Papyrus Merton 51

Papyrus Merton 51

Standard abbreviation: P. Mert. 51

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 441

Category: Agrapha and Fragments

Related literature: Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 210

Compiled by Thomas A. Wayment, Brigham Young University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Wayment, Thomas A. “Papyrus Merton 51.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/papyrus-merton-51/

Created February 2024.

1. SUMMARY

This short text of sixteen lines—eight lines on both the front and back—preserves loose parallels to Luke 6 and 7, but the parallels are insufficient to determine the genre of the text, and therefore scholars have considered it to be a homily, commentary, or apocryphal gospel. In the scene preserved on the recto, people are criticized for not being baptized (Luke 7:29–30//Matt 21:32), which if the Lukan parallel is considered, may be restored as a criticism of the Pharisees who were not baptized. This criticism is framed in the context of a more positive reception of Jesus’ teachings (although the text is too fragmentary to confirm the teachings are those of Jesus) by the tax collectors and general populace. On the reverse, there is a saying about a tree and fruit and the treasure of one’s heart that has affinities to Luke 6:43–45//Matt 7:17–20; 12:35, although the text is so fragmentary that the parallels are rather uncertain.

Both the recto and verso contain stories of conflict from the Jesus tradition, and it can be reasonably assumed that the unifying features of the text are the Lukan parallels and conflict with the Pharisees. Unfortunately, these rather broad characterizations do little to identify the genre of the text.

The text was purchased by Wilfred Merton, and then later it came into the collection of the Chester Beatty Library, where it is currently housed as part of the Merton papyri collection. The text was dated to the third century by Rees in the editio princeps, and more recently to the fourth century by Panegyres, although attempts to date the text must rely solely on paleographic comparisons. The text is laid out with some level of sophistication, and in the surviving lines where line beginnings are present, the initial letters are enlarged, and a blank space also denotes a sense unit. The handwriting is a rapidly formed bookhand, with a fine balance between the written line and blank spaces between lines, and that can be described as neat but with little attempt at bilinearity and regularity. Nomina sacra appear in two instances. Therefore, one may assign this text to a codex that was produced with some care and attention to detail.

The papyrus has not attracted widespread attention likely due to its fragmentary contents and there is little hope at the restoration of lines due to the nature of its loose biblical parallels. The fragmentary story also does not add new events from the life of Jesus, but rather revisits ones already know from the canonical tradition.

Named historical figures and characters: John (the Baptist).

Geographical locations: none.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, P. Merton II 51 (3rd cent.)

Rees, B.R., H. I. Bell, and J. W. B. Barnes. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the Collection of Wilfred Merton. 2 vols. Dublin: Hodges & Figgis, 1959 (editio princeps, vol. 2, p. 1–4, pl. I).

Lührmann, Dieter, and Egbert Schlarb. Fragmente apokryph gewordener Evangelien in griechischer und lateinischer Sprace. Marburger theologische Studien 59. Marburg: N. G. Elwert Verlag, 2000 (pp. 155–57).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Bernhard, Andrew. Other Early Christian Gospels: A Critical Edition of the Surviving Greek Manuscripts. Edinburgh: T&T Clarke, 2006 (pp. 99, 106–107).

Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (p. 45).

Kraus, Thomas J. “P. Mert. 51.” Pages 252–63 in Gospel Fragments. Edited by Thomas J. Kraus, Tobias Nicklas, and Michael J. Kruger. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009 (edition and translation, pp. 256–59).

3.2.2 German

Kraus, Thomas J. “P. Merton II 51 (P. Mert. II 51).” Pages 385–86 in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Band 1: Evangelien und Verwandtes. 12. Auflage, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2012.

3.3 General Works

Charlesworth, James D. Early Christian Gospels: Their Production and Transmission. Papyrologica Florentina, 47. Edizioni Gonnelli: Firenze, 2016 (pp. 140–51).

Chapa, Juan. “The Earliest Christian Manuscripts and their Contribution to the History of the Canon.” Annales Theologici 35.2 (2021): 429–45.

Nicklas, Tobias. “Écrits apocryphes chrétiens: Ein Sammelband als Spiegel eines Weitreichenden Paradigmenwechsels in der Apokryphenforschung.” VC 61.1 (2007): 70–95.

____________. “Gospel Fragments on Papyrus.” Pages 22–37 in Early New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by J. Christopher Edwards. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022 (pp. 34–35).

Kraus, Thomas J. “Reconstructing Fragmentary Manuscripts—Chances and Limitations.” Pages 1–38 in Early Christian Manuscripts: Examples of Applied Method and Approach. Edited by Thomas J. Kraus and Tobias Nicklas. TENTS 5. Leiden: Brill, 2010.

Kraus, Thomas J. and Tobias Nicklas, eds. “The World of New Testament Manuscripts: ‘Every Manuscript Tells a Story.’” Pages 1–11 in New Testament Manuscripts. TENTS 2. Leiden: Brill, 2006.

Panegyres, Konstantine. “Through the Narrow Gate of Heaven: Christian Fragments from the Bodleian Library.” AFP 69.2 (2023): 318–30.

Porter, Stanley E. “What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? Reconstructing Early Christianity from Its Manuscripts.” Pages 41–70 in Christian Origins and Greco-Roman Culture. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and A. Pitts. TENTS 9. Leiden: Brill, 2013.