Atkinson — On a South- Coptic Text of M. Bon riant. 239 



Thus when he translates, que la mort crie contre eux dans Venfer ! he 

 lays himself open to the criticism, what is the verb which he renders 

 me? The text says [166,9] marwsope ere pmw hra nsow 

 eamnte ; therefore hra must mean 'to cry'! No doubt, hra, ' voice,' 

 is one of the nouns with sufBxes which constitute such a characteristic 

 feature in Coptic, but it was not hra, 'voice', at all: it is the verh 

 hra nsa, 'to drive (sheep, cattle)'. 



The structure of the clause was a complete mystery to the Editor 

 also: the words mean : " may they become (persons) whom death is 

 driving into hell " ! 



29. And when the young martyr checks himseK from devoting any 

 more time to answering the arguments of his opponent, how does 

 M. Bouriant set forth this? pourqiwi jetterais-je mes saints aux chiensl 

 But the words are [168, 7] plainly, " why shall I give my holy 

 (things) to the dogs", einati nnapetwaab nneuhoor, referring^ 

 plainly to the phrase, /x.r/ Swre to ayiov tols kvcti, Matth. vii. 6. 



30. One wonders how the Editor could have escaped hearing the 

 first verse of the Psalms, for otherwise it is scarcely possible that he 

 could have edited and translated it thus, 170, 6 nnessope mmoi sa 

 eneh etrabok hm psaje iinasebes, wde nnaaherat hn tehie 

 nenreffnobe, il ne m^ arrivera 2}ttis jamais de parler avec les impies ou 

 de suivre la voie des picheurs. Clearly it was not saje, but sojne ; 

 and then the passage is a literal version of Ps. i. 1, ovk eTropevOr] Iv 

 (SovXrj dcre/3wv, /cat iv 68w dfJiapTOiXwv ovk ea-rrj I 



31. Here is a passage which will exemplify the want of knowledge 

 of Coptic idiom which unfitted M. Bouriant for being the Editor of 

 South-Coptic texts. His translation of [149, 5] runs thus : Je ne 

 sais comment entamer son eloge, a moi?is que je ne rappelle la propre 

 parole du Seigneur ^ '■ celui qui me glorijlera, je le glorifierai\ liegois 

 dans ta gloire celui que Dieu a favorise, ce saint qxCil a fait entrer dans 

 Varmee celeste. 



Where is the logic in the last clause ? And wlio is to receive the 

 martyr into his glory ? But the grammar ! 

 The text is thus given : 



and sp epkeow Eeqois dans ta gloire 



nsa penta pnwte celui que Dieu 



kharize mniof a favorise, 



mpeipetwaab eafstrateue iumof ee saint qii'il a fait entrer 



hii inpeue. clans Varmee celeste. 



