New Book on Armenian Bible Published

Staff Report

The Armenian Bible: A Symposium Celebrating the 1600th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Armenian Alphabet and the Translation of the Bible into Armenian. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, editor (Burbank, CA: Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, 2007), 130.pp

The Armenian Bible has been the topic of much study since it was originally translated into Armenian in the fifth century. 2006 marked the 1600th anniversary of the groundbreaking translation, and a symposium was organized under the auspices of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church, to celebrate the anniversary. The same event also marked the 30th anniversary of the Society for Armenian Studies.

Seven scholars participated in the international conference and their articles were collected and edited for this volume. They each analyzed a different facet of the Bible. Various types of approaches to the study of the Bible were used, from the linguistic, to art and literature.

Two articles in the book are in Armenian: one by Rev. Dr. Fr. Zaven Arzoumanian is on “The Armenian Bible and the Early Formation of the Armenian Church,” while the Very Rev. Fr. Dajad Yardemian, wrote on “Armenian Commentaries on the Books of the Holy Bible.”

Barlow Der Mugrdechian wrote an introduction on “The Bible and Armenian Culture.”

Claude Cox discussed “Little Words are Important Too: The Use of Particles in the Armenian Translation of Job.”

Rev. Manuel Jinbachian discussed “The Prophecy of Jeremiah as it is found in the Hebrew, Septuagint, Syriac, and Armenian.”

Rev. Fr. Vahan Hovhanessian contributed with “The Reading is From Third Corinthians-A Glance at the Lectionary of the Armenian Church.”

S. Peter Cowe wrote an article “Literary and Theological Considerations Governing the Strata of the Armenian Version of Scripture.”

The book is carried by the Western Diocese Bookstore and is available to order on-line at http://www.armenianchurchwd.com/bookstore/index.html.