P.Oxy. IV 656: An Early Greek Genesis Codex
Four papyrus leaves from a late-second- or early-third-century Genesis codex preserve Abraham, Lot, Isaac, and Jacob passages together with revealing gaps and later additions at divine-name locations.
- Artifact date
- Late second or early third century AD
- Findspot
- Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
- Current location
- Bodleian Libraries, MS. Gr. bibl. d. 5 (P)
What archaeologists can actually examine
P.Oxy. IV 656, Rahlfs 905, consists of four papyrus leaves from an early Greek Genesis codex now held by the Bodleian Libraries as MS. Gr. bibl. d. 5 (P). The discontinuous text includes Genesis 14:21-23; 15:5-9; 19:32-20:11; 24:28-47; and 27:32-33, 40-41. The first scribe left spaces at several places corresponding to the Hebrew divine name; a later hand supplied kyrios in three, while another remained blank. The manuscript directly witnesses early Septuagint wording and layered production but does not explain why every gap was left or how readers vocalized it.
Four leaves span four generations
The preserved passages range from Abram and Lot through Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau, implying a much larger Genesis codex.
Sacred-name spaces expose workflow
The principal scribe left gaps at divine-name locations and a later hand supplied kyrios in three of them.
The codex predates the great uncials
Its late-second- or early-third-century hand provides Greek Genesis evidence earlier than Vaticanus and Sinaiticus.
Community identity remains unresolved
Neither codex form nor reverential name treatment by itself establishes Jewish or Christian production.
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
Grenfell and Hunt found the leaves during Egypt Exploration Fund work at Oxyrhynchus and published them in 1904 as number 656 in volume IV. The papyri were distributed to the Bodleian, where Oxford's official Oxyrhynchus location list still records the shelfmark. Their modern history illustrates the early excavation system: finds were excavated under institutional auspices, edited in numbered volumes, and placed in partner collections. The exact discard context and ancient owner were not documented at the resolution expected today. Consequently, the manuscript's date, codex structure, and scribal layers come chiefly from paleography and material examination rather than a sealed archaeological assemblage.
What you are looking at
Each surviving leaf is roughly twenty-four by twenty centimeters and was written as part of a papyrus codex. The text moves across widely separated Genesis episodes, proving that the four pieces came from a once much larger book. Several hands or stages are visible. The main scribe wrote the Greek narrative but left intentional-looking spaces where a divine designation was expected; a later writer inserted forms of kyrios in smaller script in three places. Corrections and gaps make the page a record of production rather than a transparent transcript. The remaining blank warns that not every intended supplement was completed before the codex left use.
Where it belongs in history
Paleographers usually date P.Oxy. 656 to the late second or early third century AD. It is therefore earlier than the great fourth-century parchment codices and belongs to the period when Christians increasingly favored codices while Greek Jewish scriptures continued to circulate in varied forms. Some scholars have called it Jewish because of divine-name handling and textual features; others emphasize that codex format and later kyrios additions could fit Christian use. Neither conclusion is compelled by the surviving leaves. The manuscript's early date makes individual readings important, but antiquity alone does not guarantee that every variant preserves an older Hebrew source rather than scribal change within Greek transmission.
Consensus, questions, and debate
The passage identifications, codex form, and multiple scribal interventions are well established. Debate focuses on the identity of the producers and the meaning of the divine-name gaps. One explanation is that the first copyist reserved spaces for a specialist to add a Hebrew form of the tetragrammaton, after which another hand instead supplied Greek kyrios. Other scholars caution that workflow, exemplar damage, or correction could create similar patterns. The manuscript also participates in larger discussion about whether divine-name conventions distinguish Jewish from Christian Greek Bible production. P.Oxy. 656 provides valuable evidence, but four leaves cannot carry a universal history of the Septuagint's sacred names.
The biblical record beside the artifact
The leaves directly preserve episodes central to Genesis: Abram's refusal of the king of Sodom's goods, God's promise of descendants under the stars, Lot's family after Sodom, Abraham and Abimelech, Rebekah's report of meeting Abraham's servant, and Isaac's words concerning Esau and Jacob. Genesis 15:5-9 is the clearest primary connection because a substantial covenant scene survives. Readers can compare the ancient Greek wording with modern translations and observe where the divine name received special treatment. This is manuscript evidence for reception and textual transmission; it does not independently verify patriarchal chronology, locations, or personal biographies.
Genesis 15:5–9
5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
7And he said unto him, I [am] the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
A responsible historical conclusion
P.Oxy. 656 preserves not just a text but a sequence of human decisions. A scribe copied stories stretching from Abram to Jacob, paused at sacred-name locations, and left work that another hand partly completed. Those visible layers expose ancient bookmaking as collaborative and sometimes unfinished. The codex also predates the most famous complete Greek Bibles, giving textual critics earlier evidence for substantial Genesis passages. For general readers, its greatest contribution is humility: the Bible reached later centuries through physical pages with corrections, gaps, differing hands, and careful reverence. Textual transmission was disciplined, but it was never mechanically uniform.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
Location-List of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri
University of Oxford / Egypt Exploration SocietyConfirms P.Oxy. 656's Bodleian location and shelfmark and explains the historical distribution and limitations of the location list.
Rahlfs 905
Göttingen Academy Septuagint ProjectCatalogs the exact Genesis witness, contents, physical form, date, identifiers, editions, and bibliography.
The Names of God: Their Pronunciation and Their Translation
lectio difficilior / University of BernDiscusses P.Oxy. 656's divine-name omissions, later kyrios supplements, remaining blank, and implications for sacred-name practice.
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part IV
Egypt Exploration Fund / Internet ArchiveOriginal edition of P.Oxy. 656 with transcription, measurements, contents, paleographic description, and plates.