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P66 comes to us by way of a professional scribe (practiced calligraphic hand, pagination numbers), a major corrector, and a minor corrector. Although a professional scribe, he took some liberties because he was a Christian and knew the Scriptures well, such as harmonizing John 6:66 to Matt. 16:16 and John 21:6 to Luke 5:5. Another indication of his being a Christian is that he made several singular readings (occurs in only in P66) that reveal that he was reading and interpreting the text. His numerous scribal errors would seem to suggest that he was inattentive at his task of copying but, in fact, he was absorbed with reading and interpreting that, at times, he forgot the word that he was supposed to be copying. Another indication that he was a professional scribe was his pausing to fix his own errors.
John 1:18 – Monogenēs Theos
Return to: Ancient Biblical Manuscripts