Bible Encyclopedia: Coptic

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

COPTIC VERSIONS

kop'-tik vur'-shunz:

I. LANGUAGE AND ALPHABET

1. Alphabet

2. Dialects.

II. VERSIONS

III. CHIEF EDITIONS

LITERATURE

I. Language and Alphabet.

1. Alphabet:

The Coptic alphabet consists of the Greek uncial letters, plus seven characters taken from the Egyptian demotic to express sounds not represented in the Greek It can be traced back to the 4th century, as the oldest Coptic manuscripts belong to the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century. The language still prevailed in Egypt in the 9th century, but was no longer understood in Middle Egypt in the 12th. Its last speaker died in 1633.

2. Dialects:

There were at least five written dialects and subdialects of Coptic. Of these the most important from a literary point of view was the

(1) Buchairic, the dialect of Lower Egypt, often called Coptic paragraph excellence, and also (wrongly) Memphitic. It is used as the ecclesiastical language in the services of the Coptic church. The other four dialects are somewhat more closely allied to one another than to Buchairic, which shows greater traces of Greek influence. These dialects are,

(2) the Sahidic (Sa`idi, or dialect of upper Egypt), also called Thebaic;

(3) the Bashmuric-or rather Bushmuric-(for which Fayyumic has been suggested);

(4) the Middle Egyptian proper (known from manuscripts found in the monastery of Jeremias near the Theban Serapeum), differing but little from (3); and

(5) the Akhmimic (Akhmim = the ancient Chemmis). Akhmimic is more primitive and more closely related to ancient Egyptian than any other. Only a few fragments in it (of Exodus, Ecclesiastes, 2 Maccabees, the Minor Prophets, and Catholic epistles) have yet been found. The last three dialects are often classed together as "Middle Egyptian" and (4) is then called "Lower Sahidic."

II. Versions.

In all 5 dialects more or less complete versions of the Bible once existed. They were the earliest made after the early Syriac At latest they began in the 3rd century, though some (e.g. Hyvernat) say as early as the 2nd. It is thought that the Sahidic version was the earliest, then the Middle Egyptian and finally the Buchairic. The latter represents an early and comparatively pure Greek text, free from what are generally termed western additions, while the Sahidic, on the other hand, contains most of the peculiar western readings. It sometimes supports Codex Sinaiticus, sometimes Codex Vaticanus (B), sometimes both, but generally it closely agrees with codex D (Bezae), especially in the Acts. A Coptic (Sahidic) MS, written considerably before 350 A.D., and published by the British Museum in April, 1912, contains Deuteronomy, Jonah, and Acts, and is older than any other Biblical manuscript (except a few fragments) yet known to exist. It proves that this Sahidic version was made about 200 A.D. It in general supports the "Western" text of codex Bezae (D). Much of the New Testament especially still exists in Sahidic, though not Revelation. In Bubairic we have the Pentateuch, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the 12 Minor Prophets, and fragments of the historical books of the Old Testament, besides the whole New Testament, though the Book of Revelation is later than the rest. In the other dialects much less had been preserved, as far as is known. In Bushmuric we have fragments of Isaiah, Lamentations, Ep. Jeremiah, and a good many fragments of the New Testament. In more than one dialect we have apocryphal gospels (see Texts and Studies, IV, number 2, 1896) and Gnostic papyri, etc. The Old Testament was translated from the Septuagint. The Psalms seem to have been translated about 303 A.D.

III. Chief Editions.

The Buchairic Psalms were first published in 1659. Wilkins published the Buchairic New Testament at London in 1716, and the Pentateuch in 1731; Schwartze the Gospels in 1846-47; de Lagarde the Acts and Epistles in 1852. He also edited the Psalms (transliterated) in 1875, 151 in number, of which the last celebrates David's victory over Goliath. He added fragments of the Sahidic Psalter and of the Buchairic Proverbs Tattam published the Minor Prophets in 1836 and the Major in 1852 an edition of the Gospels in London in 1847, and of the rest of the New Testament in 1852 (SPCK), with a literal Arabic version. Horner's edition of the Buchairic New Testament (4 volumes, 1898, etc., Clarendon Press) and of Sahidic Gospels (1910, 3 vols) is the standard edition Ford published part of the Sahidic New Testament in 1799. Various editions of parts of Old Testament and New Testament have since appeared: e.g. Ciasca published fragments of the Sahidic Old Testament (Sacrorum Bibliorum Fragmenta Copto-Sahidica Musei Borgiani) at Rome, 1885-89.

LITERATURE.

Realencyclopadie fur prot. Theol. und Kirche, III; Hyvernat, Etude sur les versions coptes; Revue biblique, 1896, 1897; Zeitschrift fur agypt. Sprache; Journal of Theol. Studies, I, 3; Nestle, Text. Crit of Greek New Testament; Forbes Robinson, Texts and Studies, IV; Oesterley in Murray's New Bible Dict.

