Uncial 0207: The Fifth Trumpet in Revelation 9
Uncial 0207: The Fifth Trumpet in Revelation 9 is the independently registered Greek New Testament witness GA 0207, controlled by its manuscript number, present shelfmark, physical form, and surviving biblical contents.
- Artifact date
- Fourth century AD
- Findspot
- Published in the Papiri greci e latini series and preserved in Florence; an Egyptian provenance is probable but the exact findspot is uncertain
- Current location
- Laurentian Library, Florence, PSI 1166
What archaeologists can actually examine
one parchment leaf, preserving Revelation 9:2–15, including the opened abyss, the locust vision, and the release of the four angels. The surviving writing surface uses one parchment leaf about 19 by 15 centimeters, written in two columns of twenty-nine Greek majuscule lines.
A controlled physical identity
GA 0207 and Laurentian Library, Florence, PSI 1166 identify this witness independently of broad manuscript names or subject matter.
The writing surface is evidence
one parchment leaf, preserving Revelation 9:2–15, including the opened abyss, the locust vision, and the release of the four angels. The surviving writing surface uses one parchment leaf about 19 by 15 centimeters, written in two columns of twenty-nine Greek majuscule lines.
Directly preserved Scripture
The extant leaves physically preserve Revelation 9:2–15; the connection is textual and material rather than merely thematic.
The limits remain visible
This is a fourth century ad witness rather than an autograph or an object from the events narrated in Revelation 9:2–15. Only one leaf survives, the stated date is palaeographic, and the original copying center and early ownership are not fully documented. Broken margins, erased writing, later reuse, or lacunae must not be silently reconstructed as surviving text.
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
Published in the Papiri greci e latini series and preserved in Florence; an Egyptian provenance is probable but the exact findspot is uncertain. The Gregory–Aland number GA 0207 and the repository designation Laurentian Library, Florence, PSI 1166 control identity independently of generic labels such as “uncial fragment.” Modern custody does not establish ancient provenance, so this dossier separates find or collection history, likely copying context, publication, and present location. The record was also checked against the live Watchman 33 inventory by GA number, shelfmark, contents, and source URLs before selection. Digital photographs extend access, but the parchment itself remains the archaeological object.
What you are looking at
one parchment leaf, preserving Revelation 9:2–15, including the opened abyss, the locust vision, and the release of the four angels. The surviving writing surface uses one parchment leaf about 19 by 15 centimeters, written in two columns of twenty-nine Greek majuscule lines. Material, ruling, lineation, ink, letter formation, corrections, marginal systems, bilingual writing, and reuse are evidence alongside the copied words. The selected image depicts GA 0207 itself, not a generic manuscript. It represents one photographed side or leaf and must not be mistaken for every missing page of the original codex.
Where it belongs in history
The display date “Fourth century AD” follows current registry and palaeographic assessment. Letter forms, ruling, page design, material, ink, and comparison with related hands can support a range, but they do not supply an exact calendar year. This manuscript directly preserves Revelation 9:2–15 in the period when it was copied. That is evidence for the transmission and use of those texts, not proof that the physical leaf was present when the narrated events occurred.
Consensus, questions, and debate
GA 0207 contributes a physically controlled witness to the textual history of Revelation. Its readings are evaluated passage by passage against other Greek witnesses, early translations, patristic citations, scribal corrections, and the history of the codex. A text-type or Aland-category label summarizes patterns; it does not decide every reading or rank the manuscript’s theological value. The INTF registry controls the international manuscript identity, CSNTM provides an independent manuscript catalog and images where available, and published bibliography locates editions and collations.
The biblical record beside the artifact
The surviving parchment directly preserves Revelation 9:2–15. It materially witnesses the copying, reading, organization, and transmission of these biblical passages in fourth century ad.
Revelation 9:2–15
2And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment [was] as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7And the shapes of the locusts [were] like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads [were] as it were crowns like gold, and their faces [were] as the faces of men.
8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions.
9And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings [was] as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power [ was] to hurt men five months.
11And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [ his] name Apollyon.
12One woe is past; [and], behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
A responsible historical conclusion
Uncial 0207: The Fifth Trumpet in Revelation 9 makes textual transmission visible at human scale. Its surviving surface shows how a biblical book was copied, formatted, corrected, translated, read, erased, or preserved. The connected Bible pages let readers move from the object to the precise passages it contains, while stable registry and repository identifiers make the claims independently checkable. Its fragmentary condition is instructive rather than embarrassing: confidence rests on comparing bounded evidence, not on asking one leaf to carry more history than it preserves.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
NT.VMR manuscript workspace: GA 0207
University of Münster INTFOfficial registry workspace used to confirm the identity, contents, date, and current repository of GA 0207.
CSNTM catalog: GA 0207
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsIndependent manuscript catalog used to check the physical description, shelfmark, contents, and available digital images of GA 0207.
A Bibliography of Greek New Testament Manuscripts
Cambridge University PressScholarly bibliographic framework for tracing published catalogs, facsimiles, collations, and textual studies of registered Greek New Testament manuscripts.
Uncial 0207: The Fifth Trumpet in Revelation 9 image and rights record
Wikimedia CommonsSource page for the authentic GA 0207 manuscript image used here; the historical manuscript image is marked public domain.
The recto of Uncial 0207 preserving Revelation 9 · Historical manuscript image via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
View the image source and license