Chester Beatty Biblical Papyrus IX–X: Ezekiel, Daniel, and Esther
Papyrus 967 is an approximately AD 200 Greek codex of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Esther, written by two scribes and now divided among Dublin and several continental and American collections.
- Artifact date
- Late second or early third century AD
- Findspot
- Egypt, possibly Aphroditopolis
- Current location
- Chester Beatty, Dublin, with related leaves in other collections
What archaeologists can actually examine
The manuscripts once labeled Chester Beatty IX and X are portions of one Greek papyrus codex now catalogued as Rahlfs 967. Page numbers and joined leaves establish its sequence as Ezekiel, Daniel, and Esther, copied around AD 200. The original book comprised about 236 pages; surviving portions are distributed among Dublin, Cologne, Princeton, Madrid, and Montserrat. Two scribes worked on it, one copying Ezekiel and another Daniel and Esther. The Daniel portion is especially valuable because it preserves the Old Greek form later displaced in much Christian use by Theodotion's revision. The codex witnesses transmission and book arrangement, not the historical fulfillment of each narrative or vision.
Papyri IX and X are one book
Physical joins, handwriting, and continuous page numbers reunite pieces initially catalogued as separate Ezekiel-Esther and Daniel manuscripts.
Two scribes copied three books
One hand wrote Ezekiel and a second copied Daniel and Esther within the same approximately 236-page codex.
Old Greek Daniel survives
The Daniel leaves preserve the earlier Greek form that was largely replaced in later Christian manuscripts by Theodotion's version.
The codex is internationally dispersed
Parts now reside in Dublin, Cologne, Princeton, Madrid, and Montserrat, with some separated leaf halves intellectually rejoined.
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
Papyrus 967 was reportedly found in Egypt in 1931 and was divided through the antiquities market before scholars could document its archaeological setting. Chester Beatty acquired twenty-nine imperfect leaves, while other groups reached John H. Scheide, Cologne, Barcelona, Madrid, and additional collections. Early cataloguing separated Ezekiel and Esther as Papyrus IX from Daniel as Papyrus X. Physical conjunctions, similarity of the second hand, and continuous ancient page numbers later demonstrated that all three books belonged to one codex. The modern history thus illustrates both the damage caused by dispersal and the power of codicology: separately sold fragments could be intellectually reunited without pretending their lost excavation context had been recovered.
What you are looking at
The codex was made from papyrus and arranged as a large single-quire book of roughly fifty-nine bifolia, yielding 118 leaves and 236 pages. Pages generally carry about forty-two lines, though the total varies. Surviving ancient pagination makes the original extent unusually recoverable. The hand changes after Ezekiel: Daniel and Esther were copied by a second scribe. Some leaves remain nearly whole; others were torn or cut, and halves now reside in different cities. Titles, corrections, and shifting hands disclose production practice. The codex also includes Greek additions to Daniel and Esther, reminding modern readers that its book contents and chapter sequence do not map neatly onto every later Protestant printed Bible.
Where it belongs in history
Palaeography commonly places Rahlfs 967 around AD 200, with a reasonable late-second- or early-third-century range. It is therefore an early witness to a multi-book prophetic and narrative codex before the great fourth-century Bibles. Its sequence—Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther—is one ancient editorial arrangement rather than a complete canon list. The book was likely produced in Egypt, but neither a colophon nor documented findspot identifies its users. Daniel's Greek text is pre-Hexaplaric and preserves the older Septuagint version; by contrast, many later Greek Christian manuscripts transmit Theodotion's Daniel. That historical replacement makes this materially damaged codex disproportionately important for recovering an earlier textual stream.
Consensus, questions, and debate
The codex's unity is now secure, but textual and interpretive questions remain active. Scholars assess the Old Greek Daniel against Theodotion, study a distinctive chapter order in parts of Daniel, and compare Ezekiel's readings with Greek and versional witnesses. Some have proposed that the order Ezekiel-Daniel-Esther reveals theological design; others treat it more cautiously as one production choice. The two hands show collaboration or staged copying but do not identify a scriptorium. Even the often-used date 'about 200' is palaeographic. Most importantly, one codex's contents cannot establish a universally fixed canon, and textual differences should not be collapsed into claims of corruption without reconstructing their literary and translation histories.
The biblical record beside the artifact
The artifact directly preserves extensive Greek text from Ezekiel, Daniel, and Esther. Ezekiel passages include the prophet's symbolic and restoration visions; Daniel includes court narratives, visions, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon; Esther includes the expanded Greek form. Daniel 3 is particularly instructive because the Greek book includes the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three, material not present in the same way in the Hebrew-Aramaic tradition. Rahlfs 967 gives early physical evidence for these forms. It does not authenticate a furnace, date Daniel's visions, or prove Esther's historicity; its secure contribution is to show what one Egyptian Christian codex actually contained around AD 200.
Daniel 3:1–18
1Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height [was] threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
3Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5[That] at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
6And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
7Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down [and] worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
9They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
10Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
11And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, [that] he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
13¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, [Is it] true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; [well:] but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who [is] that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we [are] not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thine hand, O king.
18But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
A responsible historical conclusion
Papyrus 967 is rare evidence for both text and library architecture. It preserves a Greek Daniel form that later became difficult to find, and its page numbers reveal how Ezekiel, Daniel, and Esther were physically joined in one early Christian volume. The dispersed leaves also make modern stewardship part of the story: Dublin, Cologne, Princeton, Madrid, and Montserrat hold pieces of a single ancient object. Digital and printed reunification lets readers examine the book as a whole while acknowledging the loss of provenance. For biblical study, it demonstrates that the transmission of these books was dynamic, multilingual, and materially organized long before a standardized printed sequence.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Fasciculus VII: Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther
Chester BeattyKenyon explains the codex's reunification, twenty-nine Beatty leaves, pagination, hands, contents, and foundational transcription.
Ein theologischer Papyrus-Kodex (P 967 Rahlfs)
University of Cologne Papyrus CollectionDocuments the 1931 discovery, two scribes, 236-page reconstruction, dispersed holdings, exact Cologne contents, editions, and digitized leaves.
Göttinger Septuaginta – Rahlfs 967
Göttingen Academy Septuagint ProjectProvides the current scholarly identity, physical data, contents, locations, editions, bibliography, and date for Papyrus 967.
Manuscript Rahlfs 967
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsIndependently documents the Dublin group, papyrus medium, early-third-century date, fragmentary leaves, columns, and Ezekiel-Esther contents.