Papyrus 37

Papyrus ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$³⁷

New Testament manuscript papyri uncials minuscules lectionaries
recto Matt 26:19-37
Text	Matthew 26:19-52
Date	~ 260 CE; 3rd/4th century
Found	Unknown, bought in Cairo in 1924
Now at	University of Michigan
Cite	H. A. Sanders, An Early Papyrus Fragment of the Gospel of Matthew in the Michigan Collection, HTR. vol. 19. 1926, pp. 215-226.
Size	1 leaf; 12 x 22 cm; 33 lines/page
Type	Free, mostly Western, Egyptian
Category	I
Hand	documentary

Papyrus 37 designated by ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$³⁷ (in the Gregory-Aland numbering) is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew dating to the 3rd century, sometime around 250-260 CE, due to its affinities with ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {P}}}$⁵³ (dated to 260 CE), The correspondence of Heroninos (dated shortly before or after 260 CE) and a letter by Kopres (P. Greco-Egizi 208, dated 256 CE).

It is currently housed at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Library (inventory #1570), and was purchased in Cairo, Egypt, in 1924. Its exact origin is unknown, but it most likely came from Egypt. The manuscript is a fragment of a single leaf consisting of one column of 33 lines (40 to 50 characters per line), roughly 12.1 cm by 22.4 cm. The fragment is damaged on all sides with considerable lacunae and was probably originally 15 cm by 25.5 cm. The surviving text of Matthew are verses 26:19-52. This portion of Matthew depicts the Last Supper, the betrayal by Judas, and the beginning of the Arrest of Jesus.