Writings: ChristianityPapyrus 464 of 10

Writings: Christianity

Papyrus 46

Papyrus 46 is a papyrus codex of Paul's letters in Greek, split between the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin and the University of Michigan. Its handwriting is dated to about 200 CE or the third century. Scholars differ on how closely handwriting can date a papyrus, and the codex has no known find-spot to check the date against.

Last reviewed:

Three dates, kept apart

  1. The text's date: the tradition's view

    from the end of the 40s CE (1 Thessalonians) to around 60 CE (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians), by Paul, with Hebrews in the second half of the first century CE (Orthodox Church in America); the Catholic and evangelical statements used here give no year

  2. The text's date: critical scholars' view

    the 50s CE for Paul's own letters, 1 Thessalonians about 50 CE (Dale Martin of Yale)

  3. This copy made

    about 200 CE (late 2nd or early 3rd century CE) as the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts gives it; Michigan's library gives the 3rd century CE, and its exhibit the late 2nd to the 4th century CE; Brent Nongbri holds that handwriting cannot date it that closely; the bar marks about 200 CE

  4. This copy found

    found in Egypt about 1930 (place uncertain); sold in pieces by 1934

All four rows share one timeline. A row with no marker says why in words. How ancient texts are dated.

What it is

Papyrus 46 is a codex of Paul's letters in Greek, written on papyrus (a paper-like sheet pressed from reeds). By the usual reconstruction the complete codex held 104 leaves, though Brent Nongbri argued in 2022 that it may have been larger. Eighty-six leaves survive: 56 in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin and 30 at the University of Michigan.12

The surviving part holds parts of nine letters, with one column of 23 to 26 lines on each page.23 Michigan's exhibit describes a skilled professional scribe and a later reader who marked the text above the line, which would have helped readers in church.1

How the copy was dated

No excavation layer dates this codex, because it was bought from dealers.4 The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts gives its date as the late second or early third century, about 200 CE.3 Michigan's library says scholars can date a papyrus to within about 50 years by comparing its handwriting with others, and date this codex to the third century. Its exhibit gives a wider span, from the late second to the fourth century CE.41

In the second chapter of his 2018 book God's Library, Brent Nongbri holds that handwriting cannot supply the precision often stated.56 He holds that paleography can set a range of possible dates for an undated manuscript but can never be conclusive.6 According to Timothy Mitchell, a reviewer of the book, Nongbri writes that no convincing parallels with secure dates have been put forward for this codex's script.7

Mitchell reports a recent date of 200 to 225 CE for this codex, without naming who proposed it.7 The sources used here name no scholar who replies to Nongbri on this codex.

For the methods behind these dates, see how ancient texts are dated.

The text: its date and authorship

The tradition's account

The Orthodox Church in America holds that the New Testament has fourteen letters of Paul, though perhaps some, such as Hebrews, were not written directly by him.8 Its catechism dates the letters from the end of the 40s CE (1 and 2 Thessalonians) to around 60 CE (Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians), and Hebrews to the second half of the first century CE.9 Catholic teaching, in Dei Verbum, lists the epistles of Paul in the canon and gives no year.10

The Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message holds that the Bible was written by men divinely inspired.11 The evangelical Chicago Statement holds that source study must not reject a book's own account of who wrote it.12 Neither gives a year.

The historians' view

Dale Martin of Yale holds that seven letters are undisputed, the ones almost all scholars agree Paul wrote: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.13 He holds that scholars doubt Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, and Ephesians; that most scholars agree 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are not by Paul; and that some date the Pastoral Letters, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, decades after his death, perhaps in the second century.13

He holds that Paul's letters are the oldest writings in the New Testament, written 20 or 30 years before the Gospels. He holds that the earliest, 1 Thessalonians, dates to about 50 CE and that Paul wrote in the 50s CE.1415

How it was found

No exact find-spot is recorded for this codex. Michigan's library says it was bought from antiquities dealers in Egypt.4 Daniel Sharp and Brent Nongbri list it among the Chester Beatty biblical papyri, generally thought to be one ancient collection found in Egypt about 1930, perhaps in the Fayum, a region of Egypt, or across the Nile near Aphroditopolis, a town.16

Dealers divided the codex and sold the parts. By 1931 Chester Beatty held ten leaves, which Frederic Kenyon published in 1934. Michigan bought six leaves in 1931 and twenty-four in 1933, and Beatty bought 46 more in 1934.1716 Another Michigan page gives 1930 or 1931 for its purchase.1

What it shows, and what it does not

Michigan's exhibit calls it the oldest known copy of Paul's letters, and its library calls it the closest modern scholars have come to Paul's original words.14 On a date of about 200 CE, it shows nine of the letters copied together in one papyrus book. That is about 150 years after the earliest letter, placed either at the end of the 40s CE or about 50 CE (computed here from those dates).3914

It cannot by itself show the letters' original wording. Michigan's library notes that copyists made errors, so no two hand-copied books can be expected to match exactly. Its date is a handwriting estimate, and no record shows where it was found.41

Sources

  1. Sacred Hands: The Greek Bible. Online Exhibits, University of Michigan Library, exhibit page. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  2. Brent Nongbri. A New Article on the Contents of P46. Variant Readings (the author's blog), 2022, blog post of June 19, 2022. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  3. Manuscript P46. Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM), catalog record. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  4. P46 in Perspective. Papyrology Collection, University of Michigan Library, web page. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  5. Mark Letteney. Review of God's Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts, by Brent Nongbri. Journal of Late Antiquity 12.2, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019, pp. 550 to 553. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  6. Brent Nongbri. Palaeography, Codicology, and Assigning Dates to Early Christian Codices: A Review of God's Library. Variant Readings (the author's blog), 2018, blog post of September 12, 2018. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  7. Timothy N. Mitchell. Review: "God's Library," by Brent Nongbri. The Textual Mechanic (the reviewer's blog), 2018, blog post of September 9, 2018. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  8. Thomas Hopko. The Orthodox Faith, Volume I: Doctrine and Scripture, Sources of Christian Doctrine: Bible. Orthodox Church in America. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  9. Thomas Hopko. The Orthodox Faith, Volume I, Doctrine and Scripture: New Testament, Letters of Saint Paul. Orthodox Church in America, 1981, opening paragraph. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  10. Second Vatican Council. Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Holy See, 1965, sections 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, and 22. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  11. Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Southern Baptist Convention, 2000, Articles I and VII. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  12. International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, summary statement, Articles XII and XVIII. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  13. Dale B. Martin. RLST 152, Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature, Lecture 14: Paul as Missionary. Open Yale Courses, Yale University, transcript. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  14. Dale B. Martin. Introduction to New Testament History and Literature (RLST 152), Lecture 2: From Stories to Canon. Open Yale Courses, Yale University, transcript. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  15. Dale B. Martin. Introduction to New Testament History and Literature (RLST 152), Lecture 12: Johannine Christianity: the Letters. Open Yale Courses, Yale University, transcript. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  16. Garrick V. Allen, Usama Ali Mohamed Gad, Kelsie Gayle Rodenbiker, Anthony Philip Royle, and Jill Unkel (editors). The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri at Ninety: Literature, Papyrology, Ethics. De Gruyter (Manuscripta Biblica 10), 2023, Sharp and Nongbri, pp. 37 to 38 and note 14; Unkel, pp. 51 to 65 and 68; Wasserman, pp. 143 to 144 and 151. Accessed 2026-11-05.
  17. The Discovery of P46. Papyrology Collection, University of Michigan Library (archived copy at the Internet Archive), web page. Accessed 2026-11-05.