Readings attributed to “οἱ περὶ (τὸν) Ἀκύλαν and/or (τὸν) Σύμμαχον” by Greek Christian scribes and authors (Theodoret excepted)

Abstract

Throughout the corpus of Greek Christian literature, several attestations can be found of the expression οἱ περὶ (τὸν) Ἀκύλαν and/or (τὸν) Σύμμαχον. Having been used by Church Fathers and copyists of manuscripts alike, these attributions make out an interesting object of study, seeing that - in general - the turn of phrase οἱ περὶ followed by the accusative of a proper name can have different meanings and given the fact that it is not always clear if and how these specific attributions refer to the Jewish Greek Bible versions of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion. In an earlier study, the occurrences of this expression in the writings of Theodoret of Cyrrhus have been investigated. The present article examines its attestations in other sources (Origen; Epiphanius of Salamis; Theodore of Mopsuestia; Anastasius of Sinai; some anonymous catena fragments and a few marginal notes in Septuagint manuscripts) and investigates how they should be dealt with by editors of Hexaplaric readings.