REV. GEORGE MILLIGAN, ON THE GREEK PAPYRI. 67 



(3rd hand.) I, Aurelius Sabinus, prytanis, saw you sacrificing. 

 (1st hand.) The first year of the Emperor Caesar Gaius Messius 

 Quintus Trajanus Decius Pius Felix Augustus, Pauni 20." 



Froni this, the direct value of the new discoveries in 

 supplying us with new and original documents, it is more than 

 time that we turned to their indirect significance for the New 

 Testament student. This comes out in many ways. I can only 

 indicate a few of the more important : — 



1. The papyri help us to picture to ourselves what must 

 have been the outward appmrancc of our Xew Testament 

 autographs. 



A short Pauline epistle, such as the Epistle to Philemon, 

 would occupy a single sheet of papyrus, measuring from 5 to 

 5^ inches in width and 9 inches to 11 inches in height; 

 while in the case of the longer epistles, a number of these 

 sheets would be fastened together to form a roll. When 

 finished, the roll would be rolled round upon itself, fastened 

 with a thread and sealed, and then the address was written on 

 the back. If the general practice of the time was followed, 

 that address in the case of the Xew Testament writings would 

 be of the briefest, all the more so because the private mes- 

 sengers to whom they were entrusted would be fully informed 

 as to writers and recipients. For preservation, rolls, after being 

 read, w^ere fastened together in bundles, and laid in arks or 

 chests. And it will be readily seen how unsigned rolls, laid in 

 the same place and dealing with cognate subjects, would in 

 some cases come to be afterwards joined together as if they 

 formed parts of one work, while in the case of others questions 

 of authorship and destination might readily arise. 



In accordance again with the ordinary custom of the day, and 

 various hints thrown out in themselves, there can be little doubt 

 than many of the New Testament writings were in the first 

 instance written to dictation. 



Just as in innumerable papyrus letters we find the statement 

 " I, So and So, wrote on behalf of So and So," because he was 

 too illiterate to write for himself, or could only write slowly, so 

 we can understand how St. Paul, burdened as he was with 

 daily work and innumerable other cares, would gladly avail 

 himself of the assistance of some friend or follower in the 

 actual labour of transcribing his Epistles. And once we have 

 realized this, it becomes a further very important question, 

 What was the method of the Apostle's dictation ? Did he 

 dictate his letters word for word ? Or was he content to supply 



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