Cath. Ep., Acts. At the end of the Pauline Epistles, and at the
end of the Acts, are two important Arabic colophons, in which the
pedigree of the MS. is given. From these we learn that both
portions of this MS. were written A. Mart. 1024 (= A.D. 1308) by
one Abu Said. They were copied, however, from a previous MS. in
the handwriting of the patriarch Abba Gabriel and bearing the date
A. Mart. 966 (= A.D. 1250). This Abba Gabriel stated that “he took
great pains to copy it accurately and correct it, both as to the
Coptic and Arabic texts, to the best of human ability.” This MS.
of Abba Gabriel again was copied from two earlier MSS., that of
the Pauline Epistles in the handwriting of Abba Yuhanna, bishop of
Sammanud, that of the Catholic Epistles and Acts in the
handwriting of “Jurja ibn Saksik(?) the famous scribe.” This MS.
belonged to Archdeacon Tattam, and was purchased for the British
Museum at the sale of his books. It is the MS. designated
’tattamianus’ in the edition of Boetticher, who made use of a
collation obtained by Schwartze. The corrections in this MS.
(designated t* in Boetticher) are written in red ink.
5. Oriental 1318, ff. 294, fol., 4to, Copt. Arab., dated A. Mart.
1132 = A.D. 1416.
In private collections in England:
*6. Parham 124 (no. 12, p. 29, in the printed Catalogue), fol.,
paper, Copt. Arab. Paul. Ep., Cath. Ep., Acts. There are several
blank leaves at the end of the Pauline Epistles, and the numbering
of the leaves begins afresh with the Catholic Epistles, so that
this MS. is two volumes bound together. They are, however,
companion volumes and in the same handwriting. This is doubtless
the MS. of which Schwartze’s collation was used by Boetticher
(_see_ above, p. 109), and which he calls “curetonianus.” I am
informed that it is designated simply _cur._ by Schwartze himself.
It certainly never belonged to Cureton, but was brought with the
other Parham MSS. by the Hon. R. Curzon (afterwards Lord Zouche)
from the East, and ever afterwards belonged to his library.
Boetticher’s designation therefore is probably to be explained by
a confusion of names. I gather moreover from private
correspondence which I have seen, that some of Mr. Curzon’s Coptic
MSS. were in the keeping of Cureton at the British Museum about
the time when Schwartze’s collation was made, and this may have
been one. If so, the mistake is doubly explained. I infer the
identity of this MS. with the _curetonianus_ of Boetticher for the
following reasons: (1) Having made all enquiries, I cannot find
that Dr. Cureton ever possessed a Coptic MS. of the whole or part
of the New Testament; (2) The MS. in question must have been in
England, and no other English MS. satisfies the conditions. My
first impression was that the MS. next described, Parham 121,
would prove to be the _curetonianus_, for I found between the
leaves an envelope addressed to Mr. Cureton at the British Museum,
and bearing the post mark, January, 1849; this fact indicating
that it had been in Mr. Cureton’s hands about the time when
Schwartze’s collation was made. But a comparison of the readings
soon showed that this identification must be abandoned. (3) The
cipher which Boetticher gives for the date is also found in this
MS. in two places, after the Pauline Epistles and again after the
Acts. This coincidence is the more remarkable as the cipher is not
very intelligible. (4) The readings of our MS., Parham 124, where
I compared them, agree with those of Boetticher’s _curetonianus_,
with an occasional exception which may be accounted for by the
inaccuracy of the collation. This is the case with crucial
readings, as for instance the marginal alternative in Acts vii.
39. At the same time Schwartze’s collation, if Boetticher has
given its readings fully, must have been very imperfect. In a
short passage which I collated I found more variations omitted
than there were verses.
*7. Parham 125 (no. 13, p. 29, printed Catalogue), small 4to,
paper, in a very neat hand, with illuminations, Copt. Arab. It
contains the Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles, and Acts.
In the National Library at Paris:
*8. Copt. 17, fol., paper, Copt. Arab., described in the Catalogue
as “antiquus et elegantissime scriptus.” It contains the fourteen
Pauline Epistles. Is this the MS. collated by Boetticher for these
Epistles and designated _p_ by him?
*9. Copt. 63, small fol., paper. “Emta per me Bernardum de
Montfaucon Venetiis anno 1698, 11 Augusti.” It contains the
fourteen Pauline Epistles, and is dated at the end ⲁⲧⲟⲥ, i.e. 1376
= A.D. 1660.
*10. Copt. 64, fol., paper, Copt. Arab. “Manuscrit de la
Bibliothèque de Saumaise acquis par l’abbé Sallier pour le B. R.
en 1752.” It contains the fourteen Pauline Epistles.
*11. Copt. 66, 4to, paper, with occasional Arabic notes in the
margin. It belonged to the Coislin library, and previously to the
Seguerian. It contains the Catholic Epistles and Acts. The date of
its completion is given at the end as 1325, i.e. A.D. 1609. A
collation of this MS. was used by Boetticher for his edition, and
is designated _p_ by him.
*12. Copt. 65, fol., paper. “Emta Venetiis per me Fr. I. Bernardum
de Montfaucon anno 1698, 2 Augusti.” This volume contains the
Apocalypse, Catholic Epistles, and Acts. It consists of two parts,
ff. 1-32 containing the Apocalypse, and ff. 33-102 containing the
Catholic Epistles and Acts. The two parts are written on different
paper, and apparently in different hands. At the end of the
Apocalypse the date is given 1376 = A.D. 1660. At the end of the
Acts also the same date 1376 is given, and the scribe there
mentions his name ⲓⲱⲁⲡⲓⲡⲣⲉⲥⲃⲩⲧⲉⲣⲟⲥ. Boetticher collated this MS.
for his edition and designates it _m_.
In the Royal Library at Berlin:
13. Orient. 615, fol., Copt. Arab., containing the Epistles to the
Colossians, Thessalonians, Philemon, Hebrews, Timothy, Titus.
14. Orient. 116, fol., Copt. Arab., containing the Epistles to the
Romans and Corinthians.
15. Orient. 169, 4to. A transcript of the Epistles to the
Ephesians and Philippians in Coptic, made by Petraeus at Leyden in
1660.
These three were collated by Boetticher, from whom I have
extracted this meagre account, which is all that he gives. He
designates them _b_.
In the Vatican:
16. Copt. 12 (I. B. Raymund ii), fol., paper, Copt. Arab. The
Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles, and Acts; ascribed by
Assemani to the fourteenth century. In this MS. the Epistle to the
Hebrews stands after the Epistle to Philemon, thus departing from
the usual Bohairic order, as above, no. 6. _See_ Mai, Coll. Vet.
Script., v. 2, p. 125 sq.
17. Copt. 13 (I. B. Raymund iii), fol., paper, Copt. Arab.,
ascribed by Assemani to the thirteenth century. The fourteen
Pauline Epistles. _See_ Mai, _l. c._, p. 127 sq.
18. Copt. 14 (I. B. Raymund v), 4to, paper, Copt. Arab.,
containing the Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles, and Acts. It
was written by Michael the monk of the city of Bembge in the year
1074 (i.e. A.D. 1358), except the last leaf, which was supplied in
1220 (i.e. A.D. 1504). _See_ Mai, _l. c._, p. 128 sq.
C. _The Apocalypse._
In England:
*1. Bodleian, Hunt. 43, already described under Epistles 1.
*2. Library of Lord Crawford and Balcarres. A very small folio,
paper, with illuminations, Copt. Arab. ϯⲁⲡⲟⲕⲁⲗⲓⲙⲯⲓⲥ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ.
The Apocalypse itself is followed by “The Benediction which is
read before the Holy Apocalypse.” The date 1091 (i.e. A.D. 1375)
is given at the end of the Apocalypse, where also the scribe
mentions his name Peter. On a later page he describes himself as a
monk and presbyter. There are corrections in the margin of the
Apocalypse, some in red, others in black ink. Some of these
contain various readings, e.g. x. 11 ⲡⲉϫⲱⲟⲩ λέγουσι for ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ
λέγει. This MS. once belonged to Tattam.
*3. Parham 123 (no. 15, p. 29 in the printed Catalogue). Small
fol., paper, rudely written in a recent hand. Copt. Arab. It
contains the Apocalypse, followed by the “Book of the Holy
Benediction, &c.” The scribe, who has evidently a very indifferent
knowledge of Coptic, gives his name as Matthew the son of Abraham,
and states that the work was finished
ϧⲉⲛϯⲣⲟⲙⲡⲓⲛϣⲟⲣⲉⲛⲛⲓⲙⲁⲣⲧⲩⲣⲟⲥⲉⲑⲩ. This ought to be the year 1105 of
the Martyrs (= A.D. 1389); but the MS. must be later than this
date. The colophon itself is perhaps copied from an earlier MS.
*4. Parham 124 (no. 16, p. 29 in the printed Catalogue). A large
12mo, paper, Copt. Arab. It contains about fifteen lines in a
page, and about eleven letters in a line. Two or three pages
towards the beginning are in a later hand. The date is given at
the end, A. Mart. 1037 = A.D. 1321. This Apocalypse is not
Sahidic, as described in the printed Catalogue, but Bohairic.
At Paris:
*5. Copt. 65, already described under Epistles 11.
*6. Copt. 91, 8vo, paper, Copt. Arab., containing the Apocalypse
alone, ϯⲁⲡⲟⲕⲁⲗⲩⲙⲯⲓⲥ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ ⲡⲓⲉⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲥⲧⲏⲥ. It is dated at the
end 1117 (? = A.D. 1401).
In the printed Catalogue *Copt. 34 (Delamare 581, Reg. 342. 3) is
also stated to contain ’Apocalypsis e Graeca lingua in Copticam
conversa,’ but there seems to be some mistake about this.
At Rome:
*7. Anglican Library, C. i. 9. The Apocalypse in Copt. Arab.
