Papyrus 46 (𝔓46) — Romans 5–6 & 1 Thessalonians 5
Two Ends of One Sheet
The short answerWhat is this sheet?
This is one physical sheet of Papyrus 46 — the earliest substantial copy of the letters of the Apostle Paul, written around AD 200. P46 was made as a single-quire codex: one huge stack of sheets folded once down the middle. In that kind of book the two halves of a sheet end up far apart in the finished volume — and on this sheet they are leaf 8 and leaf 97. So one piece of papyrus carries two very different moments: the large fragment is Romans 5:17–6:14 (the manuscript’s opening pages), and the small fragment tucked into the top corner is 1 Thessalonians 5 — the very end of the codex.
Both leaves are broken, so only part of each line survives. This page shows you exactly which letters are real ink on the papyrus and which are supplied by scholars from the known text — for both leaves, on both sides — so you can read every part of your replica precisely.
The featureThe beginning and the end, on one page
Two conjugate leaves. Because P46 was a single-quire codex of about 104 leaves, leaf 8 and leaf 97 are the two halves of the same sheet (8 + 97 = 105). When it was whole, this one piece of papyrus reached from near the front of the book to near the very back. That is why your display holds two passages that sit chapters and letters apart: the start of Romans and the close of 1 Thessalonians, together as they have been since the day the sheet was made.
The last word is “grace.” The lower leaf (folio 97) is the final surviving leaf of the whole codex. Its text breaks off in the middle of Paul’s closing blessing — and the last two words to survive are Η ΧΑΡΙΣ, “the grace.” The oldest book of Paul’s letters we possess ends, fittingly, on the word grace. And on the other end of the very same sheet, Romans is proclaiming that “grace reigns.”
Line by lineThe Greek exactly as it sits on the sheet
Transcribed from the INTF transcription (NTVMR, 𝔓46 folios 8 and 97) and shown in the majuscule capitals the scribe used, with the original line breaks. Each side of the sheet is shown once, with both fragments beside the photograph — the large Romans leaf, and the small 1 Thessalonians leaf tucked into the top corner. Sacred names keep their overline.
The front of the display
The back of the display
Word by wordRead it, sound it out, and see the meaning
The whole sheet, 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. Sacred names carry the scribe’s overline; their meaning is in the gloss. Words in a gold box appear (at least partly) on the fragment; grey words in [brackets] are supplied.
Grace reigns through righteousness — Romans 5:17
17 …those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
One trespass, one act of righteousness — Romans 5:18
18 So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.
Made righteous through one man's obedience — Romans 5:19
19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.
Where sin increased, grace abounded more — Romans 5:20
20 The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly.
Grace reigns to eternal life — Romans 5:21
21 that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Shall we continue in sin? By no means — Romans 6:1–2
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?
Baptized into his death — Romans 6:3
3 Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Buried with him through baptism — Romans 6:4
4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead… so we also might walk in newness of life. (The front of the leaf breaks off here.)
United with him in resurrection — Romans 6:5
5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection. (The back of the leaf begins mid-verse.)
Our old self crucified with him — Romans 6:6
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
Dead to sin, we will live with him — Romans 6:7–8
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him,
Christ, raised, dies no more — Romans 6:9–10
9 knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him! 10 For the death that he died, he died to sin one time;
Alive to God; dead to sin — Romans 6:10–11
10 but the life that he lives, he lives to God. 11 Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (“Jesus” here is written ΙΗΝ; one would expect the dative ΙΗΥ.)
Do not let sin reign — Romans 6:12–13
12 Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it; 13 neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness…
Present yourselves to God — Romans 6:13–14
13 …but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have dominion over you. (On the last line the scribe writes “sin” as ΑΜΑΡΤΙ, dropping the final letter of ΑΜΑΡΤΙΑ.)
Children of light, children of the day — 1 Thessalonians 5:5
5 You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness,
Let us watch and be sober — 1 Thessalonians 5:6–7
6 so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.
The breastplate of faith; the hope of salvation — 1 Thessalonians 5:8–9
8 But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Kept blameless at his coming — 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24
23 May your spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it. (The back of this leaf begins mid-verse in 5:23.)
Pray for us; greet one another — 1 Thessalonians 5:25–27
25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers.
The last words: “The grace…” — 1 Thessalonians 5:28
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Only the words “the grace” survive — and with them the manuscript itself ends. These are the last words of the oldest copy of Paul’s letters.)
Reading the detailsTextual notes
The sacred names. The nomina sacra run through both leaves. Surviving as ink (on the Romans side) are ΚΥ (Lord, Rom 5:21), ΧΡΩ (Christ, 6:8 and 6:11), ΧΣ (Christ, 6:9), and ΘΩ (God, 6:14); the sacred names on the 1 Thessalonians leaf (ΘΣ ΚΥ ΙΗΥ ΧΡΥ ΚΝ) all fall in damaged spots and are supplied.
“In Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11). Here the leaf reads ΧΡΩ ΙΗΝ; for “Jesus” one would expect the dative ΙΗΥ rather than ΙΗΝ — worth confirming against the images. On the last surviving line of Romans (6:14) the scribe also writes “sin” as ΑΜΑΡΤΙ, without the final Α.
“The breastplate” (1 Thess 5:8). Watch the word split across two lines of the lower fragment: ΘΩ|ΡΑΚΑ is ΘΩΡΑΚΑ, “breastplate” — not a sacred name, so it carries no overline.
The manuscriptAt a glance
| This sheet | Two conjugate leaves — folio 8 (Romans 5:17–6:14) & folio 97 (1 Thessalonians 5:5–9, 5:23–28) |
|---|---|
| Whole codex | The letters of Paul as one book (Romans, Hebrews, 1–2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians) |
| Date | c. AD 175–225 (about the year 200) |
| Discovered | Egypt (the Fayum region); acquired in the 1930s |
| Held at | Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (P. Chester Beatty II, BP II ff. 8 & 97); other leaves at the University of Michigan |
| Gregory–Aland no. | 𝔓46 (INTF doc. ID 10046) |
| Format | Single-quire papyrus codex, ~104 leaves; single column; sheet ~230 × 180 mm |
| Text type | An early Alexandrian-type text of the Pauline letters |
Why it mattersGrace, from beginning to end
Romans 6 is where Paul answers the question at the centre of the Christian life: if we are saved by grace, why not go on sinning? His answer — that in baptism the believer is joined to Christ’s death and raised to “newness of life” — has shaped Christian teaching on grace and holiness ever since. On the other end of this sheet, the letters close the way they began: with grace.
Papyrus 46 lets us read both moments in the oldest copy that survives — and to hold them on a single sheet, the beginning and the end of the oldest Pauline collection at once, is something no later Bible can offer.
Own this sheet
Manuscript Shop produces a museum-grade facsimile of this sheet of Papyrus 46 on real Egyptian papyrus, reproducing both leaves and both sides — the opening of Romans and the closing of 1 Thessalonians — at their true size.
ReferencesSources
- Transcription (surviving text): INTF transcription of 𝔓46, New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room, doc. ID 10046, folios 8 (Romans 5–6) and 97 (1 Thessalonians 5).
- Manuscript images & catalogue: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (P. Chester Beatty II, BP II ff. 8 & 97); photographs from the Manuscript Shop listing.
- Editio princeps: F. G. Kenyon, The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Fasciculus III: Pauline Epistles (London, 1936–37).
- Text & significance: Nestle–Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece; K. Aland & 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.