Papyrus P3: Luke 7:36–45 in a Greek Witness
Papyrus P3 is a sixth- or seventh-century Greek fragment in Vienna that joins Luke's account of the woman who anointed Jesus with the Martha-and-Mary episode, preserving rare chapter headings and evidence for organized Gospel reading.
- Artifact date
- 6th–7th Century
- Findspot
- Egypt; exact ancient findspot is not stated in the consulted manuscript catalogs
- Current location
- Vienna, Austria, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Pap. G. 2323
What archaeologists can actually examine
Gregory-Aland P3, Austrian National Library Pap. G. 2323, is one papyrus fragment written in a single column. Its recto preserves Luke 7:36-45 and its verso Luke 10:38-42. The two passages are not consecutive in Luke, so the fragment cannot simply be described as a leaf from an ordinary continuous Gospel codex. It also preserves remnants of three headings: a heading for the anointing episode, a label naming the Gospel of Saint Luke, and a heading for Martha and Mary. Those physical facts make P3 evidence for the transmission and organization of Luke in late-antique Egypt. They do not identify the fragment's original church, owner, or precise liturgical occasion.
Two nonconsecutive Lukan episodes
The recto preserves Luke 7:36-45 and the verso Luke 10:38-42, making a simple continuous-Gospel leaf unlikely.
Three navigation headings survive
Damaged headings identify the anointing episode, the Gospel of Luke, and the Martha-and-Mary episode.
Lectionary status remains a hypothesis
The thematic relationship supports selected reading use, but no binding or neighboring leaves prove the original format.
Damage shapes every reconstruction
Faded ink and missing fibers require comparison of images, early editions, and competing letter-by-letter readings.
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 accessible catalogues identify an Egyptian origin but do not supply a controlled ancient findspot or excavation history. The fragment entered the Archduke Rainer papyrus collection and is now in Vienna. Karl Wessely first published it and proposed that the nonconsecutive passages belonged to a lectionary arranged by theme. J. Neville Birdsall later reconstructed a damaged heading, and recent scholarship has revisited the letters with digital images. That history matters: the manuscript was not recovered as an intact book with binding and neighboring leaves. Its modern identity has been assembled from the surviving fibers, institutional custody, early transcription, and successive readings of badly damaged ink.
What you are looking at
P3 carries twenty-seven lines on the recto and twenty-one on the verso. The upper recto is both physically lost and faded. Luke 7 narrates the unnamed woman's tears, hair, kisses, and ointment at the Pharisee's table; Luke 10 presents Martha receiving Jesus and Mary listening at his feet. Above or around these selections survive Greek titles, including abbreviated sacred names marked with an overline. Because the sheets are opisthographic but the biblical passages are separated by three chapters, the object may have been a noncontinuous reading collection, a reused sheet, or another excerpting format. No surviving quire structure settles which reconstruction is correct.
Where it belongs in history
Palaeography assigns the handwriting to the sixth or seventh century. That is a range based on comparison with dated scripts, not an internal date, since P3 has no colophon. By this period Greek Gospel books commonly employed headings, chapter lists, and other navigation aids that helped readers locate episodes. P3's headings belong within that developed culture of textual organization. The label naming Luke is significant evidence for how the work was identified, yet it is centuries later than the Gospel's composition. An Egyptian origin is likely from the collection history, but the fragment alone cannot reveal whether it served a monastery, parish, private reader, or school.
Consensus, questions, and debate
Scholars agree on the shelfmark, Greek language, two Lukan passages, and broad sixth- to seventh-century date. The main debate concerns format and the damaged headings. Wessely's thematic-lectionary proposal explains why nonconsecutive readings occupy opposite faces, but the loss of surrounding material prevents certainty. Birdsall reconstructed the recto title as the standard chapter heading concerning the woman who anointed the Lord; Stanley and Wendy Porter urged more caution about several faint letters. A recent New Testament Studies analysis argues that the reconstruction fits both the visible traces and the related headings, while explicitly acknowledging irregular damage. P3 is thus valuable precisely because interpretation remains tied to observable letterforms.
The biblical record beside the artifact
Luke 7:36-45 is directly present: Jesus receives the woman's costly act while exposing Simon's failure to offer ordinary hospitality, then frames her love through the parable of two debtors. Luke 10:38-42 is also directly present: Martha is distracted by service while Mary listens to Jesus. The surviving headings encourage readers to recognize each as a named episode, and their juxtaposition may have invited reflection on two women responding to Jesus. P3 therefore witnesses the later copying and navigation of these exact passages. It does not establish that Luke originally placed them together, nor does it independently prove the historical events narrated.
Luke 7:36–45
36¶ And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
37And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that [Jesus] sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
38And stood at his feet behind [him] weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe [them] with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed [them] with the ointment.
39Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw [it], he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman [this is] that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
40And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
41There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
42And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
43Simon answered and said, I suppose that [he], to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
44And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped [them] with the hairs of her head.
45Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
A responsible historical conclusion
P3 shows that manuscript evidence involves more than variant words. Its titles reveal readers locating, naming, and perhaps selecting Gospel episodes. The fragment joins two scenes in which women attend to Jesus while a host or household member misunderstands what is happening, making thematic selection plausible without making it certain. It also preserves a material form of Luke's attribution in late antiquity. For modern readers, P3 demonstrates how headings can guide interpretation while remaining distinct from the evangelist's continuous narrative. Its contribution is a textured history of reception: text, damaged papyrus, sacred-name abbreviation, chapter system, and editorial reconstruction all work together.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
Manuscript P3
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsDocuments the shelfmark, date range, material, line counts, and both surviving Lukan passages.
Manuscript Workspace P3
Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung, University of MünsterControls the Gregory-Aland identity and provides the institutional transcription and image workspace.
Titles in the New Testament Papyri
New Testament Studies, Cambridge University PressAnalyzes P3's three headings, competing reconstructions, noncontinuous contents, and uncertainty about lectionary form.