76 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



so clear how even so he finds his verb, "whence are they"? But 

 what is the context ? Joseph had seen Mary become pregnant, but he 

 never asked her, after all the travelling and the being in company with 

 so many men near them, "3y who7n art thou pregnanV'i That was 

 the question, as the Coptic text plainly expresses it : er' eet ebolhn 

 nim, "thou art pregnant out of whom" ? "What sense was there in 

 asking, " where are they^^ ? 



129. The prepositions form the usual stumbling block: of. 

 [33/3 24]: 



assupe ntere accadde die 



pag^g'elos bok Vangelo venisse 



ebolhitootw a loro 



enere nsoos saje ed i pastori dissero. 



Why, the text could not make it plainer that it means : " it happened, 

 whe)i the angel went away from them, the shepherds said &c." 



130. The following is given at [34 y foot]: "this is my beloved 

 son, ivho fulfils my wilV\ Now the text has : penta pa-w6s sope ehrai 

 ejof, which is the South Coptic version of Matth.xvii. 5 ev w cvSoKrjaa. 



131. In the same column, at 35/3 2 and (3 19, we have the word 

 physi , viz. cfivcru, which he has omitted in both cases; and not 

 only so, but he has disconnected the clauses at y8 18, though they 

 form a quotation from Gal. iv. 8. 



132. Here is an instance of his want of familiarity with Coptic 

 modes of expression [37 yS 1] : 



anco hirdw stettero alle loro parte. 



This rendering, "they stood at their doors", does not convey anything 

 like the real meaning of the words, which denote: "they sat doton 

 and besieged the city". To make this obvious, it will suffice to quote 

 two examples : 2 Beg. xi. 1 auo auco hirn hrabath, koX SieKadta-ai/ 

 eTTi 'VaftdO ; Habak. I. 10 nfn"] ten erow, nfco hirow, koI /SaXil 

 ^w/xa Kol KpaTt^creL avTOV. 



133. Of course the ignorance of the quotation often avenges itself 

 immediately. Here is a striking example [41/3 1] : 



ntetnuth enetnwerete Unite i vostri piedi 



mpsobte mpeuag^g^elion alia preparazione del Vangelo ; 



ntntihuon not ci vesiiamo 



mpethyrdu nel vestibolo {&vpwv) 



ntpistis delta fede, 



mn tsefe mpepneuma e la spada dello Spirito. 



