Bible texts in Ge’ez

Introduction

This page focuses on printed editions.

(1) Historic prints and church publications

1.1 Edited by Johannes Potken (c. 1470 – c. 1525)

Psalterium et anticum canticorum et alia antica biblica aethiopice et syllabarum seu de legendi ratione (Psalter together with Songs of Songs and several other Biblical canticles). Rome: Silber brothers, 1513. [View online at Austrian National Library]

Psalterium in quattuor linguis. Hebraea graeca chaldae [i.e. Ge’ez] latina. Cologne 1518. [Revised text; Google Books]

  • Text reprinted in Walton’s Biblia polyglotta, London 1653ff. [View vol. 1 online]

1.2 Edited by Täsfa Ṣəyon [ተስፋ ጽዮን, a.k.a. Petrus Aethiopis] (1508–50)

Testamentum Novum cum Epistola Pauli ad Hebraeos. Rome 1548–9 (printed by Valerio Dorico). [View online (Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum)]

Written by N.N. (16th century)

For a 16th-century codex containing most books of the Old Testament, view Ms. Add. 1570 in the Cambridge University Library

1.3 Edited by Hiob Ludolf (1624–1704)

Psalter, 1701.

  • Edition for distribution in Ethiopia through the United East Indies Company. For Ludolf’s scholarly edition of the psalter, see #2 below.

1.4 Edited by Thomas Pell Platt (1798–1852)

Novum Testamentum Domini Nostri et Servatoris Jesu Christi aethiopice [The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in Ethiopic]. London: R. Watts, 1830. [Printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society; Google Books]

1.5 Edited by Johann Martin Flad (1831–1915)

Ge’ez and Amharic
1872:

Psalterium Davidis: Aethiopice et Amharice [David’s Psalter in Ge’ez and Amharic]. Basle: Spittler, 1872. [Printed on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) at the Mission Press in St. Chrischona; view on Google Books]

1.6 Edited by Johann Ludwig Krapf (1810–81)

Ge’ez and Amharic
1874:

Evangelia sacra Domini nostri et Salvatoris Jesu Christi: Aethiopice et Amharice [The Holy Gospels of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in Ge’ez and Amharic]. Basle: Spittler, 1874. [Printed on behalf of the BFBS (and at the special request of the Emperor of Abyssinia) at the Mission Press in St. Chrischona]. [Google Books]

1878:

Epistolae Apostolorum Domini nostri et Salvatoris Jesu Christi : Aethiopice et Amharice [Epistles of the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in Ge’ez and Amharic]. Basle: Spittler, 1878. [Printed on behalf of the BFBS at the Mission Press in St. Chrischona]. [Bonn University]

1.7 Edited by Jean Marcel Touvier (CM; 1808-88)

[David’s Psalter and Canticles of the Bible.] Translated by Jean Marcel Touvier (CM [‘Vincentians’/’Lazarists’]). Keren: French Mission-Press, 1873.

  • 2nd ed. by Giorgis Kefla Debtera (Fr.). Keren: French Mission-Press, 1885.

1.8 Edited by Francesco Pellegrini da Bassano (OFM Cap [Capuchin])

Ḥaddis kidan [The New Testament]. Asmara: Catholic Press, 1920. [View on Bonn University‘s platform]

Bəluy kidan [The Old Testament]. 4 vols. Asmara: Catholic Press, 1922-26 [1915 ff. A.M.].

1.9 Edited by Bible Society of Ethiopia

መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ዘብሉይ ወዘሐዲስ ዘልሳነ ግእዝ (ሰማንያ አሃዱ) [The Holy Bible: The Old Testament and the New Testament in Ge’ez (80 books)]. Addis Ababa: Bible Society of Ethiopia, 2022. [MerebShop]

