Papyrus P48: Acts 23:11–17 in a Greek Witness
Papyrus P48, PSI X 1165 in Florence, is an early-third-century Greek codex fragment preserving Acts 23:11–17 and 23:25–29, from Paul's night vision through the plot and Claudius Lysias's letter.
- Artifact date
- 3rd Century
- Findspot
- Egypt; exact ancient findspot is not stated in the consulted manuscript catalogs
- Current location
- Florence, Italy, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, P.S.I. X 1165
What archaeologists can actually examine
P48 is one papyrus leaf fragment from Acts. The verso preserves Acts 23:11–17, including the Lord's assurance that Paul will testify at Rome and Paul's nephew learning of the ambush. The recto preserves Acts 23:25–29 from the commander's letter to Governor Felix. The surviving piece measures about 11.4 by 13.4 centimeters; reconstruction suggests a leaf near 24–26 by 14 centimeters with one column. It is commonly dated to the early third century and published as PSI X 1165. The manuscript has sometimes been associated with the so-called Western text of Acts, but the surviving sample is too short and damaged for a single label to replace analysis of individual readings.
Two parts of Paul's custody narrative
The verso preserves Acts 23:11–17 and the recto 23:25–29, spanning the night assurance, ambush report, and Lysias's letter.
An early Acts codex leaf
Handwriting comparison places PSI X 1165 in the early third century, making it an important early but narrowly preserved witness.
Much of the page is lost
The 11.4-by-13.4-centimeter remnant is reconstructed from a leaf roughly twice as tall, so many letters and lines are editorially supplied.
Western is not a verdict
Some readings have been discussed under the Western-text label, but individual variants must be evaluated without assuming one uniform edition.
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 papyrus belongs to the Papiri della Societa Italiana collection and was published by Girolamo Vitelli and Giovanni Mercati in PSI X in 1932. PSI's online catalog identifies the object as PSI X 1165 and records Oxyrhynchus as provenance; it is now held by the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence. That gives a named recovery provenance and stable institutional identity, though the accessible record does not reconstruct the precise ancient depositional setting, owner, or copying shop. The fragment's publication history quickly brought it into New Testament textual study, especially discussion of the varied text of Acts. Modern facsimiles allow readers to inspect the fibers, line loss, and visible letters rather than relying only on printed transcriptions.
What you are looking at
The extant fragment is approximately 11.4 by 13.4 centimeters from a larger single-column codex leaf reconstructed at roughly 24–26 by 14 centimeters. Thirteen to twenty partial lines survive by face, while the original page likely had more than forty lines. Acts 23:11–17 appears on one side and 23:25–29 on the other. The intervening verses are not a deliberate anthology gap: much of the leaf and its written area are lost, so surviving islands of text must be situated through line reconstruction. The hand is a literary book hand rather than a documentary note. Sacred-name abbreviation and ordinary scribal variation place it within early Christian codex practice, while extensive edge loss requires caution about readings restored from expected sequence.
Where it belongs in history
The standard assignment is early third century, based on handwriting comparison rather than an explicit date. No colophon or closed archaeological layer supplies a year. That date makes P48 one of the earlier Greek witnesses to Acts and places it centuries before the great complete biblical codices. Oxyrhynchus had a rich documentary and literary culture, but recovery there does not prove local copying. Acts is textually complex, with witnesses preserving shorter and expanded forms. P48 enters that discussion as early Egyptian evidence, yet its two short ranges cannot reconstruct the whole book or show that every page followed one later manuscript family. The safest context is an early-third-century Acts codex known from one damaged leaf.
Consensus, questions, and debate
The identity PSI X 1165, Florentine custody, verse ranges, codex format, and early date are widely accepted. Textual discussion is more qualified. Earlier scholarship asked whether P48 preserves a Western form of Acts because some readings align with longer or distinctive traditions. Barbara Aland and other critics have used it to test the usefulness of that category. Modern practice compares each variant across Greek manuscripts and versions rather than assuming a unified Western edition. A handful of damaged verses cannot reveal the text of the missing codex, and restored letters should not be counted as securely visible variants. P48's importance is chronological and comparative: it proves that some Acts readings were present in an early papyrus, without making antiquity alone a guarantee of originality.
The biblical record beside the artifact
Acts 23:11 records the Lord standing by Paul and telling him to bear witness in Rome as he had in Jerusalem. Verses 12–17 describe a conspiracy of more than forty men, the nephew who hears it, and Paul's request that the young man be brought to the commander. Verses 25–29 preserve part of Claudius Lysias's letter to Felix, presenting Paul's rescue and the finding that accusations concerned Jewish law rather than a capital crime. P48 physically transmits both divine assurance and Roman administrative narrative. It shows these verses in an early Greek book, but it does not independently verify the vision, the number of conspirators, the letter's verbatim wording, or Luke's authorship.
Acts 23:11–17
11And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
12And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
13And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.
14And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
15Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
16And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.
17Then Paul called one of the centurions unto [him], and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him.
A responsible historical conclusion
P48 carries a crucial transition in Acts: a promise of witness in Rome, an immediate lethal threat, family intervention, and Roman legal transfer. The physical leaf therefore joins theological purpose to the mundane mechanics of intelligence and administration. For textual study, it provides an early checkpoint in a book known for substantial variation. For book history, its reconstructed tall page shows how a small surviving rectangle belonged to a much larger codex. Its value increases when exact fibers and letters are distinguished from editorial completions. P48 is compelling not because it proves the narrated events, but because it materially documents the early Egyptian transmission of a narrative that connects Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Rome.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
PSI X 1165
Papiri della Societa Italiana OnlineProvides the official publication identity, provenance, description, bibliography, and exact artifact record.
Manuscript P48
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsConfirms date, Florence shelfmark, papyrus codex format, fragment and line counts, and exact Acts ranges.
GA P48 Digital Facsimile and Metadata
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsProvides an exact-object facsimile with measurements, reconstructed format, contents, date, and holding information.
Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments
De GruyterSupplies the standard identity, face-by-face contents, early-third-century date, dimensions, and bibliography including textual analysis.
Verso of P48 (PSI X 1165), preserving Acts 23:11–17. · Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana / PSI Online, via Wikimedia Commons · Public Domain Mark 1.0
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