The Holy Bible

The accuracy and faithfulness of the canons, as the nature of such a significant work required, were so closely matched—word for word and style for style—that one might say they were adapted perfectly. The close relationship between the conventions of the Armenian language and the Hellenic original: "Հելլենական" - Greek helped in this, especially in the composition of names and the structure of sounds, and so forth. Furthermore, the beautiful and elegant arrangement of the choice Armenian phrasing was so skillfully woven into our native tongue that I dare say if one wished to change, add, or subtract even a single word or letter, it would be impossible to do so without destroying the marvelous harmony of the entire composition. The truth of what I have said has been confirmed by those among the scholarly and inquisitive foreigners non-Armenians who had the opportunity to become acquainted with Armenian literature. Having tasted our translation, they marveled at the Armenian tongue and were struck by its genius. Amazed, they dared to organize the Gui Guy edition of the Holy Scriptures original: "Սբ Գրոց" - Holy Books, due to its various perfections, though the circumstances of this preface do not permit me to list their remarks one by one. It is truly even more astonishing that they established such excellent opinions of our translation without having a faithful manuscript copy in hand, having encountered only the printed copy of Voskan Voskan of Yerevan, 17th-century editor of the first Armenian Bible. Having philosophically examined its manifold corruptions themselves, they were able to levy not a few well-deserved criticisms against the ignorance and audacious recklessness of its editor.

Therefore, because the requirements of the fourth printing of the Holy Bible necessitated its publication here for the second time in our own facilities, and having in hand various other manuscript copies, and having clearly noted the endless corruptions of the Voskanian of Voskan copy, it seemed entirely inappropriate to replicate it in print. Especially since the earnest desires of many of our orthodox philologists had long been urging us to see the Armenian Bible purified and newly prepared through faithful manuscripts. Upon the observation of the original: "ածապատիւ Վեհիս" - God-honored/His Holiness High Prelate, and having been entrusted with this task, I applied myself to it, finding it a beloved and tireless pursuit to wander through these studies. From then on, I set to work, hoping for divine assistance to bring to completion what I had conceived. And, as is necessary, having established accurate and incorruptible faithfulness as the solid foundation of this work, we did not wish to alter anything whatsoever, either in the arrangement of the sentences or in terms of meaning, as the printers or commentators of the past century were accustomed to doing by inserting their own ideas of "correct" writing into the texts of the ancients. Instead, we have endeavored with complete sincerity to make the printed copy reflect the original manuscript models. However, because this work of ours, despite the faithful accuracy we promise, may contain a very small number of errors—

since it is almost impossible for even these manuscripts to be free from human imperfections and minor errors of transcription—we have taken the initiative to place before our eyes the most authentic versions in terms of antiquity and orthography, correcting the minor errors of the text in accordance with the consensus of other sound authorities. Having said enough for now, may a more perfect version than this, if it is hidden in some corner, appear in due time with the success of the era. For this reason, it is important for us hereafter to first provide notes regarding our manuscript copies, the nature of the Voskan Voskan printing, and then the method we have taken in this present work.

The Circumstances of the Manuscript Copies, and Standard Response:

The first manuscript—which we also chose as the model for our edition—was written at the beginning of the fourteenth century in erkatagir iron-letter script and bolorgir rounded script on parchment, complete from beginning to end without any missing leaves. Although the volume was outwardly simple, without decorative illustrations or pictures, and not written with any notable aesthetic calligraphic flair, its uniform and flawless writing, following correct punctuation, shows it to be the work of a skilled and artistic scribe. It even exceeds almost every other manuscript copy we have in our possession. But above all, in terms of the faithfulness of the text, which is the most sought-after quality in such matters, our scribe demonstrates a greater excellence. We see that whenever he deviated from his source, he would return and correct it, and in many instances, where the original had errors or omissions, he left a blank space in the text and wrote the correct reading in the margins; in cases of doubt, he marked it with quotes, and other such signs of cautious fidelity, which we have taken care to note in each location. The scribe’s colophons in the volume were stamped in six places according to ancient custom, the most notable of which is at the end of the prophecy of Ezekiel, as follows:

"Glory to the Holy Trinity forever and ever. I, the sinner Yovhannēs, have fulfilled my desire as much as I could by completing this work; and this happened through the permission of God, that perhaps through an unworthy person such a worthy work was accomplished. And I do not say this because of the highly ornate composition, but because of the noble original, which had been compiled by the hands of the holy and blessed teacher Gēorg. I ask the inheritor, and those who encounter this, forgive the mistakes herein, and correct them with love, and make the miserable scribe Yovhannēs worthy of the Lord's mercy; and remember my parents and my brothers."

• Again, at the end of the work he writes: "Remember the sinner Yovhannēs and my parents and my brothers for the forgiveness of sins, O God-loving readers, and do not blame me, for this was the extent of my ability."

These colophons, although they reveal the name of the scribe and the date, omit other important details, leaving us in doubt about the full...