Greek Vorlage Research Articles

Future Constructions in the Medieval South Slavonic Translations of Vita Antonii Magni

This paper aims at systemising the observations on the constructions used for expressing Future tense in the three known Old Slavonic translations of Vita Antonii Magni by Athansius Alexandrinus. The text was first translated in the early Old Church Slavonic period, while two other (Middle Bulgarian) translations were written in ca. 14th century. This makes the text suitable for observing the different strategies for expressing Future tense, both regarding the translation technique and its dynamics on a synchronic level, i.e., vis-à-vis other translations from the period, and from a diachronic perspective, i.e., paying closer attention to the discrepancies between the three translations themselves. The paper focuses on the Future periphrastic constructions used in the three Slavonic translations of the Life of St Anthony the Great by Athanasius of Alexandria. The approach is based on the relation with the Greek Vorlage, thus analysing closely the situation attested in the Greek original. Observations are made regarding the usage of the periphrases in the Slavonic texts adducing comparative material for similar phenomena from other early (Preslavian) and Middle Bulgarian texts. Some examples provided, as well as those from other texts, might suggest that the Old Church Slavonic periphrases were used not only to express Future tense per se, but for every non-Indicative (or non-factual) Present.

Vetus Latina: Die Reste Der Altlateinischen Bibel, 11/2: Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Pars Altera, Fascicle 2: Sir 28,25–33,26. Edited by Anthony J. Forte

This is the second instalment of Professor Forte’s continuation of the late Walter Thiele’s edition of the Old Latin versions of Sirach. It appears seven years after the previous fascicle (reviewed in JTS, ns 66 [2015], pp. 735–6) and, in keeping with the practice of the series, continues without a break. For details of the manuscripts and editorial principles, one has to refer to Thiele’s initial fascicles from 1987–9. The Vulgate is the only text-type present throughout (V), and in many verses is the sole extant Latin version. However, apart from the two verses in these chapters where an early African text can be reconstructed from the writings of Cyprian (text-type K; Sir. 28:28, 29:15), the Vulgate represents the oldest Latin tradition. Because of the very close correspondence between text-types K and V, the extensive testimonia from the early fifth-century Liber de diuinis scripturis are assigned to a later text-type (D), and variant readings in Ambrose (text-type M; esp. Sir. 31:38) and Augustine (text-type A) are also deemed subsequent to the Vulgate. It is notable that there are numerous places where the Latin diverges from the Septuagint, sometimes with no apparent Greek Vorlage (e.g. Sir. 28:30 b, 29:23, 31:34, 31:37–8, 32:9, 33:9 b). There are a few additional verses, also without Greek parallels, which are not part of mainstream Vulgate tradition (e.g. Sir. 29:16–17). Differences between the verse numbering in the Septuagint (for which Forte follows Ziegler rather than Rahlfs, as can be seen in Sir. 31 [34 LXX]) and the Vulgate are clearly indicated in the relevant lines of text.

Overt subject pronoun in Gothic vs null subject in Greek

Abstract The Gothic translation of the Bible is a word-for-word rendition of a lost Greek Vorlage (reconstructed by W. Streitberg in 1908; 2nd revised edition in 1919). As previous studies have pointed out, one of the most interesting features of this version is the presence of the overt subject pronoun in instances where there is a null subject in Greek. Considering that Gothic is a null subject language, how is it possible to justify this feature? Based on a new collation that uses biblical textual witnesses not considered by Streitberg (i.e. Greek majuscule and minuscule manuscripts, Church Fathers, commentaries, lectionaries, and Vetus Latina manuscripts), this paper analyses the Gothic-Greek divergences involving the presence of the overt subject pronoun in the Gospel of John, in order to verify previous hypotheses and shed new light on this debated topic.

A Macedonian in the Persian Court: Addition E of Esther and the Vetus Latina

Abstract This paper proposes that the identification of Haman as Macedonian can best be explained as originating in the Greek Vorlage to the Vetus Latina. It has been previously suggested, although it is a matter of controversy, that the non-canonical sections of Esther derive from the Greek Vorlage to the Vetus Latina. This article offers additional evidence in favour of this proposal.

