New Testament Manuscripts
None of the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament contain the Tetragrammaton. Papyrus manuscripts of writings which were eventually canonized and today comprise the New Testament date as early as the 2nd century. One of the oldest extant New Testament manuscripts, Papyrus Chester Beatty II, i.e. 46, is dated to ca. 200 AD and contains portions of nine of the Pauline epistles. In this early manuscript, nomen sacrum contractions ΚϹ and ΘϹ occur where the Greek word kurios ("LORD" or "Lord") occurs. Similar nomina sacra contractions occur for IHCOYC ("Jesus") contracted to IC and XPICTOC ("Christ"), contracted to XC.
A passage recorded in the Hebrew Tosefta, Shabbat 13:5, quoting Tarfon is sometimes cited to suggest that early Christian writings or copies contained the Tetragrammaton.
Shabbat 13:5 — A. The books of the Evangelists and the books of the minim they do not save from a fire . They are allowed to burn up where they are, they and the references to the Divine Name that are in them.Laurence Schiffman views this as a discussion of whether to rescue section of the sifre minim (Hebrew language texts of Jewish-Christians) containing the tetragrammata from a house fire. Another interpretation suggests this is a reference to Torah and not the Gospels.
Read more about this topic: Jehovah In The New Testament
Famous quotes containing the words testament and/or manuscripts:
“The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 26:24.
“Anyone who has invented a better mousetrap, or the contemporary equivalent, can expect to be harassed by strangers demanding that you read their unpublished manuscripts or undergo the humiliation of public speaking, usually on remote Midwestern campuses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)