Coptic Bible History (3) 
**List: Coptic Ministry
the Bible ( the Bible )
Coptic: Bohairic...
COPTIC. "III.--VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Although the Coptic possesses great interest in an ethnological point of view, its importance
becomes unspeakably greater when we regard it as the favoured medium in which one of the earliest
and most faithful versions of the Scriptures has been transmitted to us. The Old Testament was trans-
lated from the Septuagint, in all probability during the course of the second or third century. The New
Testament was drawn immediately from the original Greek, but there is much difference of opinion
concerning the period of its execution: by some authors it is attributed to the third, by some to the
fourth, and by others to the fifth century. It is recorded of Antonius, who began to lead an ascetic
life A.D. 271, that he read the Egyptian Scriptures; but whether it was the Coptic or the Sahidic version
which he possessed, still remains doubtful.The Coptic New Testament, in its general character, is conformed to the Alexandrine recension.
According to Michaelis, some of its readings bear a striking affinity to those of the Latin version, and
occasionally to those of the Codex Cantabrigiensis [D]. The quotations of Origen, Eusebius, and Cyril,
agree pretty nearly with the corresponding passages in this version. Several Arabic translations have
been executed from the Coptic, and valuable Coptic MSS. are preserved in the Vatican, Paris, Berlin,
Bodleian, and other libraries. In some of the MSS. of the Gospel according to St. John, the history
of the woman taken in adultery is inserted, while in others it is omitted. The disputed passage in
1 John 5:7 is not to be found in any Coptic MS.
The project of publishing a printed edition of this version was first entertained by Thomas Marshall:
he prepared the Four Gospels for the press, but died before their completion. The work was then
undertaken by David Wilkins, or Wilkie, a Prussian, who, at the expense of the University of Oxford,
brought out, in 1716, a complete edition of the New Testament, to which he appended a Latin trans-
lation. The text of this edition was formed from Bodleian MSS., conferred with MSS. from the Paris
and Vatican libraries. In 1829, an edition of 2000 copies of the Coptic Gospels, printed in parallel
columns with the Arabic version, was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The text
had been prepared by the Coptic patriarch at the instance of Mr. Jowett. It was carried through the
press under the care of Dr. Tattam of Bedford, in conjunction with Professor Lee. An edition of the
New Testament, with emendations drawn from Berlin Codices, was printed by Schwartze, at Leipsic,
in 1838. Ten years subsequently, another edition of the New Testament was undertaken by the same
editor; but this later edition is enriched with copious critical and grammatical notes, and the text is
chiefly drawn from Berlin MSS.
No complete edition of the Coptic Old Testament has yet been published, for several of the books
are missing; it is, however, probable that they are not actually lost, and that they may yet be found in
some of the cloisters of Egypt. The Pentateuch was published in 1731, in London, by Wilkins, the
editor of the New Testament. The twelve Prophetical Books were printed at Oxford, in 1836, under
the editorship of Professor Lee and of Dr. Tattam. Fragments of the Lamentations of Jeremiah,
(consisting of chap. iv. ver. 22, and chap. v.), and the sixth chapter of the apocryphal book of Baruch,
were inserted by Quatremère in his great work on the Language and Literature of Egypt, published
at Paris in 1804. These portions constitute the whole of the Coptic Old Testament hitherto printed,
with the exception of the Psalms, of which no less than five editions have appeared. The first two of
these editions were published at Rome by the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, the one in 1744, the
other in 1749: they were designed for the benefit of the Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the Arabic
version was therefore printed in parallel columns with the Coptic text. A critical edition of the
Psalter was edited in 1837 by Woide and Ideler, and printed at Berlin. Another critical edition
appeared at Leipsic in 1844, under the care of Schwartze. An edition consisting of 2014 copies of
the Coptic Psalter, printed in parallel columns with the Arabic version, has likewise been issued by
the British and Foreign Bible Society.
The Twelve Minor Prophets were published with a Latin translation by Dr. Tattam, in 1836.
In 1846, the same scholar published the Book of Job, with an English translation. In 1849, Bardelli
at Pisa, published the Book of Daniel without a translation; and in 1852, Dr. Tattam published the
"Prophetæ Majores," Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel, with a Latin version;
in 2 vols. 8vo. We must not omit also, a magnificent edition of the whole New Testament, in Royal
4to., in Coptic and Arabic, printed with type cast for the purpose, and intended for the Coptic
churches of Egypt; published at the expense of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in
1847. There is also another edition of the Pentateuch with critical notes, and published in numbers
at Paris, of which the first two or three numbers only have appeared."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only]COPTIC--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Coptic Character n.d. John 1:1-14 unknown.]
