According to Coptic grammarian Bently Layton, the literal Coptic translation is "and the Word was a god." (page 7, "Coptic in 20 Lessons," 2007) "And the Word was divine " is also possible. (page 34)
The 2nd/ 3rd century Coptic does not support the traditional reading, "the Word was God." Nor does the reading of several other English versions, which have "Divine" or stress the quality of the Logos here (godly, godlike) rather than his identity.
The Coptic version is not a Gnostic work. It is an ancient translation of the canonical New Testament into Coptic (Egyptian) by orthodox Egyptian Christians, on a par with the Latin Vulgate and Syriac versions.
2007-07-24
01:34:53
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בַר אֱנָשׁ (bar_enosh)
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Religion & Spirituality