The short answerWhat is Papyrus 2?

Papyrus 2 is a single leaf that carries two languages at once. One side preserves the Greek of John 12:12–15 — the crowd meeting Jesus with palm branches at the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem — while the other side carries Luke 7:22–26 and 7:50 in Coptic (the Egyptian language of the early Church). It is a small window onto how the Scriptures were read and translated, side by side, in the churches of late-antique Egypt.

The transcriptionThe Greek, line by line — John 12:12–15

Transcribed in the majuscule capitals the scribe used. The original had no spaces or punctuation; spacing is added here only to help you read, and the scribe’s line breaks are kept. The photograph sits beside the text so you can compare the letters directly.

Greek side — John 12:12–15

3ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛ[ΙΟΝ ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ]

4ΤΗ ΕΠΑΥΡΙΟΝ ΟΧΛΟΣ Π[ΟΛΥΣ Ο ΕΛΘΩΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ]John 12:12

5ΕΟΡΤΗΝ· ΑΚΟΥΣΑΝΤ[ΕΣ ΟΤΙ ΕΡΧΕΤΑΙ Ο] [ΙΣ]

6ΕΙΣ ΙΕΡΟΥ[ΣΟ]ΛΥ[ΜΑ] [ΕΛΑΒΟΝ ΤΑ ΒΑΙΑ ΤΩΝ]John 12:13

7ΦΟΙΝΙΚΩΝ Κ[ΑΙ ΕΞΗΛΘΟΝ ΕΙΣ ΥΠΑΝΤΗΣΙΝ ΑΥΤΩ]

8[ΚΑ]Ι ΕΚΡΑΥ[ΓΑΖΟΝ ΩΣΑΝΝΑ ΕΥΛΟΓΗΜΕΝΟΣ]

9[Ο] ΕΡΧΟΜΕ[ΝΟΣ ΕΝ ΟΝΟΜΑΤΙ] [ΚΥ] [ΚΑΙ Ο ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ]

10[Τ]ΟΥ ΙΗΛ Ε[ΥΡΩΝ ΔΕ Ο] [ΙΣ] [ΟΝΑΡΙΟΝ ΕΚΑΘΙΣΕΝ]John 12:14

11[Ε]Π ΑΥΤ[Ο ΚΑΘΩΣ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΓΕΓΡΑΜΜΕΝΟΝ]

12[ΜΗ] Φ[ΟΒΟΥ ΘΥΓΑΤΗΡ ΣΙΩΝ ΙΔΟΥ Ο ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ]John 12:15

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

Each word is stacked three ways: the Greek on the leaf, a transliteration so you can pronounce it, and a word-for-word English gloss. Words in a gold box appear (at least partly) on the fragment; grey words in [brackets] are supplied from the known wording of John 12.

Greek side — John 12:12–15

The sceneJohn 12:12–15 — the Triumphal Entry

On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” And Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written, “Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

The manuscriptAt a glance

Why it mattersTwo languages, one leaf

Most early New Testament papyri are Greek only. Papyrus 2 is unusual: it sets Greek and Coptic on the same leaf, a physical trace of the moment when the Greek Scriptures were being carried into the everyday language of Egyptian Christians. Its value is less as a textual authority — it is a later, mixed witness — and more as evidence of a living, bilingual reading culture in the Byzantine Nile valley.

ReferencesSources

• Manuscript: Gregory–Aland 𝔓2, Museo Egizio / Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence, inv. 7134.
• Contents: John 12:12–15 (Greek); Luke 7:22–26, 50 (Sahidic Coptic).
• Smooth translation of John 12:12–15: World English Bible (public domain), ebible.org.