Coptic Transcription: (Key: {reconstruction from corrupt letter}; [reconstruction from missing letters]); Additional Note: I have been notified that not everyone can read the transcription--that the letters appear as boxes instead of letters. I am not sure why this is happening since I used a unicode based font, but I'll see what I can do.
Line 1: ⲛⲁ]ⲉⲓⲁⲛⲧⲁⲙⲁⲁⲩⲁⲥϯⲛⲁⲉⲓⲡ{ⲱ}[ⲛϩ
Line 2: ]{ⲥ}ⲡⲉϫⲉ︦ⲙⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ︦ⲛ︦ⲓⲥϫⲉ{ⲥ}[
Line 3: ] ̣ ⲁⲣⲛⲁⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁⲙ︦ⲙⲡϣⲁ︦ⲙⲙⲟⲥⲁ[
Line 4: ] ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ⲡⲉϫⲉ︦ⲓⲥⲛⲁⲩⲧⲁϩⲓⲙⲉⲙ{︦ⲛ}
Line 5: ] ̣ ̣ ̣ ⲥⲛⲁϣ︦ⲣⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥⲛⲁⲉⲓⲁⲩⲱ[
Line 6: ]{ⲓ}ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉⲉⲑⲟⲟⲩϣⲁϥⲉⲛⲉ[
Line 7: ] ̣ ⲁⲛⲟⲕϯϣⲟⲟⲡⲛⲙⲙⲁⲥⲉⲧⲃⲉ{ⲃ}[
Line 8: ]ⲟⲩϩⲓⲕⲟⲛ[
The verso has far less that is legible, but notably has the word ⲧⲁⲙⲁⲁⲩ in the first line.
Translation: Major Note: Because this is the first look the scholarly community outside of a select few have to glimpse this fragment, I will not place too much emphasis on reconstructed letters unless there is good reason. One should compare this translation with the pdf download of the paper given by Karen King and note April DeConick's translation. I should note that until more testing is done and high resolution photographs are released, all textual transcriptions (above) and therefore translations (below) are tentative.
Line 1: ...my mother gave me li[fe]...
Line 2: ...the disciples said to Jesus...
Line 3: ...deny. Mary is worthy of it....
Line 4: ..........Jesus said to them, "My wife....
Line 5: ....... she will be my disciple and....
Line 6: ...Let wicked people....
Line 7: ...I dwell with her because...
Line 8: .....................an image................
It is possible that line 3 ends with a negation (ⲁⲛ). If so, it may have a translation of "Mary is (not) worthy of it," which would mirror Gospel of Thomas 114.
We do not know much about this fragment, and since it does not quite match any known writing, then we cannot know its literary context. Indeed, missing letters and words could make a lot of difference in the reading (such as if there is a missing negation in line 4, etc.).
I am going to withhold any interpretations (or further interpretations since there is a certain amount of interpretation in translation and even transcription) after further consideration.
2 comments:
Are you sure that the translation lines are in the right order. You say the possible negative relates to line 4, yet Mary is (not) worthy of it is shown as line 3.
The lines are right; the potential negative is in line 3. I simply mis-wrote. It is now corrected.
Post a Comment