Nomina sacra

In Christian scribal practice, nomina sacra (singular: nomen sacrum from Latin sacred name) is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A nomen sacrum consists of two or more letters from the original word spanned by an overline.

Biblical scholar and textual critic Bruce M. Metzger lists 15 such words treated as nomina sacra from Greek papyri: the Greek counterparts of God, Lord, Jesus, Christ, Son, Spirit, David, Cross, Mother, Father, Israel, Savior, Man, Jerusalem, and Heaven.^[1]^: 36–37 These nomina sacra are all found in Greek manuscripts of the 3rd century and earlier, except Mother, which appears in the 4th. All 15 occur in Greek manuscripts later than the 4th century.^[2]

Nomina sacra also occur in some form in Latin, Coptic, Armenian (indicated by the pativ), Gothic, Old Nubian, Old Irish and Cyrillic (indicated by the titlo).

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^ Comfort, Philip Wesley; Barrett, David (2001). Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts (2 ed.). Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-8423-5265-1.

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[2] Comfort, Philip Wesley; Barrett, David (2001). Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts (2 ed.). Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-8423-5265-1.

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