(2) Former Text-Historical Editions

2.1 Edited by Hiob Ludolf (1624–1704):

Maṣḥafa mazmurāt za-Dawit / Hoc est: Psalterium Davidis Aethiopice et Latine, cum duobus impressis & tribus MSStis codicibus diligenter collatum & emendatum, nec non variis lectionibus & notis philologicis illustratum, ut in praefatione pluribus dicetur. Accedunt Aethiopicè tantùm hymni et orationes aliquot vet. et novi testamenti, item canticum canticorum, cum variis lectionibus & notis. [David’s Psalter in Ethiopic and Latin (…); added are some hymns and prayers from the Old and the New Testament, also Songs of Songs (…)]. Frankfurt: Zunner, 1701. [Scholarly edition; Google Books]

2.2 Edited by C. F. August Dillmann (1823–94)

August Dillmann, who had studied in Tübingen when Krapf donated numerous Ge’ez manuscripts to the university library, planned to publish all the books of the Old Testament in a scholarly edition:

Liber Henoch aethiopice, ad quinque codicum fidem editus cum variis lectionibus. Leipzig: Vogel, 1851. [Google Books]

Biblia Veteris Testamenti aethiopica, in quinque tomos distributa [The Old Testament in Ge’ez, divided in 5 volumes]:

  • vol. 1: Octateuchus Aethiopicus [Genesis – Ruth]. Leipzig: Vogel, 1853-55. [HathiTrust]
  • vol. 2: Libri Rerum, Paralipomenon, Esdrae, Esther [Kings, Chronicles, Esra, Esther]. Leipzig: Vogel, 1861-71 [Bonn Univ.; part 1; part 2]
  • [vol. 3-4 didn’t materialize]
  • vol. 5: Libri Apocryphi: Baruch, epistola Jeremiae, Tobith, Judith, Ecclesiasticus, Sapientia, Esdrae Apocalypsis, Esdrae Graecus [Apocryphal books: Baruch, Epistle of Jeremiah, Tobit, Judith, Jesus Sirach, Wisdom, Revelation of Esdras, Greek Esdras]. Berlin: Asher, 1894. [Bonn Univ.]

Liber Jubilaeorum; Maṣhafa Kufālē sive Liber Jubilaeorum qui idem a Graecis Hē leptē Genesis inscribitur versione Graeca deperdita nunc nonnisi in Geez lingua conservatus nuper ex Abyssinia in Europam allatus (…) [Book of Jubilees (…), called by the Greeks ‘Little Genesis’; the Greek version of the book has been lost and has survived only in the Ge’ez language; it was recently brought from Abyssinia to Europe]. Kiel: van Maack; London: Williams and Norgate, 1859. [Austrian National Library]

  • The academic study of the Book of Jubilees was kindled by Dillmann’s PhD supervisor, Prof. Ewald. Joh. Ludwig Krapf had sent a paper copy of a Ge’ez manuscript to Tübingen University.

“Der aethiopische Text des Joel,” in Die Prophetie des Joel und ihre Ausleger, edited by A. Merx, p. 449-58. Halle: Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1879. [Google Books]

2.3 Supplements

The following publications complemented Dillmann’s edition:

