Notice on the Bruce Gnostic Papyrus

THE GNOSTIC BRUCE PAPYRUS.

I readily believe that he was not very well-versed in grammar and that his translation suffers for it. There is an evident example of this in the passage that I cited above, in the final clause of the formula for what is your will that all these things should happen "for such was your will to make all this exist". The scribe writes sometimes for what is your will and sometimes for what is your will [is]. It is the latter form that is correct. He therefore deceived himself quite often, as one will see from reading the text. If it is so, the translator, who must account at once for the errors of the modern copyist and those of the ancient scribe, finds himself in a rather embarrassing position. Often, the errors are so gross that they are quite visible; but other times, even when the error is felt, it is not easy—it has even been impossible for me—to correct it. Through this whole set of facts, one will understand easily, I hope, that the translation is most often rendered very difficult and sometimes, though rarely, impossible. One must not therefore be too angry with the translator if one discovers that some passages have been poorly translated; I confess, in all frankness, to having made my efforts so that the number of these passages would be as small as possible, and when my own translation did not suffice for me, I indicated my doubts.