صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

text as far as it was known to him. The Arabic version cannot be regarded as original: it is more closely connected with the Bohairic than the Sahidic recension. I have little doubt that the narrative, whether first written in Coptic or Greek, originated in Egypt. It has some striking points of resemblance with the account of Abraham's death published by James, The Testament of Abraham (Texts and Studies, vol. II, no. 2).

Portions of the Sahidic fragments published on pp. 162— 185 have no parallels in other languages. I have noticed in my notes the connection of the last three with the literature relating to Pilate, as represented by such works as the Acta Pilati and the Anaphora Pilati, published by Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha, ed. 2, pp. 210 ff, pp. 435 ff. The third and fourth fragments (pp. 168-179) are part of one or more sermons dealing with several events connected with our Lord's life (see note at the foot of p. xxxi). The last fragment of all has an account of the figure of the cross coming forth from the tomb (see p. 185), which reminds us of the recently discovered Gospel of Peter.

Method of this Edition.

The editor of Coptic texts is confronted by two main problems. In the first place he has to decide upon what principle the words of his MS are to be divided. In many MSS there is no indication of the end of a word; and it is not easy to say how far a particular group of letters was regarded as a single whole. Some editors have gone far in the attempt to split up these groups into their most primitive components. But the process is uncertain in itself; a text so divided is difficult to read; and indeed it may well be doubted whether such fragments can really be regarded as separable words. Erman has recently advocated1 a practice the very opposite of this. He would write letters

1 See Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache, 1883, pp. 37-40.

hitherto been customary. arguments, I have been Nor have I been willing,

in still larger groups than has After carefully considering his unable to adopt his conclusions. with Steindorff in his Koptische Grammatik, to join groups of letters by means of hyphens; because to use these is to introduce signs not found in the MSS. On the whole I have adhered to the rules laid down by Stern, who divides words according to principles adopted by many scholars in the past1.

The next and more serious problem is that presented by the signs which occur above certain letters. These are not represented at all by Zoega. Other editors usually place them, not as they occur in the particular MS they transcribe, but in accordance with a conventional rule. Sometimes an attempt is made to reproduce them wholly or in part, as they are found in the original. I have taken special pains to adhere as closely as possible to my MSS, in the hope that the materials thus collected may serve to throw light on the meaning of such signs. The authorities of the University Press have kindly acceded to my wishes, and enabled me to reproduce them with approximate exactness. It is impossible to give their exact size; and it would have added to the expense of the work to represent all the curves of the lines or accents. I have been content with placing the symbol which on the whole most nearly represented the original. In this edition a line of uniform length is used above a single letter, and another line of almost uniform length above two letters. But in the MSS the length of such lines is continually changing, and is sometimes so minute that it is hard to say whether a line or a point is intended.

An attempt is also made to reproduce the stops and large initial letters found in the MSS. When a single point is used as a stop, its position often varies. I have placed it uniformly in the centre. When a line is employed, it is usually

1 See Z. f. Aeg. Spr. 1886, pp. 56-73. In a few instances I find to my regret that in the course of printing I have not been quite consistent in my practice.

curved in various ways. I have not attempted to represent such curves. All marks in red-most of them are merely decorative I have omitted, except in the case of the one Bohairic MS which I publish, where the stops are written in red. When the large initial letters have been postponed in the MS in order to come at the beginning of a line, I have transferred them to the beginning of the sentences which they are intended to mark. Where two occur together, I have only indicated the first'. Signs occur in the margin of MSS indicating Biblical quotations. These I have not thought it necessary to reproduce.

As regards the text, I have almost always printed it as it stands in the MS. I have seldom ventured to introduce corrections, as our knowledge of the language is still so incomplete. Every alteration is mentioned in the notes. When earlier editors have divided the text into chapters and verses, I have reproduced their arrangement. In other cases I have myself made similar divisions for convenience of reference.

In translating I have tried to reproduce faithfully the Coptic idioms. Occasionally, however, I have had to introduce some changes. Thus in Coptic the passive is often expressed by the third person plural of the active voice. In such cases I have generally used the passive voice in English. In my rendering of Biblical quotations or allusions, I have used as far as possible the language of the Revised English Version (1881-4), whenever the Coptic appeared to be based upon and to have interpreted in the same way a similar Greek original. Hence readers who have not studied Coptic will in some measure be enabled to judge the type of text underlying the Biblical citations. A study of such passages shews us that as a general rule the citations in either dialect agree with the Version of the Bible-as far as it is known to us-current in that dialect.

