Author Archives: Brent Nongbri

John 21 in the Amsterdam Database of New Testament Conjectural Emendation

Just one more update on my discussion of the history of the proposal that the Gospel According to John circulated in a twenty-chapter version: Thanks to Jeff Cate for pointing out the Amsterdam Database of New Testament Conjectural Emendation has an … Continue reading

Posted in New Testament, Textual criticism | 2 Comments

Hugo Grotius on John 21

In my previous post on the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel According to John, I noted that the hypothesis that chapter 21 is a later addition to the gospel goes back at least to Julius Wellhausen’s 1908 commentary.  I’m grateful … Continue reading

Posted in New Testament | 9 Comments

The Twenty-first Chapter of the Gospel According to John

Several of the articles that I have published recently have been pretty technical–reports of newly discovered fragments of manuscripts or new information about the construction of particular ancient books. My most recent article also concerns technical details of an ancient … Continue reading

Posted in New Testament | 8 Comments

The Bodmer Codex of Visions

One of the most intriguing pieces among the papyrus and parchment manuscripts at the Fondation Martin Bodmer is the so-called Codex of Visions (LDAB: 1106). Its “P.Bodmer” designation is somewhat cumbersome: P.Bodmer XXXVIII+XXIX+XXX+XXXI+XXXII+XXXIII+XXXIV+XXXV+XXXVI+XXXVII. The codex contains one work that has long been … Continue reading

Posted in Barcelona-Montserrat Greek-Latin Codex, Bodmer Codex of Visions, Bodmer Papyri, Book binding, Codices | Leave a comment

Palaeography, Codicology, and Assigning Dates to Early Christian Codices: A Review of God’s Library

Over at The Textual Mechanic blog, Timothy Mitchell has posted a review of God’s Library. I’m happy to say that the review is mostly positive, although Mitchell does mention some “glaring problems,” “contradictions,” and “circular argumentation” that he detects in … Continue reading

Posted in Codices, Palaeography | 2 Comments

The “Qarara” Exodus Codex

I’ve recently posted about papyrus fragments of the Psalms in Greek and the book of Job in Coptic from Karanis that I wasn’t able to treat in God’s Library. Another set of ancient Christian manuscripts that I didn’t have the … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquities Market, Codices, Schøyen Collection, Tchacos-Ferrini Codices, Tchacos-Ferrini Exodus Codex | 4 Comments

God’s Library: Publication Day

So, it’s August 21. This is the official publication date for God’s Library (I’m not entirely sure what that means, because the book has been shipping from the publisher for a couple weeks now already). Thanks again to everyone involved … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Archaeological context, Book binding, Book covers, Codices, Find Stories, Manuscript Collections, Palaeography, Radiocarbon analysis | 7 Comments

The Nag Hammadi Discovery Story

Over on his blog, Bart Ehrman is answering questions about the Gospel of Thomas. He has started out by re-telling a version of the traditional find story of the Nag Hammadi codices. This is a topic that I treat in … Continue reading

Posted in Codices, Find Stories, Nag Hammadi, Videos | 6 Comments

A Manuscript of Job in Coptic from Karanis

In my previous post, I discussed a fragment of the Psalms in Greek excavated during the University of Michigan’s campaigns in Karanis. The Michigan excavators also found some Coptic literary material at the site. In 1979, Gerald M. Browne published … Continue reading

Posted in Archaeological context, Codices, Michigan Papyri | 5 Comments

A Manuscript of the Psalms in Greek from Karanis

One of the things I try to do in my book on early Christian manuscripts is survey some of the contexts in which ancient Christian books have been discovered. A set of examples that I wasn’t able to treat in … Continue reading

Posted in Archaeological context, Codices, Michigan Papyri | 3 Comments