Chester Beatty Biblical Papyrus IV: Genesis 9–44
An early-fourth-century papyrus codex preserves broad stretches of Greek Genesis from Noah through Joseph, giving substantial pre-medieval evidence for the Septuagint's patriarchal narratives.
- Artifact date
- Fourth century AD
- Findspot
- Egypt, exact findspot unrecorded
- Current location
- Chester Beatty, Dublin
What archaeologists can actually examine
Chester Beatty Biblical Papyrus IV, Rahlfs 961 and TM 62001, is an early-fourth-century Greek papyrus codex of Genesis held in Dublin. Approximately fifty leaves preserve Genesis 9:1-15:14 and 17:7-44:22 with gaps, spanning the aftermath of the flood, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and most of Joseph's early story. Written in two columns, it provides a large independent Septuagint witness from roughly the era of the great parchment codices. Its readings can illuminate the history of Greek Genesis, but its incomplete state and uncertain acquisition provenance prevent treating it as a continuous or archaeologically excavated Bible.
A broad surviving Genesis book
Roughly fifty leaves preserve Greek text from Genesis 9 into Genesis 44, far more than a typical isolated papyrus fragment.
Two-column codex production
Page dimensions, paired columns, pagination, corrections, and numeric practices reveal the organization of a substantial early Christian book.
Independent from Papyrus V
Although both contain Genesis and entered the same collection, Papyrus IV is a separate codex with its own hand, format, and readings.
Provenance is not excavation history
The Egyptian origin is credible, but exact findspot proposals rest on acquisition narratives rather than controlled archaeological records.
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
Chester Beatty acquired the biblical papyri through the Egyptian antiquities market in the early 1930s, and parts of the larger cache also reached other collectors and institutions. The exact findspot was not recorded in controlled excavation. Older reports proposed locations such as Aphroditopolis, the Fayum, or areas farther south, but recent study emphasizes that these are hypotheses shaped by dealer accounts and collecting history. Frederic Kenyon published Papyrus IV in 1934-1935; Albert Pietersma issued a new edition and text-critical analysis of Papyri IV and V in 1977. Modern digitization permits direct comparison while also inviting renewed scrutiny of provenance and colonial-era acquisition.
What you are looking at
The codex's surviving papyrus leaves are about 216 by 152 millimeters, with an estimated original page near 280 by 178 millimeters. Text is arranged in two columns with a variable number of lines, and the remains show pagination, corrections, abbreviations, and ordinary wear from use and damage. Its broad coverage should not disguise missing material: Genesis 15-17 and portions within later sections are absent, as are the book's beginning and conclusion. Numeric notation and other scribal habits have supported detailed study of how the copyist compressed, corrected, and navigated a long Greek scriptural text in codex form.
Where it belongs in history
Paleography generally places Papyrus IV in the early fourth century AD. This situates it close to Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus but in a separate papyrus book devoted to Genesis rather than a surviving complete Bible. The codex almost certainly emerged from Christian book culture, given format and sacred-name conventions, yet the precise community and copying center are unknown. Its designation as Chester Beatty IV is a modern collection number, not evidence that it formed one ancient multi-volume set with Papyri I-III or V-XII. Rahlfs 961 supplies the stable scholarly identifier used in Septuagint editions and manuscript comparisons.
Consensus, questions, and debate
Papyrus IV's identity and broad contents are secure, while scholarship examines its date, reconstructed page dimensions, scribal habits, and place within Greek Genesis textual history. Pietersma's edition superseded many details of Kenyon's initial work and compares Papyrus IV with the separate Papyrus V and later witnesses. Individual agreements can reflect shared ancestry, correction, or coincidental reading; they do not justify calling the codex uniformly 'Alexandrian' or another simple text type. Recent studies also revisit provenance, reminding researchers that early publication narratives about a common find may depend on antiquities-market testimony rather than excavation records. Textual importance and uncertain archaeological history must be held together.
The biblical record beside the artifact
The manuscript directly transmits large portions of Genesis 9-44. Particularly significant passages include God's covenant with Noah, Abram's call in Genesis 12, the covenant and promise, the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, Jacob's family narratives, and Joseph's descent into Egypt through the recognition crisis in Genesis 44. Genesis 22:1-19 is a useful primary connection because the episode survives within the codex's broad patriarchal coverage. The manuscript shows these texts circulating in Greek among ancient Christians; it does not independently prove that the patriarchal events occurred or preserve every verse without scribal variation.
Genesis 22:1–19
1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, [here] I [am].
2And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3¶ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid [it] upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here [am] I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where [is] the lamb for a burnt offering?
8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here [am] I.
12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.
13And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said [to] this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
15¶ And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son:]
17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
19So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
A responsible historical conclusion
Papyrus IV lets readers move beyond a celebrated isolated verse and encounter much of Genesis as an ancient book. Its surviving leaves carried stories from Noah to Joseph in a format that could be turned, numbered, corrected, and studied. Because so much text remains, scholars can observe habits across hundreds of readings rather than infer a tradition from one fragment. It also shows that Christian readers invested considerable labor and papyrus in Israel's foundational narratives before the production of famous deluxe parchment Bibles. The codex's imperfections—missing leaves, corrections, uneven survival—are part of its witness to actual ancient use.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
Rahlfs 961
Göttingen Academy Septuagint ProjectProvides standard identifier, contents, leaf count, dimensions, layout, date, holding institution, editions, and bibliography.
Manuscript Rahlfs 961
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsOffers object-specific metadata and images for Chester Beatty Papyrus IV, including date, shelfmark, extent, columns, and Genesis range.
Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri IV and V: A New Edition with Text-Critical Analysis
Ancient World Digital Library, NYU / American Society of PapyrologistsPietersma's complete modern edition and text-critical study supplies transcription, reconstruction, variants, and comparison of the two Genesis codices.
The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri at Ninety
De Gruyter / University of GlasgowReassesses collection formation, acquisition, uncertain findspot traditions, materiality, and the modern study of Codex IV and the wider papyri.