Mark 1:41 and the first 66 of the "P" classisfied (2nd - 4th century AD) Biblical manuscript fragments

Mark 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. (KJV)

Was it really compassion, or was anger first used, and then changed to mean something else?

A similar remark or challenge (as stated in the above question) was made to me about Mark 1:41. And there is a vaguery in my recollection at this time as to whether the person attacking Mark 1:41, whether they had either stated or made the direct inference that Mark 1:41 was part of the P45 fragment, or simply used a generalization of THE earliest Mark (fragment or otherwise), which P45 is.

But for whatever reason, I decided to pursue the Mark 1:41 accusation, as it is now used by some trying to uncovert Christians to an apostasy without Jesus, and at least several people referenced (by an organization that shall remain nameless, with whose leader I had traded several e-mails with years ago) had chosen to deny Christ and damn their souls...and every soul who believes into Christ is so precious to G-D, that their names are written and announced in Heaven before the angels, and joyful shouts of approval sound forth for each and every name (Luke 12:8, 15:10; Revelation 3:5, 5:11, et al.). How many will there be whose names were read and blotted out later, and angels and loved ones who heard the names look for their arrival and find that they chose not to come to Heaven to be with the L-RD? Even one is "one too many", it seems to me.

P 45 is basically a surviving incomplete early portion of the New Testament Gospels, and has been displayed in Dublin and in Vienna, and may or may not still be at the Chester Beatty library. Various early 200's A.D. dates have been assigned to it, sometimes late 100's A.D. But leaving any argument for an even earlier dating aside, P45 does NOT have a portion of Mark 1:41 to it (as was emphasized by my counter-missionary anti-New Testament opponent in our discussion, as I recall).

Manuscript fragment P45 contains Mark 4:36-40; 5:15-26; 5:38-6:3,16-25,36-50; 7:3-15; 7:25-8:1,10-26; 8:34-9:9,18-31; 11:27-12:1,5-8,13-19,24-28; Luke 6:31-41; 6:45-7:7; 9:26-41; 9:45-10:1,6-22; 10:26-11:1,6-25,28-46; 11:50-12:12,18-37; 12:42-13:1,6-24; 13:29-14:10,17-33

There are currently P assignments to 126, and none of them contain Mark 1:41. I will list the first 66 of the P fragments so that the reader can get an idea of what bits and pieces of the New Testament made up the pre-collection wholesome copies or collections of the 4th Century in the Alexandrian Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Byzantine.

In regards to seeking Mark 1:41 in its oldest extant (still existing) form , we would next seek out the ca. 325 AD (Alexandrian) Vaticanus, which reads: και σπλαγχνισθεις εκτεινας την χειρα αυτου ηψατο και λεγει αυτω θελω καθαρισθητι


The mid-300s AD (Western) Sinaiticus reads: και σπλαγχνισθεις εκτινας την χειρα αυτου ηψατο και λεγει θελω καθαρισθητι

The late-300s AD (Byzantine) Alexandrinus reads: ο δε ις σπλαγχνισθεις εκτεινας την χειρα ηψατο αυτου· και λεγει αυτω θελω καθαρι̣σθητι·

After doing thus, we may best compare these to the Received 1881 Westcott-Hort Text reads: και σπλαγχνισθεις εκτεινας την χειρα αυτου ηψατο και λεγει αυτω θελω καθαρισθητι and see that Westcott and Hort follow the Vaticanus.

Stephanus in 1550 and 1551 followed the Byzantine Alexandrinus of the later 300s A.D., as did Scrivener in 1894.

What did the earliest souces look like? The Codex Sinaiticus, by example, has pages or leaves 15" x 14", listing Scripture in 4 columns by 48 lines to the column, ca. 12-16 letters to the line jammed together without spacings within the column. http://www.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/tc_codexs.html

Previously I was able to refer others to be able to pull up the specific folio copies online, but now the link does not work. But I digress.


