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Ethiopic · Poetry ·

Salutations for Jesus for the Canonical Hours

Anonymous · betmas

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machine-draft · no human review 4 passages · 566 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

This work is an anonymous cycle of poetic salutations to Jesus, structured around the seven canonical hours of the Ethiopian daily office. The edition is based on a single manuscript witness (Bet Mas 233) with no known variant tradition or critical apparatus. The work is undated and its attribution to an early Aksumite period is speculative. The salutations are used in the Ethiopian liturgical office, but their canonical status and frequency of recitation are not documented. No translation or commentary accompanies the Geʿez text, and the edition offers no analysis of poetic meter, rhyme, or theological content.

This cycle of salutations offers a rare example of Ethiopic poetic devotion structured around the canonical hours, reflecting the integration of Coptic monastic practices into Ethiopian Christianity. It provides insight into the development of liturgical poetry in Geʿez and the veneration of Christ in the daily office. The work's fragmentary transmission and lack of critical study highlight the need for further research into Ethiopic hymnography and its manuscript traditions.

Historical context

The work belongs to the Ethiopic Christian tradition, likely composed in Geʿez, the classical liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The structure of salutations for the canonical hours derives from Coptic monastic practice, which influenced Ethiopian liturgy. The single manuscript witness (Bet Mas 233) provides no date, but the text's transmission suggests a medieval or early modern origin, as the Ethiopian daily office developed over centuries. The work is anonymous, and its attribution to the Aksumite period (4th–7th centuries) is unsupported by the manuscript evidence. The salutations are part of a broader Ethiopic hymnographic tradition, but their specific liturgical use and canonical status remain undocumented.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

