Manuscript

Papyrus Bodmer VII–VIII (P72)

Also known as P72 · 𝔓72 · P. Bodmer VII · P. Bodmer VIII

papyrinew-testamentcanongeneral-epistles

Summary

The oldest surviving copy of 1 Peter, 2 Peter and Jude — bound into somebody's private anthology.

Copied Third to fourth century AD (c. 250–350).
Written in greek on papyrus.
Kept at Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Papyrus Bodmer VIII, 1–2 Peter); Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cologny (the rest of the codex).
Contains 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude.

A papyrus bifolio carrying the closing lines of the second letter of Peter in Greek — The end of 2 Peter in Papyrus Bodmer VIII: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, public domain

Sources (3)

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Papyrus Bodmer VIII (digital facsimile) · accessed 2026-08-06The holding institution's own imaging.
Bodmer Lab, Université de Genève — the Bodmer papyri · accessed 2026-08-06
Metzger & Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 4th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005) · accessed 2026-08-06The standard handbook of New Testament textual criticism.

What it is

The three letters were not copied on their own. They sit inside a homemade book of Christian readings that also holds a hymn, a homily on the Passover by Melito of Sardis, and several works no church ever treated as Scripture.

That is the interesting part. Somebody in third- or fourth-century Egypt bound the things he wanted to read into one volume, and Peter and Jude were in it.

The book has since been divided: the leaves carrying 1 and 2 Peter are in the Vatican Library as Papyrus Bodmer VIII; the rest of the miscellany remains with the Fondation Martin Bodmer in Switzerland.

Manuscript details

Date: Third to fourth century AD (c. 250–350)
Language: Greek
Script: Greek book hand (uncial)
Material: Papyrus
Held at: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Papyrus Bodmer VIII, 1–2 Peter); Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cologny (the rest of the codex)
Found at: Egypt; part of the Bodmer papyri
Contains: 1 Peter · 2 Peter · Jude

Why it matters

2 Peter and Jude are among the last books the early church settled on, and this is the earliest copy of either. It shows them being read and valued in Egypt long before any list made them official — and it shows a real reader's shelf, Scripture bound in beside sermons and hymns.

The passages the manuscripts argue over

The words used here: uncial, papyrus

uncial: a book hand of Greek capital letters, used for the oldest whole Bibles.
papyrus: paper made from reed, the cheap writing material of Egypt.

The places where the manuscripts differ, the ending of Mark, the woman caught in adultery, the three heavenly witnesses, with the case each way.

Where the manuscripts differ, all 15 places →Every handwritten copy, shelved and in date order →