Etiopskie komentarze do tekstów biblijnych i liturgicznych
Ethiopian comments the biblical and liturgical texts

The Bible and its exegesis in Christian Ethiopia

Summary/Abstract: Ethiopian Orthodox Church, as the oldest and the least know among christian communities around the world, has many elements of Ethiopian ecclesiastical tradition. One of those elements are comments of biblical and liturgical works. The only writing language in Christian Ethiopia was gyyz and its literature contains original works and translations from Greek or Arabian. Virtually the whole literature has ecclesiastical character. The Holy Bible was translated from Greek to Ethiopian and elements taken from others countries were always give in to interpretation and adjusted to local context. Among Ethiopian literature in gyyz language there are also works dedicated to Bible exegesis. Most of the comments are anonymous, nevertheless some of them are assigned to particular Church Fathers. The most important work of this genre is Tǝrgwāme Wangel ( The Evangel Translation) translated from Arabian to gyyz in the first half of XVI century, which contains comments to the Evangel of Jan Chryzostom authorship. In Ethiopian Christian literature appear also biblical comments written down in Amharic language so called andǝmta. Gyyz was the language of literature and liturgy understood by few, in turn Amharic was language of communication. Ethiopian Church realized that to better communicate with worshipers they have to produce works in Amharic. The subject of exegesis in comments andǝmta is mostly Holy Bible. Comments can also relate to liturgical texts, such as anaphora or hymns used in liturgy. Those kind of comments are especially valuable source of getting know Ethiopian theology.

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