P66 Martin Bodmer Papyrus II

FED

Originally, this manuscript was dated to about 200 AD, however this has been updated by some to 125 AD. It contains almost all of the Gospel of John. It is considered one of, "the most important (discoveries) of New Testament papyri . . ." (A General Introduction to the Bible, by Geisler and Nix, p. 270).

The text of P66 is mixed. Dr. Gordon Fee has shown that in John chapter 4, P66 agrees with the Traditional Text (and thus the King James Bible) 60.6% of the time when there are textual variations. In the same chapter, it agrees with Codex Sinaiticus only 34.4% of the time.

When expanded to cover the first eight chapters of John, P66 agrees with the Traditional Text 50.9% of the time, and with Codex Sinaiticus 43.7% when textual variations occur (see Studies in the Text and Method of New Testament Textual Criticism, by Epp and Fee, pp.228, 233).

Below are a few examples from chapters 4-8 of St. John where P66 agrees with the Traditional Text over against Codex Sinaiticus.