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46 and the pastorals: A Misleading Consensus?

1998/10/01 by Jeremy Duff · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Historical and Linguistic Studies #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Extant taxon #Papyrus #Phenomenon #History #Philosophy #Space (punctuation) #Literature #Art #Genealogy #Linguistics #Epistemology

paper · doi:10.1017/s0028688500016738

openalex publication_date 1998/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

The final portion of 46 (Pauline letters: c. 200 AD) is lost. Standard works assert that the undamaged papyrus did not contain the Pastoral Epistles, and this has been taken as evidence for the existence of a Pauline corpus without the Pastorals. However, in the final third of the extant manuscript, the scribe compresses his writing substantially (by up to 50%). Different explanations of this phenomenon are discussed: the most likely being that the scribe always intended to include the Pastorals, but simply miscalculated the space required. 46 cannot be used as evidence for a Pauline corpus omitting the Pastorals.

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