⸻ · ⸻በእንተ፡ ንግሥተ፡ አዜብ።
Chapter 21 · The queen of the South
21.1
The Kebra Nagast 21.1 · The queen of the South will rise📜 Bezold's printed edition
The chapter opens with the Gospel. Jesus, rebuking his own generation, points to a foreign queen who travelled far to hear wisdom (Matthew 12:42).
· · ·
ንግሥተ፡1
nǝgǝśta
“The queen of
አዜብ፡2
ʾAzeb
the Souththe south wind
ትትነሣእ፡3
tǝtnaśśāʾ
will rise upshe will arise
አመ፡4
ʾama
onat the time of
ዕለተ፡5
ʿǝlata
the day of
ኰነኔ፡6
kʷǝnnane
judgment,
, ወትትዋቀሦሙ፡7
wa-tǝtwāqaśomu
and argue against them,and dispute with them
, ወትትፋትሖሙ፡8
wa-tǝtfātaḥomu
and go to law with them,and plead against them
, ወትመውኦሙ፡9
wa-tǝmawwǝʾomu
and defeatand overcome them
ለዛቲ፡10
la-zāti
this
ትውልድ፡11
tǝwlǝd
generation,
, እለ፡12
ʾǝlla
whothose who
ኢሰምዑ፡13
ʾi-samʿu
did not hearthey did not hear
ስብከተ፡14
sǝbkata
the preaching of
ቃልየ፤15
qālǝya
my word;my voice
; እስመ፡16
ʾǝsma
forbecause
ለሊሃ፡17
lalihā
she herself
መጽአት፡18
maṣʾat
cameshe came
እምአጽናፈ፡19
ʾǝm-ʾaṣnāfa
from the ends offrom the edges of
ምድር፡20
mǝdr
the earth
ከመ፡21
kama
toso that
ትስማዕ፡22
tǝsmāʿ
hearshe might hear
ጥበቢሁ፡23
ṭǝbabihu
the wisdomhis wisdom
ለሰሎሞን፡24
la-Salomon
of Solomon.”
“The queen of the South will rise up on the day of judgment, and argue against them, and go to law with them, and defeat this generation, who did not hear the preaching of my word; for she herself came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”
“The queen of the South will rise up on the day of judgment, and argue against them, and go to law with them, and defeat this generation, who did not hear the preaching of my word; for she herself came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”
21.2
The Kebra Nagast 21.2 · She is the queen of Ethiopia📜 Bezold's printed edition
Having quoted the Gospel, the book explains it.
· · ·
And where it says “the queen of the South”, she is the queen of Ethiopia.
In Matthew (in the King James words) the queen of the south “shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it”. The Kebra Nagast turns that one verb into a courtroom: she will argue with them (Dillmann: litigare, disputare), go to law with them (litigare apud, to plead before a judge) and defeat them (vincere). A foreign queen becomes the prosecutor at the end of the world.
She came “from the edges of the earth”: ʾaṣnāf is the hem of a garment, and Ge’ez pictures the world as a cloth with a border. The next line will say exactly which edge she came from.