The Ethiopian Bible in English: What Is Available?
By EthiopianBibleBooks · Sources checked November 2, 2026
Important books of the Ethiopian Bible are available in English, including 1 Enoch and Jubilees in identifiable scholarly translations. English Meqabyan publications and translation resources also exist. Availability is uneven across the larger canon, and an English text of a familiar biblical book is not necessarily a translation of its Ethiopian version.
The useful question is therefore more precise than “Has the Ethiopian Bible been translated?” Ask which work, which textual version, which translator and what extent of text is available.
English availability by part of the canon
| Work or group | English access type | Identifiable evidence | What that evidence does not establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Familiar biblical books, such as Genesis, Psalms and the Gospels | Ordinary English Bibles; specialist translations of Greek Scripture | The NETS project provides a documented English translation of Greek Jewish Scriptures | A familiar English version is not automatically translated from the Ethiopian text |
| 1 Enoch | Complete individual-work editions; historical online text | Nickelsburg and VanderKam's 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation, Fortress Press, 2012 | An Enoch volume does not supply the rest of the canon |
| Jubilees | Complete individual-work editions; historical online text | VanderKam's Jubilees: The Hermeneia Translation, Fortress Press, 2020 | A scholarly English edition need not reproduce every reading of a current church text |
| Meqabyan | Individual publications, previews and translation-resource entries | Dalcassian records for 1 and 2 Meqabyan; United Bible Societies' TIPs contributor credits | A publication record does not certify accuracy, church approval or coverage of all three works |
| Church-order writings associated with the broader canon | Work-specific translations and specialist research must be identified separately | The church's canon list and academic descriptions identify the relevant works | An English text with a similar title is not necessarily the Ethiopian work |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
Sources for this overview: NETS electronic edition, Enoch publisher record, Jubilees publisher record, Meqabyan publication record, TIPs source notes, and church canon list.
This matrix describes the sources inspected for this guide. It is not an exhaustive census or a certification of a complete English canon.
What language is being translated?
Geʽez, also called Classical Ethiopic, is central to the transmission of Ethiopian biblical texts. Amharic is a different language. An English book might translate a Geʽez text, translate an Amharic edition, compare several ancient witnesses, or reprint an earlier English translation. Its source statement should tell you which.
That distinction is visible in documented resources. The publisher of the Hermeneia Enoch translation identifies Ethiopic, Greek and Dead Sea Aramaic evidence. An English translation can therefore draw on the Ethiopian textual tradition while also using evidence preserved elsewhere. Enoch textual-basis description.
“Translated from Geʽez” also needs a source behind it: which edition, manuscripts or textual form? It is useful information, rather than an automatic guarantee that the result is definitive.
Familiar English passages are comparison texts
If you read Genesis in a familiar English Bible while studying Jubilees, you are using a parallel reading. You should not describe that English Genesis as a direct translation of the Ethiopian version unless its edition actually says so.
NETS makes this distinction especially clear: it is an English translation of Greek Jewish Scriptures, with named translators and work-specific introductions. It is useful for comparison, but its contents and textual basis do not turn it into an English Ethiopian Bible. Official NETS edition.
Why two English versions may differ
A difference can come from English word choice, a different manuscript reading, a different source language or a different form of the work. Scholars use recension for a particular textual form or branch of transmission. Similar titles do not prove identical recensions.
The United Bible Societies' TIPs resource provides a concrete example. Its notes credit existing scholarly Enoch and Jubilees translations while identifying additional translations or editorial changes used to match the current Tewahedo church text. That is a reason to preserve edition information when comparing passages. Work-specific translation credits.
For closer Enoch research, Michael A. Knibb's 1978 The Ethiopic Book of Enoch includes English and Ethiopic material, manuscript evidence and commentary across two volumes. The university catalogue documents a specialist resource rather than another generic “Book of Enoch” listing. Indiana University record.
Meqabyan needs its own source trail
Ethiopian Meqabyan and Greek Maccabees are different works. An English Bible containing 1 and 2 Maccabees does not thereby supply the Ethiopian books. TIPs explicitly identifies that distinction and credits English Meqabyan work to Haileyesus Woldemariam. Meqabyan source information.
Dalcassian publication records identify English First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees (I Meqabyan) and Second Book of Ethiopian Maccabees (II Meqabyan). These demonstrate identifiable publications; this review did not independently check every verse or establish a critical textual basis for them. First-book record · Second-book record.
A preview, a source credit and a full translation are different kinds of access. Keep those labels separate when assembling a reading list.
What about the broader canon's church-order books?
The church's English canon page lists 81 books as 46 Old Testament and 35 New Testament books. The latter includes church-order writings beyond the familiar 27-book New Testament. Their identity and textual history require care: Ethiopian Clement is not interchangeable with the familiar epistles of Clement, and similarly named Didascalia texts should not be treated as identical. Church list · Mikre-Sellassie's academic study.
We have not established a complete, church-authorized English edition covering the canon in the sources reviewed here. This is a bounded research finding, not proof that no such edition could exist. For evaluating a particular collection's coverage, use the complete Ethiopian Bible checklist.
What can you read free in English?
Identifiable historical resources include R. H. Charles's 1917 Enoch and 1917 Jubilees editions at the Internet Sacred Text Archive. Their title pages record the translator and publication details. These older editions should remain distinguishable from modern translations and from Charles's other editions. Enoch title page · Jubilees title page.
Our downloadable English translation source index records edition dates, contributors, access types and limitations. Online reading access does not automatically grant permission to reproduce a translation or its hosted files.
Build a reading path from what is available
Begin with an identifiable translation of the work you want to understand. Record its translator and edition; use familiar biblical passages as labeled comparison readings. For edition recommendations matched to reading goals, see our best Ethiopian Bible options. For a reading sequence, see how to read the Ethiopian Bible.
We are developing an independent 12-week English study guide focused on Enoch, Jubilees, Meqabyan and understanding the 81-book canon. Its contents are still being finalized. It is a workbook rather than a complete Bible translation or an official church publication.