ϯⲁⲡⲟⲕⲁⲗⲩⲯⲓⲥ ⲛⲧⲉ ⲓⲱⲁ ⲡⲓⲉⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲥⲧⲏⲥ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ, &c., said to
belong to the fifteenth century.
8. Library of the Propaganda, large 8vo, paper, in a modern hand.
Copt. Arab. The Apocalypse somewhat mutilated. It contains i.
12-ii. 26, and iii. 9-xxii. 12. It is briefly described among the
Borgian MSS. by Zoega, p. 3.
9. Vatican, Copt. 15, fol., paper, Copt. Arab. The Apocalypse
followed by “Ordo dominicae palmarum” (fol. 59). Referred by
Assemani to the fourteenth century. _See_ Mai, Coll. Vet. Script.,
v. 2, p. 130.
10. Vatican, Copt. 16 (I. B. Raymund, no. xi), 4to, paper, Copt.
Arab. The Apocalypse, followed by a Benedictio. It was written by
one John son of Abul-Menna in 1061 (i.e. A.D. 1345). The scribe
prays “omnes amicos suos sinceros ... ut castigent atque corrigant
errata illius pro sua prudentia, quoniam ausus sum fungi munere
mihi ignoto.” _See_ Mai, _l. c._, p. 130 sq.(107)
Besides these MSS. of different parts of the New Testament there
is also a considerable number of Bohairic Lectionaries in the
different libraries of Europe.
From this account of the MSS. it appears that, with the single exception
of the Apocalypse, the Bohairic New Testament, as far back as we can trace
its history, contained all the books of our present Canon. Nor have I
noticed any phenomena in the language of the several books, which point to
any want of uniformity or separation of date; though it is possible that a
more thorough investigation and a more complete mastery of the language
might reveal such. It seems clear, however, that the Apocalypse had not a
place among the Canonical books. In the majority of cases it is contained
in a separate MS. In the exceptions which I have investigated, where it is
bound up with other books (the MSS. numbered 1, 12, of the Epistles and
Acts), it is distinguished from them in some marked way; and probably this
will be found to be the case with any which have not yet been examined. In
short, there is not a single authenticated case of a MS. in which it is
treated as of equal authority with the other Canonical books. Moreover in
Copto-Arabic vocabularies it is omitted from its proper place at the end
of the New Testament, all the other books being taken in order. This
depreciation of the Apocalypse may perhaps be taken as indicating the date
of the completion or codification of the Bohairic version. The earlier
Alexandrian writers, Clement and Origen, in the first decades of the third
century, quote the Apocalypse without hesitation as the work of St. John.
The later Alexandrian Church also from the close of the third century
onward seems to have had no doubt about its Apostolic authority (_see_
Westcott, Canon, p. 321). But about the middle of the third century doubts
were entertained respecting its authorship, to which expression was given
by Dionysius of Alexandria (flor. A.D. 233-265), though even Dionysius did
not deny its canonicity. The difficulty, however, may have been powerful
enough to cause its exclusion from the Egyptian Canon.
The order of the several parts of the New Testament in the MSS. is (1)
Gospels, (2) Pauline Epistles, (3) Catholic Epistles, (4) Acts. The
Gospels occur in their common order. It is remarkable, however, that in
the vocabularies St. John frequently stands first, so that we get the
order, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, which (with the doubtful exception of
the Sahidic) is unique. Of this, however, there is no trace in the MSS.;
and, as some of these must carry the tradition further back than the
vocabularies, the arrangement is perhaps to be explained in some other
way. The Pauline Epistles include the Hebrews, which is placed after 1, 2
Thessalonians and before 1, 2 Timothy(108), as in the Greek MSS. אABC, &c.
(see p. 71). This accords with the general opinion of the Alexandrian
school, which regarded this Epistle as the work of St. Paul (_see_
Westcott, Canon, p. 323 sq.). In other respects the familiar order is
observed in the Pauline Epistles, as is also the case with the Catholic
Epistles(109).
The Bohairic version is for the most part a faithful rendering of the
original, and the Egyptian language which by this time had borrowed
largely from the Greek vocabulary is fairly adequate for the purpose. This
version therefore may generally be consulted even for minute variations in
the text. The connecting particles are commonly observed; and as the
language has both definite and indefinite articles, it may be employed,
though with some caution, by the textual critic where other versions fail
him. In one point, however, it is quite useless. When the question lies
between a participle and a finite verb in the construction of a sentence,
the looseness of the Egyptian syntax will seldom afford any clue to the
reading which the translator had before him. Perhaps the weakest point in
the language is the absence of a passive voice, for which the third person
plural active, used impersonally, acts as a substitute. This produces
strange awkwardnesses of expression. Thus John i. 6 ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ Θεοῦ
is rendered “whom they sent from God,” ⲉ ⲁⲩⲟⲩⲟⲣⲡϥ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲓⲧⲉⲛ ⲫϯ, and i. 17
ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωυσέως ἐδόθη “The law they gave it by Moses,” ⲡⲓ ⲛⲟⲙⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲧⲏⲓϥ
ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲓⲧⲉⲛ ⲙⲱⲩⲥⲏⲥ. Another grave defect is the want of a word corresponding
to the simple meaning of ἔχειν, which has to be rendered by various
expedients according to the context.
To the adoption of Greek words there seems to be hardly any limit but the
caprice of the translator. Already in the demotic writing we find a few of
these foreign intruders naturalized; but in the Coptic, as used for
ecclesiastical purposes, they occur in the greatest profusion. Very
frequently their adoption cannot be explained by any exigencies of
translation. Thus for instance the translator will sometimes render one
Greek word by another, e.g. John xiii. 5, νιπτήρ by λακάνη or λεκάνη; Acts
xix. 40, ἐγκαλεῖν by κατηγορεῖν; xxviii. 17, ἔθος by συνήθεια. Thus again
he will diversify the rendering in the same passage, using indifferently
the Greek and the Egyptian word for the same original, e.g. ϥⲱⲛⲧ and
ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲍⲓⲛ (πειράζειν), Matt. iv. 1, 3; ϫⲣⲟϫ and ⲥⲡⲉⲣⲙⲁ, John viii. 33, 37;
ⲡⲟⲩⲣⲟ and ⲕⲉⲥⲁⲣ (Καῖσαρ), John xix. 12, 15; ⲓϧ and ⲇⲉⲙⲱⲛ (δαιμόνιον),
Matt. viii. 16, 28, 33. And again and again Greek words are used, where
common Egyptian equivalents were ready to hand. The conjunctions ἀλλά, δέ,
γάρ, οὖν, were doubtless needed to supply a want in the Egyptian language,
which, like the Hebrew and Aramaic, was singularly deficient in
connecting-particles; but we should hardly have looked for such
combinations as ὅμως μέντοι, πόσῳ μᾶλλον, μήτι, οὐ γάρ, οὐχ ὅτι, ὅτι μὲν
γάρ, καί γε, καίτοι, οὐ μόνον δέ, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον, πῶς οὖν, ἵνα κἄν, ἵνα μήπως,
μενοῦνγε, and the like. Nor should we expect to find Greek terms
introduced with such reckless prodigality as in the following sentences:
John xviii. 3, ⲛⲉⲙ ϩⲁⲛⲫⲁⲛⲟⲥ ⲛⲉⲙ ϧⲁⲛ ⲗⲁⲙⲡⲁⲥ ⲛⲉⲙ ϩⲱⲛ ϩⲟⲡⲗⲟⲛ; Acts xxiii. 8,
ⲙⲙⲟⲛ ⲁⲛⲁⲥⲧⲁⲥⲓⲥ ⲟⲩⲇⲉ ⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ ⲟⲩⲇⲉ ⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ; Acts xxvii. 12, ⲕⲁⲧⲁⲛⲧⲁⲛ ⲉ ⲫⲟⲓⲛⲓⲝ
ⲉ ⲉⲣ ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲭⲓⲙⲁⲍⲓⲛ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩ ⲗⲩⲙⲏⲛ; Rom. vi. 13, ⲛⲉⲧⲉⲛ ⲙⲉⲗⲟⲥ ⲛ ϩⲟⲗⲡⲟⲛ ⲛⲧⲉ ϯ
ⲁⲇⲓⲕⲓⲁ.
[No definite discussion on the history or critical value of the Bohairic
version is possible until the edition which is being prepared by the Rev.
G. Horner is published; based as it is on a collation of all known MSS.
An opinion which at present seems to prevail largely among scholars is
that of Stern (Z. A. S. 20, 1882, p. 202), who dates it to the fourth or
fifth century, and ascribes it to the literary activity of the monks of
the Natron Lakes. He has further suggested that it and the Sahidic may
both be derived from, or at any rate connected with, the Akhmîm version
(Z. A. S. 24, 1886, p. 134).
The last statement may be definitely dismissed; it is based upon a single
sentence quoted from an apocryphal book of the Old Testament, and is
definitely disproved in the case of the New Testament by a comparison of
the two versions. They are not only different translations, but are based
on a different Greek text. The first statement is apparently based upon
language, and has undoubtedly an element of truth in it. The language of
the version as we have it was probably revised and corrected, and reduced
to a fixed orthography and a more definite form, but even here it is not
possible to speak quite positively, and we know that there are
considerable variations in orthography preserved in some of the MSS. which
may represent the tradition of different monasteries. But, granting this,
it does not by any means follow that there was not a Bohairic dialect and
a Bohairic version at an earlier date, which is closely represented by
this, as the Akhmim version was represented by the Sahidic, as regards the
Greek text implied. In favour of an early version in the dialect of Lower
Egypt is first the _a priori_ argument of the probability of Christianity
spreading earliest in the Delta. We know that by the middle of the third
century it had spread among the native population of Alexandria (Dion. Al.
ap. Eus. “H. E.” vi. 41), and probably had done so in the second century.
