Debut of Chester Beatty Papyri images online

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Hi res images of Chester Beatty Papyri with interactive viewing tools.

[DCHindley]

Unfortunately, the detailed views do not work. Go ahead, chick on one.

On another list they say that they do not display even in Firefox.

DCH

Hi res images of Chester Beatty Papyri with interactive viewing tools.

[avi]

Thank you Diogenes the Cynic, your link to this valuable resource is much appreciated.

I am looking at Papyrus P45, from the Chester Beatty collection Mark 6:36-50 (partial). As David noted, it is not easily magnified, therefore a bit difficult to compare with other online resources, which, as a rule, tend to present the texts in minuscule, rather than capital letters.

These manuscripts will be even more useful, in the future, when, as with codex Sinaiticus, there appears both the original, a version in lower case Greek, and an English translation.

Thanks again, for pointing out the link!

[Leucius Charinus]

Hi res images of Chester Beatty Papyri with interactive viewing tools.

Does anyone know if there are any English translations of this collection in the public domain?

There's some really weird stuff in this. For example P99 ... a Glossary, words and phrases from: Ro, 2 Co, Gal and Eph

According to WIKI

Elliot calls this papyrus '...

a haphazard collection of unconnected verses from the Pauline letters
[that] could have been a school exercise ...'[4]

[4] Elliot (2005), JK, Absent witnesses?, p. 50, in The Reception of the New Testament
in the Apostolic Fathers, Gregory, Andrew F. & Tuckett, Christopher Mark,
(eds), Oxford University Press

[Peter Kirby]

English translations of particular Greek NT mss. are rarely attempted because the primary significance of the manuscript is in its Greek text itself. Those who do textual criticism need some language knowledge anyhow and can use most any English translation to get their footing if their understanding of Greek falters (being able to detect differences in the Greek on their own). However, I agree that it would be especially useful for manuscripts that are significantly different from the text of the NT (like the papyrus you mention) to be translated for anyone interested (for whom it is inaccessible otherwise).

[Roger Pearse]

The viewer is pretty crummy ... why make people view the images through a keyhole? But probably the Chester Beatty people insisted, as a condition of photography. It's the sort of thing librarians (who don't use the collections themselves) do, in fear and trembling lest someone blame them for allowing proper access.

[Leucius Charinus]

English translations of particular Greek NT mss. are rarely attempted ...

They're actually quite frequently attempted in articles all over JSTOR and other academic collections, because they are fundamental to our {English] understanding of what the Greek manuscripts have to say.

However, I agree that it would be especially useful for manuscripts that are significantly different from the text of the NT (like the papyrus you mention) to be translated for anyone interested (for whom it is inaccessible otherwise).

P.Oxy 45 contains .... the texts of Matthew 20-21 and 25-26; Mark 4-9 and 11-12; Luke 6-7 and 9-14; John 4-5 and 10-11; and Acts 4-17.

It would interesting to look at the reading of Acts 11:26


.

[Peter Kirby]

English translations of particular Greek NT mss. are rarely attempted ...

They're actually quite frequently attempted in articles all over JSTOR and other academic collections, because they are fundamental to our {English] understanding of what the Greek manuscripts have to say.

The Greek is fundamental to our understanding of what the Greek manuscripts have to say. If you want an English translation, the KJV is fine, or the NIV, or the ESV, or the RSV, or the ASV, or the NAB or the Darby or the Young's. If you have any business poking at NT manuscripts, you can poke at them in Greek and do your own translations of the manuscript variations. Needless to say, no translation is fundamental, as it may be incomplete or inaccurate in some way. (But in mountmainman land, lots of things that are otherwise needless to say end up needing to be said.)