Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5577
Standard abbreviation: P. Oxy. 5577
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 496
Category: Agrapha and Fragments
Related literature: Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Philip.
Compiled by Sarah Parkhouse, University of Manchester.
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Parkhouse, Sarah. “Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5577.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/papyrus-oxyrhynchus-5577/.
Created April 2024.
1. SUMMARY
P. Oxy. 5577 is a single fragmentary leaf from a papyrus codex that preserves part of a teaching from an unnamed figure to Mary. The content makes it clear that the unnamed figure is Jesus. The small fragment measures 13 × 9.4 cm and has 12–13 lines of text on both sides. The scribe writes in a bold, moderately large, bilinear hand that slopes slightly to the right, and there are no columns. It has been dated in the editio princeps to the fourth century on palaeographical grounds and has a similar hand to the Greek fragment of the Sophia of Jesus Christ (P. Oxy. 1081).
Despite its brevity, several important points arise from the fragment. Jesus speaks in the first-person, telling Mary that he revealed himself “in flesh” and that he is filled with the word of the Father. Mary is the only named character, and while she does not appear to speak, Jesus addresses her three times. It looks as though this is a fragment of a dialogue gospel, in which Jesus converses with one or more disciples, giving them higher teachings.
The recto (writing with the fibers) focuses on baptism and its outcomes. It begins half way through a sentence with a remark that something will fall on the earth, followed by a sentence that looks to be a quotation of the words of John the Baptist from Luke 3:16, introduced with “[John] said.” Unfortunately, the name is in a lacuna and the quotation is inexact. In the quoted saying, John declares that he baptizes with water, but that Jesus offers the superior baptism of fire and spirit. With the opening phrase “Therefore I say to you, Mary,” Jesus invites Mary to mix the fire and water together in order to appear as an image of light rather than as an image of the flesh. Water and fire are described as “intertwined and dissolved elements” that are brought together in and through baptism. The most relevant intertextual connection to the mixing of fire and water is in the Gospel of Philip, which reads that “it is from water and fire that the soul and spirit came into being” (67,2–3) and that “through water and fire everything is purified, the revealed by means of the revealed, the hidden by means of the hidden” (57,22–23), possibly referring to a ritual context (see also 67,5; 69,8–14).
The verso (writing against the fibers) is concerned with the revelation of Jesus and the Father through the incarnation. It opens with text about the good Father and the “simple and incorruptible form,” but the text is too fragmentary to allow for solid interpretation. Jesus explains to Mary that he appeared as “artificer mind” in flesh. Within his fleshly form, Jesus is filled with the word of the incorruptible Father, and the incarnation has transpired in order to awaken the hidden life of the father through Jesus’ goodness. The emphasis on divine goodness is clear as it is mentioned twice within this small piece of text.
When Juan Chapa published P. Oxy. 5577, he suggested that it may be a Valentinian text. Since its publication, Sarah Parkhouse and Elizabeth Schrader Polczer have suggested that it may be from the missing pages of the Gospel of Mary.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Jesus Christ (unnamed speaker), Mary (Magdalene?).
Geographical Locations: none.
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Web Sites and Other Online Resources
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
Oxford, Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library, P. Oxy. 5577 (4th cent.)
Chapa, Juan. “5577. Valentinian Text?” Pages 22–30 in vol. 87 of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Edited by Peter J. Parsons and Nikolaos Gonis. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 2023 (transcription, pp. 25–26; English translation, p. 26; image pl. III).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Chapa, Juan. “5577. Valentinian Text?” Pages 22–30 in vol. 87 of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Edited by Peter J. Parsons and Nikolaos Gonis. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 2023 (transcription, pp. 25–26; English translation, p. 26; image pl. III).
3.3 General Works
Parkhouse, Sarah. “‘Therefore I say, Mary’: P. Oxy. 5577 and the Gospel of Mary.” NovT, forthcoming.
Schrader Polczer, Elizabeth. “Early Christianity, fragment by fragment.” Christian Century. Posted 9 April 2024. Online: https://www.christiancentury.org/features/early-christianity-fragment-fragment.
__________. “An Image of the Eternal Incorruptible Light: P. Oxy. 5577 as a Possible Fragment of the Gospel of Mary.” JECS, forthcoming.