W. St. Clair Tisdall

Library

On the Diversity of Spiritual Gifts.
... Footnotes: [3551] The words "one and only" are omitted in the Syriac and Coptic. ...
omits "His Father." The Syriac amd Coptic have "the only Father.". ...
/.../various/constitutions of the holy apostles/sec i on the diversity of.htm

Apocryphal Gospels.
... IV. The History of Joseph the Carpenter."The original language of this history
is Coptic. From the Coptic it was translated into Arabic. ...
/.../unknown/apocrypha of the new testament/part i apocryphal gospels.htm

Manuscripts and Books
... A full description of the manuscripts (including the Armenian, and the Syriac and
Coptic fragments) will be found in Lightfoot, op. cit., pp.70-126; 587-598. ...
/.../richardson/early christian fathers/manuscripts and books 2.htm

Ordination and Duties of the Clergy.
... [3683] The Coptic adds: "While you pray, he is ordained; and thou shalt ordain the
deacon also according to this constitution alone.". [3684] Exodus 18. ...
/.../various/constitutions of the holy apostles/sec iii ordination and duties of.htm

Manuscripts and Books
... In Coptic there is a fifth century papyrus fragment of chs.10:3b to 12:2a, edited
by G. Horner in The Journal of Theological Studies, 25, 1924, pp.225-231. ...
/.../richardson/early christian fathers/manuscripts and books 3.htm

Letter Lv. --Letter to Rufinianus.
... The latter must have been distant from Alexandria: the Coptic documents call him
Rufinus the archbishop,' which seems to place him outside Egypt. ...
/.../select works and letters or athanasius/letter lv letter to rufinianus.htm

Certain Prayers and Laws.
... Footnotes: [3706] This chapter is not found in the Coptic and Syriac. One V. ms. ...
[3709] "Deacons" omitted in Oxford ms. and in Coptic. [3710] "Two," Oxford ms. ...
/.../various/constitutions of the holy apostles/sec iv certain prayers and laws.htm

Athanasius under Julian and his Successors; Fourth and Fifth ...
... It may be well to add a few words upon the supposed Coptic acts of this council,
and upon their connection with the very ancient Syntagma Doctrinæ, wrongly so ...
/.../select works and letters or athanasius/section 9 athanasius under julian.htm

All the Apostles Urge the Observance of the Order of the Church.
... In ix. 5 it is a later interpolation of the Vulgate and Erasmus.--R.]. [3763] The
Coptic adds, "the Son of God, and true God.". ... [3765] The Coptic adds "God.". ...
/.../various/constitutions of the holy apostles/sec v all the apostles urge.htm

Mark.
... The Coptic patriarch claims to be his successor. The legends of his martyrdom in
the eighth year of Nero (this date is given by Jerome) are worthless. ...
/.../schaff/history of the christian church volume i/section 81 mark.htm

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (a.) Of or pertaining to the Copts.

2. (n.) The language of the Copts.

Thesaurus

Coptic
... Standard Bible Encyclopedia. COPTIC VERSIONS. ... Its last speaker died in 1633. 2. Dialects:
There were at least five written dialects and subdialects of Coptic. ...
/c/coptic.htm - 11k

Ostraca
... 4. Coptic Ostraca: Coptic ostraca, too, are numerous, especially from the Byzantine
period, and of even more interest for Christian history than the Greek. ...
/o/ostraca.htm - 10k

Papyrus (4 Occurrences)
... Chief Collections 13. Coptic, Arabic and Other Papyri A marsh or water plant, abundant
in Egypt in ancient times, serving many purposes in antiquity. ...
/p/papyrus.htm - 34k

Arabic
... it is not surprising that most of such material, and indeed of the entire literary
output, consists of translations from Syriac, Greek or Coptic, and that ...
/a/arabic.htm - 17k

Ophir (12 Occurrences)
... In the LXX. this word is rendered "Sophir," and "Sofir" is the Coptic name for India,
which is the rendering of the Arabic version, as also of the Vulgate. ...
/o/ophir.htm - 16k

Separate (115 Occurrences)
... Little was known of them until in 1904 a translation from a badly preserved Coptic
version was published by C. Schmidt, and the discovery was made that the well ...
/s/separate.htm - 71k

Alexandria (4 Occurrences)
... The Sinaiticus and Vaticanus uncials with many other most important Bible
manuscripts-Hebrew, Greek, Coptic and Syriac-came from Alexandria. ...
/a/alexandria.htm - 31k

Messenger (235 Occurrences)
... Ulrich Wilcken published Griechische Ostraka aus Aegypten und Nubien, and in 1902
WE Crum produced his book of Christian ostraka called Coptic Ostraca from the ...
/m/messenger.htm - 101k

Copulation (11 Occurrences)

/c/copulation.htm - 10k

Ethiopia (26 Occurrences)
... In the 8th century Egypt was invaded by 100,000 Nubians to repay an insult given
to the Coptic patriarch and to the sacred pictures in the Egyptian Christian ...
/e/ethiopia.htm - 45k

Subtopics

Coptic

Coptic Versions

Related Terms

Ostraca

Papyrus (4 Occurrences)

Arabic

Ophir (12 Occurrences)

Separate (115 Occurrences)

Alexandria (4 Occurrences)

Messenger (235 Occurrences)

Copulation (11 Occurrences)