28: Decipher Text 5 - Gospel of Matthew

A few days ago, a private collector contacted me to identify for him the text on some vellum folios he acquired from Ethiopia. The pages are from a classical Ethiopic translation of the gospels - a bound codex at some point. Here’s an image from one of the folios -- the text is Matthew 17:1-3. The scribal hand is quite clear, but for greater clarity, I’ve transliterated and transcribed it below:

məʿərāf ((17)) waʾəmdəḫ- -ra šellus mewāʿəl nešʾomu agziʾ iyasus lapērosṭros lapeṭros wa- -layaʿqob walayoḥannəs ʾəḫuhu waʾaʿra- -gomu wasta dəbr nawāḫ ʾənta baḥəti- -tomu watawallaṭa rāʿyu baqdumeho- -mu waʾabraha gaṣṣu kama ḍaḥay waʾal- -basihuni kona ḍaʿāy kama bərhān wa- -nāhu ʾastarʾaywomu muse waʾe- -lyās laʾənza yətnāgaru məslehu

። ምዕራፍ ። ፲፯ ፡ ወእምድኅ ረ ፡ ሠሉስ ፡ መዋዕል ፡ ነሥኦሙ ፡ አግዚእ ፡ ኢየሱስ ፡ ለጴሮስጥሮስ ፡ ለጴጥሮስ ፡ ወ ለያዕቆብ ፡ ወለዮሐንስ ፡ እኁሁ ፡ ወአዕረ ጎሙ ፡ ወስተ ፡ ደብር ፡ ነዊኅ ፡ እንተ ፡ በሕቲ ቶሙ ። ወተወለጠ ፡ ራዕዩ ፡ በቅዱሜሆ ሙ ፡ ወአብርሀ ፡ ገጹ ፡ ከመ ፡ ፀሐይ ። ወአል ባሲሁኒ ፡ ኮነ ፡ ፀዓይ ፡ ከመ ፡ብርሃን ፡ ወ ናሁ ፡ አስተርአይዎሙ ፡ ሙሴ ፡ወኤ ልያስ ፡ ለእንዘ ፡ ይትናገሩ ፡ ምስሌሁ ።