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    The Sahidic Coptic Version and New Testament Textual Criticism and Interpretation

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    An examination of the influence of the Sahidic Coptic version of the New Testament on textual criticism and interpretation

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    The Sahidic Coptic Version and New Testament Textual Criticism and Interpretation

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    An examination of the influence of the Sahidic Coptic version of the New Testament on textual criticism and interpretation

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    An examination of the influence of the Sahidic Coptic version of the New Testament on textual criticism and interpretation

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    The Sahidic Coptic Version and New Testament Textual Criticism and Interpretation

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    bar_enosh
    An examination of the influence of the Sahidic Coptic version of the New Testament on textual criticism and interpretation

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    The Sahidic Coptic Version and New Testament Textual Criticism and Interpretatio

    n
    By Solomon Landers
    “The Coptic New Testament is among the primary resources for the history of the Ne
    w Testament text. Important as the Latin and Syriac versions may be, it is of f
    ar greater importance to know precisely how the text developed in Egypt.” –The Text
    of the New Testament, Kurt and Barbara Aland (Eerdmans, 1987), p. 200
    “Coptic” means Egyptian, specifically of or relating to Egyptian Christians. There
    was a sizeable Jewish community in 1st century Egypt, and a school in Alexandria
    under the famed Jewish philosopher Philo. There were also Egyptians associated
    with Christianity from its earliest days (Acts 2:10; 18:24), although the date
    of the origins of the Egyptian Gentile church are less certain. Tradition assi
    gns the founding of that church to the evangelist Mark.
    The term “Sahidic Coptic Version” of the New Testament does not refer to the Gnostic
    gospels found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in December, 1945 (the “gospels” of Thomas, P
    hilip and Judas). Those “gospels” were also translated into and are primarily extan
    t in Sahidic Coptic. But “Sahidic Coptic Version” of the New Testament means the Eg
    yptian translation of the Greek canonical writings of the New Testament.
    The Sahidic Coptic version is represented in the scholarly Nestle-Aland Greek cr
    itical text (NA27, comparable to UBS4) by the symbol “sa.” The usefulness of “sa” to Ne
    w Testament critical scholars is attested in the numerous times it is referenced
    in Bruce M. Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd Editio
    n ( Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1994) and the Greek critical text Novum Testamen
    tum Graece.
    In the English Introduction of the NA27, Novum Testamentum Graece (Deutsche Bibe
    lgesellschaft, 1993) we read: “In the present scholarly manual edition of the Gree
    k New Testament the principal emphasis is on the Latin, Syriac and Coptic versio
    ns. These versions were unquestionably made directly from the Greek and at an e
    arly period. They are also the most fully studied. And finally, their value as
    witnesses to the textual tradition of the Greek New Testament, which is our con
    cern at present, has become increasingly clear through decades of debate.” – p. 63
    Although numerous papyrus and parchment Greek manuscripts were discovered in the
    20th century, “the versions still enjoy an important role in critical decisions b
    ecause they represent Greek witnesses of an early period.” – ibid, p. 64.
    Modern textual scholars group the various early textual witnesses into types or “f
    amilies.” The Alexandrian text (so named from Alexandria in Egypt) is considered
    by many to be “the best text and the most faithful in preserving the original…The Sa
    hidic and Bohairic [Coptic] versions frequently contain typically Alexandrian re
    adings” and the Sahidic Coptic version is generally classed as an Alexandrian witn
    ess although containing some readings found in other text types as well. – Metzger
    , pp. 5, 15
    Extant Sahidic Coptic Biblical manuscripts date to “about A.D. 300,” indicating that
    the actual translation of the Christian Bible into Coptic took place some time
    prior to that. --Bentley Layton, A Coptic Grammar, 2nd Edition (Harrassowitz Ve
    rlag, Wiesbaden, 2004), Introduction, p.1. The Coptic Orthodox Church gives a t
    raditional date of about 200 AD for the composition of the Coptic New Testament,
    and grammarian George W. Horner, who also translated the Coptic New Testament i
    nto English from 1911 – 1924, gives a date as early as sometime after 180 A.D. Da
    tes for such early texts cannot be exact, but are based largely on “external and c
    ircumstantial factors” such as the style of writing and the place where they were
    found. – The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts, edited by Phili
    p W. Comfort and David P. Barrett (Tyndale House, 2001), p. 20
    The value of the Sahidic Coptic version lies also in its being a witness or addi
    tional witness to several theologically important verses in the New Testament.
    For example, it supports the deletion of the Pericope Adulterae at John 7:53-8:1
    1. Also, the Coptic reading ΠΑΙ ΝΤΑ ΟΥ Ν ΕΒΟΛ Ν ΤСΑΡΞ , “this one who was manifested in
    he best Greek texts which say “he” or he who” [ὃς ] rather than “God” [Θεὸς ] was manif st
    sh, at 1 Timothy 3:16.

    Significantly, th Sahidic Coptic v rsion also sh ds light on how c rtain Gr k


    grammatical constructions w r und rstood by p opl who spok Gr k and who w r
    part of a living cultur of th Koin Gr k languag , which was tru of th Cop
    tic translators. For xampl , at Titus 2:13, th Coptic translators und rstood t
    h Gr k t xt’s μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ    f  c     p  

     
    

        ,” p c   ΜΠΝΟ ΝΝΟΥΤΕ ΜΝ ΠΕΝС ΤΗΡ ΠΕΧΡΙСΤΟС ΙΗСΟΥС i.e., "the reat



    erhaps a most outstandin examp e of this aid to interpretation, as understood
    by these ear y hristian trans ators, is found at John 1:1c, the meanin of whi
    ch has fi ed a p ethora of vo umes over many centuries.
     
    n ike the other two ancient textua  witnesses, the atin and Syriac texts, the

    Sahidic optic version was composed in a an ua e that has both the definite and
    indefinite rammatica  artic es. he optic usa e of the artic es is simi ar t
    
    o n ish, varyin
    
    with respect to abstract nouns. ut there are no abstract nouns at John 1:1c, o
    n y common
     nouns, so this difference between the optic usa e of the artic es an
    d the n ish use does not app y to this verse.

    he optic
    form of John
     1:1c  does not
    support a definite readin for καὶ 

     θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος ,
     G d.”  p c    c  d v    
    ΝΕ ΠΝΟΥΤΕΠΕ ΠΑ 
    Ε, “ W d   G d,”
    

    d        
    
     d  f  v 
    K  G 
    d c  d.  B y d d    . 
    R 
    , y   d G f J   1:1c  y ΝΕΥΝΟΥΤΕ ΠΕ Π Α Ε, . . “ W d   

     
    
     
    W    p c    p  d c  c 
     v d c  p v
    (  dj c v ) 
     f c c , 
      
    
      m  f p c J  1:1c  d  

     b   d  "
    c  . D c  p
      

    v y, S   d c p c
    ΝΕΥΝΟΥΤΕ  ΠΕ Π Α Ε c     W d 
    d v "  "
      

     ." D   v y, S  d c p c ΝΕΥΝΟΥΤΕ ΠΕ Π Α Ε c  b


         f p c p  d c  c mm    .
      d  " W d  

      
     
    
        

         

    
    
       d c  p  v  d   v,  S  d  c p
    c 
    c mm
    
     

    
    d f   c  c  b  d  d    d d     
    d f    c  : "  d v   ;  d." -- B   y L y ,  p c G mm ,
       
    2d d  (H  z  , 2004), p  227.

    
    
     f   x  c   c m   x   p    , 
    S 
    d c
      f  ,    
      
    

    p c v    f   f c  v   b  d   d c  f B b 
    .

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