Philippians 2:5-11 in P46 and Codex Sinaiticus

[TWTY-Admin]

One of the most controversial passages in the whole of the New Testament is what Paul has to say in Philippians 2:5-11, in which he talks of the Messiah, Yahushua, as existing of the "form" of God, but taking on the "form" of a slave, in the "likeness" of a human being.

The most interesting of the statements is the one in Philippians 2:11, which is usually translated as "And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

In the oldest manuscripts of the Renewed Covenant, there are what's known as the nomina sacra (see the introduction page to TWTY translation of the Renewed Covenant here), and a significant, shall we say, muddening of how one is to interpret the specific nomen sacrum ΚΣ (and its other forms of course), which can in contexts either refer to both Yahweh and Yahushua as "Master" or "Sovereign Master", or in many cases (especially anarthrous; that is, lacking a definite article the) is a direct reference to Yahweh, and not just a title.

One of these I would say is in Philippians 2:11, where unfortunately in P46 we don't have the entire verse extant, but in Codex Sinaiticus we do. The main phrase is ΚΣ ΙΣ ΧΣ, which rather than meaning "Yahushua Messiah [is] Sovereign Master", should be "Messiah Yahushua is Yahweh."

As the nomen sacrum ΚΣ has no definite article (ο = Greek "the"), there is no reason to think that this is being used as a placement for the title, but rather a direct reference to Yahweh.

Image 1: Full page from P(apyrus) 46
Image 2: Philippians 2:5-11 highlighted in P46 (verse 11 in colour blue), with following transcription.
Image 3: Philippians 2:11 in Codex Sinaiticus





τουτο γαρ φρονειτε
εν ημειν ο και εν ΧΡΩ ΙΗΥ ος εν μορφη ΘΥ
υπαρχων ουχ αρπαγμον ηγησατο ειναι
ισα ΘΩ αλλα εαυτον εκενως εν μορφην
δουλου λαβων εν ομοιωματι ανθρωπου
γενομενος και σχηματι ευρεθεις ως αν
θρωπος εταπεινωσεν εαυτον γενομενος
υπηκοος μεχρι θανατου θανατου δε ΣΤΡΟΥ
διο και ο ΘΣ αυτον υπερυψωσεν και εχαρισα
[τ]ο αυτω το ονομα το υπερ παν ονομα ινα
[ε]ν τω ονοματι ΙΗΥ παν γονυ καμψη επου
[ρα]νιων και επιγειων και καταχθονιων
[κα]ι πασα γλωσσα εξομολγησηται οτι
[ΚΣ Ι]ΗΣ ΧΡΣ εις δοξαν ΘΥ ΠΡΣ

[sestir]

As the nomen sacrum ΚΣ has no definite article (ο = Greek "the"), there is no reason to think that this is being used as a placement for the title, but rather a direct reference to Yahweh.

...

[κα]ι πασα γλωσσα εξομολογησηται οτι (spelling corrected)
[ΚΣ Ι]ΗΣ ΧΡΣ εις δοζαν ΘΥ ΠΡΣ

Could ΚΣ be the adjective κύριος and void of article for this reason?
If not, am I right to guess you understand the text based on the principle described by Smyth in 1137§:

Names of deities omit the article, except when emphatic (νὴ τὸν Δία by Zeus) or when definite cults are referred to: τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἕδος the sanctuary of Athena [...]

[TWTY-Admin]

Hi sestir,

I more understand it based on the usage of ΚΣ as it is used in the NT itself, and how it pertains to referring to Yahweh as a placement for His name.

It's also based on the Septuagint, which in later manuscripts (earlier ones just substituted יהוה in Paleo-Hebrew) the nomen sacrum ΚΣ stood in for where the Hebrew would always have יהוה.

No better example could be than the Septuagint version of Isaiah 42:8 (the main proclamation of what TWTY is all about), again from Codex Sinaiticus:



εγω ΚΣ ο ΘΣ
τουτο μου εστιν
ονομα την δο
ξαν μου ετερω ου
δωσω

I am the God Yahweh - this is My name; my glory I shall not grant to any other...

Yahweh = ΚΣ = יהוה

We can see this also in many (if not all) of the quotes from the Tanakh in the Renewed Covenant, like Matt 3:3 and Matt 4:7, where κυριος is anarthrous in our modern editions - in the earlier manuscripts, this would be the nomen sacrum ΚΣ (though obviously according to whether the name was being referred to in the nominative, accusative, genitive, or dative case, the final letter would correspond to what would be expected in those four cases).

Albeit in this case, Smyth 1137§ does also apply, but this is secondary to the evidence of the NT and the Septuagint