Papyrus P113: Romans 2:12–13 and 2:29
Papyrus P113, P.Oxy. LXVI 4497, is a third-century Greek papyrus codex fragment from Oxyrhynchus preserving parts of Romans 2:12–13 and 2:29, juxtaposing judgment under the law with Paul's claim that true circumcision is inward and by the Spirit.
- Artifact date
- 3rd century
- Findspot
- Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
- Current location
- Papyrology Rooms, Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library, Oxford, United Kingdom
What archaeologists can actually examine
P113 is an exceptionally small remnant of a Greek codex of Romans. Its two faces preserve portions of Romans 2:12–13 and 2:29. The first passage contrasts those who sin without the law with those judged by the law and distinguishes hearing from doing; the second defines Jewish identity and circumcision inwardly, 'of the heart,' by Spirit rather than letter. Editors reconstruct the page from these secure sequential anchors, but very little writing remains. The evidence is therefore precise in identity but narrow in scope. P113 demonstrates that Romans 2 circulated in a third-century Egyptian codex, while providing too few complete lines to characterize the whole manuscript or settle broad interpretive disputes.
Two ends of one argument
The fragment preserves Romans 2:12–13 and 2:29, linking judgment under Torah with inward circumcision by the Spirit.
Secure identity, tiny sample
Distinctive surviving letters permit confident passage identification even though most words and the original page are lost.
Early Romans codex
Writing on both faces places Romans in third-century Egyptian codex culture.
Interpretive restraint
P113 transmits Paul's wording but cannot decide major theological debates about Gentiles, law, or covenant identity.
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 Oxyrhynchus excavations produced the fragment, which W. E. H. Cockle published in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri LXVI in 1999 as P.Oxy. 4497. It was subsequently entered in the Gregory-Aland register as P113. Oxford's institutional record identifies it as a Greek papyrus literary object, assigns Oxyrhynchus provenance and a third-century date, and locates it in the university's Papyrology Rooms. The documented chain begins with excavation-era recovery and modern scholarly publication; it does not disclose the codex's ancient owner or the exact deposit context in accessible catalog metadata. Consequently, claims about a particular congregation, scriptorium, or theological community would exceed the surviving evidence.
What you are looking at
Both sides of the papyrus bear text, consistent with a codex leaf. The surviving area is tiny and heavily lacunose, so the manuscript's full page size, lines per page, and column width are reconstructed rather than directly observed. A practiced Greek book hand and the orderly alignment of letters support its literary use. The recto and verso correspond to separated points in Romans 2 because most of the original leaf or intervening written area has been lost. Identification depends on distinctive surviving letter groups and the known sequence of Romans. This makes P113 a genuine manuscript witness, yet readers should recognize that critical editions may print complete words where the physical artifact preserves only partial strokes and adjacent fibers.
Where it belongs in history
Oxford and INTF date P113 to the third century by comparison with other Greek hands. No date formula, scribe's colophon, radiocarbon test, or coin-associated sealed context fixes it more narrowly. Third century is therefore a defensible range, not an exact production year. The fragment joins other Oxyrhynchus evidence that Pauline texts circulated in codex form in Roman Egypt. It cannot tell whether Romans stood alone or belonged to a larger Pauline collection, nor whether the book was copied locally. Because the remnant is so limited, even the reconstructed dimensions of the parent volume carry uncertainty. Its historical setting is early Christian book culture in Egypt, not a known named church or reader.
Consensus, questions, and debate
P113 is normally treated as too brief for a reliable text-type classification. Individual letters and restored readings can be compared with P46, major uncials, and later witnesses, yet agreements in a few words do not establish genealogical dependence or a stable 'Alexandrian' identity for the complete lost codex. The fragment also intersects a substantial exegetical debate: whether Romans 2 describes a real possibility of obedient Gentiles, a hypothetical standard of judgment, covenant inclusion, or an argument preparing the universal indictment of Romans 3. P113 cannot adjudicate that theological question because it merely preserves parts of the wording. Its primary scholarly contribution is to manuscript transmission and codex history, with interpretive implications kept appropriately modest.
The biblical record beside the artifact
Romans 2:12–13 argues that possession or hearing of Torah does not itself justify: those who sin without law perish without it, those under law are judged by it, and doers rather than hearers are declared righteous. Romans 2:29 closes the chapter by relocating Jewish identity and circumcision to the heart, by Spirit rather than written code, with praise from God rather than people. P113 materially transmits pieces of both claims on opposite faces. These are exact Scripture connections, but the artifact does not preserve Paul's entire argument about judgment, Gentiles, conscience, and covenant identity. Nor does it independently prove Pauline authorship, theological correctness, or how its ancient owner interpreted the contested language.
Romans 2:12–13
12For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13(For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
A responsible historical conclusion
P113 is powerful precisely because so little survives. On one tiny physical object, portions of Romans' language about judgment, hearing and doing, inward circumcision, Spirit, letter, and divine praise are materially connected. It provides an early checkpoint for a chapter central to debates about Torah, Jewish identity, Gentiles, and impartial judgment. The fragment also teaches evidentiary proportion: secure identification does not make a witness complete, and an early date does not give every restoration equal certainty. P113 strengthens the case that Romans was being copied in Greek codices in third-century Egypt while leaving the contents, size, and textual complexion of its lost parent book largely beyond recovery.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
P.Oxy. LXVI 4497: Epistle to the Romans II 12–13; 29
Oxford Papyrology, University of OxfordIdentifies the exact object, contents, Oxyrhynchus provenance, papyrus codex format, date, editor, and Oxford custody.
Manuscript P113
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsConfirms standard identity, date, material, location, format, physical extent, and surviving Romans passages.
P113 / P.Oxy. LXVI 4497
Center for New Testament RestorationProvides a technical synthesis of contents, physical reconstruction, publication bibliography, and textual data for P113.
INTF Manuscript Workspace P113
Institut für Neutestamentliche TextforschungControls the Gregory-Aland identity and registry record used in New Testament textual criticism.