Ultraviolet Light Reveals Hidden Bible Chapter Over 1,500 Years Later

An ancient version of a Bible chapter that had been buried beneath another part of text for more than 1,500 years has reportedly been discovered by scientists using ultraviolet photography.

The discovery was revealed in an essay published earlier this year in the journal New Testament Studies by historian Grigory Kessel of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Cambridge University Press is the publisher of the peer-reviewed scholarly journal New Testament Studies.

On a palimpsest, a sort of ancient book where people used to write over other words but frequently left traces of the old writing remain, Kessel claims that he used ultraviolet photography to view the previous text behind three layers of words written.

Due to the lack of parchment, palimpsests were utilized in the past. On the substance, letters would be repeatedly printed until many layers of the concealed letters were visible.

According to a news release from Kessel, the text detailed in his finding is a previously unknown version of Chapter 12 in the Book of Matthew that was initially included in Old Syriac translations of the Bible around 1,500 years ago. He claimed to have found the information in a manuscript kept at the Vatican Library.

According to the news release, the manuscript exhibits certain deviations from contemporary translations of the book and provides a "unique gateway" for academics to comprehend the earliest stages of the textual history of the Bible.

For instance, the most widely used translation of Matthew 12:1 is from the original Greek, which reads, "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat," according to the release.

However, the translation from the recently discovered Syriac is slightly different. "Began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them," the statement reads.

This article was originally published by Business Insider.