Papyrus P92: Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians
P92 comprises two third- or fourth-century papyrus codex fragments excavated at Narmouthis, preserving portions of Ephesians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1 on pages originally far apart.
- Artifact date
- 3rd-4th Century
- Findspot
- Narmouthis (Medinet Madi), Egypt
- Current location
- Cairo, Egyptian Museum, P. Narmuthis inv. 69.39a and 69.229a
What archaeologists can actually examine
P. Narmuthis inv. 69.39a and 69.229a are cataloged together as Gregory-Aland P92. One fragment preserves Ephesians 1:11–13 and 1:19–21; the other preserves 2 Thessalonians 1:4–5 and 1:11–12. They come from different pages of a single-column Greek codex and carry sacred-name abbreviations. Their association shows that at least these two Pauline letters belonged to the same book, but the wide textual separation means the remains cannot disclose what other letters it contained, their order, or whether intervening material was complete.
Two letters share one codex
Fragments from Ephesians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1 are cataloged as pages of the same Greek papyrus book.
Narmouthis provenance is meaningful
The excavation association anchors P92 at an Egyptian settlement even though the exact ancient use context remains unknown.
The corpus cannot be reconstructed
Two pages far apart do not reveal whether every Pauline letter was present or in what sequence.
Sacred-name abbreviation survives
Nomina sacra with supralinear strokes add direct evidence for Christian scribal convention in the fragments.
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 fragments came from the Italian excavations at ancient Narmouthis, modern Medinet Madi in Egypt's Fayum, giving P92 a firmer city-level archaeological provenance than many manuscript-market papyri. Claudio Gallazzi published them together in 1982 as fragments of a codex containing Pauline letters. They are held by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo under their Narmouthis inventory numbers. The public records identify the site and modern custody, though they do not provide enough accessible context to reconstruct the precise building, room, deposit, or ancient circumstances of discard. Narmouthis is therefore secure; a household, church, or school setting is not.
What you are looking at
The Ephesians fragment measures about 5 by 7.2 centimeters and the 2 Thessalonians fragment about 2 by 4 centimeters. 4CARE reconstructs the original page near 14.5 by 21 centimeters; the single-column design is commonly modeled at roughly twenty-seven lines per page. Only six to nine lines remain on each fragment. Surviving sacred names include abbreviated forms with supralinear strokes. Because the two pieces derive from nonconsecutive pages, their shared hand and codicological features matter more than visual adjacency. Neither fragment preserves a title, page number, binding, or complete margin sufficient to recover the book's full architecture.
Where it belongs in history
Catalogues range between the third and fourth centuries, while 4CARE gives a fourth-century 300–399 range; all depend on palaeography rather than an explicit date. P92 belongs within the multilingual written culture of late Roman Narmouthis, where excavation recovered documentary and literary papyri. Its combination of Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians is evidence for a Pauline collection, but not necessarily the complete fourteen-letter corpus or modern canonical order. The fragments cannot establish whether the codex was copied locally, imported, used liturgically, or owned by a particular congregation.
Consensus, questions, and debate
The manuscript identity, Narmouthis provenance, two inventories, verse ranges, and shared codex are well established. The principal interpretive caution concerns what may be inferred from two distant pages. Scholars reasonably describe a Pauline-letter codex, but neither a complete corpus nor exact ordering survives. Claims of close textual affinity with famous manuscripts require variation-by-variation comparison and should not become a blanket label. Palaeographic estimates span the third and fourth centuries. The surviving nomina sacra and regular single-column layout illuminate scribal practice, yet they do not identify a theological faction or prove official ecclesiastical production.
The biblical record beside the artifact
Ephesians 1:11–13 speaks of inheritance, hearing the gospel, belief, and sealing by the promised Holy Spirit; 1:19–21 describes God's power displayed in raising and enthroning Christ above every rule and authority. Second Thessalonians 1:4–5 praises endurance amid persecution and frames it in relation to God's judgment; 1:11–12 turns to prayer for worthy calling and fulfilled work of faith. P92 physically links these passages within one late-antique codex. It witnesses their Greek transmission but cannot by itself resolve disputed authorship questions surrounding either letter or establish the historical circumstances described.
Ephesians 1:11–13
11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
2 Thessalonians 1:4–5
4So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
5[Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
A responsible historical conclusion
P92 gives archaeological location to an early Pauline book: it was recovered at Narmouthis rather than merely purchased with a generic Egyptian provenance. Its contents also cross two letters. The fragments place the language of inheritance, Spirit, resurrection power, endurance, judgment, calling, and grace inside the material life of one codex. This is valuable for studying how communities gathered and read Paul's letters. The witness is especially useful when its modest size is respected: it proves the coexistence of Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians in one book, while leaving the rest of that book open.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
Manuscript P92
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsProvides date, Cairo location, inventory numbers, fragment count, layout, and passage-level image indexing.
INTF Manuscript Workspace P92
Institute for New Testament Textual Research, University of MünsterControls the official witness identity and textual comparison environment.
4CARE Artefact 1443: Gregory-Aland P92
4CARE, MF Norwegian School of TheologyDocuments findspot, dimensions, reconstructed page, contents, nomina sacra, date, and the limits on reconstructing the Pauline collection.
Electronic Resources for the Textual Tradition of the Pauline Epistles
Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing, University of BirminghamLists P92 among the witnesses used for scholarly study of the Pauline textual tradition.
Four views of P92's two Narmouthis fragments, preserving portions of Ephesians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1. · Unknown photographer; manuscript held by the Egyptian Museum, via Wikimedia Commons · Public Domain Mark 1.0; PD-US-expired and PD-old-70
View the image source and license