Atkinson — On a South-Coptic Text of M. Bouriant. 253 



It is not of any consequence, but it would be interesting to 

 know the species of insect which M. Bouriant had in view in 

 rendering eijif [171, 8] by ' insectes ' : anyhow it should be cajib, 

 ' ants '.1 



70. The page following contains some bad errors : il y a nombre 

 de gens qui, si leur fils commettait quelque folic .... n^iraicnt 

 pas le livrer pour ccla au pouvoir public, is a translation which once 

 more exemplifies utter ignorance of the negative construction. The 

 Coptic words nseparadidw mmow [172, i] mean, "(if the sons 

 have committed some evil act), so that they are delivered up into the 

 hands of the authorities ". 



And when the Editor continues : la parole du Seigneur s^est 

 accomplie par toi : ' quelqu'un livrera son fils a la mort', we ask 

 naturally, on what occasion the Lord said this ? The Coptic text is 

 wrong at this point, for wnwot [172, 5] is absolutely unmeaning 

 here ; wot does not mean quelqu'un, and in fact means nothing! 



It should be wn weiot naparadidw, "a father shall deliver 

 up his son to death", referring to Matth. x. 21. 



71. Nor is the reproof given to the king, in the words at [175, 5,] 

 rightly stated. The words mpfnau epiaxioma ettoe hiook 

 ngjoos je aijise emate mean " do not look upon the d^toj/xa with 

 which thou art invested, so as to say, I am raised on high &c,", 

 and it is incorrect to render, ne vois-tu pas Vorgueil qui f eyiveloppe 

 quand tu dis &c. 



72. Neither is it a fitting meaning when he gives, chaque heure 

 nous rapproche du reglement veritable dont se charge la mort, as the 

 version of [175, 12]. He has here run together into one clause two 

 sentences, the first of which ends with saupoonen ebolnhetf, 'we 

 are driven aivay from iV , most assuredly not nous rapproche du ! In 

 fact it is a Coptic paraphrase of 2 Chron. xxix, 15, koI ovk ia-rlv 

 vTTOfjLovT]. And the second sentence is whap mme petere pmw 

 aire mmaf, ^' a judgment of truth is what death does", "death 

 passes true judg-ment." 



But the two sentences must not be mixed. 



1 Apropos of this word, an amusing mistake of Mingarelli may here be corrected 

 [285, a 9 of text] : ' in this way we shall see all men who are on the earth, that they 

 are not different from ants,' nsesobe an [ejiicajib. From the height of heaven 

 we shall look down upon men as ants ; but M. misconceived cajib (confounding 

 it with cojb, xndigens), and rendered doubtingly homines . . . conspicientur, paujjer- 

 tatem {atque indigentiam) non dissimulantes. 