If Greek had spread so little in the Delta in the fourth or fifth century
as to make a Bohairic version necessary, it is not likely to have been
more widely prevalent in the third. On these grounds then we should
naturally expect Christianity to spread earliest among the native
populations of the districts round Alexandria, and also that the New
Testament or a portion of it would be translated very early into their
language. Nor again does there seem any evidence for deriving the Bohairic
dialect from the Akhmimish. It is true that the latter represents the
language of Egypt in an earlier form, but it is not an earlier form of
Bohairic.
To these _a priori_ and negative considerations must be added the positive
argument of Krall (Mitt. i. p. 111). He appears to have discovered earlier
forms of the Bohairic dialect, and in addition points out that some of the
commonest abbreviations in Coptic MSS. could only have been derived from
the Bohairic, which seems to show that it was for Bohairic that the
alphabet was first used. And this in the New Testament at any rate is
supported by the text of the version. A study of this has shown that in
the form in which we possess it in most printed editions and late MSS.,
although as a whole its agreement with the oldest Greek MSS. is undoubted,
it contains a considerable number of later additions which agree with the
traditional text. But, as Bishop Lightfoot showed, these clearly formed no
part of the original Bohairic version, and subsequent investigation has
made it clear that the evidence in favour of this statement is even
stronger than he represented it (_see_ Sanday, Appendices ad Novum
Testamentum, App. III. p. 182 sq.). The original Bohairic text then
represents a very pure tradition, untouched by the so-called Western
additions which are found in the Sahidic version, and it is difficult to
believe that a version so singularly free from these should be later than
the Sahidic. Christianity spread in the Thebaid certainly as early as the
beginning of the third century (Eus. “H. E.” vi. 1), and that century is
the period to which internal evidence would assign the origin of the
Sahidic version. An even earlier date is probably demanded both for the
extension of Christianity in the Delta and for the text of the Bohairic
version.]
(3) The Sahidic (or Thebaic) Version.
The Sahidic version did not attract attention till a comparatively late
date. When Wilkins published what was then called the Coptic New
Testament, he mentioned having found among the Oxford MSS. two which he
described as “lingua plane a reliquis MSS. Copticis, quae unquam vidi,
diversa” (Praef. p. vii). These are written in the Thebaic or Sahidic
dialect, of which as we may infer from his language, he did not even know
the existence. After no long time, however, we find La Croze and
Jablonski, with other Egyptian scholars, turning their attention to the
dialect of Upper Egypt: and at length in 1778, C. G. Woide issued a
prospectus in which he announced his intention of publishing from Oxford
MSS. the fragments of the New Testament “juxta interpretationem dialecti
Superioris Aegypti, quae Thebaidica seu Sahidica appellatur.” In the same
year he gave to the world some various readings of this version in J. A.
Cramer’s “Beyträge zur Beförderung theologischer und andrer wichtigen
Kenntnisse,” Pt. iii, Kiel u. Hamburg, 1778. But before Woide’s work
appeared he was partially anticipated by other labourers in the same
field.
In the same year 1778 appeared a grammar of the two Egyptian dialects by
Raphael Tuki, Roman Bishop of Arsinoe, with the title “Rudimenta Linguae
Coptae sive Aegyptiacae ad usum Collegii Urbani de Propaganda Fide,
Romae.” It contains profuse quotations from the Sahidic version of the Old
and New Testaments. This work, which preserves a large number of passages
not to be found elsewhere, has been strangely neglected by textual
critics(110). Caution, however, must be observed in the use of it, as the
passages are apparently obtained, at least in many instances, not directly
from MSS. of the version itself, but through the medium of Arabo-Egyptian
grammars and vocabularies; nor is Tuki’s work generally at all accurate or
critical(111).
In 1785, J. A. Mingarelli published two fasciculi of an account of the
Egyptian MSS. in the Nanian Library under the title “Aegyptiorum codicum
reliquiae Venetiis in Bibliotheca Naniana asservatae, Bononiae.” In these
he printed at length two portions of the Sahidic New Testament, Matt.
xviii. 27-xxi. 15, and John ix. 17-xiii. 1.
In 1789, A. A. Giorgi (Georgius), an Augustinian eremite, brought out a
work entitled “Fragmentum Evangelii S. Joannis Graeco-Copto-Thebaicum
Saeculi iv. &c., Romae.” This volume contains John vi. 21-58, and vi.
68-viii. 23, introduced by an elaborate preface and followed by other
matter. The MS. from which they are taken belonged to the Borgian
collection at Velletri, and has been described already among the Greek
MSS., p. 141 sq. It is ascribed to the fourth or fifth century. In the
same year, 1789, additional fragments of this version from other Borgian
MSS. were published by F. C. C. H. Münter in a volume bearing the title,
“Commentatio de Indole Versionis Novi Testamenti Sahidicae. Accedunt
Fragmenta Epistolarum Pauli ad Timotheum ex membranis Sahidicis Musei
Borgiani Velitris. Hafniae.” The fragments referred to are 1 Tim. i.
14-iii. 16; vi. 4-21; 2 Tim. i. 1-16. Münter gives also some various
readings of this version in different parts of the four Gospels, taken
likewise from the Borgian MSS.
Lastly; in 1790 Mingarelli published a third fasciculus of his work on the
Egyptian MSS. in the Nanian Library, and in it he printed another
important fragment of this version, Mark xi. 29-xv. 32. This third part is
very rarely met with, and I have not seen a copy.
Meanwhile Woide was busily engaged on his edition, and had already
advanced far when his labours were interrupted by death in May, 1790. His
papers were placed in the hands of H. Ford, Professor of Arabic at Oxford,
who after several years completed the work. It was published with the
title, “Appendix ad Editionem Novi Testamenti Graeci e Codice MS.
Alexandrino a C. G. Woide descripti, in qua continentur Fragmenta Novi
Testamenti juxta interpretationem Dialecti Superioris Aegypti quae
Thebaidica vel Sahidica appellator, &c. Oxoniae, 1799.” Woide’s materials
were:
1. Several MSS. of the Huntington collection in the Bodleian. These
consist of (_a_) Two folio lectionaries on paper (Hunt. 3, Hunt. 5); (_b_)
A folio likewise on paper, containing fragments of St. John’s Gospel
(Hunt. 4); (_c_) An 8vo, containing fragments of the Acts and Catholic
Epistles (Hunt. 394). Woide gives as the date A. Mart. 1041, and A.D.
1315, “si recte conjicio,” but the two are not reconcileable; (_d_) A 4to
on paper (Hunt. 393), written A. Mart. 1109 (i.e. A.D. 1393) and
containing “De Mysterio literarum Graecarum Discursus Gnostici,” the work
of one Seba an anchorite (_see_ Ford’s “Praef.,” p. vi. sq., and p. 21,
note _a_).
2. A very ancient papyrus belonging to the famous traveller Bruce, who had
brought it from Upper Egypt. It contains two Gnostic works, in which are
quoted passages from the Old and New Testaments. It is now in the
Bodleian(112).
3. An ancient vellum MS. containing the Gnostic treatise “Pistis Sophia,”
then belonging to Askew and now in the British Museum. It quotes some
passages of the Old and New Testaments. The “Pistis Sophia” has been since
transcribed by Schwartze, and published from his papers by Petermann after
his death (1853).
4. Several fragments belonging to Woide himself, having been transmitted
to him from Upper Egypt while he was employed on the work. Some are
Sahidic; others Graeco-Sahidic. These formed a highly important accession
to his materials. They now belong to the Clarendon Press at Oxford, and
are deposited in the Bodleian.
One of these, a Graeco-Sahidic MS., said to belong to the fourth or fifth
century, has been already described (Evan. T). But I am unable to assent
to the opinion which is maintained by Tregelles and Tischendorf, and in
which Dr. Scrivener there acquiesces, that these Woidian fragments (Ts or
Twoi) were originally part of the same MS. with the Borgian Graeco-Sahidic
fragments (T) published by Giorgi. And this for two reasons. (1) The
paging of the two sets of fragments is quite inconsistent. The Woidian
fragments, Luke xii. 5 (Sahid. Gr. 15)-xiii. 23 (Sahid. Gr. 32) and John
viii. 22-32, are paged ⲩⲛⲑ-ⲩⲡⲇ (459-484) and ⲭⲛⲍ, ⲭⲛⲏ (657, 658)
respectively (_see_ Ford’s “Praef.,” p. 24). On the other hand the pages
of the Borgian fragments, Luke xxii. 12-xxiii. 11; John vi. 21-58; vi.
68-viii. 23, are numbered ⲥⲗⲑ-ⲥⲛⲇ (239-254), ⲧⲗⲇ-ⲧⲙⲅ, ⲧⲙⲝ-ⲧⲝⲁ (334-343,
346-361) respectively (_see_ Zoega, p. 184; Georgius, p. 11 sq.). (2)
Though the last Woidian fragment begins _somewhere about_ where the last
Borgian fragment ends, it does not begin at exactly the same place. The
Borgian fragment ends ⲁⲛⲅ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲟⲩ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲛ ⲧⲡⲉ ⲛⲧⲱⲧⲛ ⲛⲧⲉ (ἐγὼ ἐκ τῶν ἄνω
εἰμί; ὑμεῖς), viii. 23; the Woidian fragment begins ⲉ ϯⲛⲁⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲣⲟϥ (ὅπου
ἐγὼ ὑπάγω), viii. 22. Thus the two have several lines in common. For these
reasons the later judgement of Tregelles, who pronounces them to be
“certainly parts of the _same_ MS.” (Introductory notice to his G. T.),
must be abandoned; and we must revert to his earlier and more cautious
opinion in which he describes the Woidian fragment as “a portion of a MS.
almost a counterpart of T” (Horne’s “Introduction,” p. 180).
5. A Sahidic vocabulary in the Royal Library at Paris (Copt. 44),
containing several passages from the Sahidic Bible.
