Coptic Bible

edited December 1969 in Non-Orthodox Inquiries
Are there any differences between the Coptic Bible and an Evangelical BIble or if you don't know, maybe you could give me a link to where you can purchase Coptic Bibles.

The Evangelical BIble, as i know it, had the Old Testement translated from Hebrew and the New Testement from Greek scriptures.  Is there a difference with that an a Coptic Bible?  Does the Coptic Bible have any of the apocropha books?

Comments

  • [quote author=jerry link=topic=13076.msg153594#msg153594 date=1332618808]
    Are there any differences between the Coptic Bible and an Evangelical BIble or if you don't know, maybe you could give me a link to where you can purchase Coptic Bibles.

    The Evangelical BIble, as i know it, had the Old Testement translated from Hebrew and the New Testement from Greek scriptures.  Is there a difference with that an a Coptic Bible?  Does the Coptic Bible have any of the apocropha books?


    The Orthodox Church regards as canonical the "apocrypha" (a misnomer, it should be "deuterocanonical books", they are equal to all the other books).

    The Coptic church has not committed itself to a single English translation of the bible.  But generally NKJV (old and new testament) or SAAS (everything including deuterocanonical books: http://orthodoxstudybible.com/) or NRSV (deuterocanonical books) can be used.

    For more details http://www.sundayschoolservice.org/files/Bible/DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS intro.pdf
  • in practice, people who read the Bible in arabic use the masoretic text for the old testament (no deuterocanonical books as it was translated into arabic by protestants, the orthodox had not got around to it!)
    but parts of the Bible (a large part that is used in the church's daily readings) is translated from the coptic into arabic, and this (i.e. the original coptic) used the septuagint for the old testament (more accurate - long explanation left for someone else to write!).

    most people don't read the Bible in coptic as very very few people use coptic these days for their day to day language. we can chant the common church hymns in coptic and understand several words, but i have not yet met anyone who reads the Bible in coptic without needing an arabic or english translation. we have Bible readings in coptic for some of the church services, but most of us rely on the accompanying translation to be able to understand it. so few people have a coptic Bible at home.

    those who read the Bible in english generally use the translations below.
    the orthodox study Bible is the best, in my opinion and a very good investment as there is a Bible reading commentary included, lots of short discussions on relevant topics thought the pages and useful information about the orthodox church at the beginning and end.

    i love the orthodox study Bible!
    :)  :D  ;D
    (i may have mentioned this before on these forums...)
  • something to add. you will NEVER find a book that have ALL books of the bible in coptic.
  • Thank you qawe for the Bible link.  My birthday is coming up and I may ask for one for one for my birthday :)

    I don't live close to a church so I'll have to find a priest who would be willing to talk to me to over the phone.
  • [quote author=jerry link=topic=13076.msg153633#msg153633 date=1332700603]
    Thank you qawe for the Bible link.  My birthday is coming up and I may ask for one for one for my birthday :)

    I don't live close to a church so I'll have to find a priest who would be willing to talk to me to over the phone.


    I'm sure the vast majority of priests would be willing to talk over the phone.
  • [quote author=mabsoota link=topic=13076.msg153604#msg153604 date=1332644141]
    in practice, people who read the Bible in arabic use the masoretic text for the old testament (no deuterocanonical books as it was translated into arabic by protestants, the orthodox had not got around to it!)



    Actually you can get a Bible with the Deuterocanon ('apocryphal' books) from the Bible Society of Lebanon since most Lebanese Christians are Roman Catholic and Roum Orthodox (Antiochian). I find it perplexing that the Coptic publishers in Egypt such as Dar Antoun and Al-Mahabba Bookstore do NOT publish their own Septuagint-based bibles with the deuterocanonical books since they publish almost every other book out there large and small.
  • could u please send a link? the 'Bible societies' are usually protestant in origin.
    was their Bible translated by protestants, catholic or orthodox?
    i would be very interested to find out more.
    :)
  • Mabsoota, here is the link: http://www.biblesociety.org.lb/catalogue1/gna.htm

    IT should say in english 'apocrypha' in the description. The Van Dyke Arabic bibles I believe are Protestant-printed but the Jesuit bibles are Catholic so they include the deuterocanonical books.
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