papyrus · Hebrew · OT
Nash Papyrus
150 BC – 100 BC (~125 BC) · dated by paleography
Evidence card
A quick read on the physical object before the interpretive summary.
Artifact
papyrus · Hebrew
Date basis
150 BC – 100 BC (~125 BC) · paleography
Survival
~1% physically present
Contents
Exodus 20:2-17 (Decalogue); Deuteronomy 5:6-21 + 6:4-5 (Shema)
Artifact/map cue
Held at Cambridge University Library · Discovery: 1898, Egypt
Date
150 BC – 100 BC (~125 BC)
Passage represented
Exodus 20:2-17 (Decalogue); Deuteronomy 5:6-21 + 6:4-5 (Shema)
Fragmentary or partial witness
How much survives
~1% of the claimed text is physically present
Why it matters
Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947, the Nash Papyrus was the oldest known Hebrew biblical manuscript. A liturgical compilation, not a biblical scroll — it mixes Exodus and Deuteronomy versions of the Decalogue.
What it contains
- Exodus — 20:2-17 (Decalogue) (partial)
- Deuteronomy — 5:6-21 + 6:4-5 (Shema) (partial)
~1% of the claimed text is physically present.
Notable readings
Decalogue order
Some commandments in the LXX order, not the Masoretic order
Suggests fluidity in the Decalogue text in the Second Temple period.
Where & when
- Held at
- Cambridge University Library
- Discovery
- 1898, Egypt
- Found by
- Walter L. Nash
Source trail
Named catalogues, editions, libraries, or scholarship used for this manuscript page.
Citation cue
Cook 1903
Citation cue
Cambridge University Library