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Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266)

Greek Deuteronomy fragments from the 2nd–1st centuries BCE, one writing God's name in Hebrew letters

Return, Persia & the Maccabees · papyrus / scroll, manuscript · Accepted by scholars · found 1917

Papyrus fragment of Greek uncial text with four Hebrew letters in a gap
Photo: See Commons page · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Found 1917 — Rylands 458 was bought by J. Rendel Harris for the John Rylands Library in 1917 and published by C. H. Roberts in 1936; Fouad 266 was acquired in the Fayyum in 1939 by the Société Fouad I de Papyrologie and published in full in 1971

Where Fayyum, Egypt (Egypt)

Dates from Rylands 458 c. 150 BCE; Fouad 266 c. 100–50 BCE · Ptolemaic Egypt · Greek-speaking Jews of Egypt; the Septuagint described by the Letter of Aristeas

Now at John Rylands Library, Manchester (Gr. P. 458); Société Royale de Papyrologie / Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Fouad 266)

How Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266) was found

Both came from Egyptian cartonnage or dealer finds in the Fayyum, where Greek-speaking Jewish communities lived from the 3rd century BCE.

What it is

Rylands 458 is eight small papyrus scraps of Deuteronomy 23–28 in Greek uncials. Fouad 266 is 117 fragments of Greek Genesis and Deuteronomy in which the divine name is written not as 'Kyrios' but as the Hebrew Tetragrammaton יהוה in square letters, by a second scribe, in spaces left by the first.

Why it matters for the Bible

These are the oldest surviving pieces of the Septuagint, the Greek Bible used by the apostles, proving the Torah had been translated by the mid-2nd century BCE as the Letter of Aristeas claims for the reign of Ptolemy II. Fouad 266 shows that some Jewish copies kept YHVH's name in Hebrew inside the Greek text rather than replacing it with 'Lord', which bears on how the name was treated in the Greek Scriptures Yeshua's (Jesus's) followers read. Rylands 458 also preserves an early form of Deuteronomy's text.

The Hebrew word: (the Tetragrammaton, YHVH)

יהוה

יהוה is pronounced (the Tetragrammaton, YHVH) and means the personal name of God, written in Hebrew letters inside the Greek text of Fouad 266 (Strong's H3068).

People this discovery connects to

Places

Events

Translation of the Torah into Greek at Alexandria · Jewish diaspora in Ptolemaic Egypt

Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266) in Scripture

Deuteronomy 31:28-29 Fouad 266 preserves this passage with the Hebrew Tetragrammaton embedded in the Greek.

Deuteronomy 25:1-3 One of the passages preserved in Rylands 458, the oldest Greek Bible fragment.

Exodus 3:15 'This is my name forever'; the papyri show one way Greek-speaking Jews honored the name.

Questions people ask

What is Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266)?
Rylands 458 is eight small papyrus scraps of Deuteronomy 23–28 in Greek uncials. Fouad 266 is 117 fragments of Greek Genesis and Deuteronomy in which the divine name is written not as 'Kyrios' but as the Hebrew Tetragrammaton יהוה in square letters, by a second scribe, in spaces left by the first.

When was Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266) discovered?
It was found in 1917 by Rylands 458 was bought by J. Rendel Harris for the John Rylands Library in 1917 and published by C. H. Roberts in 1936; Fouad 266 was acquired in the Fayyum in 1939 by the Société Fouad I de Papyrologie and published in full in 1971, at Fayyum, Egypt.

Where is Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266) today?
John Rylands Library, Manchester (Gr. P. 458); Société Royale de Papyrologie / Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Fouad 266).

Which Bible verses does Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266) relate to?
Deuteronomy 31:28-29, Deuteronomy 25:1-3, Exodus 3:15.

Related discoveries

Sources

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