Papyrus 109 (𝔓109) — John 21
The Last Page of John’s Gospel
The short answerWhat is this leaf?
This is a single small leaf of Papyrus 109 — a fragment from a papyrus codex of the Gospel of John, recovered from the rubbish mounds of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt and among the earliest witnesses we have to the final chapter of John. Its two sides carry the very end of the Gospel: on the front, Jesus foretelling how Peter would die and calling him again with “Follow me”; on the back, the testimony of the beloved disciple and John’s famous last sentence — that if everything Jesus did were written down, “the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books.”
The leaf is broken on every side, so only the middle of each line survives; verses 21–22 are lost entirely between the two sides. This page shows you exactly which letters are real ink on the papyrus and which are supplied by scholars from the known text of John — so you can read your replica precisely, down to the letter.
The featureThe end of the Gospel — and a plural reading in verse 18
The closing words of John. Few fragments carry a more evocative passage. This one leaf holds the Gospel’s final scene and its last sentence — Jesus’ word to Peter about the death by which he “would glorify God,” the disciple “whom Jesus loved” whose testimony stands behind the book, and the closing line that the world itself could not contain all that could be written. To hold this leaf is to hold the last page of John in nearly its oldest form.
“Others will dress you” (21:18). In verse 18 this leaf reads the sacred name’s neighbours in the plural — ΑΛΛΟΙ, “others,” with a plural verb ending -ΟΥΣΙΝ — where the more familiar text reads the singular “another will dress you.” It is a small but real variant, shared with several early witnesses, and you can see the surviving letters for yourself in the transcription below.
Line by lineThe Greek exactly as it sits on the leaf
Transcribed from the INTF transcription (NTVMR, 𝔓109) and shown in the majuscule capitals the scribe used, with the original line breaks preserved. Bracketed grey letters are supplied from the known text of John; highlighted letters are ink that survives on the fragment. A photograph will sit beside each side so you can compare the letters directly.
Front (recto) — John 21:18–20 (“Follow me”)
Back (verso) — John 21:23–25 (the closing words)
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, with the smooth translation after each passage. Words in a gold box appear (at least partly) on the fragment; grey words in [brackets] are supplied from the known text of John.
When you are old, others will dress you — John 21:18
18 Most certainly I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you don’t want to go. (The leaf begins mid-verse at “you will stretch out.” Here it reads the plural — ΑΛΛΟΙ, “others,” with the plural verb ending -ΟΥΣΙΝ — where the common text has the singular “another will dress you.” The verb itself sits in a gap; only its ending survives.)
By what death he would glorify God — “Follow me” — John 21:19
19 Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” (The word “God” here (ΘΝ) falls in a lost part of the line; no letters of it survive, so it is supplied.)
Peter turned and saw the disciple — John 21:20
20 Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ chest at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” (The leaf breaks off after “the disciple”; the rest of verse 20 — and verses 21–22 — are lost.)
If I want him to remain until I come — John 21:23
23 This saying therefore went out among the brothers that this disciple wouldn’t die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to him that he wouldn’t die, but, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you?” (Only the tail of verse 23 survives here — Jesus’ words “…I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”)
This is the disciple who testifies — John 21:24
24 This is the disciple who testifies about these things, and wrote these things. We know that his witness is true. (The middle of verse 24 crosses a blank line and a lost line; “his witness is true” picks up again with the surviving ΕΣ of “is” at the foot of the leaf.)
The world itself could not hold the books — John 21:25
25 There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written. (The Gospel’s closing sentence. The leaf ends at the word ΚΟΣ[ΜΟΝ] — “the world” — with only ΚΟΣ surviving; “Jesus” (ΙΣ) two words earlier is also supplied.)
Reading the detailsTextual notes
A plural in verse 18. Where the familiar text of John 21:18 reads “another will dress you” (ΑΛΛΟΣ, singular), this leaf reads ΑΛΛΟΙ — “others” — with a plural verb, of which the ending -ΟΥΣΙΝ survives. It is a genuine variant reading, shared with a number of early witnesses, and it is one of the most interesting things this small fragment preserves.
Sacred names fall in the gaps. The two nomina sacra in this passage — “God” (ΘΝ) in verse 19 and “Jesus” (ΙΣ) in verse 25 — both sit in torn or lost portions of the leaf, so neither survives as ink; we supply them in brackets from the known text. No overlined sacred name is physically preserved on this fragment.
A blank line and a lost line. On the back, the scribe left line 7 blank and a further line is missing, falling across the seam between verses 24 and 25. That is why the disciple’s “we know that his witness is true” and the opening of the last verse do not appear continuously.
The manuscriptAt a glance
| This leaf | John 21:18–20 (front) · John 21:23–25 (back) |
|---|---|
| Contents | A single fragmentary leaf from the last chapter of the Gospel of John; verses 21–22 are lost |
| Date | c. AD 200–225 |
| Discovered | Oxyrhynchus, Egypt; published as P. Oxyrhynchus 4448 |
| Held at | Papyrology Rooms, the Bodleian Libraries (formerly the Sackler Library), University of Oxford (Egypt Exploration Society, Oxyrhynchus collection) |
| Gregory–Aland no. | 𝔓109 (INTF doc. ID 10109) |
| Format | Single-column papyrus codex leaf; narrow page, an estimated 26 lines per side when whole |
| Text type | Broadly Alexandrian; too little survives for a firm Aland category |
Why it mattersThe oldest way to hold the end of John
The Gospel of John closes with one of the most human scenes in the New Testament: the risen Jesus restoring Peter, foretelling how he would die, and calling him once more to “follow me” — then the quiet testimony of the disciple “whom Jesus loved,” and a final line that reaches for the impossible: that the world itself could not contain the books, if everything Jesus did were written down.
Papyrus 109 is one of the earliest surviving copies of those closing verses. It is a small, broken thing — the middle of a page, torn from its codex — but it carries the last words of John from within a century or so of the Gospel’s own lifetime. To hold this leaf is to hold the ending of John as an ordinary Christian in third-century Egypt would have read it.
Own this leaf
Manuscript Shop produces a museum-grade facsimile of this leaf of Papyrus 109 on real Egyptian papyrus, reproducing both sides — “Follow me” and the closing words of John — at its true size.
ReferencesSources
- Transcription (surviving text): INTF transcription of 𝔓109, New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room, doc. ID 10109 (John 21).
- Editio princeps: W. E. H. Cockle, in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. LXV (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1998), no. 4448.
- Manuscript images: Papyrology Rooms, the Bodleian Libraries (formerly the Sackler Library), University of Oxford (P. Oxy. 4448); photographs from the Manuscript Shop listing.
- Text, dating & significance: Nestle–Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece; K. Aland & B. Aland, The Text of the New Testament; P. W. Comfort & D. P. Barrett, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts.
- 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.