23 commentary units 5 term4 structure4 background4 scripture3 caution2 reception1 parallel 0 derived notes 10 open questions 4 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: poetry in Geʿez; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 4 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: betmas — CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
LIT2952RepCh233:1 · narrativehigh
Source
The following incipit and explicit are based on . First salutation, for the twilight (ዘሠርክ፡) ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ሀበነ፡ ሰላመከ፡ መምሕረ፡ ትሕትና፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ወልደ፡ አምላክ፡ ወሰብዕ። ጊዜ፡ ፍና፡ ሠርክ፡ በዓውደ፡ ምብልዕ፡ ዘረፈቀ፡ ምስለ፡ አርዳእ። ስብሐት፡ ከከ፡ ዘንተ፡ ኵሎ፡ በእንተ፡ ፍቅረ፡ ስብዕ፡ ዘኮንከ። ለሕማም፡ ወሞት፡ እስከ፡ በጻሕከ። ይእዜኒ፡ ተወከፍ፡ ነግሃ፡ ወሠርከ። ስብሐታት፡ ዘናቀርብ፡ ለከ። Second salutation, for the compline (ዘንዋም፡) ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ስምዓነ፡ አምላክነ፡ ወሰላመከ፡ ሀበነ፡ እስመ፡ ወሀብከነ፡ ኵሎ። ስብሐተ፡ ዚአከ፡ ንንግር፡ እምትካት፡ ዘሀሎ። በመዓርግ፡ ወበበመትሎ። ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ዕቀበነ፡ ዘልፈ፡ እግዚኦ፡ በዛቲ፡ ዘዓት። እምእለ፡ ይብሕቱ፡ አጋንንት። ዓውደነ፡ ሕፅር፡ በሃይለ፡ መላእክት። እስመ፡ ናሁ፡ ሰፈነ፡ ሌሊት። Third salutation, for midnight (ዘመንፈቀ፡ ሌሊት፡)
English
First Salutation, for the Twilight (za-śarq) Praise to you. Give us your peace, O teacher of humility, Christ, Son of God and Man. At the time of the appearance of twilight, at the place of the setting, which is far from the east. Praise to you for all this, because of the love of the seven (seal?) which you became, for suffering and death until you were exhausted. Now accept the praises of the day and the twilight which we offer to you. Second Salutation, for the Compline (za-nwām) Praise to you. Hear us, our God, and give us your peace, for you have given us all. We declare your praise from the place where it is, in the evening and in the morning. Praise to you. Guard us always, O Lord, in this hour from those who mock, the demons. Surround our courtyard with the power of the angels, for now night has spread. Third Salutation, for Midnight (za-manfaqa lēlit)
LIT2952RepCh233:2 · narrativemedium
Source
ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ተዘከርኩ፡ በሌሊት፡ ብዝኃ፡ ትሕትናከ፡ ኵሎ፡ እንተ፡ የዓዱ፡ እምዓቅም። ጊዜ፡ አኃዙከ፡ ሠገራተ፡ ሮም፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ወልደ፡ ማርያም። ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ መንፈቀ፡ ሌሊት፡ ድኅረ፡ ጊዜ፡ ይከውን፡ ወውዖ። ቤተከ፡ ነሃሉ፡ በተጋብኦ። ሶበ፡ ሰአልናከ፡ በአስተብቍዖ። አርኁ፡ ለነ፡ እግዚኦ፡ እግዚኦ። Fourth salutation, for the morning (ዘነግህ፡) ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ከመ፡ ንንግር፡ ኵሎ፡ ስብሐቲከ፡ በአናቅጺሃ፡ ለጽዮን፡ ማኅደረ፡ ብዙኅ፡ ሰላም። ዘአንቃሕከነ፡ እምነ፡ ንዋም። ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ አኰቴተ፡ ስብሐት፡ ወትረ፡ ለመንግሥትከ፡ ስቡሕ። ጊዜ፡ እምንዋምነ፡ ንነቅሕ። ናቀርብ፡ ለከ፡ በቃለ፡ ክላህ። ወንፌኑ፡ ስብሐተ፡ ዘነግህ። Fifth salutation, for the third hour (ዘ፫፡ ሰዓት፡) ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ እኤምኅ፡ አእጋሪከ፡ በጊዜ፡ ሰለስቱ፡ ሰዓት፡ ቅድመ፡ ጲላጦስ፡ ዘቆማ። ኢየሱስ፡ ጠቢብ፡ ወንጉሥ፡ ፌማ። ዘአድከምከ፡ ኃይለ፡ መስቴማ።
English
Praise to you. I have remembered in the night the abundance of your humility, all that surpasses the limits. At the time you took the crown of thorns of Rome, O Jesus, son of Mary. Praise to you. At midnight, after the time when it becomes evening, your house is in assembly. When we asked you with supplication, have mercy on us, O Lord, O Lord. Fourth salutation, for the morning (za-nagh) Praise to you. As we recount all your praises at the gates of Zion, the abode of abundant peace, you who awakened us from sleep. Praise to you. Adoration of praise continually for your glorious kingdom. At the time we awaken from sleep, we approach you with the voice of both, and we offer praise of the morning. Fifth salutation, for the third hour (za-śalāst sāʿāt) Praise to you. I kiss your feet at the time of the third hour before Pilate, where you stood, O Jesus, wise and king of the Fēmā, you who vanquished the power of Mastema.
LIT2952RepCh233:3 · narrativehigh
Source
ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ኀበ፡ ሐዋርያት፡ ገብሩ፡ በጽርሐ፡ ጽዮን፡ እንግልጋ፡ ዘፈኖከ፡ ሎሙ፡ መንፈሰ፡ ጸጋ። ፈኑ፡ ለነ፡ እንበለ፡ ንትጋ። ያኅድገነ፡ ምግባረ፡ ዘሥጋ። Sixth salutation, for the sixth hour (ዘ፮፡ ሰዓት፡) ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ኦዘተቀኖከ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ጻድቅ፡ ማዕከለ፡ ፪፡ ፈያት፡ እንዘ፡ ኢትከውን፡ አንተ፡ ገባሬ፡ ዕኪት። ከመ፡ ትሥዓር፡ ቀኖተ፡ ሞት። ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ሕፅረነ፡ ወትረ፡ እግዚኦ፡ ለደቂቀ፡ ዛቲ፡ ማኅበር። በመስቀልከ፡ መግረሬ፡ ፀር። እምድድቅ፡ ወእምጋኔነ፡ ቀትር። ወእምኵሉ፡ ዘይመጽእ፡ ግብር። Seventh salutation, for the ninth hour (ዘ፱፡ ሰዓት፡) ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ አምላኪየ፡ አምላኪየ፡ ነጽረኒ፡ ወትረ፡ ወኢትኅድገኒ፡ ዘልፈ። እስመ፡ አንተ፡ ትቤ፡ ከሢተከ፡ አፈ። ትፈጽም፡ ሕገ፡ ተጽሕፈ። ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ተወከፍ፡ ሊተ፡ እግዚኦ፡ ከመ፡ ቍርባን፡ ጥሉል። በበሱባዔ፡ እንዘ፡ እክፍል። ዘአቅረብኩ፡ ለከ፡ ኍልቈ፡ ኢዮቤል፡ ስብሐታተ፡ በዘአንሰ፡ እክል።
English
Praise to you, where the apostles made the covenant of Zion, the Gospel, which you filled for them with the spirit of grace. Send to us, that we may not be negligent, and that the work of the flesh may leave us. Praise to you, O you who were crucified, Jesus the Just, between two thieves, while you were the doer of wisdom, as if you tasted the bitterness of death. Praise to you, our refuge always, O Lord, for the children of this congregation, by your cross, the destroyer of the enemy, from affliction and from the plague of pestilence, and from every evil deed that may come. Praise to you, my God, my God, look upon me always and never leave me, for you have placed your word in my mouth; you fulfill the written law. Praise to you, accept from me, O Lord, as a pure offering, in humility, while I divide the number of jubilees of praises which I am able to offer.
LIT2952RepCh233:4 · narrativemedium
Source
Eighth salutation, for all the hours (ዘኵሎን፡ ጊዜያት፡) ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ዘበሰማያት፡ አቡነ፡ ዘበምድር፡ ዓዲ። ግብተ፡ እንበለ፡ ታጐንዲ። ዘታብዕል፡ ወዘታነዲ። ስብሐት፡ ለከ፡ ዘመሐረኒ፡ ወልድከ፡ ጸሎተ፡ ብዙኃን፡ እንግልጋ። ሶበ፡ ንጼሊ፡ ነበለ፡ ንትጋ። እግዚኦ፡ ሀበነ፡ መንፈሰ፡ ጸጋ፡ ዘይሤኒ፡ ላዕለ፡ ነፍስ፡ ወሥጋ።
English
Eighth salutation, for all the hours. Praise to you, who in the heavens is our Father, who on earth again is the work without ceasing, who expands and who exalts. Praise to you, whose Son taught me the prayer of the multitudes, the Gospel; when we pray, we were being negligent. O Lord, give us the spirit of grace, which is fitting for soul and body.
Citation. Tergwame, “Salutations for Jesus for the Canonical Hours”, LIT2952RepCh233:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/LIT2952RepCh233#s1
Colophon. Source: betmas · licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0026 · generated 2026-11-15.