The following is my transcription and translation of Jonah 1 from Bodleian Aeth. D. 12 (=Dillmann VIII, Huntington 625), a fourteenth century Ge’ez manuscript. In the transcription section, P stands for the page in the PDF I have been supplied, and R stands for row/column. Verse numbers have been supplied from NETS. My transcription does not correspond to what is exactly on the page. Ge’ez scribes frequently deviate from lexically correct spelling. I have tacitly adjusted the orthography of the Ge’ez text according to Leslau’s Concise Dictionary of Ge’ez.
P1 R2
ወኮነ ፡ ቃለ ፡ እግዚአሔር ፡ ኀበ ። ዮናስ ፡ ወልደ ፡ አማቴ ፡ ወይቤሎ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ ለዮናስ ፡ ተንሥእ ፡ ወሖር ፡ ነኔዌ ፡ ሀገረ ፡ ዓባየ ፡ ወስብክ ፡ ሎሙ ፡ እስመ ፡ ዐርገ ፡ ገዐረ ፡ እከዮሙ ፡ ኀቤየ ፡ ወሖረ ፡ ዮናስ ፡ ወተኀጥአ ፡ ብሔረ ፡ ተርሴስ ፡ እምገጸ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ።
P2 R1
ወወረደ ፡ ሀገረ ፡ እዮጴ ። ወረከበ ፡ ሐመረ ፡ ዘይነግድ ፡ ብሔረ ፡ ተርሴስ ። ወተዐሰበ ፡ ወዐርገ ፡ ውስቴቱ ፡ ይንግድ ፡ምስሌሆሙ ፡ ተርሴስ ፡ እምገጸ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ። ወአምጽአ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ ነፋሰ ፡ ዐቢየ ፡ ውስተ ፡ ባሕር ። ወዐቢየ ፡ ማዕበለ ፡ ባሕር ፡ ወተመንደበ ፡ ሐመሮሙ ፡ ከመ ፡ ይሰበር ። ወፈርሁ ፡ ኖትያት ፡ ወዐውየዉ ፡ ኵሎሙ ፡ ኀበ ፡ አማልክቲሆሙ ፡ ወአስተዋፅኡ ፡ ወገደፉ ፡ ውስተ ፡ ባሕር ፡ ንዋዮሙ ፡ ከመ ፡ ያቅልሉ ፡ ሐመሮሙ ፡ ወወረደ ፡ ዮናስ ፡ ውስተ ፡ ከርሠ ፡ ሐመ
P2 R2
ር ፡ ወኖመ ፡ ወንሕረ ። ወወረደ ፡ ኀቤሁ ፡ ዘሐደፍ ፡ ወይቤሎ ፡ ምንት ፡ ያነውመከ ፡ ተንሥእ ፡ ወጸውዕ ፡ አምላከከ ፡ ከመ ፡ ያድኅነነ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ ወኢንሙት ። ውተባሀሉ ፡ በበይናቲሆሙ ፡ ንዑ ፡ ንትዐጸው ፡ ወናአምር ፡ በበይነ ፡ መኑ ፡ ረከበተነ ፡ ዛቲ ፡ እኪት ። ወተዐፀዉ ፡ ወወረደ ፡ ዕፅ ፡ ላዕለ ፡ ዮናስ ። ወይቤልዎ ፡ ንግረነ ፡ በበይነ ፡ መኑ ፡ ረከበተነ ፡ ዛቲ ፡፡እኪት ፡ ምንት ፡ ተግባርከ ፡ ወእምአይቴ ፡ መጻእከ ፡ ወአይቴ ፡ ተሐው
P3 R1
ር ፡ ወአይቴ ፡ ብሔርከ ፡ ወምንት ፡ ሕዝብከ ። ወይቤሎሙ ፡ ዮናስ ፡ ገብረ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ አነ ፡
ወአምለክየ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ አምላክ ፡ ሰማይ ፡ ዘገብረ ፡ ባሕረ ፡ ወየብሰ ፡ ወፈርሁ ፡ እሙንቱ ፡ ዕደው ፡ ዐቢየ ፡ ፍርሀተ ፡ ወይቤልዎ ፡ ምንተ ፡ ገበርከ ። ወአእመርዎ ፡ እሙንቱ ፡ ዕደው ፡ ከመ ፡ እምገጸ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ ተኀጥአ ፡ እስመ ፡ ነገሮሙ ፡ ወይቤልዎ ፡ ምንተ ፡ እንከ ፡ ንረሲከ ፡ ወይኅድገነ ፡ ባሕር ፡ እስመ ፡ ይትሀወክ ፡ ባሕር ፡ ወይትነሣእ ፡ ማዕበል ፡ ዐቢይ ፡ ወይቤሎሙ ፡ ዮናስ ፡ ንሥኡኒ ፡ ወወርዉኒ ፡
P3 R2
ውስተ ፡ ባሕር ፡ ወየኀድገክሙ ፡ ባሕር ፡ አነ ፡ አእምርኩ ፡ ከመ ፡ በእንቲአየ ፡ መጽአክሙ ፡ ዝንቱ ፡
ማዕበል ፡ ዐቢይ ፡ ወተባአሱ ፡ ይትመየጡ ፡ ምንገለ ፡ ምድር ፡ እሙንቱ ፡ ዕደው ። ወስእኑ ፡
እስመ ፡ ትትሀወክ ፡ ባሕር ፡ ወትትነሣእ ፡ ማዕበል ፡ ላዕሌሆሙ ፡ ወዐውየዉ ፡ ኵሎሙ ፡ ኅቡረ ፡ ኀበ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ። ወይቤሉ ፡ ሐሰ ፡ ለከ ፡ እግዚኦ ፡ ኢታጥፍአነ ፡ በበይነ ፡ ነፍሱ ፡ ለዝንቱ ፡ ብእሲ ፡ ወኢትረሲ ፡ ላዕሌነ ፡ ደመ ፡ ጻድቅ ፡ እስመ ፡ አንተ ፡ እግዚኦ ፡ዘከ
P4 R1
መ ፡ ፈቀድከ ፡ ገበርከ ። ወነሥእዎ ፡ ለዮናስ ፡ ወወረውዎ ፡ ውስተ ፡ ባሕር ፡ ወአርመመት ፡ ባሕር ፡ ወፈርህዎ ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር ፡ እሙንቱ ፡ ዕደው ፡ ዐቢየ ፡ ፍርሀተ ፡ ወሦዑ ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር ፡
