Earliest collection of Paul's letters. Places Hebrews right after Romans, which shows it was treated as Pauline in Egypt c. 200.
Datingdisputed
Kenyon (1936) dated it to the first half of the 3rd century; Wilcken and most since place it c. 200 (INTF 200-225). Y. K. Kim (1988) argued for the late 1st century, a view few accept. Nongbri warns that a 3rd-century date remains possible.See the pages
About the manuscript
- Contents
- Romans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 ThessaloniansHebrewsSingle-quire codex of Paul (86 of c. 104 leaves survive), in the order Romans, Hebrews, 1-2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians. The end is lost; there was probably no room for the Pastorals, and whether 2 Thessalonians and Philemon were included is unknown.
- Found
- Bought by Chester Beatty and the University of Michigan from dealers in 1930-31; possibly from the Fayum or near Aphroditopolis (Atfih), but not documented.
- Held by
- Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (BP II) and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (inv. 6238), Dublin; Ann Arbor
- Also called
- P.Chester Beatty II · P.Mich. inv. 6238