Standard abbreviation: P. Oxy. 5072
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 646
Category: Agrapha and Fragments
Related literature: Egerton Gospel, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1224
Compiled by Thomas A. Wayment, Brigham Young University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Wayment, Thomas A. “Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5072.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/papyrus-oxyrhynchus-5072/.
Created December 2021. Current as of February 2024.
1. SUMMARY
P.Oxy. 5072 represents a single leaf of papyrus (7 × 7 cm) that was likely part of a codex written in Greek. With 24 partial lines of text, the fragment can only be described in broad strokes. Based on palaeographic parallels presented in the editio princeps, the date of the fragment has been placed between the second and third centuries CE. The composition of the text predates the writing of the fragment, and therefore it exists alongside other early canonical and noncanonical Christian texts from the second or third centuries.
Reconstructing the two scenes, those of the front and back, is fraught with difficulties due to the lacunose text, but also because there is uncertainty whether the writing along the fibers precedes that written against the fibers. An exorcism occurs wherein Jesus(?) rebukes what appears to be a person possessed with an unclean spirit. That story contains echoes of the Synoptic Gospels, but it does not follow the wording of any one of them. On the reverse, Jesus(?) is called a teacher and he states that an unidentified person is to be considered a disciple while another unidentified person will cause Jesus(?) to be ashamed of him in the eschaton. Near the end of what has been accepted as the reverse, scribes from Jerusalem appear on the scene to witness a discussion about the kingdom.
The mention of the kingdom has drawn some scholarly comment because of the unusual form of the nomen sacrum employed for the Greek word kingdom. The form may suggest an early stage in the development of the Christian nomina sacra, but this question needs further inquiry. The text also contains numerous Synoptic echoes and allusions: Mark 1:21–8; 5:1–20; 9:14–29; Matthew 8:29; 10:32–33; Luke 7:26; 9:26; 19:11; Isaiah 29:14 (LXX).
Named historical figures and characters: Jesus Christ.
Geographical locations: Jerusalem.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
Oxford, Sackler Library, Papyrology Rooms, P. Oxy. 5072 (2nd/3rd cent.)
Chapa, Juan. “Uncanonical Gospel.” Pages 1–19 in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri LXXVI. Edited by Daniella Colomo and Juan Chapa. London: The Egypt Exploration Society, 2011.
Blumell, Lincoln, and Thomas A. Wayment. Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents, and Sources. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2015 (pp. 205–208).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Brannan, Rick. Greek Apocryphal Gospels, Fragments and Agrapha: A New Translation. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017 (pp. 167–70).
Ponder, Ross P. “Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5072.” Pages 125–39 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2020.
3.3 General Works
Chapa, Juan. “A Newly Published ‘Gospel Fragment.’” EC 3 (2012): 381–89.
Gagné, André. “The Gospel of Thomas in a Monastic Context: Reading the Text as a Spiritual Exercise.” Pages 121–34 in The Nag Hammadi Codices as Monastic Books. Edited by Hugo Lundhaug and Christian H. Bull. STAC 134. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2023.
Glenn, W. Edward, and Darian Lockett, eds., Canon Formation: Tracing the Role of Sub-Collections in the Biblical Canon. T&T Clark: Edinburgh, 2023 (p. 231).
Hill, Charles E. “A Four-Gospel Canon in the Second Century?” Early Christianity 4 (2013): 310–34.
____________. Who Chose the Gospels? Probing the Great Gospel Conspiracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Nicklas, Tobias. “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. 31–32).
____________. “Christian Apocrypha and the Development of the Christian Canon.” Early Christianity 5 (2014): 220-40 at 223.
____________. “Eine neue alte Erzählung im Rahmen antiker Jesustraditionen: Reste eines Exorzismus auf P.Oxy. lxxvi 5072.” Annali di Storia dell’Esegesi 29 (2012): 13–27.