On October 24, 2024, a jubilee event dedicated to the 92nd birthday and the 47th Anniversary of the Enthronement of His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II was held in Queen Tamar Hall of Tbilisi City Council. At the event, two monumental publications of ecclesiastical and national significance were presented. They were: The Multilingual Bible [Biblia Polyglotta] – the Psalms of King David and The Great Book of Needs of the Orthodox Church with Footnotes. The Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Doctor of Theology, Philology and Political Sciences, Professor, Protopresbyter of the Orthodox Church of Georgia Giorgi Zviadadze addressed the audience with his welcome speech.
He spoke about the great contribution of the Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II to the State of Georgia, the Orthodox Church of Georgia, the Georgian people and the World Orthodox Church. Within the framework of the mentioned event, Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze presented to the public the most important publications carried out in Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary – The Multilingual Bible [Biblia Polyglotta] – The Psalms of King David and The Great Book of Needs of the Orthodox Church with Footnotes. He spoke about the special scientific, theological and national significance of each of them, thanked the participants of the event for joining it and expressed his deep respect for the Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia.
Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze expressed his deep respect and gratitude to the Prime Minister of Georgia Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze, whose help and support made it possible for the Academy to publish those unique monuments of national importance; he also extended his gratitude to the former Minister of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Amilakhvari for his special help in the implementation of these most important publications.
Among the speakers were the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of Tbilisi City Council Giorgi Tkemaladze; President of the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia, Academician Roin Metreveli; Ambassador of the Holy See, His Excellency Ante Jozić; the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel to Georgia, Her Excellency Hadas Esther Meitzad and Metropolitan Daniel (Datuashvili) of Chiatura and Sachkhere. Each of the speakers expressed their great love, respect and gratitude to the Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II and extended their special gratitude to the Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze for his service and for organizing the large-scale and representative event.
The Assistant to the Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary in Theological Sciences, Doctor of Philology, Doctor of Theology and Academician of Gelati Academy of Sciences, Professor Edisher Chelidze gave a detailed review of the presented publications. He said that the edition of The Multilingual Bible represented an edition of the most important ancient Georgian versions and redactions of The Psalms of King David, which are suggested in a complete form and based on all the existing manuscripts; the versions of the Psalms in other languages (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Armenian, Coptic, Slavic, etc.) are given in the form of parallel columns in the book. The objective of this publication, on the one hand, is to fill the regrettable gap which almost all the editions of the Biblia Polyglotta published in Europe in the 18th-19th centuries had and which, according to the recent information, will continue to be characteristic for the latest edition of the same Bible currently in preparation. The specified error reveals an absolute negligence of the old Georgian translations and redactions of the Holy Scriptures which have always existed among the translations of the Bible in various other languages, as though this inexhaustible source of knowledge - the Holy Scriptures - had never been translated into Georgian, while the biblical material preserved in the Georgian language is much more complete and with its redactional and terminological diversity surpasses not only the Armenian, Aramaic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Arabic and Slavic versions taken all together (were we have essentially a single translation in each of them), but even Greek and Hebrew...
This edition of the earliest Georgian version of the Psalms signifies that one of the most archaic translations of the great book of King David has been made accessible for the world scientific community. In the same edition, Saint Giorgi the Athonite’s translation and redaction of the Book of Psalms is also presented as a third parallel column. Regarding all its aspects, this version is fully determined. This translation and edition has truly unfathomable significance and, therefore, it is unchangeably established in the liturgical bosom of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
While reviewing the second publication - The Great Book of Needs of the Orthodox Church with Footnotes - Mr. Edisher Chelidze noted that the liturgical foundation of the Orthodox Church is the priestly ministry of the seven life-giving sacraments, which are gethered in written form in the most holy liturgical book – The Great Book of Needs.
The old Georgian texts presented in the publication include all the typicons used in the ecclesiastical priestly ministry when the divine sacraments are being performed. In connection with the aforementioned, this work is a monument bearing eternal and immeasurable value for the Orthodox Church of Georgia.
At the same time, this edition has a special national importance, since the material published in it covers the period from ancient times to the nineteenth century, that is essentially the entire spiritual history of the Georgian nation, therefore, from the historical perspective, the mentioned work is an invaluable source for an in-depth study of the Christian past of Georgia. Such a publication has not been carried out in any language due to the fact that a significant part of the monuments of blessings collected in the work (especially the part belonging to the fifth to tenth centuries) is preserved only in the Georgian language, and therefore it is through this publication that the world of science and culture will get acquainted with it.
In addition, the mentioned part (saved only in the Georgian language) refers to the beginning of the history of the Orthodox Church, the Jerusalem era, that is, the era which starts from the first century and appears as the direct successor of priestly ministry founded by the Savior Himself.
We once again emphasize that this earliest and most important era is preserved in its original form only in the Georgian manuscripts to the publication of which the present work is dedicated, and this fact makes this edition completely special.
In his speech, Mr. Edisher expressed his deep gratitude towards His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, with whose prayer and blessing they have been carried out, in addition, he particularly thanked the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, for his support in the implementation of the project of great national importance.
The event was attended by the members of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Georgia - Metropolitan Daniel (Datuashvili) of Chiatura and Sachkhere, Metropolitan Anania (Japaridze) of Manglisi and Tetritskaro, Metropolitan Andria (Gvazava) of Gori and Ateni, Bishop Grigol (Katsia) of Tsalka, and others of the clergy; representatives of legislative and executive authorities; the Vice-President of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, Ramaz Khurodze; the Academician-Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia, Vladimir Papava; rectors of the institutions of higher education, academicians, professors and teachers, representatives of the diplomatic corps – the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Gareth Edward Ward; the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania - Darius Vitkauskas; the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia - Marge Mardisalu-Kahar; the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria - Robert Gershner and others.
In his concluding speech, the Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze thanked for joining the event: the Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze; the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Mrs. Nino Kadagidze; the Vice-Speakers of the Parliament of Georgia, Mr. Archil Talakvadze and Mrs. Nino Tsilosani; the hierarchs and clergy, the chairpersons of the Committee of the Parliament, members of the parliament and representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Chairman of the City Council, Mr. Giorgi Tkemaladze; former ministers of education, Mr. Mikheil Chkhenkeli and Giorgi Amilakhvari; the secretaries to the Committee of the Parliament, members of the Parliament and representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Secretary to the City Council, Mr. Giorgi Tkemaladze; the President and Vice-president of the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia, representatives of academic circles, rectors of higher educational institutions, the Head of the Foundation of the Catholicos Patriarch; the former Ambassador of Georgia to the State of Israel, Mr. Lasha Zhvania; the representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia, the professors and teachers of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary. He noted that their participation in the mentioned event was an expression of deep respect for the Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II, the Holy Church of Georgia and Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary.
The solemn event was opened by the Choir of Tbilisi Theological
Seminary, conducted by Lasha Zaalishvili. They performed
the hymn of
Kartl-Kakhetian provenance “You Are
the Vineyard”. At the end of
the event, the Choir of the Holy Trinity Cathedral (conductor -
Svimon Jangulashvili) performed the hymn of the medieval period
“Holy God”, the hymn composed by the Catholicos Patriarch of All
Georgia Ilia II - “Kyrie Eleison” and “Mravalzhamieri” the hymn of
Kartl-Kakhetian provenance.
