Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5101

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5101 is a manuscript of the Greek Septuagint Psalms, written on papyrus in roll form. It is designated by 2227 in the Alfred Rahlfs numbering of koine Greek Septuagint manuscripts, and P.Oxy.77 5101 based on its publication in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri volumes. It has survived in a very fragmentary condition. Using the study of comparative writings styles, it has been dated to the middle of the first - middle of the second century CE.
The manuscript uses the Tetragrammaton written in palaeo-Hebrew script instead of substituting it with the Greek title κύριος, and is currently the earliest extant copy of the Septuagint Psalms.

Description

The manuscript was originally a papyrus roll, of which fragments from six columns have survived. The fragments contain Psalms 26:9-14; 44:4-8; 47:13-15; 48:6-21; 49:2-16; 63:6-64:5 according to the numbering of the Septuagint. As noted by biblical scholar Larry Hurtado, "his is probably the earliest extant copy of the Septuagint Psalms." The text was written by an inexperienced writer in uncial script characters.

Greek text

Transcription of two of the Psalm verses according to biblical scholar Anthony R. Meyer:
In the above verse, the Masoretic Text reads אלהים and the LXX reads ο θεος but P. Oxy. 5101 reads YHWH.

Tetragrammaton

The manuscript contains the tetragrammaton to represent the Divine Name of God written in the palaeo-Hebrew script. This manuscript is not a recension and contains the name of God in Paleo-Hebrew letters, thus contradicting the argument that the presence of the tetragrammaton in Paleo-Hebrew letters is the product of a recension to the Hebrew text. According to Meyer, the Greek scribe was not familiar with the tetragram, so instead of changing the original reading, he simply copied it from another manuscript that already contained it; however it has also been argued that a blank space was left, and then the scribe himself decided to write YHWH in Paleo-Hebrew. Meyer states that "still, the evidence of P. Oxy 5101 is too fragmentary to give decisive evidence for the procedure of writing the Tetragrammaton. If P. Oxy 5101 follows the procedure of other Greek biblical texts that write the Tetragrammaton in the paleo-Hebrew script, then it would represent a one-stage writing system". He further comments:
Meyer concludes that "on the whole, this line of argumentation to establish the Tetragrammaton as a secondary development based on recensional traits of Greek texts is flawed", and "the presence of ιαω does not decisively answer the question of the earliest OG rendering". He adds: "there is no proof that the reason for the Tetragrammaton is caused by or inherent to the textual character of early revisions of the Old Greek". Whilst speaking concerning the idea of "recension" in regards to another Greek Septuagint manuscript classed among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever, which is considered to be a kaige recension of the Septuagint, biblical scholar Kristin De Troyer remarks: "The problem with a recension is that one does not know what is the original form and what the recension. Hence, is the paleo-Hebrew Tetragrammaton secondary – a part of the recension – or proof of the Old Greek text? This debate has not yet been solved."

History

The manuscript was discovered at Oxyrhynchus, and has been catalogued with number P. Oxy 5101. The manuscript has been given an Alfred Rahlfs number of 2227 in the list of Septuagint manuscripts. The fragments were published in 2011 by Danielę Colomo and W.B. Henry in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol LXXVII.
The manuscript is currently housed in the Papyrology section of the Sackler Library at Oxford B + 27 3B.38/NB + 27 3B.41/J.