6. A few fragments communicated by Adler from the collection of Card.
Borgia at Velletri. Besides these Woide incorporated the fragments
published by Mingarelli in his first two fasciculi. The works of Giorgi
and Münter, however, and the third fasciculus of Mingarelli, were
overlooked by him or by his successor Ford.
Besides elaborate prefaces by Ford and Woide this work gives a Latin
translation in parallel columns with the Sahidic. It would not be
difficult to point out numerous errors in the execution of this volume;
but all allowance must be made for a posthumous work completed by a second
editor who had to educate himself for the task, and the heavy obligation
under which Woide and Ford have laid Biblical scholars may well silence
ill-natured criticism(113).
Some years later appeared a highly important contribution to Sahidic
literature in G. Zoega’s “Catalogus Codicum Copticorum manuscriptorum qui
in Museo Borgiano Velitris adservantur, Romae, 1810,” a posthumous work.
The compiler of this catalogue prints at length Eph. v. 21-33; Apoc. xix.
7-18; xx. 7-xxi. 3, and gives besides (p. 200) a full list of the
fragments of the Sahidic version, which are found in this rich collection
of Egyptian MSS. These would go far towards filling up the gaps in Woide’s
edition. Thus, for instance, they contain about three-quarters of St.
Mark’s Gospel, the whole of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and the whole of
the Epistle to the Philippians with the exception of five or six verses at
the beginning.
In the following year (1811) appeared Engelbreth’s work on the Bashmuric
version, which has been mentioned above (p. 102). In it he printed, for
the sake of comparison with the Bashmuric, the following passages of the
Sahidic version: 1 Cor. i. 1-16; xv. 5-33; Phil. i. 7-23; 1 Thess. i.
4-iii. 5; Heb. vii. 11-13; 16-21; ix. 2-10; 24-28; x. 5-10. These were
derived wholly from the Borgian MSS., with the exception of a few verses
taken from Woide’s book. Beyond this meagre contribution of Engelbreth’s,
nothing has been done during more than sixty years which have elapsed
since the appearance of Zoega’s work towards the publication of these
valuable remains, important alike for the knowledge of the Egyptian
language and for purposes of Biblical criticism. A complete collection of
all the fragments of the Sahidic New Testament is now the most pressing
want in the province of textual criticism.
The materials for such an edition are the following:
1. The MSS. used by Woide and Ford, which however will require collating
afresh.
2. The Nanian fragments published by Mingarelli. The MSS. which he used
are said to have disappeared.
3. The MSS. of the Borgian collection, as indicated in the catalogue of
Zoega. After the dispersion of the museum at Velletri the Biblical MSS.
found their way to the Library of the Propaganda at Rome, where they now
are.
4. The quotations in Tuki, though for reasons already stated these must be
used with caution. They should be traced, if possible, to their sources.
To these known materials the following, which (so far as I am aware), have
never been publicly noticed, must be added:
1. *British Museum, Papyrus xiii, four leaves or eight pages numbered
ⲋⲙⲁ-ⲋⲙⲏ, containing John xx. 1-29 mutilated. It does not differ in any
important respects from the text printed by Woide, but I noticed the
following variations: ver. 3, Σίμων Πέτρος; ver. 8, add οὖν after τότε;
ver. 10, om. οἰ μαθηταί; ver. 12, ins. καὶ before θεωρεῖ; ver. 17, om. δὲ
after πορεύου; ver. 18, om. δέ after ἔρχεται; ver. 21, εἶπεν οὖν for εἶπεν
δέ; ib. add [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς after αὐτοῖς; ver. 28, add αὐτῷ after ἀπεκρίθη.
2. *Paris, Copt. 102. Thebaic fragments of various ages, some very old.
Those from the New Testament are (_a_) Luke iii. 21-iv. 9; (_b_) John
xvii. 17-26, Theb. Arab., paper; (_c_) Acts vii. 51-viii. 3, vellum; (_d_)
Apoc. i. 13-ii. 2, vellum. The pages of this last fragment are marked ⲉ-ⲏ.
3. Crawford and Balcarres collection. Several very important Sahidic
fragments which formerly belonged to Archdeacon Tattam. These are:
*i. Mark ix. 18-xiv. 26, vellum, six leaves, the pages numbered ⲓⲑ-ⲗ, two
columns in a page, and thirty-nine or forty lines in a column. I observed
the following readings: ix. 24, om. μετὰ δακρύων; 44, 46, om. ὅπου ὁ
σκώληξ κ.τ.λ.; 50, om. καὶ πᾶσα θυσία ἁλὶ ἁλισθήσεται; xi. 26, omitted;
xiii. 14, om. τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ Δανιὴλ τοῦ προφήτου; xiv. 22, om. φάγετε; 24
has καινῆς.
*ii. Luke iii. 8-vi. 37, vellum, two columns in a page, thirty-five lines
in a column. A very beautiful MS. The Ammonian Sections and Eusebian
Canons are given, and also the τίτλοι. There is occasionally a rough
concordance in the margin; e.g. on Luke v. 18, ⲓⲅ ⲉⲧⲃⲉⲡⲉⲧⲥⲏⲋ. ⲓⲱ ⲍ. ⲙⲑ ⲓⲅ.
ⲙⲣ. ⲉ, where St. John stands first. I noted down the following readings:
iii. 19, om. Φιλίππου; 27, Ἰωανάν; 30, Ἰωανάμ; 32, Ἰωβήδ; 32, ⲥⲁⲗⲁ for
Σαλμών, just as in ver. 35; iv. 26, Σιδωνίας; 41, om. ὁ Χριστός; ver. 38,
om. καὶ ἀμφότεροι συντηροῦνται. In vi. 16 Ἰούδαν Ἰακώβου is translated
“Judas the son of James.”
*iii. Luke xvii. 18-xix. 30, vellum, two columns in a page, twenty-seven
lines in a column, five leaves, paged ⲣⲁ to ⲣⲓ (sic). No sections are
marked. It has these readings: xvii. 24, om. ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ αὐτοῦ; xviii. 28,
τὰ ἴδια; xix. 5, om. εἶδεν αὐτὸν καί.
*iv. Gal. i. 14-vi. 16, fol., vellum, eight leaves, two columns in a page,
twenty-nine lines in a column, the pages marked ρπθ onward. It has these
readings: i. 15, ὁ θεός; ii. 5, οἷς οὐδέ; ii. 20, τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ; iii.
1, om. τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μὴ πείθεσθαι; iii. 17, om. εἰς χριστόν; iv. 7,
κληρονόμος διὰ [τοῦ] χριστοῦ; iv. 14, τὸν πειρασμόν μου τὸν ἐν κ.τ.λ.; 15,
ποῦ; v. 1, στήκετε οὖν.
Of these four fragments ii and iv are the most ancient; while i and iii
are much later, but still old. Beyond this I do not venture to hazard an
opinion as to their date, remembering that Zoega with all his knowledge
and experience declines to pronounce on the age of undated Egyptian
MSS.(114)
4*. A fragment (a single leaf) of a Graeco-Sahidic lectionary in double
columns, belonging to the Rev. G. Horner, who brought it from Upper Egypt
in 1873 [ix], 12-1/4 × 11. The Greek and Sahidic are not in opposite
columns, but the Greek is followed by the Sahidic. The Greek is Matt. iv.
2-11 τεσσεράκοντα καὶ τεσσεράκοντα νύκτας ... διηκόνουν αὐτῷ; the Sahidic
is iv. 1-6 Τότε ... ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε. The Coptic character resembles
classes v and vi in Zoega. The Greek text has been already numbered as
Evst. 299. This has now been presented to the Bodleian by Mr. Horner, MS.
Gr. Lit. c. 1.
[Since the above was written, very considerable additions have been made
to our knowledge of the Sahidic version.
1. The Biblical MSS. of the Borgian collection preserved in the Library of
the Propaganda have been published by M. Amélineau. The Old Testament in
the Recueil des Travaux, the New Testament in the “Zeitschrift für
Aegyptische Sprache,” 24 (1886), pp. 41, 103; 25 (1887), pp. 47, 100, 125;
26 (1888), p. 96. This publication was made under considerable
disadvantages. M. Amélineau had not the opportunity of seeing the MSS.
himself, and merely published a transcript supplied him by the Coptic
Archbishop Bschai, then resident in Rome. Moreover he gives no critical
notes on various readings in cases where there is more than one copy
extant of any passage. Nor again does he edit the fragments completely,
but only such portions of the New Testament as were not previously known.
His edition therefore is not without inaccuracies, which have been noticed
by Ciasca, vol. ii. pp. lix-lxxvii. These defects are, however, being
remedied by an edition of all these fragments by Father Ciasca (known as
the editor of the Arabic Diatessaron), which is very complete. The first
two volumes, containing the Old Testament with many facsimiles, have
appeared: the New Testament portion is to follow. (Sacrorum Bibliorum
Fragmenta Copto-Sahidica Musei Borgiani iussu et sumptibus S.
Congregationis de Propaganda Fide Studio P. Augustini Ciasca. Romae. Typis
eiusdem S. Congregationis. Vol. i. 1885; Vol. ii. 1889.)
2. The Crawford and Balcarres fragments mentioned above have also been
edited by M. Amélineau in the Recueil des Travaux, v. (1883), p. 105.
3. To O. von Lemm we owe a considerable number of fragments. Bruchstücke
der Sahidischen Bibelübersetzung nach Handschriften der kaiserlichen
öffentlichen Bibliothek zu St. Petersburg. Leipzig, 1885. And Sieben
Sahidische Bibel-Fragmente. Z. A. S. 23 (1885), p. 19.
4. Fragments, mostly smaller in extent, have been edited by the following:
Bouriant Mémoires, i. 259.
Recueil, iv. 1.
Maspero Recueil, vi. 35; vii. 47.
