Papyrus 47

In November 2020, the CSNTM in conjunction with Hendrickson Publishers released a new 1:1 high-resolution imaged facsimile edition of 𝔓⁴⁷ on black and white backgrounds, along with 𝔓⁴⁵ and 𝔓⁴⁶.

Text

The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book), written with black ink on papyrus. The manuscript is quite fragmented, containing the text of Revelation 9:10-11:3; 11:5-16:15; and 16:17-17:2. The Greek text of this codex is considered a representative of the Alexandrian text-type (the text-types are groups of different manuscripts which share specific or generally related readings, which then differ from each other group, and thus the conflicting readings can separate out the groups, which are then used to determine the original text as published; there are three main groups with names: Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine). Biblical scholar Kurt Aland ascribed it as a Normal text, and placed it in Category I.

The text of this manuscript is closest to Codex Sinaiticus (א‎), and together they are witnesses for one of the early textual types of the Book of Revelation. Another type is represented by the manuscripts Papyrus 115 (𝔓¹¹⁵), Codex Alexandrinus (A), and Codex Ephraemi (C). The text in 𝔓⁴⁷-א‎ is considered to be an inferior witness to the text of Revelation as opposed to that of 𝔓¹¹⁵-A-C.