Women in P. Würzb. 3?

Abstract

P.Würzb. 32 transmits two intercessory prayers, each consisting of a string of requests and topics prayed for. The question of who is prayed for at r.14–17 of the papyrus has generated scholarly controversy. In a contribution in the Festschrift for Ramon Roca-Puig the liturgist Klaus Gamber advanced the view that this prayer concerns females consecrated to God, virgins or widows.3 This view was met with the criticism of Pieter Sijpesteijn and Kurt Treu4 who rightly pointed out that this interpretation of the passage did not square with Wilcken’s text of ll. r.14–15 followed by Gamber: κατάρτιϲον δὲ ϲεαυτῷ καὶ τὰϲ ψυχὰϲ τῶν ἐ [ν] ἁ |[γν]ί⟨ᾳ⟩ καὶ παρθενίᾳ τοῦ λαοῦ ϲου, θ(ε)έ, ἰδίᾳ μενούϲ[α]ϲ.5 As the text stands, τὰϲ ψυχὰϲ must be taken as the subject of the participle. “No mention whatsoever of women is made in the Würzburg papyrus”, asserted Sijpesteijn and Treu. [...]