The desire to translate biblical texts from Greek and to record them in the native language of the majority of the populace is supposed to have played an important part in the creation of literary standards of the Coptic language. The most puzzling aspect of the Coptic translation of biblical texts is probably the diversity of the literary dialects used. Most scholarly chapters on Coptic Bible versions in the last few decades were authored by scholars whose primary interest is not the history of Coptic literature but the textual criticism of the Old and New Testaments. The one Coptic version of biblical texts for which continuous usage throughout the classical period can safely be asserted is the Sahidic version. The history of the principal Fayyumic version appears to parallel that of the Sahidic version in that it may have remained constant over a long period.