260 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. ^ 



mesak gar efe-sep hrai ehwn, to-ws yap TrpocrSef erat to Trpo- 

 (joiirov jxov. There is no sucli idiom known to Coptic as sp hra, 'to 

 receive the voice ', ' to listen '. 



And what was the young noble's reply to the appeal of the 

 governor ? je ne fai pas montre un visage hostile. That also is not 

 correct: mpiaak nho nsnimo [190,9] means, "I did Tiot make 

 thee a stranger'''' , for the suffix -k is not a dative case. 



93. In the subsequent conversation, the quotations are curiously 

 handled, and the Editor's embarrassment is only too plainly made 

 visible. He is quotiug Job here, leurs feres ne valent pas les chiens de 

 mes troupeaux ; but why has he omitted the previous words which give 

 point to the quotation ? M. Bouriant gives only, je puis dire de toi ce 

 que Jol disait d''autres gens : ' leurs peres'' &c., and yet the Coptic has 

 netmmi opw je se mpsa nneuhoor nnaahe! The editor knew 

 it was from Job sxx. 1, yet he has not been able to follow the LXX, 

 ov% ov)(^ rjyrjcrdfjiriv a^cov; Kvvdv tCjv Ijxwv vojxdSwv, because he did not 

 understand netmmi opw [191, 6], which should be nete mei-op-w, 

 'those whom I do not deem (them)', with aor. neg., or nete 

 mpi-opw -^'\\h. perf. neg. 



94. And now consider the next quotation! He translates, /e me 

 console avec David qui dit, ' mes amis ef ceux qui me connaissent m^ont 

 ouhlie '. That sounds rather Davidic, perhaps, but it is very bad all 

 the same. The Coptic has [191,9] anasbeerw mmoi, which he 

 has rendered mes amis. 



na-sbeerw mmoij ' my friends ' [!!] 



IN"© doubt sber means 'acquaintance', but what form of the plural 

 could sbeerw be? and how could mmoi be used ia connexion 

 therewith ? 



The text is wrongly edited ; it should be : 

 a na>sbeer we mmoi, 



"my companions have gone away far from me", fxov airicnrjaav, 

 cf. Job xix. 13. 



95. And on the same page we have, ne te fie pas aux chases cor- 

 porelles, le corps est chose vaine qui avant peu sera dissoute dans la terre; 

 but the Copt had in view a different idea [191, x], "do not rely on 

 the leauty of this body, which will become ugly after a while, and be 

 dissolved in the earth", mprtajrok ejm psa mpsoma pai 

 etnafcaie mniisa wkwi nfbol ebol hm pkah. It was the 

 contrast between the sa and the caie, that the writer intended to 

 set forth, cf. cae, 'ugly', sae, ' beautiful ', [175, y]. 



