Papyrus 46 (P46): an early papyrus witness to the Pauline letters

Papyrus 46 (P46) is one of the earliest surviving Greek New Testament papyri, a codex of Pauline letters dated ca. late 2nd–early 3rd century, now preserved in two collections and important for textual criticism.

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Overview

Papyrus 46, commonly abbreviated P46, is a fragmented ancient codex containing a large portion of the letters attributed to Paul in the New Testament. Written in Greek on papyrus, it is among the earliest extant witnesses to Christian scripture and is often cited in studies of New Testament textual history. Paleographic study places its handwriting in the late second to early third century, making it a crucial document for understanding the early transmission of Pauline writings.

Contents and order

The surviving leaves preserve most of several Pauline books and parts of others. The preserved sequence includes the end of Romans, the book of Hebrews, nearly all of 1 and 2 Corinthians, and the full texts of Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians and Colossians, with a portion of Thessalonians. A simple contents list helps show what is extant:

New Testament manuscripts witness: Pauline collection
Greek codex form rather than a scroll
Portions of Romans, Hebrews, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
Complete or nearly complete Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians
Some material from Thessalonians

Physical features and dating

P46 is written in an early book-hand typical of papyri used for literary texts rather than documentary scripts. Lines and margins are uneven in places and many leaves have suffered loss at the edges, so several final lines on affected pages are missing. The codex format, the handwriting style, and comparison with other dated papyri allow scholars to assign it to around the turn of the third century, though precise years are debated and estimates commonly give a range rather than a single date.

Provenance, current locations and preservation

The manuscript was separated long before modern scholarship into groups of leaves that today are held in two principal repositories. Some leaves form part of the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri collection and others belong to the papyri collection of the University of Michigan. Both institutions have conserved and photographed the fragments, which remain important objects of study for paleographers and textual critics.

Significance and scholarly use

P46 is frequently cited in critical editions of the Greek New Testament because it provides an early witness to the text of the Pauline corpus. It contributes to assessments of variants, helps reconstruct an early stage of the Greek text, and illustrates practices such as the use of nomina sacra and the arrangement of letters in an early Christian codex. While fragmentary, its readings are a major resource for anyone studying how the Pauline letters were copied and circulated in the ancient Mediterranean world.

For general introductions and images consult library catalogues and digital resources provided by the holding institutions and by broader catalogues of ancient biblical manuscripts: overview resources, manuscript lists, or the specific collection pages at Chester Beatty and University repositories.