Papyrus 45

Condition of the manuscript

The manuscript is heavily damaged and fragmented. The papyrus was bound in a codex, which may have consisted of 220 pages, however only 30 survive (two of Matthew, six of Mark, seven of Luke, two of John, and 13 of Acts). All of the pages have lacunae, with very few lines complete. The leaves of Matthew and John are the smallest. The original pages were roughly 10 inches by 8 inches. Unlike many of the other surviving manuscripts from the 3rd century which usually contained just the Gospels, or just the Catholic letters, or just the Pauline epistles, this manuscript possibly contained more than one grouping of New Testament texts. This hypothesis is attributed to the use of gatherings of two leaves, a single-quire that most other codices had.

Textual character

Because of the extent of the damage, determining the text's type has been difficult for scholars. The manuscript was obtained by Alfred Chester Beatty in the first half of the 20th century, and published in The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscripts on Papyrus of the Greek Bible by Frederic G. Kenyon in 1933. In this work, Kenyon identified the text of the Gospel of Mark in P ⁴⁵ as Caesarean, following the definition of Burnett Hillman Streeter. Hollis Huston criticized Kenyon's transcription of various partially surviving words, and concluded that chapters 6 and 11 of Mark in P ⁴⁵ could not neatly fit into one text-type, especially not Caesarean, because the manuscript predates the distinctive texts for each type from the 4th and 5th centuries.

P ⁴⁵ has a great number of singular readings. On the origin of these singular readings, E. C. Colwell comments:

"As an editor the scribe of P ⁴⁵ wielded a sharp axe. The most striking aspect of his style is its conciseness. The dispensable word is dispensed with. He omits adverbs, adjectives, nouns, participles, verbs, personal pronouns—without any compensating habit of addition. He frequently omits phrases and clauses. He prefers the simple to the compound word. In short, he favors brevity. He shortens the text in at least fifty places in singular readings alone. But he does not drop syllables or letters. His shortened text is readable."

Text-type

P ⁴⁵ has a relatively close statistical relationship with Codex Washingtonianus in Mark, however, and to a lesser extent Family 13. Citing Larry Hurtado's study, Text-Critical Methodology and the Pre-Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark, Eldon Jay Epp has agreed that there is no connection to a Caesarean or pre-Caesarean text in Mark. There is also not a strong connection to the Neutral text of Codex Vaticanus, the Western text of Codex Bezae, and the Byzantine text of the textus receptus. Another hypothesis is that P ⁴⁵ comes from the Alexandrian tradition, but has many readings intended to "improve" the text stylistically, and a number of harmonizations. While still difficult to place historically in a category of texts, most scholars today agree that the text is not Caesarean, contrary to Kenyon.

The textual character of the manuscript varies from book to book. In Mark, multivariate analysis of apparatus data from the UBS Greek New Testament (4th ed.) places P ⁴⁵ in a group which includes W (for chapters 5-16), Θ, Family 1, 28, 205, 565; the Sinaitic Syriac, Armenian, and Georgian versions; and Origen's quotations. This group corresponds to what Streeter called an "Eastern type" of the text. In Luke, an eleven-way PAM partition based on Greek manuscript data associated with the INTF's Parallel Pericopes volume places the manuscript in a group with C (04), L (019), Ξ (040), 33, 892, and 1241. In Acts it is closest to the Alexandrian text.

It is calculated that the codex omitted the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11).

Notable readings

Mark 6:40 omits text κατὰ ἑκατὸν καὶ κατὰ πεντήκοντα (by fifties and by hundreds)

Mark 6:44 omits text τοὺς ἄρτους (those loaves) with א D W Θ f¹ f¹³ 28 565 700 2542 lat cop^sa

Mark 6:45 omits text εἰς τὸ πέραν (to the other side) with W f¹ 118 it^q syr^s

Mark 8:12 omits text λέγω ὑμῖν (I will tell you) with W

Mark 8:15 reads των Ηρωδιανων (the Herodians) with W Θ f^1,13 28 565 1365 2542 it^i.k cop^samss arm geo

Mark 8:35 reads ἕνεκεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (for the sake of the Gospel) omitting ἐμοῦ καὶ (of me and) as in D 28 700 it^{a.b.d.i.k.n.r1} syr^s arm Origen

