General Introduction to the Study Fo the Holy Scriptures (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 Excerpt: ... versions."' 1 Cfr. the conclusions of Ciasca, summed up by Hvvernat, in Vigouroux Diet de la Bible, col. 948. Of the other Coptic versions of the New Testament little can be said, for only a few fragments of them have hitherto been discovered or published. From these it is simply inferred (i), that the Akhmimic is not a primitive version from which the Bohairic and the Sahidic would be derived, and (2), that the Fayoumic and the Middle Egyptian translations form a distinct group by themselves. It is much to be regretted that no truly critical edition of the Bohairic and Sahidic versions of the New Testament has as yet appeared. The great textual importance of the former is evident. It was made from Greek copies, older and apparently purer than any that have come down to us. and the closeness of its renderings could hardly be greater, both because the Coptic language contains a large admixture of Greek and because the translator did not hesitate simply to embody in his work a large number of words found in the original before him. In this respect the Sahidic Version is also of considerable, though of less, importance. It does not seem to represent either as old or as pure a text as the Bohairic; but its text bears a valuable testimony to the early alterations undergone by the Greek New Testament, and indeed points out the general line on which this gradual deformation went on. As regards the history of the Canon of the New Testament, both versions witness to the fact that at the time they were made considerable doubts prevailed concerning the canonical character of the Apocalypse. Indeed there is a general feeling among biblical scholars that the more the various Coptic versions are studied the greater their importance will appear. 1 K. G. Kbnyon, Our ...