1 When I have had occasion in my notes to refer to MS readings or to quote printed texts, I have as a rule not indicated initials, stops, or signs above the letters.

F. R.

Description of Manuscripts.

In the account of MSS given below, fragments in either dialect have been described in detail. My object in this has been to enable scholars to determine the relation of fragments which they may discover to those here published.

With two exceptions I have transcribed or fully collated all the texts translated in this edition. These exceptions are Cod. Vat. LXII 5 and Cod. Vat. LXVI 11. Lagarde has published the text of these MSS, and I have relied upon his edition; only occasionally comparing his copy of the latter MS with the original, and making the necessary corrections.

The measurements which I have given of the columns, unless I have stated the contrary, represent the average length and breadth. As many of the lines vary greatly in size, it is not always easy to give the breadth with certainty. The Sahidic MSS have two columns, the Bohairic MSS one column, on the page. I have not attempted to date the fragments.

Previous editions of the text to which I refer are the following: Revillout, Apocryphes Coptes du Nouveau Testament, fasc. I (Paris, 1876); Lagarde, Aegyptiaca (Göttingen, 1883); Guidi, Frammenti Copti, Rendiconti della R. Accademia dei Lincei (Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche), 1887, ser. IV vol. III sem. 2. Selections from the text of some of the MSS are given by Zoega in his Catalogue. The most important piece of translation hitherto done is Stern's translation into German of the Death of Joseph in the Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, 1883, pp. 270-294.

Reference is made to the following catalogues: Zoega, Catalogus Codicum Copticorum qui in Museo Borgiano Velitris adservantur (Rome, 1810); Mai, Codices Coptici Bibliothecae Vaticanae (see Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, tom. v, Rome, 1831); Hyvernat, Catalogue of the Clarendon Press MSS, preserved in manuscript in the Bodleian Library.

MSS of Sahidic Fragments of the Life of the Virgin.

CLAREND. B 3 14, a Sahidic fragment in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It consists of two leaves: the numbering of the first leaf is gone; the second is numbered sʊ, sa. The first page is indistinct. The greatest length of a page is now 13 in., the greatest breadth 10 in. The columns (9 to 10 x 3 in.) contain from 30 to 32 lines. The stops are black and decorated with vermilion. The writing is plain, rarely protracted into the margin. The o of is large, and decorated with two vermilion points. Initial letters are rather large, are quite in the margin, and are decorated with vermilion. They are ornamented with or written in black, and decorated with red. Hyvernat in his Catalogue of the Clarendon Press MSS dates this MS 'about the eleventh or twelfth century.' It is printed and translated in the present edition, pp. 2-5, 12—15. It is part of the same MS as the following:

BORG. CXVII, a Sahidic fragment in the Borgian Museum at the Propaganda, Rome. It consists of four leaves: the numbers of the

first and third are lost; the second and fourth are numbered 3 7, H and

sa, s. The condition of these leaves is good; and the writing is never so torn as to be illegible. The greatest length of a page is now 12 in., the greatest breadth 9 in. The columns (97 to 10 × 3 in.) contain from 29 to 32 lines. is once, and is twice decorated with vermilion. The first of the Oxford leaves immediately precedes this fragment, and the second immediately follows. Zoega in his Catalogue (p. 223) places it in class VI. Written and lithographed by Revillout, Apoc. Copt. pp. 1–6; printed and translated in this edition, pp. 4—13. BORG. CXVIII, a Sahidic fragment at the Propaganda. It consists of three leaves. On the verso of the first leaf is the number IH. The rest of the early numbering is gone. On the recto of the second leaf the number K is written in a modern hand. This may represent an old number, now torn away: see further in the note on p. 195. The condition of the MS is fairly good. Part of the bottom of the first leaf, and part of the margin of the second leaf are lost. The greatest length of a page is 11 in., the greatest breadth 9 in. The columns (breadth 2 to 3 in.) contain from 28 to 30 lines. The stops are often decorated with red. Initial letters are either wholly or partly in the margin, and are sometimes not much larger than ordinary letters. decorated with red. is found below one of them, and There is very little ornamentation. Zoega (Catal. p. 223) places it in class VIII. Written and lithographed by Revillout, Apoc. Copt. pp. 7-11; printed and translated in this edition, pp. 14-21.

They are below two.

« السابقةمتابعة »