고트어의 헬라어 인명(人名) 처리 방법에 대한 소고 - 바울 서신을 중심으로

This article examines how the Gothic New Testament translated the personal names of the Greek New Testament(a Greek Vorlage). Having analysed all personal names in Paul’s letters, I show the following facts to be some characteristics of the Gothic translation of Greek proper names. First, in terms of gender, the Gothic translation followed gender of Greek names, which might have been attributed to the gender-distinction in personal names. Second, in terms of declension, the Gothic word-forms did not always correspond to Greek. Although both Greek and Gothic have five categories of declension, i.e., the 1st, 2nd and 3rd declensions, irregular declensions and non-declensions, the Gothic manner of treating declensions of Greek personal names was independent from Greek. This indicates that Gothic maintained its own system of declension in translating Greek personal names. Finally, in terms of pronunciation and orthography, Gothic translation was almost faithful to Greek pronunciation. However, several personal names show a clear difference between Greek and Gothic, for example, Lwij< Laudijai and Silouanoj, Silbanus. Lwij< may be transliterated into Lauis, and Silouanoj, into Siluanos. But Gothic simply did not stick to Greek pronunciation. Instead, such forms, i.e., Loide and Silvanus, are found in Latin translation(the Vulgata) even if there are some differences. This reveals that Gothic translation of Greek personal names was never a blind imitation, but a considerate translation for the receptor language.

“If Man Had Received Such a Nature…” Textual Form, Transmission, and Interpretation of a Passage in Eznik’s Refutation of the Sects (Book I, 11 [§ 45

After providing some background on Eznik’s views on the origin of evil and free will as they are argued for in his treatise Refutation of the Sects, the article reviews the history of the interpretation of a passage in this work (Eznik, I, 11 [§ 45]), giving a critical assessment of the suggested emendations so far, and proposing two hypothetical readings, based on a comparison of the Armenian text with its supposed Greek Vorlage, the text’s transmission history, and internal contextual analysis.

The Old Latin book of Esther: An English translation

In recent decades, a lively debate on the Hebrew and Greek versions of Esther story has developed, focusing on their text-historical and theological relationship. The discussion is enriched further by taking into account the Old Latin Esther, fully edited some 10 years ago by Jean-Claude Haelewyck as part of the Beuron Vetus Latina series. The extant Latin text likely dates back to 330–50 CE and represents an older, now-lost Greek Vorlage. Its numerous peculiarities substantially widen our understanding of ancient Esther traditions. The English translation presented here aims to elicit a broader interest in the Old Latin Esther and to facilitate a fresh discussion of its significance.

GREEK LOAN-WORDS IN THE VULGATE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE LATIN APOSTOLIC FATHERS

Early Latin Christian documents translated from Greek (e.g., Latin translations of the Greek New Testament) contain a large number of Greek loan-words. This article attempts to collect and catalogue the Greek loan-words found in the Vulgate New Testament and the early Latin versions of the Apostolic Fathers. In this literature I have identified some 420 loan-words. The purpose of this article is to systematically categorize, analyze, and comment on these loan-words. In the main section of the article the loan-words are divided into discrete content groups based on their origin and/or meaning. These groups include: (1.) words that originated in Hebrew or Aramaic Vorlagen and that were then transliterated into Greek and then Latin; (2.) words with biblical or ecclesiological orientation that are found exclusively or predominantly in early Christian Latin writings; (3.) words that fall into distinct categories of items, persons or places (e.g., “animals,” “items of clothing,” “gems and minerals,” “human occupations”); and (4.) words of a general character that do not fit in any of the above categories. In this section of the article are listed, for each loan-word: first, the Latin word; second, the Greek Vorlage; third, the meaning(s) of the Latin word; and fourth, one example of a passage in the Vulgate New Testament or the Latin Apostolic Fathers in which the Latin word may be found. Loan-words with special characteristics (e.g., Latin hapax legomena) are commented on individually.

The Theological Character of the Old Latin Version of Esther

The Old Latin version of Esther is witness to a lost Greek Vorlage. It differs significantly from other ancient (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic) Esther stories as it includes, for instance, a prayer of the Jewish community as well as several additional cases of divine intervention; it also omits any mention of the ‘massacre episode’. Previous research on the Old Latin Esther has largely focused on text-historical questions. This article intends to broaden the discussion by examining the theological character of the text. A close comparison with the extant Hebrew and Greek Esther versions reveals that the Old Latin emphasizes the importance of the Jewish community and presents Mordecai as its prototypical leader in both religious and political matters. In addition, the Vetus Latina emphasizes the crucial role of divine action, induced by acts of religious observance and petitionary prayer.