The (Western) Codex Bezae, dates to the 5th Century (ca. AD 450) and is the first to contain the entire Gospel of Mark as we now have it; however, this still precedes the entire Old Testament (including the 5 books of the Torah), in manuscript form, (which dates no earlier than AD 900) by some 450 years or more. So, even with a ritual worship and preservation of the Old Testament books in the last 2,000 years by observant Jews of the dispersion (diaspora) among the nations, we still have only an earliest manuscript extant that does not precede ca. 1110 years ago.

But the question was: Was Jesus angry only and did Christians "change" the Biblical text to one of compassion to cover up Jesus' being "angry"? The answer is: No.

The essential act of pity, even if there are synonymous anger overtones, in the Koine Greek are not contradictory. We can compare -- splagchuistheis, the second word in all but the (Byzantine) Alexandrinus in the three 4th Century and the 1881 W-H examples above.

By example, we see that this same word is also used in Luke 10:33 where the good Samaritan binds up the Jew's wounds. The anger is at the sin of those who are so callous as to act inhumanely toward one of their own, and follow their own code of ethics; but the pity is upon the victim of the sin as well.

So again, we see that when anti-Christians "go off" and rant and rail on the Bible as being full of contradictions or errors, we most often find by careful examination, that the error and the hypocritical double-standards lies with the accusers...not with the Biblical Texts themselves.

P Fragments will commonly not have complete verses; nor is this uncommon with Greek and Roman fragments. The secular and other manuscript fragments of the ancient Greek and Romans are categorized much like the Biblical fragments of the New Testament.
http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/NRWakademie/papyrologie/Karte/band1.html

Manuscript Fragment Reference: P 1 - 66 below.


P 1 Matthew 1:1-9.12; 1:14-20.23

Matthew 1:1-9.12;
http://images.library.upenn.edu/mrsidsceti/bin/image_jpeg2.pl?coll=manuscripts;subcoll=e2746;image=e2746_wk1_body0001.sid;level=1;degree=0

Matthew 1:14-20.23
http://images.library.upenn.edu/mrsidsceti/bin/image_jpeg2.pl?coll=manuscripts;subcoll=e2746;image=e2746_wk1_body0002.sid;level=1;degree=0

P 2 Matthew 12:12-15

P 3 Luke 7:36-45; 10:38-42

P 4 Luke 1:58-59,62-2:1,6-7; 3:8-4:2,29-32,34-35; 5:3-8; 5:30-6:16


P 5 John 1:23-31; 16:22-30; 20:19-20, 22-25
John 1:33-40; 16:14-22; 20:11-17

P 6 John 10:1-2, 4-7, 9-10; 11:1-8, 45-52

P 7 Luke 4:1-3

P 8 Acts 4:31-37;6:8-15
Acts 5:2-9; 6:1-6

P 9 1 John 4:11-12;
1 John 4:14-17

P 10 Romans 1:1-7

P 11 1 Corinthians 1:17-22; 2:9-12,14; 3:1-3,5-6; 4:3-5:5,7-8; 6:5-9,11-18; 7:3-6,10-14

P 12 Hebrews 1:1

P 13 Hebrews 2:14-5:5; 10:8-22; 10:29-11:13; 11:28-12:17

P 15 1 Corinthians 7:18-32;
I Corinthians 7:33-8:4

P 16 Phillipians 3:10-17;
Phillipians 4:2-8

P 17 Hebrews 9:2-14;
9:15-19

P 18 Revelation 1:4-7

P 19 Matthew 10:32-40;
Matthew 10:41-11:5

P 20 James 2:26-3:9;
http://www.princeton.edu/~dcskemer/APISJames1.html

P 21 Matthew 12:24-26, 31-33.
http://faculty.bbc.edu/rdecker/classes/p21.htm

P 22 John 15:25-16:2;
John 16:21-32
http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/treasures/papyrus.html

