Papyrus 66

Papyrus Bodmer II (p66) 200 AD

This papyrus codex consists of 75 leaves and 39 unidentified fragments and was probably made up of originally 39 sheets of papyrus, folded and arranged in quires to form 78 leaves and 156 pages. The written pages are numbered consecutively from 1 to 34, 35 - 38 are missing, and then from 39 to page 108.

The papyrus contains most of John's Gospel: 1:1--6:11; 6:35--14:26, 29-30; 15:2-26; 16:2-4, 6-7, 16:10--20:20, 22-23, 20:25--21:9

For an excelent article on this and other sources of John's Gospel please read Dan Wallace's article The Gospel of John: Introduction, Argument, Outline
(Dan Wallace is professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary)

The Bodmer collection of approximately fifty manuscripts was purchased by M. Martin Bodmer of Switzerland in 1955-56. The collection is located in the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana in Cologny (near Geneva). The exception is Pap. VIII (including 1 & 2 Peter), which was given as a gift to Pope Paul VI in 1969; it is in the Vatican Library. These Greek and Coptic documents were discovered in Egypt, probably at Pabau, near a Pachomian monastery. They are from both codices and scrolls; most are papyri, but three are on parchment (Pap. XVI, XIX, and XXII). In terms of content, they include classical texts (e.g., Iliad, Odyssey, and Thucydides), biblical documents (both OT and NT), and writings of the early churches.

(Although this document has been dated at 200 AD. some experts put the date as early as 125 AD.)