18: Decipher Texts 1 - Gospel of Matthew

I’ve transcribed these excerpts from Rochus Zuurmond’s text-critical edition for the Gospel of Matthew, part of the Novum Testamentum Aethiopice series (Stuttgrat: F. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 2001). I’ve selected passages from the A-text which, in Zuurmond’s estimation, is “the earliest retrievable Ge’ez Gospel text. It must have originated between the fourth and the sixth century as a translation of the Greek.” (p.7)

[If you have caught up with the other blog entries, these excerpts should now be fairly easy to decipher. In order to facilitate this process (and help you review), I’ve color coded my transliteration --> green indicates roots that appear in the verb glossary [blog entry 17]; orange indicates major prefixes and prepositions [9] and red indicates important suffixes i.e. the construct state [8], the accusative marker [11] and possession [12]. What’s left are, for the most part, easily recognizable cognates and proper nouns. I’ve glossed a few important terms below each text. Good luck!]

[NOTE: If you have trouble viewing the Fidel script, you can download this blog-entry in PDF format, here.]

I. MATTHEW 2:1-4

ወተወሊዶ፡ኢየሱስ፡በቤተ፡ልሔም፡ዘይሁዳ፡በመዋዕለ፡ሄሮድስ፡ንጉሥ፡ወናሁ፡መጽኡ፡ሰብአ፡ሰገል፡እምብሔረ፡ጽባሕ፡ውስተ፡ኢየሩሳሌም። ወይቤሉ፡አይቴ፡ዘተወልደ፡ንጉሥ፡እስመ፡ርኢነ፡ኮከቦ፡በሠርቅ፡ወመጻእነ፡ንስግድ፡ሎቱ። ወሰሚዖ፡ሄሮድስ፡ንጉሥ፡ተሀውከ፡ወኵላ፡ኢየሩሳሌም፡ምስሌሁ፡ወአስተጋብኦሙ፡ለኵሎሙ፡ሊቃናተ፡ካህናት[...]፡በአይቴ፡ይትወለድ፡ክርስቶስ።	watawalido ʾiyasus babeta ləḥm zayəhuda bamawāʿəla herodəs nəguš wanāhu1 meṣʾu sabʾa sagal2 ʾəmbḥera ṣbaḥ3 wəsta ʾiyarusalem // wayəbelu ʾayte4 zatawalda nəguš ʾəsma rəʾina kokabo bašarq5 wamaṣoʾna nəsgəd lotu // wasamiʿo herodəs nəguš tahawka wakʷəla ʾiyarusalem məslehu waastagābʾomu lakʷəlomu liqanata kahənat […] baʾayte yətwalad krəstos //
1. ወናሁ = and-behold! 2. ሰብአ፡ሰገል = lit. men of divination i.e. the magi 3. ጽባሕ = the morning i.e. the east 4. አይቴ = where? 5. ሠርቅ = the east

II. MATTHEW 2:13-15

ወ[...]ናሁ፡መልአከ፡እግዚአብሔር፡አስተርአዩ፡ለዩሴፍ፡በሕልም፡ወይቤሎ፡ተንሥእ፡[...] ወነሥኦ፡ለሕፃን፡ወለእሙ፡በሌሊት፡ወሖረ፡ብሔረ፡ግብጽ። ወነበረ፡ ህየ፡እስከ፡ሞተ፡ሄሮድስ።	wa[…]nāhu malʾaka ʾəgziabḥer ʾastarʾayu layusef baḥləm waybelo tanšəʾa […] wanašʾo laḥḍān1 walaʾəmu balelit waḥora bḥera gəbṣ2 // wanabara həyya ʾəska mota herodəs //
1. ሕፃን = the new-born / the infant 2. ግብጽ = Egypt

III. MATTHEW 4:25 – 5:1-2

ወተለውዎ፡ብዙኃን፡አሕዛብ፡እምገሊላ፡ወእምዓሠርቱ፡አህጉር፡ወእምኢየሩሳሌም፡ወይሁዳ፡ወሐይቀ፡ዮርዳኖስ። ወሶበ፡ርእየ፡ብዙኀ፡አሕዛበ፡ዐርገ፡ውስተ፡ደብር፡ወነበረ፡ወመጽኡ፡አርዳኢሁ፡ወቀርቡ፡ኃቤሁ።ወከሠተ፡አፋሁ፡ወመሀሮሙ።	watalawwo bəzxān ʾaḥzāb ʾəmgalilā waʾəmʿaššartu1 ʾahgur waʾəmiyarusalem wayəhuda waḥayqa2 yordanos // wasoba3 rəʾya bəzxa ʾaḥzāba ʿarga wəsta dabr wanabara wamaṣ’u ʾardāʾihu waqarbu xabehu wakašata ʾafhu wamaharomu //
1. ዓሠርቱ = ten 2. ሐይቅ = riverbank 3. ሶበ = qualifier of time i.e. when