P 23 James 1:10-12;
James 1:15-18

P 24 Revelation 5:5-8;
Revelation 6:5-8

P 25 Matthew 18:32-34
Matthew 19:5-7,9-10

P 26 Romans 1: 1-16
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?view=entry;subview=detail;cc=apis;entryid=X-3991;c=apis;start=1

P 27 Romans 8:12-22,24-27;
Romans 8:33-9:3,5-9

P 28 John 6:8-12;
John 6:17-22

P 29 Acts 26:7-8;
Acts 26:20

P 30 1 Thessalonians 4:12-13, 16-17; 5:3, 8-10, 12-18, 25-28; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2

P 31 Romans 12:3-8

P 32 Titus 1:11-15;
Titus 2:3-8

P 33 Acts 7:6-10; 15:21-24
Acts 7:13-18; 15:26-32

P 34 1 Corinthians 16,4-7,10;
2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 19-21; 10:13-14; 11:2;
2 Corintians 11:4, 6-7


P 35 Matthew 25:12-15;
Matthew 25:20-23

P 36 John 3:14-17,34-35
John 3:17-18,31-32

P 37 Matthew 26:19-37;
Matthew 26:37-52
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?g=archaeol-ic;med=1;c=apis;q1=P.Mich.inv.%201570;rgn1=apis_inv;size=50;start=1;type=boolean;view=thumbfull


P 38 Acts 18:27-19:6
Acts 19:12-16


P 39 John 8:14-18;
John 8:18-22

P 40 Matthew 18:32-34; 19:1-3;
Matthew 19:5-7; 19:9-10

P 41 Acts 17:28-18:2, 18:17-18,22-25,27; 19:1-4,6-8,13-16,18-19; 20:9-13,15-16, 22-24,26-38; 21:1-4,26-27; 22:11-14,16-17

P 42 Luke 1:54-55;
Luke 2:29-32

P 43 Revelation 2:12-13,15

P 44 Matthew 17:1-3, 6-7; 18:15-17, 19; 25:8-10; John 9:3-4; 10:8-14; 12:16-18

P 45 Matthew 20:24-32; 21:13-19; 25:41-26:39; Mark 4:36-40; 5:15-26; 5:38-6:3,16-25,36-50; 7:3-15; 7:25-8:1,10-26; 8:34-9:9,18-31; 11:27-12:1,5-8,13-19,24-28; Luke 6:31-41; 6:45-7:7; 9:26-41; 9:45-10:1,6-22; 10:26-11:1,6-25,28-46; 11:50-12:12,18-37; 12:42-13:1,6-24; 13:29-14:10,17-33; John 4:51,54; 5:21,24; 10:7-25; 10:30-11:10,18-36,42-57; Acts 4:27-36; 5:10-21,30-39; 6:7-7:2,10-21,32-41; 7:52-8:1,14-25; 8:34-9:6,16-27; 9:35-10:2,10-23,31-41; 11:2-14; 11:24-12:5,13-22; 13:6-16,25-36; 13:46-14:3,15-23; 15:2-7,19-27; 15:38-16:4,15-21,32-40; 17:9-17

P 46 Romans 5:17-6:3; 6:5-14; 8:15-25,27-35; 8:37-9:32; 10:1-11:22,24-33; 11:35-15:9; 15:11-33; 16:25-27; 16:1-23; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9:2; 9:4-14:14; 14:16-15:15; 15:17-16:22; 2 Cor 1:1-11:10,12-21; 11:23-13:13; Galatians 1:1-8; 1:10-2:9,12-21; 3:2-29; 4:2-18; 4:20-5:17; 5:20-6:8,10-18; Ephesians 1:1-2:7; 2:10-5:6; 5:8-6:6,8-18,20-24; Phillipians 1:1,5-15,17-28; 1:30-2:12,14-27; 2:29-3:8,10-21; 4:2-12,14-23; Colossians 1:1-2,5-13,16-24; 1:27-2:19; 2:23-3:11,13-24; 4:3-12,16-18; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1:9-2:3; 5:5-9,23-28; Hebrews 1:1-9:16; 9:18-10:20,22-30; 10:32-13:25;