  • Genesis. The Octateuch in Ethiopic: According to the Paris Codex […]; part I: Genesis. Edited by J. Oscar Boyd, 1909. [Internet Archive]
  • Exodus and Leviticus. The Octateuch in Ethiopic; Part II: Exodus and Leviticus. Edited by J. Oscar Boyd, 1911. [Probably not yet online]
  • Chronicles. Les Paralipomènes. Edited by Sylvain Grébaut, 1932. [Internet Archive]
  • Ezra & Nehemiah. Edited by F. M. Esteves Pereira, 1919. [Internet Archive]
  • Esther. Edited by F. M. Esteves Pereira, 1913. [Internet Archive]
  • Job. Edited by F. M. Esteves Pereira, 1907. [Internet Archive]
  • Psalms. Edited by Hiob Ludolf, 1701. [Google Books]
  • Proverbs. Edited by H. Pilkington, 1978. [View online]
  • Ecclesiastes. Edited by Samuel A. B. Mercer, 1931. [Internet Archive]
  • Song of Songs. Edited by Hugh C. Gleave, 1951.
  • Isaiah. Edited by Johannes Bachmann, 1893. [HathiTrust]
  • Jeremiah. Die äthiopische Übersetzung des Propheten Jeremias. By J. Schäfers, 1912. (Not an edition, but an important study)
  • Lamentations. Edited by Johannes Bachmann, 1893. [Internet Archive]
  • Daniel. Edited by Oscar Löfgren, 1927. [Internet Archive]
  • Hosea. Edited by Hans F. Fuhs, 1971.
  • Amos. Edited by F. M. Esteves Pereira, 1917.
  • Micah. Edited by Hans F. Fuhs, 1968.
  • Dodekapropheton [Hos – Mal]. Edited by Johannes Bachmann, 1892. [Internet Archive]
  • Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Maleachi. Edited by Oscar Löfgren, 1930. [Internet Archive]
  • Henoch. Edited by Johannes P. G. Flemming, 1902. [Internet Archive]
  • Henoch. Edited by Robert H. Charles. Oxford: Clarendon, 1906.
  • Ascension of Isaiah. Edited by Robert H. Charles. London: Black, 1900.

(3) Modern Text-Historical Editions

3.1 Old Testament

3.1.1 Digital platform

» Visit the website
“Textual History of the Ethiopic Old Testament Project“

3.1.2 Publication of individual OT books

Deuteronomy. Principal investigator: Ralph Lee. Publication forthcoming.

Ruth. Principal investigator: Daniel Assefa. Publication forthcoming.

Jubilees. Edited by James C. VanderKam. Leuven: Peeters, 1989.

1 Enoch [Ethiopic version (…) in the light of the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments]. 2 vols. Edited by M. A. Knibb (with the assistance of E. Ullendorff), 1978.

Psalms. Principal investigator: Albert ten Kate. Publication forthcoming.

Proverbs. Edited by H. Pilkington. PhD dissertation, Oxford Univ., 1978. [View online]

Songs of Songs. Principal investigator: Steve Delamarter. Publication forthcoming.

Ezekiel. Edited by M. A. Knibb, 2015. [View introduction]

Amos. Principal investigator: Curt Niccum. Publication forthcoming.

Obadiah. Principal investigator: Garry Jost. Publication forthcoming.

Jonah. Edited by Jeremy R. Brown, 2019. PhD dissertation, Catholic Univ. of America (Washington DC).

Haggai. Principal investigator: Samuel Aldridge. Publication forthcoming.

Ascension of Isaiah. “Ascensione di Isaia profeta: versione etiopica”, in Ascensio Isaiae: Textus, edited by P. Bettiolo et al., p. 1‒129. Turnhout, 1995.

3.2 New Testament

Matthew. Aethiopistische Forschungen (AeF) 55. Edited by R. Zuurmond, 2001. [View ToC]

Mark. AeF 27. Edited by R. Zuurmond, 1989.

Luke. Publication forthcoming?

John. Edited by M. G. Wechsler, 2005.

Acts. Edited by C. Niccum, 2014.

Romans. AeF 57. Edited by Tedros Abraha, 2001. [View ToC]

Letters of Captivity [Eph, Phil, Col, Phlm]. AeF 33. Edited by S. Uhlig and H. Maehlum, 1993.

Pastoral Epistles [1 Timothy – Titus]. Edited by Nebeyou Alemu. PhD dissertation, Addis Ababa Univ., 2017.

Hebrews. Edited by Tedros Abraha, 2004.

Catholic Epistles [1 Peter – Jude]. AeF 29. Edited by J. Hofmann and S. Uhlig, 1993.

Revelation. Edited by J. Hofmann, 1967.

(4) Digital Editions

A database with Ge’ez bible texts in the public domain (see publications # 2 above) was created by Ran HaCohen and is online available at

For apps with Ge’ez Biblical texts, see e.g.

There is a Ge’ez Bible module available for the Bible Software called Accordance

  • See introduction to the Mahibere Hawariyat edition (transcribed by the Capuchin Franciscan Research and Retreat Center)