Études Égyptologiques, i. 3. Paris, 1883.
Ceugney Recueil, ii. 94.
Krall Mittheilungen, ii. 68.
5. But most important of all are the newly acquired fragments of the
Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris. In 1883 that Library had the good fortune
to obtain (largely through the influence of M. Amélineau) from the famous
White Monastery or Deir Amba Shenoudah of Upper Egypt a large collection
of Sahidic fragments. The publication of these has been begun.
Considerable sections of the Old Testament have been published by Maspero
(Mémoires, vol. vi), and of documents relating to Early Church History by
Bouriant (ib. vol. viii). The New Testament fragments have not yet been
published, but M. Amélineau, who is entrusted with them, has kindly put at
my disposal the following list of contents. I have omitted smaller
Fragments:
MATTHEW (167 leaves): i. 1-20; i. 17-ii. 4; i. 1-22; ii. 4, 5, 8, 11, 14,
15; iii. 1-11; 1-15; iii. 10-iv. 13; iii. 22-iv. 11; iv. 3-19; 21-v. 15;
iv. 15-v. 17; v. 17-32; 9-28; v. 25-vi. 3; vii. 6-viii. 4; vii. 8-27; x.
9-28; viii. 1-17; 2-20; ix. 13-33; ix. 25-x. 15; ix. 33-x. 15; ix. 33-x.
19; ix. 26-x. 19; x. 39-xxviii. 54 (36 leaves); x. 20-xii. 3; xi. 3-10;
xi. 15-xii. 16; xi. 16-xii. 4; xii. 6-xiv. 31; xii. 19-40; xiii. 19-xiv.
6; xiii. 22-25; xiii. 35-50; xiii. 41-xiv. 2; xiv. 8-xv. 4; xiv. 8-xv. 4;
xiv. 17-35; xiv. 18-xv. 19; xiv. 20-35; xiv. 21-xv. 19; xiv. 24-xv. 11;
xiv. 27-xv. 1; xiv. 31-54; xiv. 31-xv. 20; xv. 17-xvi. 19; xviii. 11-35;
15-21; xviii. 26-xix. 1; xix. 7-22; xix. 13-xx. 16; xix. 24-xx. 16; xx.
9-32; xxi. 8-12; 19-21; 12-37; 9-25; 22-33; xxi. 31-xxii. 5; xxi. 32-41;
xxi. 38-xxii. 12; xxii. 22-xxiii. 12; xxiv. 7-xxvi. 64; xxiv. 2-42; xxiv.
35-xxv. 36; xxiv. 47-xxvi. 47; xxvi. 41-60; xxvi. 69-xxvii. 5; xxvi.
75-xxviii. 23; xxvii. 26-56; xxvii. 49-xxviii. 4; xxvii. 54-xxviii. 8.
Also a fragment containing the last few verses and the beginning of St.
Mark.
MARK (43 leaves): i. 1-17; 4-5; i. 30-ii. 1; iv. 1-8; iv. 32-v. 11; v.
30-vii. 36; v. 13-38; vi. 4-viii. 12; vii. 36-viii. 1; viii. 12-31; 23-38;
x. 42-xi. 15; xi. 3-27; xi. 11-xiii. 14; xii. 12-35; xii. 31-xiii. 19;
xiv. 6-xv. 2; xiv. 12-xv. 21; xiv. 20-40.
LUKE (163 leaves): i. 1-26; 1-5; 26-61; 19-35; ii. 10-33; iii. 4-v. 8;
iii. 29-iv. 20; iii. 36-iv. 47; iv. 22-viii. 14; iv. 43-v. 29; v. 10-viii.
7; vi. 35-ix. 16; vii. 1-ix. 5; vii. 7-15; vii. 37, 38; 41-45; viii. 2-12;
6-15; 4-37; 7-26; viii. 14-ix. 8; viii. 32-44; ix. 3-22; 9-21; ix. 51-x.
18; x. 39-xii. 37; xi. 23-34; 24-56, xii. 1-8, 36-48; xi. 28-44; xii.
3-12; 37-51; xii. 48-xiii. 10; xii. 53-xiii. 9; xiii. 1-16; xiii. 11-31;
xiii. 15-xiv. 15; xiv. 2-20; xiv. 3-xv. 2; xiv. 21-32; xv. 17-xvii. 19;
xvi. 18-xvii. 16; xvii. 10-24; xviii. 4-xix. 42; xviii. 21-xix. 22; xix.
3-28; xix. 28-xxi. 22; xix. 49-xx. 6; xxi. 22-xxii. 1; xxii. 11-27; xxii.
8-xxiv. 10; xxiii. 1-39; xxiv. 27-53.
Also the following bilingual (Greek and Sahidic) texts:
iii. 15, 16; x. 11-21; xi. 16-32; xvii. 29-xviii. 1; xviii. 32-42; xxi.
25-31; xxii. 66-xxiii. 17; and two leaves in Greek.
JOHN (207 leaves). One MS. of 48 leaves, Luke iv. 38-v. 1; viii. 10-29;
ix. 9-62; John i. 23-vii. 40; ix. 6-27; xix. 13-33; xx. 31-xxi. 17. i.
25-45; 25-36, ii. 7-18; i. 42-iii. 4; i. 43-ii. 11; i. 45-iv. 19; i.
67-ii. 24; ii. 11-iii. 25; ii. 24-iv. 22; iii. 4-10; 13-16; iii. 24-iv. 8;
iv. 27-51; iv. 50-vii. 20; v. 24-vi. 5; vi. 12-35; 26-45; 30-41; vi.
62-vii. 17; vi. 65-vii. 10; vii. 20-39; vii. 31-x. 12; vii. 41-viii. 23;
vii. 44-viii. 20; viii. 25-44; viii. 22-ix. 28; viii. 36-49; ix. 7-xi. 22;
ix. 20-40; 27-39; xii. 4-18; x. 13-19; xi. 27-47; 34-48; 34-45; xi.
44-xii. 2; xii. 25-34; xiii. 7-27; 18-31; xiii. 19-xiv. 1; xiv. 21-xviii.
15; xv. 3-xvi. 15; xv. 6-26; xv. 22-xvi. 16; xvi. 1-23; xvi. 6-26; xvi.
22-xxii. 8; xvii. 14-23; xviii. 3-26; xviii. 5-xix. 40; xviii. 23-xix. 2;
xviii. 33-xix. 19; xix. 18-26; xx. 8-18; 19-27; xxi. 2-14.
Also the following bilingual:
i. 19-23; ii. 2-9; iv. 5-13; 15-52; v. 12-21; xii. 36-46.
ACTS: ii. 2-17; 18-40; ii. 34-iv. 6; viii. 32-ix. 15; viii. 35-ix. 22; ix.
27-40; x. 3-4; xii. 7-xiii. 5; xii. 23-xiii. 8; xiii. 10-xvi. 4; xiv.
4-22; xviii. 21-xix. 6; xxvii. 38-xxviii. 4; xxviii. 9-23.
ROMANS: i. 26-ii. 25; ii. 28-iii. 13; iii. 20-iv. 4; viii. 35-ix. 22; ix.
12-xi. 11; ix. 15-x. 1; ix. 24-xi. 30; xi. 30-xii. 15; xiv. 4-21; xv.
10-30.
1 COR.: i. 19-ii. 10; ii. 9-iv. 1; ii. 21-vi. 4; vii. 36-ix. 5; ix. 2-x.
7; ix. 12-25; x. 13-xi. 15; xvii. 41-45; xvii. 16-21.
2 COR.: xi. 1-20; xii. 21-xiii. 13 (with Heb. i. 14); xi. 33-xii. 14.
HEB.: ii. 14-20; iv. 7-14; v. 12-vi. 10; ix. 2-14; 20-23; x. 9-10; xii.
16-xiii. 9; xiii. 7-21; xiii. 10-25.
GAL.: i. 1-vi. 18 (with Eph. i. 1-10; vi. 12-24; and Phil. i. 1-7); i.
10-24; iii. 2-16; ii. 9-iii. 10.
EPH.: iv. 17-v. 13 (with Phil. iii. 1-iv. 6).
PHIL.: i. 23-ii. 6; i. 28-ii. 20.
COL.: i. 1-29; 9-11, 15 (with 1 Thess. ii. 15-iv. 4); i. 29-iii. 1.
1 TIM.: iii. 2-v. 2.
1 PET.: i. 18-vi. 14 (with 2 Pet. i. 1-iii. 1); ii. 23-iii. 13; iii.
12-iv. 9; iii. 15-iv. 10.
6. The British Museum has recently acquired a considerable number of
fragments on vellum, containing—
MATT.: xv. 11-xvi. 12; xxi. 6-22.
JOHN: ix. 7-26; x. 30-42; xi. 1-10; 37-57.
ACTS: xxii. 12-30; xxiii. 1-15.
And also a large number of papyrus fragments in the Graf collection.
7. Mr. Petrie also has in his possession a valuable papyrus MS. containing
considerable portions of St. John. This will probably shortly be published
by Mr. Crum.
From the above account it becomes clear that we have now already
published, or preserved in European libraries, enough material to produce
a complete or almost a complete edition of the Sahidic New Testament. But
not only this. We have also a considerable number of fragments written on
papyrus, which are much older than any of the MSS. previously known, and
will enable us to write a history of the version from an early date. May
we express a hope that M. Amélineau, who has made large collections for
the purpose, would first of all give us an edition of the Paris fragments
as accurate as that of Ciasca, and then of the Sahidic New Testament as a
whole? Much more than when Bishop Lightfoot wrote is the publication of it
the pressing need of Biblical criticism.]
