Manuscript Evidence
The Nash Papyrus
30-second summary
Four Hebrew papyrus fragments bought in Egypt in 1902 preserve the Ten Commandments followed by the Shema (Deut 6:4-5). Dated c. 150-100 BC, it was the oldest known Hebrew biblical manuscript until the 1947 Dead Sea Scrolls discovery.
Scripture
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength.
Audi Israhel Dominus Deus noster Dominus unus est. Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota fortitudine tua.
The Claim
The Nash Papyrus, four Hebrew fragments bearing the Ten Commandments followed by the opening of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5), dates to c. 150-100 BC and was for nearly half a century the oldest known Hebrew biblical manuscript, until the 1947 Dead Sea Scrolls discovery.
- Corroboration
- The fragments are a physical artifact held at Cambridge University Library (MS Or.233), first published by Stanley A. Cook in 1903 and independently re-dated on paleographic grounds by William F. Albright to c. 150-100 BC; the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 corroborated both its early date range and its non-Masoretic, Septuagint-leaning textual character for this period.
- Discovered
- Acquired in Egypt, 1902, by Dr. Walter Llewellyn Nash; presented to Cambridge University Library in 1903
- Current location
- Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK (MS Or.233); digitized and viewable via the Cambridge Digital Library
Why this level?
A physical papyrus manuscript held in a named public repository (Cambridge University Library, MS Or.233), paleographically dated to c. 150-100 BC and digitized with open scholarly documentation. That solid physical anchor is joined to an interpretive step the entry itself draws: reading the Decalogue-plus-Shema layout as evidence of an established devotional pairing predating Christ.
Dig deeper
A prayer sheet from the land of the pharaohs
In 1902 the English physician and antiquarian Dr. Walter Llewellyn Nash purchased four small papyrus fragments from an antiquities dealer in Egypt, recovered, by report, from the Fayyum region. He presented them to Cambridge University Library in 1903, where Semitic scholar Stanley A. Cook published the first edition later that year. Cook initially dated the hand to the second century AD; subsequent paleographic study — most influentially by William F. Albright — placed it in the Maccabean-era range of about 150-100 BC, a date now standard in the scholarship and the floor for the papyrus's age.
Decalogue and Shema, back to back
The twenty-four surviving lines carry a Hebrew text of the Ten Commandments that blends wording from Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 and omits the phrase "house of bondage" — a detail consistent with composition among the Jewish community in Egypt rather than in the land of Israel. A short transitional line then leads into the opening of the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God..." (Deut 6:4-5). Placing the Commandments directly beside the Shema shows the two texts already joined in devotional use in the second century BC; the sheet's format points to a teaching or prayer text — possibly the contents of a phylactery (tefillin) — rather than a portion of a running biblical scroll.
Half a century as the oldest witness
Before 1947, the Nash Papyrus held the record: the oldest known manuscript preserving a portion of the Hebrew Bible. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered that year at Qumran, supplied Hebrew texts older still, and confirmed that the Nash Papyrus's mixed, non-Masoretic wording reflects the genuine textual diversity of this period — Qumran manuscripts show the same fluidity, sometimes leaning toward readings later preserved in the Greek Septuagint. Even after 1947, the Nash Papyrus remains among the oldest Hebrew biblical fragments known, and it is unmatched among them for showing the Decalogue and Shema already joined in devotional use.
Why it matters
That pairing is not incidental to Christian readers. When a scribe asked Jesus which commandment was greatest, he answered by quoting this very passage: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart..." (Mark 12:29-30). The Nash Papyrus shows that a century or more before Jesus spoke those words, Jews were already reciting the Shema as the daily anchor of their prayer life, set beside the Ten Commandments themselves. The physical fragments, digitized and freely viewable, let anyone see the same Hebrew letters that framed the devotional world Jesus was born into.
Keep digging
- Cambridge Digital Library viewer (MS Or.233): https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-OR-00233/1
- Wikipedia overview and scholarly history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Papyrus
- Ancient Hebrew inscriptions summary: https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/inscriptions/137.html
- Magisterium AI (Catholic magisterial search): https://www.magisterium.com
- BibleHub Deuteronomy 6:4 (Shema, modern translations): https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/6-4.htm
Citations
- Academic
Nash Papyrus (MS Or.233) — Cambridge University Library, via Google Arts & Culture
Nash Papyrus, Cambridge University Library MS Or.233
Supports: Acquisition by W.L. Nash in 1902 from an Egyptian dealer, presentation to Cambridge University Library in 1903, second-century-BC dating, contents (Decalogue followed by the Shema), and current location/shelfmark MS Or.233
- Academic
Nash Papyrus digitized: Ancient Copy of Ten Commandments Goes Online
Christian Post, coverage of Cambridge Digital Library's 2012 digitization
Supports: 2012 digitization of the Nash Papyrus by Cambridge University Library and its ongoing housing there
- Academic
Nash Papyrus — Ancient Hebrew Research Center
Ancient-Hebrew.org, Inscription 137: Nash Papyrus
Supports: Albright's paleographic re-dating of the papyrus to the second century BC, and description of the mixed Exodus/Deuteronomy Decalogue text omitting 'house of bondage'
- Academic
Mark 12:29-30 (Berean, KJV, and study notes)
BibleHub, Mark 12:29-30
Supports: Jesus quoting the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 in Mark 12:29-30 as the greatest commandment
- Scripture
Deuteronomy Chapter 6 — Douay-Rheims
Douay-Rheims Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Supports: Exact Douay-Rheims wording of Deuteronomy 6:4-5
- Scripture
Deuteronomy Chapter 6 — Clementine Vulgate
Clementine Vulgate, Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Supports: Exact Clementine Vulgate Latin wording of Deuteronomy 6:4-5