Papyrus Bodmer XXIV: Greek Psalms 17–118
Rahlfs 2110 preserves forty-nine leaves of an Egyptian Greek Psalter dated about AD 225–325, with two scribes copying most of Greek Psalms 17–118 in a single-quire codex.
- Artifact date
- About AD 225–325
- Findspot
- Egypt, associated with the Dishna manuscripts
- Current location
- Museum of the Bible Collection, Washington, DC
What archaeologists can actually examine
Papyrus Bodmer XXIV, Rahlfs 2110, is an Egyptian papyrus codex dated about AD 225–325 that preserves forty-nine leaves, or ninety-eight pages, of a Greek Psalter. The text runs with gaps from Greek Psalm 17:45 to 118:44, equivalent to approximately Psalms 18:44–119:44 in most English numbering. The original codex is estimated at eighty-four leaves. Two scribes wrote between thirty-three and forty-four lines per page. Its scale makes it an important early Septuagint Psalms witness, yet its readings represent one copying tradition and must be evaluated rather than assumed original simply because the artifact is old.
Ninety-eight pages survive
All forty-nine extant leaves remain together, preserving most of Greek Psalms 17:45–118:44 with several lacunae.
Two scribes collaborated
A second hand begins mid-page near the title of Greek Psalm 109, showing a practical handover within the same production.
Numbering requires translation
Greek Psalm numbers often differ from English Bibles, so the preserved range corresponds roughly to English Psalms 18:44–119:44.
The precise findspot is disputed
Pabau near Dishna is often proposed, while the original editor allowed a broad Egyptian zone and the market provenance supplies no excavation proof.
Follow the evidence from discovery to debate
Move through the find in a deliberate order: establish its provenance, examine the surviving object, place it in time, and then weigh the scholarly interpretation.
How the find came to light
The manuscript was discovered in Egypt in 1952 and purchased that year by Martin Bodmer. Its exact findspot remains contested. A frequently repeated account associates the larger manuscript group with Pabau near Dishna and a Pachomian monastic environment, while Kasser allowed a much broader Egyptian origin from the Theban region toward Memphis and excluded only the Delta. Kasser and Michel Testuz published the Psalter with facsimiles in 1967. The codex later passed from the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana to the Green Collection in 2010 and was donated to Museum of the Bible in 2012. All forty-nine surviving leaves remain together in that collection.
What you are looking at
Bodmer XXIV was constructed as a single-quire papyrus codex, a thick gathering made from stacked sheets folded together. Forty-nine leaves survive, some fragmentary, and codicologists reconstruct roughly forty-one original bifolia. The first scribe copied through the title of Greek Psalm 109; a second hand took over mid-page and continued into Psalm 118. Their visibly different letter sizes account for line counts ranging from thirty-three to forty-four. A nearly complete leaf measures about 23 by 12.5 centimeters. Gaps arise from lost leaves and damaged areas, but substantial stretches remain legible. Page architecture and the handover between scribes preserve evidence for cooperative book production as well as biblical wording.
Where it belongs in history
Museum of the Bible assigns the codex a range of about AD 225–325, balancing earlier and later palaeographic proposals. Kasser favored the late third or early fourth century; some scholars argued for an earlier hand. Without a dated colophon, that debate cannot be reduced to a single year. The codex belongs to a period of flourishing Christian papyrus-book manufacture in Egypt. Its Greek language does not identify the users ethnically, and the suggested Upper Egyptian origin depends partly on provenance traditions and textual comparison. It predates the great parchment Bibles and demonstrates that a long Greek Psalter circulated as a standalone codex before complete biblical pandects became prominent.
Consensus, questions, and debate
Textual scholars have debated the papyrus's date, its relationship to Upper Egyptian or other Septuagint traditions, and whether particular readings reflect early text, local copying, or correction. Dominique Barthélemy famously assessed it in relation to Origen, while Albert Pietersma reviewed the edited text and its articulation. Modern study also emphasizes production: two scribes appear to have collaborated, with the change occurring inside a leaf rather than at a new book. The proposed Dishna library context remains less secure than the manuscript's physical facts. Its substantial survival is invaluable, but a single Psalter cannot define the entire Greek tradition, liturgical use, or the contents of its owner's broader library.
The biblical record beside the artifact
The manuscript directly preserves most of a hundred Greek psalms, including texts corresponding to English Psalms 22, 23, 51, 69, 110, and much of 119. Several of these were quoted or interpreted in the New Testament and later Christian worship. Because Greek numbering is usually one behind common English numbering through much of this range, exact mapping is essential: Greek Psalm 109 corresponds to English Psalm 110, for example. Bodmer XXIV can test wording and division in those psalms. It cannot establish Davidic authorship, determine the historical occasion of every composition, or prove a later christological interpretation merely by preserving the passage.
Psalms 110:1–7
1A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill [the places] with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
7He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
A responsible historical conclusion
Bodmer XXIV brings an ancient Psalter unusually close to the scale of a usable book rather than a token fragment. Ninety-eight surviving pages let scholars observe sustained spelling, corrections, layout, and the transition between two scribes across dozens of psalms. For readers, it gives material depth to the Greek form of prayers and songs that crossed Jewish and Christian communities and continue in worship. Its modern provenance history also encourages precision: the codex certainly came from Egypt and entered Bodmer's collection in 1952, while the attractive story of a specific monastic library remains debated. The artifact rewards both appreciation and restraint.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
P.Bodmer XXIV (Rahlfs 2110)
Museum of the BibleProvides collection ID, date, dimensions, forty-nine-leaf extent, original leaf estimate, two scribes, provenance history, numbering map, and bibliography.
Göttinger Septuaginta – Rahlfs 2110
Göttingen Academy Septuagint ProjectSupplies the critical siglum, edition, physical catalogue, scholarly bibliography, and studies of the Greek Psalter witness.
Le Psautier grec et le Papyrus Bodmer XXIV
Revue de théologie et de philosophie / E-PeriodicaEvaluates the papyrus's extent, major lacunae, textual importance, single-quire construction, proposed date, and competing palaeographic judgment.
Studies on Greek and Coptic Majuscule Scripts and Books
De GruyterAnalyzes Bodmer XXIV's single-quire structure, forty-nine leaves, two hands, exact scribal transition, and collaborative production within the Bodmer manuscripts.