The order of the books in the Sahidic New Testament, so far as regards the
great groups, appears to have been the same as in the Bohairic, i.e. (1)
The Four Gospels, (2) The Pauline Epistles, (3) The Catholic Epistles and
Acts (_see_ above, p. 124). This may be inferred from the order of
quotations in the Sahidic vocabulary described by Woide, Praef., p. 18;
for the Sahidic MSS. are so fragmentary that no inference on this point
can be drawn from them. Like the Bohairic, the original Sahidic Canon
seems to have excluded the Apocalypse. In the vocabulary just mentioned it
does not appear as part of the New Testament, but liturgical and other
matter interposes before it is taken. Moreover in most cases it is evident
from the paging of the fragments which remain that the MSS. containing
this book formed separate volumes. In the Paris fragment described above
this is plainly the case, and it is equally obvious in the Borgian MSS.
lxxxviii, lxxxix (Zoega, p. 187). Thus in lxxxviii, pp. 39-44 contain
Apoc. xii. 14-xiv. 13; and in lxxxix. pp. 59, 60, 63, 64 contain Apoc.
xix. 7-18, xx. 7-xxi. 3. On the other hand in lxxxvii. where Apoc. iii. 20
begins on p. 279, this fragment must have formed part of a much larger
volume, which contained (as we may suppose) a considerable portion of the
New Testament.
The order of the four Gospels presents a difficulty. In the Sahidic
vocabulary already referred to, the sequence is John, Matthew, Mark, Luke;
and this order is also observed in the marginal concordance to the
Crawford and Balcarres MS. described above. Thus there is reason for
supposing that at one time St. John stood first. But the paging of the
oldest MSS. does not favour this conclusion. In the Woidian and Borgian
fragments of the Graeco-Sahidic Gospels, which belong to the fourth or
fifth century, the numbering of the pages (see p. 130) shows that St. Luke
stood before St. John. It is possible indeed that in the MSS. the
transcriber was guided by the usual Greek arrangement. But in other MSS.
also the synoptic evangelists precede St. John, e.g. Borg. xlvi, l, lxiv;
while in other fragments again (Borg. lxx, lxxiv) the high numbers of the
pages of St. John show that the Evangelist cannot have stood first in the
volume, and this seems further supported by the Paris fragments, in which
we find St. John following St. Luke in the same MS.
In this version, as in the Bohairic, the Epistle to the Hebrews was
treated as the work of St. Paul; but instead of being placed, as there,
after 2 Thessalonians and before 1 Timothy, it stood between 2 Corinthians
and Galatians(115). It clearly occupies this position in the Borgian MS.
lxxx (Zoega, p. 186): and by calculating the pages I have ascertained that
this must also have been its place in all the other MSS. of the Pauline
Epistles of which fragments after 2 Corinthians are preserved. These are
the Borgian fragments lxxxii, lxxxv, lxxxvi, (Zoega, p. 186 sq.), and the
Crawford and Balcarres fragment (iv) described above (p. 132); all of
which happily are paged.
The Oxford MS. Hunt. 394 is a proof that the Acts followed the Catholic
Epistles in the Sahidic New Testament, as is the case also in the
Memphitic. Woide indeed (Praef., p. 22), when describing this MS., says,
“_exorditur_ ab Actis Apostolicis”; but, even if this be so, his own
account of the paging shows that the leaves have been displaced in
binding, and that the Catholic Epistles originally stood first. The
vocabulary also places them before the Acts.
The Sahidic version appears to be in one respect less faithful to the
original than the Bohairic. So far as I am able to judge, it pays more
respect to the Egyptian idiom, frequently omitting the conjunction and
leaving the sentences disconnected. As regards the vocabulary, it adopts
Greek words with as great facility as the Bohairic, or even greater. This
we should hardly anticipate in Upper Egypt, which must have been
comparatively free from Greek influence. Altogether it is a rougher and
less polished version than the Bohairic.
The real textual value of the Sahidic cannot under present circumstances
be assigned with any certainty. What would be received by one school of
critics would not be admitted by another. But the Editor readily records
the verdict of Bishop Lightfoot that the text of it, though very ancient,
is inferior to the Bohairic, and less pure; that it exhibits a certain
infusion of readings which were widely spread in the second century, and
may very probably have had, to a considerable extent, a Western origin;
that it differs very largely from the Traditional text; and that both in
text and in interpretation it is entirely independent of the Bohairic. The
coincidences are not greater than must have been exhibited by two separate
translations in allied dialects from independent texts of the same
original. Of any mutual influence of the versions of Upper and Lower Egypt
on each other no traces are discernible.
The following passage from Acts xvii. 12-16 will serve to illustrate the
independence of these two versions.
BOHAIRIC. SAHIDIC.
12 ⲟⲩⲙⲏϣ ⲙⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ 12 ϩⲁϩ ⲑⲉ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉⲛϩⲏⲧⲟⲩ
ⲛϧⲏⲧⲟⲩ ⲁⲩⲛⲁϩϯ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲁⲩⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲁⲩⲱ ϩⲉⲛⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ
ϩⲁⲛⲕⲉⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛⲓⲛ ⲛϩⲓⲟⲙⲓ _ⲛ_ϩⲉⲗⲗⲏⲛ _ⲛ_ⲣ_ⲙ_ⲙⲁⲟ
ⲛⲉⲩⲥⲭⲏⲙⲱⲛ ⲛⲉⲙ ϩⲁⲛⲕⲉⲣⲱⲓ ⲙ_ⲛ_ ϩⲉⲛⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲛⲁϣⲱⲟⲩ⁘
ⲏ ϩⲁⲛⲕⲟⲩϫⲓ ⲁⲛ⁘ 13 _ⲛ_ⲧⲉⲣⲟⲩⲉⲓⲙⲉ
13 ⲉⲧⲁⲩⲉⲙⲓ ⲇⲉ ⲛϫⲉ ⲛⲓⲓⲟⲩⲇⲁⲓ ⲑⲉ _ⲛ_ⲑⲓ _ⲛ_ⲓⲟⲩⲇⲁⲓ ⲛⲏ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩ_ⲛ_
ⲛⲧⲉ ⲑⲉⲥⲥⲁⲗⲟⲡⲓⲕⲏ ϫⲉ ⲑⲉⲥⲁⲗⲗⲟⲛⲓⲕⲏ ϫⲉ
ⲁ ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ϩⲓⲱⲓϣ ϧⲉⲛ ⲁⲩⲧⲁϣⲉⲟⲉⲓϣ ϩ_ⲛ_ ⲃⲉⲣⲟⲓⲁ
ⲧⲕⲉⲃⲉⲣⲟⲓⲁ ⲙⲡⲓⲥⲁϫⲓ ⲛⲧⲉ _ⲙ_ⲡϣⲁϫⲉ _ⲙ_ⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲓⲧ_ⲙ_
ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲁⲩⲓ ⲉ ⲡⲓⲕⲉⲙⲁ ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲉⲓ
ⲉⲧⲉⲙⲙⲁⲩ ⲉⲩⲕⲓⲙ ⲉ ⲟⲛ ⲉⲙⲁⲩ ⲉⲩϣⲧⲟⲣⲧ_ⲣ_
ⲛⲓⲙⲏϣ ⲉⲩϣⲑⲟⲣⲧⲉⲙⲙⲱⲟⲩ⁘ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲉⲩⲕⲓⲙ ⲉ ⲡⲙⲏⲏϣⲉ⁘
14 ⲧⲟⲧⲉ ⲥⲁⲧⲟⲧⲟⲩ 14 _ⲛ_ⲧⲉⲩⲛⲟⲩ ⲇⲉ ⲁ ⲛⲉⲥⲛⲏⲩ
ⲁⲩⲧⲫⲉ ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲛϫⲉ ϫⲟⲟⲩ _ⲙ_ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ⲉ ⲧⲣⲉϥⲃⲱⲕ
ⲛⲓⲥⲛⲏⲟⲩ ⲉ ⲑⲣⲉϥϣⲉ ⲉϫⲉⲛ ϩⲣⲁⲓ ⲉϫ_ⲛ_ ⲑⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ
ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲁⲩⲥⲱϫⲡ ⲇⲉ ⲙⲙⲁⲩ ⲁ ⲥⲓⲗⲁⲥ ⲇⲉ ⲋⲱ _ⲙ_ⲙⲟⲟⲩ
ⲛϫⲉ ⲥⲓⲗⲁⲥ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲧⲓⲙⲟⲑⲉⲟⲥ⁘ ⲙ_ⲛ_ ⲧⲓⲙⲟⲑⲉⲟⲥ⁘
15 ⲛⲏ ⲇⲉ ⲉⲧⲁⲩⲧⲫⲉ 15 ⲛⲉⲧⲕⲁⲑⲓⲥⲧⲁ
ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ⲁⲩⲉⲛϥ ⲉϩⲣⲏⲓ ⲉ ⲇⲉ ⲙⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ
ⲁⲑⲏⲛⲁⲥ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲉⲧⲁⲩⲋⲓ ⲁⲩ_ⲛ_ⲧ_ϥ_ ϣⲁ ⲁⲑⲉⲛⲛⲁⲓⲁⲥ
ⲉⲛⲧⲟⲗⲏ ⲉ ⲋⲓ ⲡϣⲓⲛⲓ ⲛⲥⲓⲗⲁⲥ ⲁⲩⲱ _ⲛ_ⲧⲉⲣⲟⲩϫⲓ _ⲛ_ⲟⲩⲉⲛⲧⲟⲗⲏ
ⲛⲉⲙ ⲧⲓⲙⲟⲑⲉⲟⲥ _ⲛ_ⲧⲟⲟⲧ_ϥ_ ϣⲁ ⲥⲓⲗⲁⲥ
ϩⲓⲛⲁ ⲛⲥⲉⲓ ϩⲁⲣⲟϥ ⲛⲭⲱⲗⲉⲙ ⲙ_ⲛ_ ⲧⲓⲙⲟⲑⲉⲟⲥ ϫⲉ ⲉⲩⲉⲉⲓ
ⲁⲩⲓ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲁⲩϣⲉⲛⲱⲟⲩ⁘ ϣⲁⲣⲟϥ ϩ_ⲛ_ ⲟⲩⲋⲉⲡⲏ ⲁⲩⲉⲓ
16 ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ⲇⲉ ⲛⲁϥ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ⁘
ϩⲉⲛ ⲁⲑⲏⲛⲁⲥ ⲉϥⲥⲟⲙⲥ 16 ⲉⲣⲉ ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ⲇⲉ
ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲁϫⲱⲟⲩ ⲁϥϫⲱⲛⲧ ⲋⲱϣⲧ ϩⲏⲧⲟⲩ ϩ_ⲛ_ ⲁⲑⲏⲛⲛⲁⲓⲁⲥ
ⲇⲉ ⲛϫⲉ ⲡⲉϥⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ ⲁ ⲡⲉϥⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ
ⲛϩⲣⲏⲓ ⲛϩⲏⲧϥ ⲉϥⲛⲁⲩ ⲉ ϩⲟϫϩⲉϫ _ⲛ_ϩⲏⲧ_ϥ_ ⲉϥⲛⲁⲩ
ϯⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ ⲉⲥⲟϣ ⲙⲙⲉⲧϣⲁⲙϣⲉ ⲉⲧⲡⲟⲗⲓⲥ ⲉⲙⲙⲉϩ _ⲙ_ⲙⲁ_ⲛ_ⲉⲓⲇⲱⲗⲟⲛ⁘
ⲓⲇⲱⲗⲟⲛ⁘
[(4) The Fayoum Version.]
