Between the Septuagint and the Hebrew Bible: Tsehay Ademe Belay Reexamines the Gəʿəz Biblical Tradition

A Textual Question at the Heart of Reception History

The Ethiopic/Gəʿəz Bible exists at a fascinating intersection in the history of biblical textual transmission. It is neither the Greek Septuagint nor the Hebrew Masoretic Text, yet it contains elements of both traditions. Understanding the relationship between Ethiopic biblical manuscripts and these major textual families has implications for how we understand biblical interpretation, translation and the global reach of biblical textuality.

Is the Gəʿəz Bible primarily aligned with the Septuagint? The Masoretic tradition? Does it represent a unique Ethiopian interpretation? Tsehay Ademe Belay's research shows that the answer is more complex than any simple binary choice.

The Dissertation Foundation

Belay's work emerges from rigorous textual study. His doctoral dissertation, The Ethiopic Book of Joel: A Critical Edition, Annotated Translation and Its Reception (Addis Ababa University, 2025), provides the foundation for understanding Gəʿəz textual transmission. He examined surviving Ethiopic manuscripts of Joel spanning from approximately the fourteenth century to the twentieth century, noting how they compare with both Septuagint and Masoretic witnesses.

This longitudinal approach reveals that the Ethiopic text was not static. Different manuscript families show different alignments with Greek or Hebrew traditions. Some Ethiopic readings suggest independent Ethiopian theological and exegetical traditions. Others clearly derive from earlier Greek or Hebrew sources.

Why Gəʿəz Matters for Biblical Scholarship

The Ethiopic Bible is one of the major ancient biblical traditions, yet it remains underrepresented in mainstream Western biblical scholarship. This creates a significant gap. The Gəʿəz tradition:

• preserves readings that differ from both Septuagint and Masoretic Text;
• documents centuries of Ethiopian Christian biblical interpretation;
• demonstrates how biblical texts travel, transform, and are reinterpreted across cultures;
• shows that the Gəʿəz Bible is not a simple "translation" but a complex textual tradition with its own historical trajectory.

Andəmta and Reception

Belay's work also examines Andəmta—the Ethiopian tradition of biblical commentary and interpretation. Understanding how Ethiopian scholars interpreted Gəʿəz biblical texts illuminates the broader reception history of Scripture. The Andəmta tradition shows that biblical interpretation in Ethiopia developed independently from European and Middle Eastern exegetical traditions, yet engaged with similar interpretive questions.

The Institute for Hebrew Language and Literature recognizes that the study of biblical manuscript traditions must extend beyond European and Mediterranean evidence. Ethiopic manuscripts and traditions provide crucial evidence for understanding how ancient biblical texts survived, adapted, and were interpreted across the centuries.