(followed by a translation of Isaiah 25 & 26)
Here is the text (and notes) of an ancient work which was known in the early church, was much valued literature, was originally written in Hebrew, then translated into Greek, and found its way into many diverse cultures. Of more recent years it has been found in Coptic and Slavonic translations, and it is to these that we now have to turn, for they are the earliest -available manuscripts. The Slavonic manuscript, the oldest known, has the title of “Codex Sylvester”, which belongs to the Library of the Printing Dept. of the Holy Synod in Moscow. Sylvester was a prominent priest in the reign of Ivan the Terrible, and who made a collection of early Christian books. The manuscript dates from the first half of the 14th Century, and was written on parchment, with two columns on each page, 216 leaves in all, with the Apocalypse occupying leaves 164-182. The other leaves being descriptions of the lives of other saints. [Read more…]