“ut nos simus codex ipsorum” The Interpretation of verba dubitationis in St. Augustine’s Homiletic Œuvre*

Abstract

Summary:St. Augustine as a preacher used a language close to his multi-ethnic North-African audience who were often poorly educated in Latin, if not illiterate. So when explaining difficult biblical passages translated from Greek into Latin, he had to search for appropriate expressions which, in many cases, were not conform with standard Latin taught at schools. Therefore, this paper focuses on some aspects of Late Latin present in old Latin translations of Scriptures and explained by Augustine in his exegetical homilies, mainly in his Commentaries on the Psalms, paying particular attention to his interpretation of verba dubitationis (especially forsitan) as reflected in his Enarratio in Psalmum 123. 8, Tractatus in Iohannis Evangelium 37. 3–5, and other related passages.