Dos fragmentos en arameo cristiano-palestinense del libro del Génesis procedentes de la Mezquita de los Omeyas de Damasco

En este artículo analizamos dos fragmentos que contienen los textos de Gn 19,1-5 y Gn 19,7-10. Se trata de dos traducciones realizadas en dialecto arameo cristiano palestinense a partir de un texto griego perteneciente a la versión de la Septuaginta. Sin embargo, como tratamos de demostrar los traductores de estas versiones hubieron de utilizar más textos junto con su Vorlage griega con los que revisaron la traducción destinada a la población del medio rural entre los que desarrollaban su labor pastoral los monjes que utilizaron esta versión.

Bravlin—Brave or Humble?

The paper focuses on the name of the barbarian warlord that appears in the Slavic and (recently discovered) Armenian versions of the Life of St. Stephen of Sougdaia as Бравлинъ and Պրաւլիս /Praulis/, respectively. These forms seem to point to Πραῦλις or Μπραῦλις in the lost Greek Vorlage. None of the previous attempts at constructing an etymology of the name—Slavic бран(ъ)ливъ (Russian copies of the Life), Swedish Bråvalla (G. Vernadsky, N. Belyaev, and O. Pritsak), Indo-Aryan *pravlīn(а)- (O. Trubachev), Spanish Braulio (V. Vasilievsky), or Gothic *Bra(h)vila (N. Ganina)—may be considered satisfactory. Having revisited the historical and linguistic arguments, we suggest that the name given to the barbarian prince humbled by the miracle of St. Stephen in the Greek text of the Life represented, in fact, good Greek: Πραΰλιος or Πραῦλις (from πραΰς ‘mild, humble’); furthermore, we suggest that the positional voicing of Π- &gt; Μπ- [b] in Late Middle Greek might account for the initial Б-/Պ- (West Armenian [b]) of the attested forms.

The Paradigmatic Translator and His Method: Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq’s Translation of the Hippocratic Aphorisms from Greek via Syriac into Arabic

The present article deals with the role of the Syriac intermediary within Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq’s working process. In its first part I aim to show that the Syriac translation of the Hippocratic Aphorisms (ed. Pognon) was produced by Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq. Since this is the first Syriac translation of an ancient medical text which can be definitely ascribed to Ḥunayn, we are now in a better position to understand his working method. In its second part I compare therefore samples of his Syriac translaton with the Greek Vorlage on the one hand and his Arabic version of this Hippocratic text on the other.

Die älteste lateinische Übersetzung des Buches Esdras A—eine neue Entdeckung

The Old Latin translation of the Greek Book of Esdras A has come down to us through two major versions. The older version was incorporated into the Vulgate. However, it is obvious that this version, which represents the standard text since the Middle Ages, does not offer an exact representation of the Greek Vorlage and is in many places in the text corrupt. In the process of editing the Old Latin texts of Esdras A, a text could be identified in a Spanish manuscript. This text is clearly distinct from the standard text and in most places it does not transmit the defective elements in the text that has come down to us. The objective of this paper is to describe the characteristics of this text and to point out the fact that this version of the text is older than that of the Vulgate.

