MTB-02 The Bodmer Psalms

If you were to ask people what their favorite part of the Old Testament is, inevitably many will say, “The Psalms.” The Psalms are a guide for those who worship the God of the Bible when they desire to praise him, to petition him, to cry out to him, to thank him, even to question him. They offer a vast array of human emotions in poems, songs, and prayers for both personal and corporate worship. The book of Psalms — also called the Psalter — reminds its readers that all of life is to be lived coram Deo, “before the face of God.” It invites those who sing its songs and pray its prayers to a life of honest and wise relationship with God, with themselves, and with their community.

Like nearly all books of the Old Testament, the Psalms were originally written in Hebrew. But a Greek translation of the Old Testament, sometimes called the Septuagint, brought them to life for a whole new audience. And today, we can experience these beautiful words in the ancient Greek manuscript known as the Bodmer Psalms.

As we examine the Bodmer Psalms, we’ll consider four related topics starting with the artifact itself. What do we know about this manuscript and its use in antiquity?

The Bodmer Psalms was named for Swiss collector Martin Bodmer, who purchased the artifact in 1952. It was produced somewhere in Egypt in either the 3rd or early 4th century A.D. Unfortunately, it was not from an official archaeological dig, so we know very little of its discovery. One credible theory, based on other manuscripts associated with it, is that the Bodmer Psalms was once part of the collection of a monastery in Pabau, Egypt, near Dishna — a settlement on the bank of the Nile. In 1952, an antiquities dealer is said to have bought the collection from Egyptian peasants and then sold it — at a great profit — to Martin Bodmer.

The manuscript remained under the care of the Bodmer Library until 2010. At that time, the document was privately purchased by the Green Collection in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And in 2012, the Green family donated it to Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., where we can see it today.