Papyrus P96: Greek-Coptic Matthew 3
Papyrus P96, Vienna Pap. K. 7244, is a sixth-century Greek-Coptic diglot fragment preserving Matthew 3:10–12 in Coptic and 3:13–15 in Greek on complementary damaged portions.
- Artifact date
- 6th Century
- Findspot
- Egypt; exact ancient findspot is not stated in the consulted catalogs
- Current location
- Vienna, Austria, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Pap. K. 7244
What archaeologists can actually examine
P96 is one papyrus fragment from a two-column bilingual codex of Matthew. The Coptic column preserves Matthew 3:10–12, John the Baptist's warning about the axe, fruit, and coming baptism; the corresponding Greek is lost there. The Greek column preserves Matthew 3:13–15, Jesus' arrival for baptism and the exchange about fulfilling righteousness; the corresponding Coptic is lost there. It is therefore misleading to imply that both languages preserve every cited verse. P96's value is the physical bilingual format and the complementary survival of two adjacent sections, not a line-for-line bilingual comparison across the whole range.
The two languages survive complementarily
Coptic remains for Matthew 3:10–12, while Greek remains for 3:13–15; this is not a complete parallel text.
A true two-column diglot
The physical layout demonstrates that Greek and Coptic were deliberately coordinated within one codex page.
Use remains unknown
Bilingual format is compatible with teaching or reading but does not identify a school, monastery, or congregation.
Language does not fix provenance
Egypt is secure only broadly; the fragment's Coptic cannot by itself establish a precise region or findspot.
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 Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna holds the fragment as Pap. K. 7244 and provides a digital object viewer for the exact manuscript. It was registered as Gregory-Aland P96 for its Greek New Testament text. Public catalogues attribute it to Egypt but do not identify an excavation, ancient town, acquisition date, or earlier owner. The Vienna shelfmark and modern custody are secure, while the ancient recovery and movement of the object remain unverified. That distinction matters because bilingual format alone cannot locate the codex in a particular Coptic-speaking monastery or school.
What you are looking at
A narrow, broken papyrus piece preserves parts of two parallel columns, one Greek and one Coptic, with catalogued line survival ranging from about fifteen to twenty-seven lines depending on the column and face. Damage produces complementary loss: Coptic is readable for verses 10–12 and Greek for verses 13–15. No complete leaf edges, binding, quire, title, or colophon survive. The precise Coptic dialect identification requires specialist edition work and should not be inferred solely from the word 'Coptic.' The two-column arrangement nevertheless directly establishes a diglot book designed to coordinate two languages.
Where it belongs in history
CSNTM and INTF assign P96 to the sixth century on palaeographic grounds. No scribal date or archaeological deposit narrows the range. Greek-Coptic diglots belong within the multilingual Christian culture of late-antique Egypt, where Greek scripture and Coptic translation interacted in reading, teaching, and copying. P96 shows such interaction materially but cannot reveal which language served as exemplar, whether translation occurred directly on this page, or what community used it. Its unknown findspot prevents claims about Upper Egyptian provenance based only on language.
Consensus, questions, and debate
The stable facts are the Vienna shelfmark, papyrus material, two-column Greek-Coptic design, sixth-century assignment, and complementary passage survival. The most important interpretive issue is not an exotic variant but how a diglot was produced and used. Without fuller pages, scholars cannot determine whether the columns were copied from independent exemplars, whether one translation was checked against the other, or whether the book served instruction, worship, or private study. Broad claims about an Alexandrian Greek text or a specific Coptic dialect should remain subordinate to direct transcription and specialist analysis.
The biblical record beside the artifact
Matthew 3:10–12 concludes John's warning: unfruitful trees face judgment, the coming one baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, and the threshing floor will be cleared. Matthew 3:13–15 introduces Jesus at the Jordan, John's objection, and Jesus' answer about fulfilling all righteousness. P96 preserves the first unit in Coptic and the second in Greek. The combined Scripture link may cover 3:10–15, but the dossier must state which language survives where. The fragment cannot independently prove the baptism, reconstruct the lost bilingual equivalents, or settle every translation choice.
Matthew 3:13–15
13¶ Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [ it to be so] now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
A responsible historical conclusion
P96 materially joins two linguistic worlds on one damaged page. It shows Matthew's baptism narrative and John's warning circulating in a format meant to place Greek and Coptic side by side. That is important evidence for translation, bilingual literacy, and the practical transmission of Gospel texts in late antiquity. The complementary damage also teaches a useful methodological lesson: calling an artifact a diglot does not mean both languages survive for every verse. P96 matters as evidence for a bilingual book and its readers, even though neither those readers nor the translation process can be individually named.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
Manuscript P96
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsProvides date, Vienna shelfmark, bilingual languages, two-column format, surviving line range, and exact images.
INTF Manuscript Workspace P96
Institute for New Testament Textual Research, University of MünsterControls the Gregory-Aland identity and textual witness comparison.
Pap. K. 7244 Digital Object
Österreichische NationalbibliothekProvides the exact Vienna manuscript object and institutional image context for the Greek-Coptic fragment.
Recto of P96 (Pap. K. 7244), part of a Greek-Coptic diglot preserving Matthew 3. · Unknown photographer; Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, via Wikimedia Commons · Public Domain Mark 1.0; PD-US-expired and PD-old-70
View the image source and license