Papyrus 46 (𝔓46) — Romans 8
Who Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ?
The short answerWhat is this leaf?
This is a leaf of Papyrus 46 — the earliest substantial copy of the letters of the Apostle Paul, written around AD 200 — carrying almost the whole of Romans 8, the most beloved chapter in all of Paul’s writings. On these two sides you can read the Spirit of adoption crying “Abba, Father,” the promise that we are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ,” the assurance that “all things work together for good,” and the great crescendo: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” … “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
Because this leaf is broken along one edge, part of each line is lost. This page shows you exactly which letters are real ink on the papyrus and which are supplied by scholars from the known text of Romans — and even a place where an ancient corrector went back and fixed a slip in a single word.
The featureThe heart of Romans, at the source
The most loved chapter Paul wrote. Romans 8 gathers up the hope of the whole letter: no condemnation, the Spirit of adoption, creation groaning for renewal, and a chain of promises — foreknown, called, justified, glorified — that climbs to one of the most quoted passages in the Bible: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” and “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Papyrus 46 lets us read it all in the oldest copy that survives.
A corrector caught a slip. In verse 30 — “whom he justified” — the first scribe misspelled the word as ΕΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΕΝ, and a corrector went back and set it right to ΕΔΙΚΑΙΩΣΕΝ. Small human moments like this are visible right on the leaf. The sacred names, too, are everywhere: God, Christ, Spirit and Son are each written short, under a bar, throughout the passage.
Line by lineThe Greek exactly as it sits on the leaf
Transcribed from the INTF transcription (NTVMR, 𝔓46 folio 11) and shown in the majuscule capitals the scribe used, with the original line breaks. Sacred names keep their overline. The photograph sits beside each side so you can compare the letters directly.
Front — Romans 8:15–25 (“Abba, Father… heirs with Christ”)
Back — Romans 8:27–35 (“all things work together for good”)
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. Sacred names carry the scribe’s overline. Words in a gold box appear (at least partly) on the fragment; grey words in [brackets] are supplied.
The Spirit of adoption: “Abba, Father” — Romans 8:15
15 …you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Children of God, heirs with Christ — Romans 8:16–17
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; 17 and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
The sufferings of now, the glory to come — Romans 8:18
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
Creation waits for the revealing of God's children — Romans 8:19–20
19 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
Creation set free into the glory of God's children — Romans 8:21
21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
The whole creation groans — Romans 8:22–23
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers pain together until now. 23 Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
In hope we were saved — Romans 8:24–25
24 For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? 25 But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. (Verse 26 — “the Spirit helps our weakness…” — falls in the strip lost between the two sides.)
The Spirit intercedes for the saints — Romans 8:27
27 He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.
All things work together for good — Romans 8:28
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. (P46 writes the subject in full — “God works all things together” — with Ο ΘΣ named.)
Foreknown, predestined to be like his Son — Romans 8:29
29 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Called, justified, glorified — Romans 8:30
30 Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified. (In the second “justified” the first hand wrote ΕΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΕΝ; a corrector emended it to ΕΔΙΚΑΙΩΣΕΝ.)
If God is for us, who can be against us? — Romans 8:31
31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He did not spare his own Son — Romans 8:32
32 He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?
Who brings a charge against God's elect? — Romans 8:33
33 Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies.
Who condemns? Christ, who died and was raised — Romans 8:34
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes, rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? — Romans 8:35
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (The leaf breaks off here; Paul’s answer — “in all these things we are more than conquerors” — continued on the next, now-lost lines.)
Reading the detailsTextual notes
The corrector’s fix (8:30). The second “he justified” was first written ΕΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΕΝ (with an o) and corrected to ΕΔΙΚΑΙΩΣΕΝ (with an ω). We show the first hand’s ink and note the corrector’s emendation.
“God works all things” (8:28). P46 makes the subject explicit — ΠΑΝ ΣΥΝΕΡΓΕΙ Ο ΘΣ, “God works all things together for good” — naming Ο ΘΣ where some manuscripts leave the subject unstated.
The sacred names. Surviving as ink are ΠΝΑ/ΠΝΣ (Spirit), ΘΥ/ΘΝ/ΘΣ (God), ΧΥ/ΧΡΣ (Christ) and ΥΙΥ (Son). Note that the scribe writes “spirit” out in full (ΠΝΕΥΜΑ, ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟΣ) when it means the human spirit or the created gift, but contracts and overlines it as a sacred name (ΠΝΑ, ΠΝΣ) for the Holy Spirit.
The manuscriptAt a glance
| This leaf | Folio 11: Romans 8:15–25 (front) · 8:27–35 (back) |
|---|---|
| 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); other leaves at the University of Michigan |
| Gregory–Aland no. | 𝔓46 (INTF doc. ID 10046) |
| Format | Single-quire papyrus codex; single column, ~23 lines per page here (page ΙΚ in the scribe’s numbering) |
| Text type | An early Alexandrian-type text of the Pauline letters |
Why it mattersThe chapter Christians reach for
When believers face suffering, doubt, or grief, Romans 8 is the passage they turn to more than almost any other: creation and the Spirit groaning alongside us, the unbreakable chain from God’s foreknowledge to glory, and the promise that nothing — not hardship, danger, or the sword — can cut us off from the love of Christ.
Papyrus 46 lets us read those words in the oldest copy that survives, written within about a century and a half of Paul himself. For a chapter carried in so many hearts, there is no earlier witness to hold.
Own this leaf
Manuscript Shop produces a museum-grade facsimile of this leaf of Papyrus 46 on real Egyptian papyrus, reproducing both sides — almost the whole of Romans 8 — at its true size.
ReferencesSources
- Transcription (surviving text): INTF transcription of 𝔓46, New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room, doc. ID 10046, folio 11 (Romans 8).
- Manuscript images: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (P. Chester Beatty II); 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.