"IV.--RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. This ancient version has been the means of keeping alive the form if not the spirit of Christianity,
during a long series of centuries, among a persecuted people surrounded by Moh_mm_dan oppressors.
The results of recent distribution of the Scriptures have been encouraging. The bigotry of the Copts,
and their stern adherence to the superstitions of their forefathers, appear to be decreasing; yet the power
of the priesthood here, as elsewhere, impedes the progress of the Gospel: all free inquiry concerning
spiritual things is fettered, and the people are kept in perpetual bondage by their dread of the clergy.
Still there are instances of individuals being awakened, by means of the perusal of the Scriptures, to
a sense of the fallen condition of their church. Mr. Krusé, long engaged as a my. at Cairo,
speaks, for instance, in a letter dated 1847, of a native Copt who compared the condition of the Coptic
Church to the state of things described in 1 Tim. iv., and 2 Tim. iii. He added, "Our head (the
patriarch) is sick, and the whole body is spiritually dead." After some lengthened conversation on the
abuses of the Coptic Church, the man emphatically said, "We want a man to rise up from among our
own people like your Luther, bold enough to stand fast in the faith, and to reform our church." The
general condition of the Copts, throughout Egypt, is one of extreme poverty, and they are subjected
to great oppressions by their Moh_mm_dan rulers."--1860 S. Bagster [Info only]Coptic: Sahidic...
SAHIDIC. "THE Sahidic is a dialect of the Coptic language, and was formerly spoken in Upper Egypt, between
Cahira (Cairo) and Assevan (or Assouan). This country was called Said by the Arabs, which is the
origin of the term Sahidic. A version of the Scriptures was executed in this dialect, according to somewriters in the second, but certainly not later than the third, century. The Old Testament was trans-
--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only:
lated from the Septuagint, and the New Testament from Greek MSS. The Sahidic New Testament,
like the Coptic, conforms in general to the Alexandrine recension, but it possesses several readings
peculiar to itself, and in some instances it agrees with the Latin version. Its striking similarity to the
Codex Cantabrigiensis [D] is a fact often adduced in proof of its high antiquity.
Fragments of this version still exist at Rome, Paris, Oxford, Berlin, and Venice, and also in the
British Museum. Portions of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John appear to have been printed by
Mingarelli in 1785. In 1789, part of the Gospel of St. John was printed at Rome, and also fragments
of the Epistles to Timothy, taken from a Greek Coptic MS. in the possession of Cardinal Borgia. But
the most complete edition of the Sahidic fragments is that published at the Clarendon press in 1799.
This edition, which comprises nearly one-third of the New Testament, was commenced under the
superintendence of Woide, but he died before the whole was prepared for the press, and the delegates
of the Clarendon library employed Dr. Ford, Arabic reader of the University, to complete the work.
A Latin version was appended to the Sahidic fragments in this splendid edition, with readings from
Greek MSS., learned preliminary dissertations, and other critical apparatus. The Sahidic version is of
extreme value to biblical students; it is also of the utmost practical utility, the dialect being carefully
cultivated for critical investigations of hieratic and other Egyptian MSS."
Woide connected w/ Codex Alexandrinus.]SAHIDIC.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Coptic Character n.d. John 5:1-14 unknown.]
Coptic: Middle Egyptian...
BASHMURIC. "THE Bashmuric, a sub- dialect of Sahidic, was spoken in Bashmur, a province of the Delta. It appears
to have been an intermediate dialect between Coptic and Sahidic, and is remarkable for its almost
universal preference for l over r, and like changes in other liquids and aspirates. Fragments of a
Bashmuric version of the Scriptures, executed either in the third or fourth century, are still in existence.
These agree so closely with the Sahidic version, that it has been doubted whether an original trans-
lation was ever made from Greek into Bashmuric, some philologers being of opinion that the version
now called Bashmuric is merely an adaptation of the Sahidic version to the dialect of Bashmur.
Fragments of the Bashmuric version of St. John’s Gospel were discovered by Georgi among the
Borgian collection of MSS., and were published at Rome in 1789, with a Latin version and illustrative
notes. Other fragments, consisting of parts of the first and fifth chapters of Isaiah, of the First Epistle
to the Corinthians, and the Epistles to the Ephesians, to Philemon, and to the Hebrews, and of theFirst Epistle to the Thessalonians, were published by Engelbreth in 1816.
The Sahidic MSS., from
which the text was drawn, belonged to the Borgian collection. The value of this work is greatly
enhanced by the insertion of the corresponding passages in the Coptic and Sahidic dialects, so that a
comparison between the three dialects can be readily made. A literal Latin version is added, with
the corresponding Greek text, and notes illustrative of various readings, with critical remarks."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only]BASHMURIC.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Coptic Character n.d. John 4:28-34 CT.]
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