How many extant manuscripts of 2 Peter are there? I have searched online but I can't seem to find that information.
Please cite your source.
1 Answer
From Wikipedia, the Papyri containing 2 Peter are:
- P72 (circa 300, also contains 1 Peter, Jude, and several apocryphal writings)
- P74 (circa 650, missing chapter 1, also contains Acts, 1 Peter, and 1-3 John)
The Uncials containing 2 Peter are
- 4th century: א, B
- 5th century: A, 048.
- 6th century: 0156 (Chapter 3), 0247 (Chapter 1)
- 7th century: 0209
- 9th century: P^apr, 049.
- 10th century: 042.
The Minuscules containing 2 Peter and dating before 1000 CE are:
- 9th century: 33, 876, 1424
- 10th century: 454, 456, 457, 602, 605, 619, 626, 627, 832, 920, 1739, 1834.
Those manuscripts contain all or most of the Catholic Epistles, but for some of those manuscripts it may be that 2 Peter or parts of it were missing. For Minuscules information at that level of detail isn't readily available.
The number of later minuscules containing 2 Peter from the same lists is roughly between 200 and 300.
To summarize the total number of Greek manuscripts by century are:
- 4th century: 3
- 5th century: 2
- 6th century: two partials
- 7th century: 2
- 8th century: None
- 9th century: 5
- 10th century: 13
- 11th century - 17th century: Between 200 and 300 total.
