The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 60

1 ] α[
2 ] [
3 ] [
4 ] [
5 ]. [
6 ] μ . . [ . . ] . elee[son have mercy
7 ] elee [ . . ] . ymo . [
8 despota Master pant . . . . [ pat-er ton oiktirmon Father of mercies
9 kai theos pases pa[rakleseos and God of all comfort
10 kai eleeson kai kyber . . . . [ and have mercy and govern
11 kataxioson hemas . . [ make us worthy per hemon for us
12 ho en tois ounois hagiasthito [ the one in the heavens, hallowed be to onoma sou your name
13 eltheto he basileia sou hos e[n ouno kai epi your kingdom come as in heaven and on
14 ges ton arton hemon to[n epiousion dos earth, our bread the daily give
15 hemin semeron kai aphes he[min ta opheile to us today and forgive us the debts
16 mata hemon hosper ka[i] hem[eis aphikamen of ours as also we have forgiven
17 tois opheiletais hemon ka[i me eisenegkes those in debt to us and do not bring
18 hemas eis peirasmon alla [rysai hemas a us into temptation but deliver us from
19 po tou ponerou rysai hem[as the evil one, deliver us

2–5 Fibers stripped where the initial letters should come. In 5, isolated horizontal trace: paragraphos section marker or part of letter?

6 ff. The lines which are certainly restorable have 29 to 32 letters.

6 μ . . [, lower arc of circle (ε θ ο ς ω?); tip of upright descending from left to right (α δ λ υ χ). ] . , foot of upright (if word end, η or ι?). Perhaps mou [ka]i eleeson of me and have mercy, cf. 9–10.

7 ] . , perhaps a lower right-hand arc. elee[so]n have mercy would not suit the trace, and in any case looks a little too long. Perhaps elee[os s]ou your mercy, which would just fit: the phrase is common in LXX Septuagint. E.g., elee[son hemas kata to mega] elee[os s]ou have mercy on us according to your great mercy, after Ps. 50.3?
μο . [, traces (of an upright?) on the edge.

8–9 2 Cor. 1.3 "The Father of mercies and God of all comfort." At the beginning of 8, perhaps panto, perhaps pantw; the traces following, on a narrow strip of fibers, are vestigial; pantokra[tor Almighty would be possible, but looks long for the likely space. 9 end, e.g., epakouson hear us.

10 kyb, not rys, seems to suit the remains; the final traces, on straggling fibers, indeterminate. Probably kyberne[son govern/guide, then space for c. 4–7 letters.

11 . . [, indeterminate ink on straggling fibers. We expect a verb of speaking to introduce the Pater Lord's Prayer. kataxioson hemas make us worthy ... tolman epikaleisthai se to dare to call upon you ... kai legein and to say, etc. But legein itself looks too short (unless followed by a punctuation-space).

11 ff. Ev. Matt. 6.9–13.

13 sou your: the following clause genetheto to thelema sou may your will be done omitted by homoeoteleuton omission due to similar word endings.

16 hosper just as: hos as in Matt.