A." Comparison with other, especially dated materials (23) concludes: "Most of this material is documentary; but the comparison is rather appropriate, since the use of enlarged initials at line-beginning (hands A and B) and phrase-beginning (hand A) and (set out in the margin) to mark a new section (hand A) gives this manuscript a documentary look. ... The fact is itself remarkable. Early Christian books show the same characteristic; copies of the Greek classics do not. It has therefore been tempting to argue that the texts of the Early Church stood closer to the world of business than to that of literature, and to draw condlusions about the social milieu in which the texts circulated or the esteem in which they were held. Now we see the same thing in a Jewish manuscript of pre-Christian date. This may suggest that the Christians inherited the practice, rather than inventing it; the problem remains, why Greek-speaking Jews should have adopted it in the first place" (23f).

14. POx 3522 Job 42 [#??]; papyrus roll, 1st ce; [location?]

[excerpts]

POx 50 (1983) 1 (with plate): "The lines are of 19-22 letters; the columns perhaps of 15 lines [but see the discussion in the notes], which would give a roll-height of c. 14 cm.... There are no lectional signs; punctuation by blank space (i.4, 5, 7). The informal upright bilinear script, in which the verticals are often ornamented with back-hooks, has similarities with [[two dated MSS]]; a date in the early first century would suit. ... [[paragraph]] A copy in roll-form, and of this date, will have been Jewish, not Christian."

With regard to the "archaic Hebrew" tetragrammaton, "the scribe of 3522 himself wrote the Hebrew continuously and fluently ...; but apparently without understanding, since the medial and final he have different shapes." The writing appears to be relatively undisciplined (quickly executed, some ligatures and run-on strokes in letter formation), with no serifs of note beyond the "hooks" (mostly on T, H) mentioned above. The initial letter of the name JOB has a dieresis/trema (see above, on #847) over it, and the name may be followed by a short blank.

Tov, DJD 8 (1990) 12: "The scribe of POxy 3522 (Job) very clearly wrote the tetragrammaton from left to right, creating a ligature between the yod and the next Greek letter."

15. POx 4443 Esther E + 8-9 [#???] papyrus roll, 1st/2nd ce; [location?]

[excerpts]

Ed K. Luchner, POx 65 (1998): "...This was a luxurious copy. The columns have 31 lines (height 20 cm) with an average 25 letters (width 7 cm, plus 0.5 cm for projecting letters at paragraphs). The intercolumnium is approximately 2 cm. The back is blank." [[paragraph]] "This is the first known [Greek] copy of a passage from Esther in roll-form, a rare format for biblical texts, probably indicating Jewish provenance (C.H.Roberts and T.C.Skeat, Birthe of the Codex 38-40). It is also the first papyrus to preserve this passage [and it supplies many variants in the "E" "additions" section]. ..." [[paragraph]] "There are no diacritical signs or punctuation, apart from some paragraphi (with short lines preceding them, and projecting enlarged letters at the beginning of the following line), and diaeresis above I (ii.24, 31; iii.6, 24) and U (i.6, ii.16). Words are occasionally separated. There are occasional space fillers at the line ends, and the centre bar of E is frequently extended for the same purpose. Iota adscript is generally used (ii.10 the only exception); four examples are irrational (ii.25, 27, 28, 29). Itacism occurs in i.2, 18, 19." [[paragraph]] "The script is fluent and broadly bilinear, but with its frequent ligatures, cursive forms, enlarged initial letters [also enlarged B elsewhere] and tall risers [e.g. H, F] / deep descenders (R, F, sometimes I) it perhaps owes more to official documentary styles than to bookhands. For the general appearance cf. the earlier Roberts GLH 9a (between 7-4 BC)." Also, "nomina sacra" are uncontracted -- e.g. QEOU, SWTHRIAN, ANQRWPOIS in E.16 (reconstructed) and 18, 23, 24.

16. PFouad 203 [vh911] (1st/2nd ce, papyrus roll, prayer/amulet?)

Roberts MSB 78 (no plate?): "There can be little doubt of the Jewish origin ..., a prayer against evil spirits, written on a roll of papyrus and attributed to the late first or early second century. Both PLond Christ 5 (=vh921), a leaf from a liturgical book of the third century, and POx 17.2068 (=vh966), some fragments of a papyrus roll of the fourth century, have been thought to be Jewish; but in the latter the contraction of QEOS, the eccentric nomen sacrum BS = BASILEUS, and the apparent echoes of Revelation 15.3 and 1 Timothy 1.17 in l. 7 render the suggestion doubtful. To these should be added the Vienna text of The Penitence of Iannes and Iambres: it was written on the recto of a roll and nomina sacra are left uncontracted [p.61f n.5 calls this PVindobGr 29456 (=vh1068); p.63 n.3 refers to the forthcoming ed of Jannes/Jambres material by A. Pietersma and also to the republication of the Vienna fragment by P.Maraval in ZPE 25 (1977) pp. 199ff.]."

19. POx 656 [#905(U4) = vh013 = T009] (2nd/3rd ce, papyrus codex, Gen 14-27)

Grenfell & Hunt, POx 4 (1904) 28f: "The MS was carefully written in round upright uncials of good size and decidedly early appearance, having in some respects more affinity with types of the second century than of the third. To the latter, however, the hand is in all probability to be assigned, though we should be inclined to place it in the earlier rather than the later part of the century. ... Another mark of age is perhaps to be recognized in the absence of the usual contractions for QEOS, KURIOS, &c., but this may of course be no more than an individual peculiarity. The only abbreviation that occurs is the horizontal stroke instead of N, employed to save space at the end of a long line. Both high and middle ... stops are found, but are sparingly used: more often a pause is marked by a slight blank space. A few alterations and additions have been made by a second hand, which seems also to be responsible for the numeration in the centre of the upper margin of each page."

Roberts MSB 76f: [does not comment on literary style] "... The implication is that the Hebrew Tetragrammaton stood in the exemplar and the first scribe, like the scribe of PFouad 266 [#848], either did not know how to write it or was not entrusted with the writing. In the event the second scribe, perhaps not accustomed to writing biblical manuscripts but aware that KURIOS was the Greek equivalent of Adonai inserted it here. The text has a number of unique readings which may point to a revision of the LXX."

//end//