The Early Textual Transmission of John : Stability and Fluidity in Its Second and Third Century Greek Manuscripts

In The Early Textual Transmission of John Lonnie D. Bell utilizes a fresh approach for assessing the character of transmission reflected in the second and third century Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of John. The textual transmission of New Testament writings in the period prior to the fourth century has been characterized by a number of scholars as error-prone, free, fluid, wild, and chaotic. This study is an inquiry into the validity of this general characterization. Since John is the most attested New Testament book among the early papyri, is the best attested in the second century, and has the highest number of papyri that share overlapping text, it serves well as a case study into the level of fluidity and stability of the New Testament text in the earliest period of transmission. ‎Contents 8 ‎Acknowledgments 10 ‎Abbreviations 12 ‎Chapter 1. Introduction 14 ‎1. Introduction to the Study 14 ‎2. Major Approaches to the Early Papyri 14 ‎3. My Question and Approach 21 ‎4. Rethinking Some “Free” Texts 30 ‎5. Structure of the Study 45 ‎Chapter 2. Fragments without Full Overlap in P66 or P75 47 ‎1. P52 (P.Ryl. III 457) 47 ‎2. P90 (P.Oxy. L 3523) 59 ‎3. P107 (P.Oxy. LXV 4446) 88 ‎4. P108 (P.Oxy. LXV 4447) 99 ‎5. P109 (P.Oxy. LXV 4448) 107 ‎6. P121 (P.Oxy. LXXI 4805) 115 ‎7. P5 (P.Oxy. II 208 & XV 1781) 122 ‎8. P22 (P.Oxy. X 1228) 153 ‎9. P28 (P.Oxy. XIII 1596) 162 ‎Chapter 3. Fragments with Full Overlap in P66 Only 175 ‎1. P95 (P.Laur. inv. II/31) 175 ‎2. P39 (P.Oxy. XV 1780) 181 ‎Chapter 4. Fragments with Full Overlap in P66 and P75 194 ‎1. P106 (P.Oxy. LXV 4445) 194 ‎2. P119 (P.Oxy. LXXI 4803) 208 ‎3. 0162 (P.Oxy. VI 847) 221 ‎Chapter 5. Results and Implications 239 ‎P5 241 ‎P106 241 ‎P90 242 ‎P28 242 ‎P95 242 ‎P52 242 ‎P107 242 ‎P121 242 ‎P119 242 ‎0162 243 ‎P108 (none) 243 ‎P109 (none) 243 ‎P22 (none) 243 ‎P39 (none) 243 ‎P28 243 ‎P95 243 ‎P95 245 ‎P107 245 ‎P90 246 ‎P119 246 ‎P108 246 ‎P28 246 ‎0162 246 ‎P5 246 ‎P109 247 ‎P106 247 ‎P22 247 ‎P39 (none) 247 ‎P52 (none) 247 ‎P121 (none) 247 ‎Works Cited 250 ‎Index of Authors 263 ‎Index of Subjects 266 ‎Index of Manuscripts 267 ‎New Testament Manuscripts 267 ‎Other Manuscripts 269 ‎Index of Biblical Passages 270 ‎Old Testament/Septuagint 270 ‎New Testament 270