Bible Archeology Discoveries

Sayings of Jesus Papyrus
Discovered: Oxyrhynchus, Egypt (modern Behnesa)
From: (c. 2nd Century AD)

A collection of sayings or apothegms purporting to be quoted from Jesus and surviving on four small fragments of papyrus written in Koine Gr. These were discovered in the systematic search for papyrus carried on at the site of the Hel. town of Oxyrhynchus, (the modern Behnesa, 121 m. below Cairo). The mass of papyri fragments, scrolls and folios excavated from Oxyrhynchus were published by the British scholars B. P. Grenfell (1869-1926) and A. S. Hunt (1871-1934)

The sayings attributed to Jesus are written on four separate and apparently unrelated fragments. The first was discovered soon after the first trench into the mound of the ancient Roman-age town was dug. It was titled by its finders, Papyrus I, and contains a portion of the apocryphal Gospel of St. Thomas, a Gnostic work of the post-apostolic period. There are seven decipherable sayings each introduced by the phrase “Jesus says,” and apparently disconnected from each other except for the introductory phrase.

The document likely dates from the second century and contains sayings that resemble the Gospel of Matthew, but also content from the non_canonical, Gnostic "Book of Thomas."

(Jesus says), "Unless you fast from the world, you will in no way discover the kingdom of God.”

(Jesus says),“If you do not keep the sabbath the whole week through, you will not see the father.”

(Jesus says), "I stood in the center of the world and I was seen by them in the flesh, and I found all men drunk, but I found none thirsty among them.”

(Jesus says), "My soul grieves concerning the sons of men because their hearts are blind so they do not see their plight and their poverty.”

(Jesus says), "Wherever there are two together they are not apart from God, and where one is alone, I tell you I am with him.”

(Jesus says), "Lift up the stone and then you shall find me, split the beam and I am there.”

(Jesus says), " A physician does not treat those who know him.”

(Jesus says), "You hear with one ear, but the other is closed.”

(Jesus says), "There is nothing hidden (buried) which shall not be (raised) known.”

Note: These are non-canonical "sayings" that were not the product of reporting from eye witnesses.

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Notable Finds

Much of what is described in Bible text is lost to history, requiring readers to assume the historicity of the scriptures.

However, many of the places and events described in the Old and New Testaments are periodically corroborated by archeological finds.

Some finds simply help us to better understand things from the ancient world. However, others provide important evidence as to the truth of scripture regarding things about which there had previously been skepticism.

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