Ⲣⲁϣⲓ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲑⲉⲗⲏⲗ (Celebrate and rejoice)

Blessed Sunday, everyone! As encouragement for us to pray the Monday Tadakia (ⲑⲉⲟⲧⲟⲕⲓⲁ ⲙⲡⲓⲫⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲃⲓⲧ) tomorrow, I’d like to run through another critical translation error (in the early English translation of the Psalmody, now made even worse in/by Coptic Reader) that has significant impact on the theological understanding of our salvation. In doing so, I hope to exhibit how a proper process of translation can impact our spiritual lives and love for God.

Let’s take a look at Section 5 of the Monday Tadakia!

Coptic:

ⲣⲁϣⲓ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲑⲉⲗⲏⲗ ⳾ ⲱ ⲡⲅⲉⲛⲟⲥ ⲛⲛⲓⲣⲱⲙⲓ ⳾ ϫⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲏϯ ⲁⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⳾ ⲙⲉⲛⲣⲉ ⲡⲓⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ ⳾

Ϩⲱⲥⲧⲉ ⲛⲧⲉϥϯ ⳾ ⲙⲡⲉϥϣⲏⲣⲓ ⲙⲙⲉⲛⲣⲓⲧ ⳾ ϧⲁ ⲛⲏⲉⲑⲛⲁϩϯ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⳾ ⲉⲑⲣⲟⲩⲱⲛϧ ϣⲁ ⲉⲛⲉϩ ⳾

ⲁⲩϭⲣⲟ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ⳾ ϩⲓⲧⲉⲛ ⲛⲉϥⲙⲉⲧϣⲉⲛϩⲏⲧ ⳾ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲁϥⲟⲩⲱⲣⲡ ⲛⲁⲛ ⳾ ⲙⲡⲉϥϫⲫⲟⲓ ⲉⲧϭⲟⲥⲓ ⳾

The earlier English translation of this section (see image 1-2) reads,

“Rejoice and happy, O human race, for God so revealed, His love to the world.

That he gave, His beloved Son, for those who believe in Him, so that they may live forever.

For he has overcome, by his mercy, and sent unto us, His Almighty Arm.”

Right off the bat, there are significant mistakes that need to be addressed.

1) In the third strophe of the first stanza, the English text says “God so revealed”, but the verb to reveal is not seen anywhere in the Coptic text. It does, however, use the word ⲡⲁⲓⲣⲏϯ which is equivalent to the Greek ουτως (ⲟⲩⲧⲱⲥ) meaning “thus”, or more literally “in this manner”. When the word “revealed” is removed from this stanza, we see that this piece is actually quoting a verse from the Gospel of John (3:16). Oftentimes, we understand the verse to mean God loved the world so much that he gave his Son, but in reality, the use of the word “so” is meant to indicate the manner, the way in which God loved the world—> the cross!

2) When separated from the first stanza, the second stanza becomes only a fragment. “That he gave…” has no significant meaning on its own. Not to mention the commas distort any opportunity for us to understand what these stanzas are trying to say.

3) THIS IS THE MOST CRITICAL POINT. Looking at the third stanza, ⲁⲩϭⲣⲟ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲉⲣⲟϥ, it is of the utmost importance to understand Coptic grammar. The verbal prefix ⲁⲩ can either be the active voice, simple past, third person plural, “they have” or an indicator of the passive voice in simple past tense “was” — in this case ⲁⲩϭⲣⲟ ⲅⲁⲣ ⲉⲣⲟϥ translates to “For he was overcome/defeated/conquered”. Therefore, the translation of the third stanza should align more closely with “For he was overcome by his compassions/tender mercies, and he sent to us his exalted arm.” As proof of this, the manuscripts and the printed books of the psalmodies translate the Arabic as, لانه غُلِبَ (“gholiba” not “ghalaba”) or what is known as مبني للمجهول (shout out to my pops for forcing me to learn this part of Arabic grammar).

Originally, Coptic Reader had copied this text verbatim from the Psalmody translated and printed by St Mary and St Antonios’ Church in Queens, NY. In their most recent update, however, CR altered the text to read (see image 4),

“Rejoice and be happy, O human race, for God so revealed, His love to the world.

That he gave, His beloved Son, for those who believe in Him, so that they may live forever.

For it was overcome, by his mercy, and sent unto us, His Almighty Arm.”

My question would then be, what exactly was overcome? I don’t see another subject in this sentence or in this section other than God himself. The text is speaking to the human race and commanding them to rejoice because God loved them, and as a result of that love, He gave his Son. So what exactly was overcome? His love!? God forbid! The piece as a whole is speaking of how great the compassions and love of God are—so great that they are the cause for his incarnation for us.

For these reasons, I propose a translation closer to this:

Celebrate and rejoice, • O race of men, • for, in this manner, • God loved the world •

[in] that he gave • his beloved Son • that those who believe in him • may live forever. •

For he was overcome • by his tender mercies • and has sent to us • his exalted arm. •

I’d like to share a few benefits to this newer system of translation

1) The use of [brackets] allows us to include words that are not necessarily part of the Coptic text but are needed for linguistic or musical purposes.

2) Again, the use of the interpunct for musical purposes allows for proper grammatical construction and these pieces can now form full ideas and sentences.

3) By referencing older manuscripts, we can more fully perceive how our ancestors understood these texts, in addition to correcting typos and mistakes in our current Coptic text. As an example, in stanza 3, the earlier manuscripts of the Psalmody include ϩⲓⲧⲉⲛ ⲛⲉϥⲙⲉⲧϣⲉⲛϩⲏⲧ and therefore the translation should more accurately read, “by/through his tender mercies/compassions”.

4) Notice, I’ve chosen “celebrate and rejoice” rather than “rejoice and be happy” for two reasons. The first is that when chanting this text, the music would cause us to stress the “y” in the word “happy” whereas when we speak we typically stress the “a”. The second reason is that in liturgical texts, it’s rare for us to use such a common term. We’re more accustomed to rejoice, celebrate, be glad. Using “celebrate and rejoice” places the proper stress on each word, while filling the required number of syllables to fit the ⲁⲇⲁⲙ melody.

Now, what, or should I say, who is this exalted arm? The expression ⲡⲓϫⲫⲟⲓ ⲉⲧϭⲟⲥⲓ is mentioned in Scripture, particularly in the book of Deuteronomy (3:24; 7:19; 9:26,29; 11:2; 29:3) in the phrase ϧⲉⲛ ⲧⲉⲕϫⲓϫ ⲉⲧⲁⲙⲁϩⲓ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲓ/ⲡⲉϥϫⲫⲟⲓ ⲉⲧϭⲟⲥⲓ “his strong hand and high arm” when speaking of the work of the LORD in performing the passover, the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt, the type of the cross of Christ on which God gave his Son that we may live forever. According to St Athanasius, the exalted arm, the mighty hand of God is Christ himself, YHWH, the LORD who bring salvation to his people.

I pray this work finds favor in your sight and causes you to pray for the success of this project If you’re interested in supporting the Coptic-English Psalmody project, please visit SupportMyService https://supportmyservice.org/coptic-english-psalmody/

Image Index:

Books —

1-2. St Mary & St Antonios Church, Ridgewood, NY (commonly known as the “black psalmody book”)

3. CR text prior to recent update. Same as above^

4. CR text after update

5. Baramous Monastery Psalmody 2007

6. Psalmody of Fr. Mina Al-Baramousy (HE Metropolitan Youannis, Bishop of Beheira and Menoufia) 1908 (NOTICE that even the Arabic text here uses interpuncts instead of commas)