Mark 9:27 omits text καὶ ἀνέστη (and he arose) with W it^k.l syr^p

Luke 6:48

διὰ τὸ καλῶς οἰκοδομῆσθαι αὐτήν (because it had been well built) — P ^75vid א B L W Ξ 33 157 579 892 1241 1342 2542 syr^hmg cop^sa cop^bopt τεθεμελίωτο γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν (for it had been founded upon that rock) — A C D Θ Ψ f^1,13 700^c Byz latt syr^p.h cop^bopt arm, geo, goth omitted — P ^45vid 700* syr^s

Luke 11:33 omits text οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον (nor under a basket) with P ⁷⁵ L Γ Ξ 070 f¹ 22 69 700* 788 1241 2542 syr^s cop^sa arm, geo

Luke 11:44 omits text γραμματεις και Φαρισαιοι υποκριται (scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites) with P ⁷⁵ א B C L f¹ 33 1241 2542 it^{a.aur.c.e.ff2.l} vg syr^s,c cop^sa cop^bopt arm geo

Luke 11:54 omits text ινα κατηγορησωσιν αυτου (in order that they might accuse him) with P ⁷⁵ א B L 579 892* 1241 2542 syr^s,c co

Luke 12:9 omitted, as in it^e syr^{s cop}bo^ms

Luke 12:47 omits text μὴ ἑτοιμάσας ἢ (not preparing or)

John 11:7 omits text τοῖς μαθηταῖς (the disciples) with P ^66* it^e.l

John 11:25 omits text καὶ ἡ ζωή (and the life) with it^l syr^s Diatessaron^syr Cyprian

John 11:51 omits text τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐκείνου (of that year) with it^e.l syr^s

Acts 5:37 omits text πάντες (all) with D it

Acts 8:18 adds text το αγιον (the holy) with P ⁷⁴ A* C D E Ψ 33 1739 Byz latt syr cop^bo

Acts 9:17

Ἰησοῦς (Jesus) — P ⁴⁵ P ⁷⁴ א A B C E Ψ 33 81 323 614 945 1175 1739 omitted — Byz

Acts 9:21 omits text οἱ ἀκούοντες (those hearing) with P ⁷⁴ Ψ*

Acts 9:38

δύο ἄνδρας (two men) — P ⁴⁵ P ⁷⁴ א A B C E Ψ 36 81 323 614 945 1175 1739 latt syr co omitted — Byz

Acts 10:10

ἐγένετο (became) — P ^74vid א A B C 36 81 323 453 945 1175 1739 Origen επεπεσεν (fell into) — E Ψ 33 Byz latt syr ηλθεν (entered) — P ⁴⁵

Acts 10:13 omits text Πέτρε (Peter) with gig Clement Ambrose

Acts 10:16 omits text εὐθὺς (immediately) with 36 453 1175 it^d syr^p cop^samss

Acts 10:33

κυρίου (the Lord) — P ^45vid א A B C E Ψ 81* 323 614 945 1175 1739 lat syr^h cop^bo θεου (God) — P ⁷⁴ D Byz syr^p cop^sa mae

Acts 11:12 omits text μηδὲν διακρίναντα (without deliberating) with D it^l.p* syr^h

Acts 13:48

κυρίου (the Lord) — P ⁴⁵ P ⁷⁴ א A C Ψ 33 1739 Byz gig vg cop^samss mae θεου (God) — B D E 049 323 453 cop^bo θεον (God) — 614 syr

Acts 13:49 omits text τοῦ κυρίου (the Lord)

Acts 15:20 omits text καὶ τῆς πορνείας (and sexual immorality)

Acts 15:40

τοῦ κυρίου (the Lord) — P ⁷⁴ א A B D 33 81 it^d vgst cop^sa τοῦ θεου (God) — P ⁴⁵ C E Ψ 1739 Byz gig it^w vg^cl syr cop^bo

Acts 16:32

τοῦ κυρίου (the Lord) — P ⁴⁵ P ⁷⁴ א² A C (D) E Ψ 33 1739 Byz lat syr cop τοῦ θεου (God) — א* B

Acts 17:13 omits text καὶ ταράσσοντες (and agitated) with E Byz