The short answerWhat is this leaf?

This is Papyrus 104 — P. Oxyrhynchus LXIV 4404 — a scrap from a papyrus codex of Matthew, dug from the rubbish mounds of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt and dated to the second century AD: one of the very oldest copies of Matthew, as old as the famous P52 of John. Its front preserves parts of Matthew 21:34–37; its back preserves 21:43 and 45 — and, famously, no verse 44.

The featureThe verse that isn’t there: Matthew 21:44

A famous omission. On the back of the fragment the text runs straight from verse 43 to verse 45 — there is no verse 44 (“He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces…”). 𝔓104 is the earliest surviving witness to the absence of Matthew 21:44, and the modern critical editions (NA28, UBS5) mark the verse as a likely later insertion largely because of witnesses like this one.

Line by lineThe Greek exactly as it sits on the leaf

Transcribed from the transcription attached to this folio in the New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room (INTF/NTVMR), in the majuscule capitals the scribe used, with the original line breaks preserved. Sacred names keep their overline. A photograph of the replica sits beside each side.

Recto — Matthew 21:34–37

1[ΑΠΕ]-Matt 21:34

2[ΣΤΕΙΛΕΝ ΤΟΥΣ] Δ[Ο]ΥΛΟΥ[Σ] ΑΥΤΟΥ ΠΡΟΣ

3[ΤΟΥΣ ΓΕΩΡΓΟΥΣ] ΛΑΒΕΙΝ ΤΟΥΣ ΚΑΡ-

4[ΠΟΥΣ ΑΥΤΟΥ] [ΚΑΙ] ΛΑΒΟΝΤΕΣ ΟΙ ΓΕΩΡ-Matt 21:35

5[ΓΟΙ ΤΟΥΣ ΔΟΥΛΟ]ΥΣ ΑΥΤ[ΟΥ] ΟΝ ΜΕΝ

6[ΕΔΕΙΡΑΝ] ΟΝ ΔΕ ΑΠΕΚΤΕΙΝΑΝ ΟΝ

7[ΔΕ ΕΛΙΘΟΒ]ΟΛΗΣΑΝ ΠΑΛΙΝ ΑΠΕ-Matt 21:36

8[ΣΤΕΙΛΕΝ Α]ΛΛΟΥΣ ΔΟΥΛΟΥΣ ΠΛΕΙΟ-

9[ΝΑΣ ΤΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ] ΕΠΟΙΗΣΑΝ

10[ΑΥΤΟΙΣ ΩΣΑΥΤΩΣ] [ΥΣΤΕΡΟΝ Δ]Ε ΑΠΕ-Matt 21:37

11[ΣΤΕΙΛΕΝ]

Verso — Matthew 21:43, 45

1[ΘΕΟΥ ΚΑΙ] ΔΟΘΗΣΕ[ΤΑΙ ΕΘΝΕΙ ΠΟΙΟΥΝ]-Matt 21:43

2ΤΙ Τ[Ο]ΥΣ ΚΑΡ[ΠΟΥΣ ΑΥΤΗΣ] [ΚΑΙ ΑΚΟΥ]-Matt 21:45

3ΣΑ[Ν]ΤΕΣ Ο[Ι ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΙΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΙ ΦΑ]-

4[ΡΙΣΑΙΟΙ]

Word by wordRead it, sound it out, and see the meaning

The whole leaf, word by word: the Greek on the leaf, a transliteration to sound it out, and a word-for-word English gloss. Words in a gold box appear (at least partly) on the leaf; grey words in [brackets] are supplied. Sacred names carry the scribe’s overline; their meaning is in the gloss.

Matthew 21:34

Matthew 21:35

Matthew 21:36

Matthew 21:37

Matthew 21:43

Matthew 21:45

The manuscriptAt a glance

Why it mattersOne of the oldest Gospels, in your hand

A scrap the size of a matchbook carries the son thrown out of the vineyard and killed, and the verdict that the kingdom would pass “to a nation producing its fruit.” Written within a century or so of the Gospel itself, 𝔓104 is a tangible link to the earliest copying of Matthew.

ReferencesSources

• Transcription (surviving text): INTF transcription of 𝔓104 attached to this folio, New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room (ntvmr.uni-muenster.de), licensed CC BY 4.0.
• Manuscript images: courtesy of the Oxford Imaging Papyri Project; Sackler Library, Oxford. Replica photographs: Manuscript Shop.
• Editio princeps: J. David Thomas, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. LXIV, no. 4404 (London, 1997).
• Text & significance: P. M. Head, on the earliest papyri of Matthew; K. & B. Aland, The Text of the New Testament.
• Word-for-word glosses follow standard tagged Greek New Testament data (STEP Bible, Tyndale House; Berean Interlinear).
• Smooth translation: World English Bible (public domain), ebible.org.