Papyrus 69 (designated by 𝔓69 in the Gregory-Aland numbering) is a small fragment dating to the 3rd century.[1] Scholars have debated whether its text is a witness to the Gospel of Marcion or the canonical Gospel of Luke.
Description
This fragment (𝔓69 or P. Oxy 2383) recounts the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, and the betrayal of Jesus by Peter. Famously, and similar to the Gospel of Marcion, it omits all of Luke 22:42–45a,[2] a portion famous for Jesus asking, 'remove this cup from me' (22:42), for an 'angel from heaven' appearing' (22:43), and for Jesus sweating drops of blood (22:44).
Claire Clivaz has developed the hypothesis that 𝔓69 is most plausibly understood 'as a witness to a Marcionite edition of Luke's Gospel',[3] an idea she credits to François Bovon.[4] Jason BeDuhn has supported this hypothesis, drawing upon 𝔓69 in his reconstruction of the Gospel of Marcion.[5] Peter M. Head, conversely, has dismissed Clivaz' arguments in two posts on an Evangelical Christian blog.[6]
The Greek text of this codex is a representative of the Western text-type. According to Aland text is very free, "characteristic of precursors of the D-text", therefore Aland placed it in Category IV.[7]
^Head, Peter M. (12 July 2006). "Evangelical Textual Criticism: Not a Marcionite Manuscript". Evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2015. the suggestion that 𝔓69 is a manuscript of Marcion's Gospel is a very clever idea which is however not proven and not the most plausible context for making sense of this fascinating manuscript
Kurt Aland, Alter und Entstehung des D-Textes im Neuen Testament. Betrachtung zu P69 und 0171, Miscellànea papirològica Ramo Roca-Puig, S. Janeras, Barcelona, 1987, pp. 37–61.
Clivaz, C., (2005) The Angel and the Sweat Like "Drops of Blood" (Lk 22:43-44): P69 and f13, HTR 98, doi:10.1017/S0017816005001045
Ehrman & Plunkett (1983), The Angel and the Agony: The Textual Problem of Luke 22:43 44, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 45, pp. 401–16.
Head (1993), Peter M., Christology and Textual Transmission: Reverential Alterations in the Synoptic Gospels, Novum Testamentum, Vol. 35, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1993), esp. pp. 123–126.
Wayment (2008), Thomas A., A new transcription of POxy 2383 (P69), NovT 50, pp. 351–57.
Comfort, Philip W.; David P. Barrett (2001). The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 469–472. ISBN978-0-8423-5265-9.