Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2949
Standard abbreviation: P. Oxy. 2949
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 505; CANT 8
Category: Agrapha and Fragments
Related literature: Gospel of Peter, P. Oxy. 4009
Compiled by Thomas A. Wayment, Brigham Young University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Wayment, Thomas A. “Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2949.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/papyrus-oxyrhynchus-2949/.
Created December 2021. Current as of February 2024.
1. SUMMARY
P.Oxy. 2949 represents two small papyrus fragments with writing on the front, but with no writing on the reverse. The fragments may therefore belong to a papyrus roll. In total, there are seventeen lines of text, four on the smaller of the two fragments and thirteen on the larger one. Based on palaeographic comparison of letter forms, the handwriting has been assigned to the third century. Given the themes preserved on the small fragments, some scholars have drawn attention to the possible parallels between this text and the apocryphal Gospel of Peter.
Because of the fragmentary nature of the text, even a summary of its contents must remain tentative. The existing lines depict Joseph of Arimathea requesting of Pilate to have the body of Jesus given to him for burial. Joseph is called a “friend of Pilate,” a phrase that is important in identifying the fragment as part of the tradition behind a similar scene in the Gospel of Peter, where Joseph is also called the “friend of Pilate” (2.3). Unfortunately, the text breaks off after this scene, and because it does not align with the existing text of the Gospel of Peter as recovered from the Akhmim fragment, it cannot be restored exempli gratia from that text and the more fragmentary lines cannot be recovered.
Named historical figures and characters: Jesus Christ, Joseph of Arimathea, Pontius Pilate, and possibly Herod Antipas.
Geographical locations: the tomb of Jesus.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
Oxford, Sackler Library, Papyrology Rooms, P. Oxy. 2949 (2nd/3rd cent.)
Bernhard, Andrew E. Other Early Christian Gospels: A Critical Edition of the Surviving Greek Manuscripts. London and New York: T&T Clark, 2007 (p. 52).
Blumell, Lincoln and Thomas A. Wayment. Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents, and Sources. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2015 (pp. 217–19).
Coles, Revel A. “2949. Fragments of an Apocryphal Gospel (?).” Pages 15–16 in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri: Volume XLI. Edited by G. M. Brown et al. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1972.
Ehrman, Bart D., and Zlatko Pleše. The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (Greek text and English translation, pp. 283–87).
Wayment, Thomas A. The Text of the New Testament Apocrypha (100–400 CE). London and New York: T&T Clark, 2013 (pp. 47–48, 252).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Ehrman, Bart D., and Zlatko Pleše. The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (Greek text and English translation, pp. 283–87).
3.2.2 German
Lührmann, Dieter, and Egbert Schlarb. Fragmente apokryph gewordener Evangelien in griechischer und lateinischer Sprache. Marburg Theologische Studien 59; Marburg: Elwert 2000 (pp. 72, 84–85).
3.3 General Works
Crossan, John Dominic. “The Gospel of Peter and the Canonical Gospels.” Pages 117–34 in Das Evangelium nach Petrus: Text, Kontexte, Intertexte. Edited by Thomas J. Kraus and Tobias Nicklas. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2012.
Foster, Paul. The Gospel of Peter: Introduction, Critical Edition, and Commentary. Leiden: Brill, 2010 (pp. 58–68).
____________. “P.Oxy. 2949—Its Transcription and Significance: A Response to Thomas Wayment.” JBL 129 (2010): 173–76.
____________. “The Gospel of Peter.” Pages 30–42 in The Non-canonical Gospels. Edited by P. Foster. London and New York: T&T Clark, 2008.
____________. “The Disputed Early Fragments of the So-called ‘Gospel of Peter’ Once Again.” NovT 49 (2007): 402–406.
____________. “Are There Any Early Fragments of the So-Called Gospel of Peter?” NTS 52 (2006): 1–28.
Kazen, Thomas. “Sectarian Gospels for Some Christians? Intention and Mirror Reading in the Light of Extra-Canonical Texts.” NTS 51 (2005): 561–78.
Kraus, Thomas J., and Tobias Nicklas. “Entstehungsprozess einer kritischen Edition frühchristlicher Apokryphen: das Beispiel ‘Petrusevangelium.’ Pages 365–68 in Akten des 23. Internationalen Papyrologenkongresses: Wien, 22.–28. Juli 2001. Edited by Bernhard Palme. Papyrologica Vindobonensia, 1. Wien: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2007.
____________. Das Petrusevangelium und die Petrusapokalypse: Die griechischen Fragmente mit deutscher und englisher Übersetzung. Berlin and New York, 2004.
Lührmann, Dieter. “POx 2949: EvPt 3–5 in einer Handschrift des 2./3. Jahrhunderts.” ZNW 72 (1981): 216–26.
____________. “Kann es wirklich keine frühe Handschrift des Petrusevangeliums geben?” NovT 48 (2006): 379–83.
Myllykoski, Matti. “POx 2949 als Fragment des Petrusevangeliums.” Pages 171–89 in Verbum et Calamus: Semitic and Related Studies in Honour of the Sixtieth Birthday of Professor Tapani Harviainen. Edited by H. Juusola et al. Helsinki, 2004.
Wayment, Thomas A. “A Reexamination of the Text of P.Oxy. 2949.” JBL 128 (2009): 375–82.
Wright, David. “Papyrus Egerton 2 (the Unknown Gospel)—Part of the Gospel of Peter?” SecCent 5 (1985): 129–50.