መጽዋዕተ ፡ ወበፅዑ ፡ ብፅዓተ ።
Chapter 1:
1 The voice of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, and the Lord said to Jonah,
2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. And preach to them because the cry of their evil has ascended to me.”
3 But Jonah went and fled to the region of Tarshish from the face of the Lord. He went down to the city of Joppa. And he found a ship, which was traveling to the region of Tarshish. He hired it for himself and ascended in it so that he might travel with them to Tarshish from the face of the Lord.
4 Then the Lord brought a great wind and sea wave onto the sea, and their ship was afflicted so that it might break.
5 And the sailors were afraid, and they all cried out unto their false gods, and they cast out their possessions one after another into the sea so that they might lighten their ship. And Jonah went down into the interior of the ship, and he slept and snored.
6 The captain went down to him and said to him, “What is causing you to sleep? Get up and invoke your god so that the Lord might save us and we might not die.”
7 And they spoke with one another, “Up! Let’s draw lots, and we will know on account of whom this calamity has found us.” They cast lots, and a lot came down upon Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on account of whom this calamity has found us! What is your occupation? From where have you come? Where are you going? Where is your land? Who are your people?”
9 And Jonah said to them, “I am a servant of the Lord, and my God the Lord is the Lord of Heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 And those men were greatly afraid. They said to him, “What have you done?” And those men knew that he fled from the face of the Lord because he had told them.
11 And they said to him, “What then should we do so that1 the sea might let us go?” For the sea was shaking and a great wave was rising.
12 And Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea! The sea will let you all go. I know that this great wave has come upon you all because of me.”
13 And those men exerted themselves to return to land, but they were unable because the sea was being stirred up and a wave was rising over them.
14 And all of them cried out in unison to the Lord. And they said, “Far be it from you, Lord, do not destroy us on account of the soul of this man. Do not put the blood of a just man on us because you, O Lord, just as you wish, you do.”
15 And they took Jonah and threw him into the sea. And the sea became calm.
16 And those men were greatly afraid of the Lord. And they sacrificed sacrifices to the Lord and vowed vows.
1 Literally “and”, but I found it to read awkwardly.
