Journal ArticleOpen Access
Cox, Claude, 2024
Matenadaran: Medieval and Early Modern Armenian Studies (MEMAS), Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 35–51 (Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran / Brepols); ISSN 3041-5063
Reflects on producing a fully critical, eclectic edition of the classical Armenian translation of Deuteronomy, replacing an earlier diplomatic edition after forty years. Discusses the textual-criticism value of the Armenian version as a secondary witness to the Old Greek/Septuagint, the difficulty a non-Greek version poses for reconstructing its source text, and the methodology and rewards of collating manuscripts. Published by the Matenadaran, Armenia's institute of ancient manuscripts.
Journal ArticleOpen Access
Sahakyan, Davit, 2024
Matenadaran: Medieval and Early Modern Armenian Studies (MEMAS), Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 121–136 (Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran / Brepols); eISSN 3041-5063
Examines two prayer-texts in the fifth-century History of Armenia attributed to Agathangelos and asks whether their theological inconsistencies were in the original composition or crept in through later editing and copying. Reviewing all editions, Sahakyan argues the contested passages are probably not original despite their long presence in the transmission, since they conflict with the doctrinal tenets expressed elsewhere in the prayers and in the History as a whole. He calls for a new critical edition attentive to doctrinal questions, and discusses comparable inconsistencies in the Epic Histories of Pawstos Buzand as a parallel case.
Book ChapterPaywalled
Cowe, S. Peter, 2013
In The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis (2nd ed.), pp. 253–292 (Brill, Leiden); DOI 10.1163/9789004236554_011
The standard survey chapter on the Armenian New Testament in the field's principal reference handbook on New Testament textual criticism, covering the version's origins, its parent texts, its recensional history, and its value as a witness to the Greek text.
Journal ArticlePaywalled
Cowe, S. Peter, 2004
Revue des Études Arméniennes, Vol. 29 (2003-2004), pp. 49–88 (Peeters); DOI 10.2143/REA.29.0.2002619
Argues that, now that most public Armenian manuscript collections are covered by detailed catalogues, scholarship should turn to documenting the many codices still in private libraries and bringing their contents into the public domain. Though such manuscripts tend to be comparatively late, they often preserve material of real importance. Cowe uses the case to reinforce the text-critical principle that a manuscript's own date matters far less than the date of its exemplar in assessing its value as a witness, and to criticise the arbitrariness of imposing upper chronological limits when selecting manuscripts for a critical edition.
Journal ArticlePaywalled
Cowe, S. Peter, 1987
Revue des Études Arméniennes, Vol. 20 (1986-1987), pp. 527–541 (Peeters); DOI 10.2143/REA.20.0.2017260
An assessment of an eighteenth-century Armenian textual critic and the enduring value of his work for modern editorial practice: an early instance of Cowe's long interest in the history of Armenian philology as a discipline.