P 47 Revelation 9:10-11:3; 11,5-16:15; 16:17-17:2

P 48 Acts 23:11-17; 23:23-29

P 49 Ephesians 4:16-29; 4:31-5:13

P 50 Acts 8:26-30 (col. 1), 10:30-31 (col. 4) and
8:30-32 (col. 2); 10:26-27 (col. 2,); 10:27-30 (col. 3)

P 51 Galatians 1:2-10; 1:13,16-20

http://163.1.169.40/cgi-bin/library?a=q&r=1&hs=1&e=p-000-00---0POxy--00-0-0--0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-en-50---20-about---00031-001-1-0utfZz-8-00&h=ded&t=1&q=POxy+2157&ifl=l

P 52 John 18:31-33; http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/specialcollections/collections/stjohnfragment/recto/

John 18:37-38
http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/specialcollections/collections/stjohnfragment/verso/

P 53 Matthew 26:29-35v; Acts 9:33-38
Matthew 26:36-40; Acts 9:40-10:1

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?g=archaeol-ic;med=1;c=apis;q1=P.Mich.inv.%206652;rgn1=apis_inv;size=50;start=1;type=boolean;view=thumbfull

P 54 James 2:16-18,22-23; and 2:24-26; 3:2-4.
http://www.princeton.edu/~dcskemer/APISJames2.html


P 55 John 1:31-33; 1:35-38

P 56 Acts 1:1-5; 1:7-11

P 57 Acts 4:36-5:2; 5:8-10

P 59 (14 fragments)
John 1:26,28,48,51; 2:15-16; 11:40-52; 12:25,29,31,35; 17:24-26; 18:1-2,16-17, 22; 21:7,12-13,15,17-20,23.

P 60 (20 fragments) John 16:29-30; 16:32-17:6,8-9,11-15,18-25; 18:1-2,4-5,7-16,18-20,23-29,31-37,39-40; 19:2-3,5-8,10-18,20,23-26

P 61 Romans 16:23-27; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2,4-6; 5:1-3,5-6,9-13; Phillipians 3:5-9,12-16; Colossians 1:3-7,9-13; 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3; Titus 3:1-5,8-11,14-15; Philemon 4-7

P 62 Matthew 11:25-30

P 63 John 3:14-15,16-18; 4:9,10

P 64 / P 67 (5 Fragments) Matthew 3:9,15; 5:20-22,25-28; 26:7-8,10,14-15,22-23,31-33

P 65 1 Thessalonians 1:3-10; 2:1,6-13

P 66 John 1:1-6:11; 6:35-14:26,29-30; 15:2-26; 16:2-4,6-7; 16:10-20:20,22-23; 20:25-21:9

P 66 Dates to style in use by the end of Trajan's reign (Roman Emperor Trajan died ca. 8 August 117 A.D.), to as early as 115-116 A.D.

Some early epigraphers had dated P66 to Hadrian in the 130s A.D. The question of P66 among Conservative Scholarship is whether it was within 20 years of John's death, or within 40 years.

The question of P66 for the Liberal apostates who wish to date P66 as late as 200 A.D. and then pooh-pooh the gap of a single century (by their own pretentions) is "what better examples have they got of ancient works, even fragments that virtually coincide with their ancient Roman or Greek authors in anywhere near the closeness as P66 with John"? Knowing that they cannot even bridge the gap of 300, or 500 years, they have no room to criticize the New Testament where a manuscript fragment may be within 20 years of the author to whom it was attributed or as far along as 102 years from the author to whom it was attributed.

The New Testament had some 24,000 plus whole and fragmentary manuscripts (inclusive of lectionaries) still in existence, which have now increased beyond 25,000 with the Albanian National Archives find of 2007. Some of the Middle Ages Albanian copies may be viewed via links at:
http://www.csntm.org/manuscript