[The history of the discovery of the third Egyptian version, and the
reasons that have caused it to be assigned to the district of the Fayoum,
have been given above.
The Fayoum (ⲫⲓⲟⲙ: ⲡⲓⲟⲙ: ⲡⲓⲁⲙ) is a district of Egypt situated to the west
of the Nile valley, from which it is separated by a narrow strip of
desert, and lying about eighty miles to the south of the apex of the
Delta. It is a large depression in the desert, which has been reclaimed
and fertilized by an offshoot of the Nile, now called the Bahr-il-Yousouf,
and is distinguished at the present day for its extreme fertility. It
appears to have been particularly prosperous and thickly populated in
Ptolemaic and Roman times; and in the desert surrounding the cultivated
land are the remains of several Greek cities, and of large Coptic
monasteries; and it is from here that the chief part of the collection of
papyrus fragments now in Berlin and Vienna have been obtained.
The dialect of this district, both in the fragments of the Scriptures
preserved in it, and in the other documents more recently discovered (Z.
A. S. 23, 1885, p. 26), presents very marked peculiarities. As regards
vowels it shows the following amongst other variations as compared with
Sahidic. It substitutes ⲁ for ⲉ: ⲛⲉⲕ for ⲛⲁⲕ; ⲗⲉⲛ for ⲣⲁⲛ; ⲕⲉⲉⲃ for ⲭⲁϥ :
ⲕⲁⲁϥ; ⲏ for ⲉ: ⲥⲏⲛⲧⲓ for ⲥⲉⲛϯ : ⲥⲛⲧⲉ; ⲏⲙⲓ for ⲉⲙⲓ : ⲉⲓⲙⲉ; ⲁ for ⲟ: ⲃⲁⲗ for
ⲉⲃⲟⲗ; ⲗⲁⲃ for ⲉⲣⲟϥ; ⲟ for ⲱ: ϩⲟⲃ for ϩⲱⲃ; ⲗⲟⲙⲓ for ⲗⲱⲙⲓ (= ⲡⲱⲙⲓ : ⲣⲱⲙⲉ).
In consonants it has two very marked features, the substitution of ⲗ for
ⲣ, as ⲉⲗ, ⲉⲗⲉ, ⲗⲉⲡ; ϣⲏⲗⲓ for ⲉⲣ, ⲉⲣⲉ, &c., and of ⲃ for final ϥ, as ⲛⲧⲁⲃ
for ⲛⲧⲟϥ.
A considerable amount of this version still probably remains unpublished,
but specimens may be discovered in the following:
1. Giorgi. Fragmentum Evangelii S. Joannis &c. (_see_ p. 128)
contains 1 Cor. ix. 9-16.
2. Zoega. Catalogus &c. (_See_ p. 102.)
3. Engelbreth. Fragmenta Basmurico-Coptica Veteris et Novi
Testamenti. Havniae, 1811.
4. Maspero. Recueil, 11 (1889), p. 116.
5. Mittheilungen, i. p. 69. Matt. xi. 27.
6. Mittelaegyptische Bibelfragmente, in Études Archéologiques
Linguistiques et Historiques dédiées à M. le Dr. C. Leemans.
Leide, 1885. (But perhaps this and 4 may be more correctly classed
as Middle Egyptian or Lower Sahidic.)
On this version Bishop Lightfoot wrote: “As the Bashmuric is a secondary
version, it has no independent value, and is only useful in passages where
the Sahidic is wanting.” This opinion would hardly represent the present
position. That the Sahidic and Fayoum versions are not independent is
quite true, but the relation of them to one another is much more that they
are different forms of the same version, of which on the whole perhaps the
Fayoum represents the older and more primitive text.]
[(5) The Middle Egyptian(116) or Lower Sahidic Version.]
[It has already been explained that documents found on the site of Memphis
exhibit a dialect different in some respects from any of those that we
have yet considered. In this also fragments have been found of a
translation of the New Testament.
The dialect shows a combination of Sahidic and Bohairic forms. It has ⲓⲱⲧ
for Sah. ⲉⲓⲱⲧ; ⲙⲉⲧⲓⲱⲧ for ⲙⲛⲧⲉⲓⲱⲧ; ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲏⲥ for ⲓⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ; ⲛⲧⲟⲧⲕ for ⲛⲧⲟⲟⲧⲕ;
ϣⲧⲱⲣⲓ for ϣⲧⲱⲣⲉ. It agrees again with the Fayoum dialect (which is
generally considered a variety of it) in its affection for ⲁ, as ⲛⲧⲁⲕ for
ⲛⲧⲟⲕ, and apparently in using ⲗ for ⲣ, but only occasionally.
The following specimen from Rom. xi. 31-36 will exhibit the character of
the dialect and the version: the Sahidic is taken from the Borgian
fragment published by Amélineau, Z. A. S. 25, 1887, p. 49; the Middle
Egyptian from “Mittheilungen,” ii. p. 69.
MIDDLE EGYPTIAN. SAHIDIC.
xi. 31. ⲧⲉⲓ ⲧⲉ ⲧⲁⲓ ⲧⲉ
ⲑⲏ ⲛⲛⲉⲓ ϩⲱⲟⲩ ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ · ⲉⲁⲩ ⲑⲏ ⲛⲛⲁⲓ ϩⲱⲟⲩ ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ · ⲉⲁⲩ
ⲉⲗⲁⲧⲛⲉϩϯ ⲉⲡⲉⲧ_ⲛ_ⲛⲁ · ⲣ ⲁⲧ ⲛⲁϩ ⲧⲉ ⲉⲡⲉⲧⲛⲛⲁ ·
ϫⲉⲕⲁⲥ ϩⲱⲟⲩ ⲉⲩⲉⲛⲉⲉⲓ ⲛⲏⲩ ϫⲉⲕⲁⲥ ϩⲱⲟⲩ ⲉⲩⲉⲛⲁ ⲛⲁⲩ
32. _ⲙⲛ_ⲛⲥⲟⲥ · ⲁ ⲡⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲙⲛⲛⲥⲱⲥ ⲁ ⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ
ⲁⲡⲧ ⲟⲩⲁⲛ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲩ ⲉⲧⲡ ⲟⲩⲟⲛ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲟⲩ
ⲙⲉⲧⲁⲧⲛⲉϩϯ · ϫⲉⲕⲁⲁⲥ ⲙⲛⲧⲁⲧⲛⲁϩⲧⲉ · ϫⲉⲕⲁⲥ
ⲉϥⲉⲛⲁ ⲛⲁⲩ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ : ⲉϥⲉⲛⲁ ⲛⲁⲩ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ :
33. ⲱ ⲡϣⲱⲕ ⲛⲧⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙ ⲱ ⲡϣⲓⲕⲉ ⲛⲧⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙ
ⲙⲁⲟ · _ⲙⲛ_ ⲧⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ · _ⲙⲛ_ ⲙⲁⲟ ⲙⲛ ⲧⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ ⲁⲩⲱ
ⲡⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ ⲙⲡ_ⲫϯ_ · ⲛⲑⲏ ⲡⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ ⲙⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲛⲑⲏ
ⲉⲧⲉⲙⲉⲩϣⲙⲁϣⲧ ⲛⲉϩⲉⲡ ⲉⲧⲉⲛⲛⲉⲩⲉϣⲙⲉϣⲧ ⲛⲉϥϩⲁⲡ
ⲙⲡⲛⲟⲩϯ · ⲁⲩⲱ ϩⲉⲛ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲉⲧⲉ ⲛⲛⲉⲩⲉϣⲉⲛ
ⲁⲧⲧⲉⲛⲗⲉⲧⲟⲩ ⲛⲉ ⲛⲉϥϩⲓⲁⲩⲓ · ⲣⲁⲧⲟⲩ ⲛⲛⲉϥϩⲓⲟⲟⲩⲉ
34. ⲛⲓⲙ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲡⲉⲧⲉ ⲁϥⲓⲙⲓ ⲉⲡ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥⲉⲓⲙⲉ ⲉⲡ
ϩⲏⲧ ⲙⲡ_ⲟⲥ_ · ⲡⲉⲓ ⲉⲧⲛⲁ ϩⲏⲧ ⲙⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ · ⲡⲁⲓ ⲉⲧⲛⲁ
35. ⲥⲉ ⲃⲓⲏ_ⲧϥ_ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ · ⲓⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ ⲥⲉⲃⲉ ⲉⲓⲁⲧϥ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲏ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ
ⲧⲉ ⲁϥϣⲱⲡⲓ ⲛⲏϥ ⲛⲗⲉϥ ⲛⲧⲁϥϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲛⲁϥ ⲛⲣⲉϥ
ϫⲓϣⲁϫⲛⲓ · ⲓⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ ϫⲓ ϣⲟϫⲛⲉ · ⲏ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ
ⲧⲉ ⲁϥⲓⲗⲓ ⲛⲏϥ ⲛϣⲁⲣⲉⲡ · ⲛⲧⲁϥⲉⲓⲣⲉ ⲛⲁϥ ⲛϣⲟⲣⲡ
36. ⲛⲧⲁⲗⲉϥⲧⲟⲩⲓⲁ ⲛⲏϥ · ϫⲉ ⲧⲁⲣⲉϥ ⲧⲟⲩⲉⲓⲟ ⲛʁϥ · ϫⲉ
ⲡⲩⲏ_ⲣϥ_ _ϩⲛ_ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲙⲙⲁϥ ⲡⲩⲏⲣϥ ϩⲉⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲙⲙⲟϥ
ⲛⲉ · ⲁⲩⲱ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲓⲧⲁ ⲛⲉ · ⲁⲩⲱ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲓⲧⲟ
ⲁ_ⲧϥ_ · ⲁⲩⲱ ⲉⲩⲛⲁⲕⲁⲧⲟⲩ ⲁⲧϥ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲉⲩⲛⲁⲕⲟⲧⲟⲩ
ⲉⲗⲁϥ · ⲡⲱϥ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ · ⲡⲱϥ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ
ⲛϣⲁ ⲛⲓⲉⲛ_ϩ_ ϩⲁⲙⲏⲛ. ϣⲁ ⲛⲓⲉⲛⲉϩ ϩⲁⲙⲏⲛ.