A Note on 5 Ezra 1:11 and 2:8-9

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) 5 (2 Esdras 1-2) is a short, early Christian supersessionist tract that probably dates from the late second or third century. Pseudepigraphically ascribed the of (1:4), it depicts Ezra as a prophet who denounces Israel for its sins during the exodus, predicts the advent of a new, more righteous people of God, and describes the eschatological delights be enjoyed by this people. The book closes with Ezra's vision on Mount Zion of the son of handing out crowns and palms a surrounding multitude. The text of 5 survives only in Latin, probably the book's original language. It is possible, however, that the Latin text depends on a Greek Vorlage. The Latin text manifests two distinct recensions, traditionally labeled the Spanish and the French. Although most modern translations (including the NRSV) are based on the French recension, the Spanish text is clearly superior (i.e., the more original), and it is this latter text that is used in this study.1 A close reading of 5 suggests that the author was an accomplished litterateur. One of his main concerns is lay out in narrative form a clear contrast between the (Jewish) and (Christian) covenants with God. This manifests itself in 5 as a distinction between the people and people of God (see esp. ch. 1); the Scripture (Jewish Scriptures) and Scripture (New Testament) (passim; see esp. 1:25-34); the of the people (Jerusalem) and the of the people (the Christian church) (see 2:1- 32); and the mountain of the covenant (Sinai) and the mountain of the covenant (Zion) (see 2:33-48).2 Besides displaying literary acumen, the author of 5 exhibits a certain literary inventiveness or agility, almost a literary sense of humor. This quality is often manifested most strongly in pericopae that seem at first sight be especially difficult interpret. One such pericope lies in the first verse of 5 Ezra, 1:4, which labels as son of Chusi. Anyone familiar with biblical genealogy, as the author of 5 almost certainly was, knows that the famous in the Jewish was the son of Seraiah (Ezra 7:1; 1 Esdr 8:1). Chusi is the father of the biblical prophet Zephaniah (Zeph 1:1). However, the author of 5 Ezra, apparently aware that the biblical lacked any credentials for the prophetic role in which he was about be cast in 5 Ezra, supplied these credentials by whimsically providing with the paternity of a genuine biblical prophet. This move may have been intended also alert the reader that not everything in this book was be taken entirely seriously (compare Jdt 1:1!). For indeed, as 5 progresses, its eponymous hero is cast in the equally unlikely roles of mother Jerusalem (1:38; cf. Bar 4:36-37; 5:5), Moses (2:33), and an inspired apocalyptic seer (2:42-48). The most dramatic examples of the author's literary inventiveness, however, come in 5 1:11 and 2:8-9, two of the most intractable passages in the book. 5 1:11 reads as follows: Didn't I [God] [everti] the town of because of you [the Israelites], and the south burn two cities, Tyre and Sidon, with fire, and kill those who hated you?3 This verse clearly alludes the passage Matt 11:21-24//Luke 10:12-15. The problem for the interpreter of 5 Ezra, however, is that 5 1:11 is placed squarely in the context of mighty acts performed by God for the Israelites during the exodus! Our initial reaction is read 1:11 as a whimsical attempt by 5 Ezra's author introduce a passage from the new Scriptures into an old scriptural context. However, closer inspection reveals the situation be more complex. The NT passages in question read not overthrow Bethsaida but Woe you, Bethsaida, and the threatened punishment (applied in NT Capernaum) is not to the south burn . …

HEBRAISMS IN THE OLD LATIN VERSION OF THE BIBLE

AbstractRecent work on the Old Latin version of the Bible attributes Hebraisms to a hebraized Greek Vorlage. The results of this work question previous claims that the Hebraisms of the Old Latin derive from Jewish attempts to revise the Old Latin towards the Hebrew directly through Hebrew texts and Jewish exegetical traditions. This study reconsiders the evidence in favor of Hebraizations of the Old Latin from a Hebrew source and concludes that: 1. There was no translation of the Bible directly from the Hebrew into Latin prior to Jerome. 2. There was no editorial reworking of the Old Latin directly from the Hebrew. 3. Hebraisms in the Old Latin must be attributed to the Greek tradition or Jerome and his influence. 4. Since Jerome's time, interest in the Hebrew text behind the Latin also accounts for the Hebraisms found in the Old Latin. 5. Jewish communities utilized a Latin Bible borrowed from Christians after Jerome.

« Interpretation and Reconstruction: Retroverting the Apocalypse of Abraham »

This work is an attempt to apply retroversion to the Jewish pseudepigraphon preserved in Slavonic, in order to solve its problems of interpretation. It makes the first contribution to the systematic accumulation of such interpretation solutions and thus paves the way to a developed general methodology of retroversion of Slavonic pseudepigrapha. The writing chosen for this study is the Apocalypse of Abraham, an extremely obscure text whose meaning can be explained only on the level of its Greek Vorlage and even its Hebrew/Aramaic original. After retroversion, some fragments receive totally new meanings.