GALaCSy: The Earliest Translations of the Pauline Epistles
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Philosophy Theology & Religion
Abstract
The GALaCSy project will undertake a fresh examination of the earliest translations of the Pauline Epistles. Versions in Gothic, Aethiopic, Latin, Coptic and Syriac provide important evidence for the textual history of the New Testament in antiquity and also shed light on the reception of these letters in different early Christian communities. The German partners will review the numerous Coptic manuscripts which have been identified since the edition of Horner (1920) and make full electronic transcriptions of manuscripts of Galatians and Ephesians in Sahidic and the minor Coptic versions. The British partners will prepare the comprehensive Vetus Latina edition of the Old Latin evidence for Galatians, replacing the outdated and partial edition of Sabatier (1743). In the final year, the contributors will come together to examine the versional evidence in the light of the fresh material assembled for the Editio Critica Maior of the Greek New Testament, in company with formal project partners from Italy, the USA and Germany working on Gothic, Aethiopic and Syriac. The results will include new scholarly resources to examine the early transmission of Paul's Letters (such as a digital synopsis of Coptic witnesses and a reconstruction of early Latin text-types), a better understanding of the relationship between these early linguistic traditions, and the integration of this material in the Editio Critica Maior, the most comprehensive edition of the New Testament ever to be produced. As has recently been shown, the evidence gathered by the project has the potential to change the text of the Pauline Epistles both in scholarly editions of the Greek text and in modern translations, and thus influence Christian theology and practice in the present day.
Organisations
- University of Birmingham (Lead Research Organisation)
- Abilene Christian University (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University of Göttingen (Collaboration)
- University of Leuven (Collaboration)
- University of Perugia (Collaboration)
- University of Münster (Collaboration)
- University of Perugia (Project Partner)
Description | Collaboration with Frank Feder and Coptic team at Göttingen |
Organisation | University of Göttingen |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Birmingham is one of three partners in the GALaCSy project. Our focus is on project management, and the gathering of Latin and patristic data to shed light on the earliest translations of the Epistle to the Galatians. |
Collaborator Contribution | Göttingen is one of two participants in the GALaCSy project funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Their focus is to transcribe and edit the early Coptic translations of the Epistle to the Galatians. |
Impact | Electronic transcriptions of Coptic Manuscripts |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Collaboration with Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung, Universität Münster |
Organisation | University of Münster |
Department | Institute for New Testament Textual Research |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Participants in the Workspace for Collaborative Editing project funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Also participants in the GALaCSy project funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. |
Collaborator Contribution | Specialist knowledge of a particular textual field; expertise in analysing textual relationships and New Testament manuscripts; experience of producing the Editio Critica Maior. For the GALaCSy project, transcription of Coptic manuscripts. |
Impact | Editio Critica Maior of John under production in Birmingham. Collation of transcriptions of Mark using software produced in Birmingham in Münster (beginning from October 2014). Münster bought out the ITSEE technical officer position for a fixed percentage in 2016-17 to develop the software tools further. |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | Partnership with Carla Falluomini (University of Perugia) |
Organisation | University of Perugia |
Country | Italy |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We provided an apparatus of Greek readings and a digital interface for versional data to be added |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Dr. Carla Falluomini entered Gothic versional data to the Greek apparatus of the Gospel of John. This collaboration continues, in that Prof. Dr. Falluomini is a formal partner in the GALaCSy project, where she will provide the same analysis of Gothic versional data for the Epistle to the Galatians. |
Impact | Data currently stored in server in anticipation of publication in the Editio Critica Maior of John. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Partnership with Christina Kreinecker (1COR) |
Organisation | University of Leuven |
Country | Belgium |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We provided data in the form of manuscript transcriptions and biblical citations, along with training in digital editing software used and developed in Birmingham, and shared expertise through regular meetings in work towards critical editions of the Latin and Greek New Testament. |
Collaborator Contribution | The team at Leuven refined and improved the data gathered in Birmingham, and used it to prepare critical editions of 1 Corinthians. The regular meetings between the two teams also permitted the sharing of expertise and approaches, informing Birmingham's own work on Galatians. |
Impact | 30 published and proofread transcriptions of Greek manuscripts of 1 Corinthians 20 published and proofread transcriptions of Latin manuscripts of 1 Corinthians 10 transcriptions of Vulgate manuscripts of 1 Corinthians 34,000 Latin quotations of 1 Corinthians 15,000 Greek quotations of 1 Corinthians |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Partnership with Curt Niccum (Abilene Christian University) |
Organisation | Abilene Christian University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We provided an apparatus of Greek readings and a digital interface for versional data to be added. |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Niccum entered Ethiopic versional data to the Greek apparatus of the Gospel according to John. This collaboration continues, in that Prof. Niccum is a formal partner in the GALaCSy project, where she will provide the same analysis of Gothic versional data for the Epistle to the Galatians. |
Impact | Data currently stored in server in anticipation of publication in the Editio Critica Maior of John. New collaboration developed in 2020 with Prof. Niccum for work on Colossians. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Durham NT Seminar |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Presentation to Durham University New Testament Seminar on 14.2.2022 "Towards a New Text of the Pauline Epistles: Editing the New Testament in the Digital Age" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |