Papyrus P86: Matthew 5:13–16 and 22–25

The papyrus entered the Cologne collection and was first published by Charalampakis, Hagedorn, Kaimakis, and Thüngen in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 14 in 1974; Kramer’s Kölner Papyri II supplied the reference edition in 1978. It is now catalogued by the University of Cologne, 4CARE, INTF, and CSNTM. The Cologne portal supplies high-resolution exact-object images and explicit CC BY 4.0 terms for public metadata and images. The ancient findspot and archaeological context are unknown, so Egypt should remain a broad manuscript origin rather than a claimed excavation provenance.

The fragment is a papyrus leaf measuring 9.5 by 8 centimeters. Reconstruction estimates an original page around 14 by 28 centimeters with approximately thirty-one lines. The recto precedes the verso. Its hand resembles documentary writing rather than deluxe biblical majuscule, and the scribe used high points, diaereses, and a marked rough breathing. A correction in Matthew 5:13 has attracted discussion over whether the form meant ‘be trampled’ with or without a prefix. These features reveal a working literary copy with reading aids and correction, while the missing upper and lower portions prevent recovery of the full page or book.

The first editors placed the papyrus near the beginning of the fourth century. Later palaeographers Willy Clarysse and Pasquale Orsini widened the responsible range to the fourth century, emphasizing the imprecision of theological palaeography. No colophon or archaeological date fixes a year. The codex form and substantial reconstructed page demonstrate planned Gospel production, yet the documentary-looking hand complicates simple labels such as professional or informal. Unknown provenance prevents linking P86 with a particular Egyptian town, and the single leaf cannot reveal whether Matthew circulated alone or with other Gospels.