While we do not now possess any of the original autograph manuscripts penned by the evangelists and the apostles, or recorded for them by their secretaries (cf. Rom. 16:22; I Pet. 5:12), there is every reason to suppose that these precious documents were sheets or rolls of papyrus, closely resembling in form the earliest copies now extant. This "papyrus" (a term which in course of time was modified to form our English word "paper") was formed by preparing long, ribbon-like strips cut from the pith of the papyrus reed, which grew in profusion by the banks of the Nile, and placing these strips vertically side by side, covering them with a similar arrangement of horizontal strips—the two layers being held in place by means of a light glue mixed with water from the Nile. The whole was then placed under pressure and dried, and when its surface had been smoothed and polished, the resultant sheet formed a very serviceable writing material.
The manufacture of papyrus was very far from being a new art, even in the days of the apostles, for there is still in existence a papyrus document which is considered by experts to date from at least 3500 B.C. Under favorable circumstances, then, papyrus was exceedingly durable; but the vital interest of the Gospels, the epistles, and other books which ultimately went to make up what we know as the New Testament, led them to be so eagerly read that it is supposed that the earliest manuscripts simply wore out through constant handling, being replaced by carefully transcribed copies. The pens employed in writing these ancient documents were fashioned from reeds, while the ink commonly used was formed of a mixture of soot and gum diluted with water. Primitive though this type of ink may appear, it says much for its permanence that letters dating from the New Testament period or earlier, and since unearthed in Egypt, can still be read with little difficulty.
We learn from early records that papyrus was ordinarily sold in sheets measuring from nine to eleven inches in height, and from five to five and one half inches in width, and for such a brief note as the second epistle of John a single sheet would doubtless be sufficient. In the case of a more lengthy letter, such as the epistle to the Romans, the writer would naturally follow the custom of his day by purchasing a number of sheets, glued together side by side so as to form a long strip which could be rolled up for the sake of convenience.