Specimens of this version may be found in—
1. Mémoires de l’Institut égyptien, II. ii, edited by Bouriant.
2. Mittheilungen, ii. p. 69.
3. Coptic MSS. brought from the Fayoum by W. M. Flinders Petrie,
Esq., D.C.L., edited by W. E. Crum, p. 1.
4. It is also said to be contained in some Graeco-Coptic fragments
recently acquired by the British Museum.
The lines between this dialect and version and that of the Fayoum are not,
however, clearly defined, and further research may make it necessary to
rearrange the different specimens mentioned in this and the preceding
sections.
Textually the version is of equal value with that of the Fayoum, that is,
it represents another tradition of the version of Upper Egypt, of which
Sahidic was the most important representative.]
[(6) The Akhmîm Dialect.]
[It would have probably been more scientific to have begun our discussion
of the versions of Upper Egypt with a description of the Akhmîm dialect.
It certainly represents the language in an older form than any other
dialect we have examined; unfortunately such a very small fragment of the
New Testament version exists that its importance at present can hardly be
estimated.
The Akhmîm dialect is known to us by a series of Apocryphal and Biblical
fragments published by M. Bouriant (Mémoires, i. p. 243), and has the
following characteristics. In its vowels its affinities are nearest to the
Middle Egyptian; it has ⲁ for ⲟ, ⲁⲩ for ⲟⲟⲩ, and ⲉ for ⲁ. It does not use
ⲗ for ⲣ. Like the Sahidic it has double vowel-endings, and the weak final
ⲉ, but not ⲫ, ⲑ, ⲭ for ⲡϩ, ⲧϩ, ⲕϩ. It also has some Bohairic forms, such
as ⲛⲟⲩ, ⲁⲣⲉ, ⲁϥ. In the vowels it has the following peculiarities: ⲁ for ⲉ
(Sah.), ⲁϩⲟⲩⲛ, ⲁϩⲣⲏⲓ, ⲁⲣⲁⲕ, ⲁⲃⲁⲗ; ⲓ or ⲉⲓ for ⲏ, ⲡⲓ (sun), ⲥⲙⲉⲓ, ⲧϩⲉⲓ; ⲟⲩ
for ⲱ, ⲕⲟⲩ, ϫⲟⲩ, ⲥⲃⲟⲩ; ⲟ for ⲁⲩ, ⲛⲟ, ⲥⲛⲟ.
But its most distinguishing feature is an entirely new letter, [Symbol:
Coptic “hori” glyph with additional stroke to lower left]: this may
represent ϣ of other dialects; [Symbol: the new glyph] for ⲉϣ (to know),
ⲉϩ [with the new glyph] for ⲁϣ; or ϫ as ⲧϩⲡⲟ [with the new glyph] for ϫⲡⲟ;
or ϧ : ϩ, as ⲱⲛϩ [with the new glyph] for ⲱⲛϧ; ⲥϩⲉⲓ [with the new glyph]
for ⲥϧⲁⲓ.
The textual affinities can hardly be worked out with the small amount of
material we possess, but there seems to be little doubt that it represents
in a very early form the same version that we are acquainted with in
Sahidic. Further discoveries in this dialect may do much to make us
acquainted with the early history of the version of Upper Egypt.
Only two short fragments of this version are known, which have been edited
by Mr. W. E. Crum in his edition of the Coptic MSS. brought from the
Fayoum by W. M. Flinders Petrie (p. 2). They are contained in a parchment
MS. of very great antiquity (Mr. Crum suggests the fourth century, but
this is certainly too early), and contain St. James iv. 12-13, St. Jude
17-20. The following comparison of it with the Sahidic will show both the
similarity of the versions and the differences of the dialect.
AKHMIMIC. SAHIDIC.
Jude 17. _ⲛⲛ_ϣⲉϫⲉ ⲙⲡ_ⲛ_ϫⲁⲉⲓⲥ _ⲓⲥ_ 17. ⲛⲛϣⲁϫⲉ ⲙⲡⲉϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ _ⲓⲥ_
ⲡ_ⲭⲥ_ ⲛⲉⲓ ⲉⲧⲁ ⲛⲉϥⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ_ⲭⲥ_ ⲛⲁⲓ _ⲛ_ⲧⲁ ⲛⲉϥⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ
ϫⲟⲟⲩ ⲉϫⲛ _ⲛ_ϩⲁⲣⲡ’ ⲁⲃⲁⲗ · ϫⲟⲟⲩ ϫⲓⲛ ⲛϣⲟⲣⲡ · ⲉⲃⲟⲗ
18. ϫⲉ ⲁⲩⲇⲟⲟⲥ ϫⲉ ϩⲛ ⲧϩⲁⲉⲓ 18. ϫⲉ ⲁⲩⲇⲟⲟⲥ ϫⲉ _ϩⲛ_ ⲑⲁⲏ
_ⲛⲛ_ⲟⲩⲁⲉⲓϣ ⲟⲩ_ⲛ_ ϩⲉⲛⲣⲉϥϫⲣϫⲣⲉ _ⲛⲛ_ⲉⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓϣ ⲟⲩⲛ ϩⲉⲛⲣⲉϥϫⲣϫⲣⲉ
ⲛⲏⲩ ⲉⲩⲙⲁⲁϩⲉ ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲛⲉⲡⲓ ⲛⲏⲩ ⲉⲩⲙⲟⲟϣⲉ ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲛⲉⲡⲓ
ⲑⲩⲙⲓⲁ ⲛⲛⲟⲩ_ⲙⲡ_ⲧ’ ϩⲉ_ϥⲧ_ · ⲑⲩⲙⲓⲁ ⲛⲛⲉⲩⲙⲡⲧϣⲁϥⲧⲉ ·
19. ⲛⲉⲓ ⲛⲉⲧⲡⲱⲣϫ ⲁⲃⲁⲗ ⲉϩⲉⲛ 19. ⲛⲁⲓ ⲛⲉⲧⲡⲱⲣϫ ⲁⲃⲟⲗ ⲉϩⲉⲛ
ⲯⲩⲭⲓⲕⲟⲥ ⲛⲉ ⲉ_ⲙⲛ_ⲧⲉⲩ ⲡ_ⲡⲛ_ⲁ ⲯⲩⲭⲓⲕⲟⲛ ⲛⲉ ⲉ_ⲙⲛ_ⲧⲟⲩ ⲡ_ⲛ_ⲁ
_ⲙ_ⲙ_ⲟ_ · 20. _ⲛ_ⲧⲱⲧⲛⲉⲇⲉⲛⲁ_ⲙⲣ_ⲣⲉ · _ⲙ_ⲙⲁⲩ · 20. _ⲛ_ⲧⲱ_ⲧⲛ_ⲇⲉⲛⲁⲙⲉⲣⲁ ·
ⲧⲉ ϩⲱⲡⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ_ⲧⲛ_ ⲕⲱⲧ _ⲙ_ⲙⲱⲧ ⲧⲉ ⲉⲧⲉ_ⲧⲛ_ ⲕⲱⲧ _ⲙ_ⲡⲱⲧⲉⲛ ...
ⲛⲉ _ϩⲛ_ ⲧⲉ_ⲧⲛ_ⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃⲉ
_ⲙ_ⲡϣ_ⲁ_ ⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛϣⲗⲏⲗ _ϩⲙ_
ⲡ_ⲡⲛ_ⲁ ⲉⲧⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃⲉ
It has only been possible in the above account to give a rough outline of
more recent discovery. Further investigation is necessary, and the lines
which divide the different dialects, especially those between Fayoumic and
Middle Egyptian, require to be more accurately defined. Much may be hoped
also from the results of future discovery. The rubbish heaps of the
monasteries, the concealed libraries, the graves, have yielded up some of
their treasures, but all has not yet been brought to light. Enough has
been written to suggest that discoveries of great interest for the life
and character of early Egyptian Christianity have been made, and that much
still remains to be found, which may indirectly throw a flood of light on
the early history of Christianity as a whole(117).]