Vetus Latina. Die Reste der altlateinischen Bible. 17. Evangelium secundum Marcum. Edited by JEAN-CLAUDE HAELEWYCK. Fascicle 1. Introduction

Abstract

The inauguration of a new biblical book in the Vetus Latina edition is an occasion for excitement. This first and second fascicle of Mark comprise a 116-page Introduction and the first 43 verses of the Gospel. Scholars accustomed to relying on the Itala of Jülicher, Matzkow, and Aland, with its unsatisfactory division of gospel codices into two textual strands, will now enjoy the riches of this edition, which also includes patristic evidence. Haelewyck follows the traditional Beuron practice of reconstructing Old Latin text-types, although here they are based on biblical codices rather than quotations in Christian writers. Indeed, four of the six Old Latin text-types represent individual manuscripts (K = VL 1, C = VL 2, D = VL 3, J = VL 4 by itself), while type I consists of the agreements of VL 4 with VL 8 and/or VL 17. The exception is A, made up of just four citations from Augustine. A minimalist approach has been taken to the patristic material, retaining only those citations which can confidently be distinguished from Synoptic parallels. However, given the harmonizations in various manuscripts (e.g. pp. 45, 53–6, 68, 71, 88, 94–7), it remains possible that a harmonized citation may derive from a genuine Old Latin text of Mark.