Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- The writing and pronunciation of Old English
- I Teaching and learning
- II Keeping a record
- III Spreading the Word
- 13 After the Flood (from the Old English Hexateuch: Gen 8.6–18 and 9.8–13)
- 14 The Crucifixion (from the Old English Gospels: Mt 27.11–54)
- 15 King Alfred's Psalms
- 16 A Translator's Problems (Ælfric's preface to his translation of Genesis)
- 17 Satan's Challenge (Genesis B, lines 338–441)
- 18 The Drowning of Pharaoh's Army (Exodus, lines 447–564)
- 19 Judith
- IV Example and Exhortation
- V Telling Tales
- VI Reflection and lament
- Manuscripts and textual emendations
- Reference Grammar of Old English
- Glossary
- Guide to terms
- Index
14 - The Crucifixion (from the Old English Gospels: Mt 27.11–54)
from III - Spreading the Word
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- The writing and pronunciation of Old English
- I Teaching and learning
- II Keeping a record
- III Spreading the Word
- 13 After the Flood (from the Old English Hexateuch: Gen 8.6–18 and 9.8–13)
- 14 The Crucifixion (from the Old English Gospels: Mt 27.11–54)
- 15 King Alfred's Psalms
- 16 A Translator's Problems (Ælfric's preface to his translation of Genesis)
- 17 Satan's Challenge (Genesis B, lines 338–441)
- 18 The Drowning of Pharaoh's Army (Exodus, lines 447–564)
- 19 Judith
- IV Example and Exhortation
- V Telling Tales
- VI Reflection and lament
- Manuscripts and textual emendations
- Reference Grammar of Old English
- Glossary
- Guide to terms
- Index
Summary
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John provide a narrative of the career of Christ, culminating in his crucifixion and resurrection. Our word ‘gospel’ derives from OE gōdspel, ‘good news’, a translation of Latin euangelium, which was itself a borrowing of the Greek euangelion; this meant originally a ‘reward for good news’ and then came to mean the ‘good news’ itself. The Old English Gospels (which are also known as the West Saxon Gospels) represent the earliest complete rendering of the gospels in English, made from the Latin Vulgate, probably in the second half of the tenth century. Six complete manuscript copies survive, along with fragments of two others. All were made in the eleventh or twelfth centuries. It is unlikely that the OE version was intended to give the common people access to scripture, as were the much later Middle English translations associated with the reformer Wyclif. The context of both its production and its use was probably the monastery. The addition of Latin annotations to some of the manuscripts may have been to allow cross-referencing with the Vulgate, which remained the official Bible of the church; and no doubt they would have been a help for monks learning Latin, too.
The extract given here covers the last hours of Christ's life as a man: his arrest by the Roman authorities, his ‘trial’ before Pilate and his execution, followed by his resurrection from the tomb.
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- The Cambridge Old English Reader , pp. 110 - 115Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004