바티칸 페르시아어 마태복음 필사본 Vat. Pers. 4 - 13~14세기 페르시아어 성경 번역본들과의 관계성 연구 -

Abstract

This article deals with the Vat. Pers. 4, a 14<SUP>th</SUP> century Persian translation of the Gospel of Matthew. This manuscript was copied in 1312 in Tabriz, the capital of the Ilkhanate, a territory in the Mongol empire. Let alone being the subject of a proper study, this copy has not even been edited critically nor has it been translated in modern languages. Only select passages are translated for specific purposes of this study, which then are compared with a few contemporary Persian translations ― namely the Persian Diatessaron, Walton’s Persian Gospels and Wheelocke’s Persian Gospels.<BR> The main results are as follows. First, the Vat. Pers. 4 shares phrases and terms with other Persian translations. The Persian terms used in Vat. Pers. 4 for baptism, disciples, law, synagogue, temple, glory, gospel, priest, and foolish also appear in other contemporary Persian translations. Thus a scholarly assumption that these terms are unique to Vat. Pers. 4 is refuted. Second, some unusual readings in the Vat. Pers. 4 have very similar wordings in the Persian Diatessaron. Hence the manuscript has a putative connection with Diatessaronic witnesses. Third, the readings also attest close affinities with Old Syriac Gospel versions, namely the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Curetonianus as well as Diatessaronic variants.<BR> With its origin in the Persian Diatessaron for Persian Diatessaronic witnesses, Vat. Pers. 4 consequently throws a significant light in the New Testament textual criticism. And it is also a very important primary source for the forgotten history of the Persian Christianity in the Mongol empire.