Our Beans: June 2018

Monday, June 25, 2018

Later Canon Lists (Latin): Rabanus Maurus

By "later" in the title of this post, I mean later than the fourth century. As for canon lists in the fourth century and earlier, I have dealt with them before. Perhaps "later canon lists" will turn into a series of posts. We'll see. But as for this post, I'm presenting the canon list of Rabanus Maurus, the ninth-century monk who became the archbishop of Mainz.

The canon list of Rabanus appears in his work De clericorum institutione, which is "an instructional manual for clerics to ensure they would have a proper foundation for the studies that would enable them to fulfill their ecclesiastical duties" (Levy, p. 59).

There is a recent edition of De clericorum instituione, with a German translation, edited by Detlev Zimpel. I have been able to access the Latin text of this edition through the Library of Latin Texts (Brepols), but I don't have the printed books, so I don't have access to the German translation or any notes included. Of course, there is also Migne's text (PL 107), which is very close to Zimpel's text. The canon list appears in book 2, chapter 53, corresponding to Migne's columns 364–65.

Here's the Latin. By the way, the entire first paragraph is ripped straight out of Isidore, De ecclesiasticis officiis 1.11.1–3.

Chapter 53, De libris duorum Testamentorum
Pronuntiantur autem lectiones in Christi ecclesiis de Scripturis sanctis. Constat autem eadem sacra Scriptura ex veteri lege et nova. Vetus lex illa est, quae data est primum Iudaeis per Moysen et prophetas, quae dicitur Vetus Testamentum. Testamentum autem dicitur, quia idoneis testibus, utique a prophetis scriptum est atque signatum. Nova vero lex Evangelium est, quod dicitur Novum Testamentum, quod per ipsum Filium Dei Christum et per suos apostolos dedit. Illa lex vetus velut radix est, haec nova velut fructus ex radice. Ex lege enim venitur ad Evangelium. Siquidem Christus, qui hic manifestatus est, ante in lege praedictus est, immo ipse locutus in prophetis, sicut scriptum est: 'Qui loquebar, ecce adsum', legem praemittens velut infantibus paedagogum, Evangelium vero perfectum vitae magisterium iam adultis omnibus praestans. Ideo in illa operantibus bona terrae promittebantur, hic vero sub gratia ex fide viventibus regnum caeleste tribuitur. Evangelium autem dicitur bonum nuntium, et re vera bonum nuntium, ut qui susceperint filii Dei vocentur.

Hi sunt ergo libri Veteris Testamenti, quos ob amorem doctrinae et pietatis legendos recipiendosque Ecclesiarum principes tradiderunt. Primi namque legis, id est Moysi, libri quinque sunt: Genesis, Exodi, Levitici, Numeri, Deuteronomium. Hos secuntur historici libri sedecim, Iesu Nave scilicet et Iudicum libri singuli, sive Ruth, Regum etiam libri quatuor, Paralipomenon duo, Tobii quoque et Hesther et Iudith singuli, Aezrae duo et duo Machabaeorum. Super hos prophetici libri sedecim sunt: Isaias, Hieremias, Ezechiel et Daniel libri singuli, Duodecim quoque prophetarum libri singuli; et haec quidem prophetica sunt. Post haec versuum octo libri habentur, qui diverso apud Hebraeos metro scribuntur, id est: Job liber, et liber Psalmorum et Proverbiorum et Ecclesiastes et Cantica canticorum sive Sapientia et Ecclesiasticus, Lamentationesque Hieremiae. Sic quoque complentur libri Veteris Testamenti quadraginta quinque.

Novi autem Testamenti primum quatuor Evangelia sunt, Matthaei, Marci, Lucae, Iohannis. Hos quattuordecim Pauli apostoli epistolae sequuntur, quibus etiam subiunctae sunt septem catholicae epistolae: Iacobi, Petri, Iohannis et Iudae; Actus quoque duodecim Apostolorum, quorum omnium signaculum est Apocalypsis Iohannis, quod est revelatio Iesu Christi, qui omnes libros et tempore concludit et ordine. Hi sunt libri canonici septuaginta duo, et ob hoc Moyses septuaginta elegit presbiteros qui prophetarent; ob hoc et Iesus, Dominus noster, septuaginta duos discipulos praedicare mandavit. Et quoniam septuaginta duae linguae in hoc mundo erant diffusae, congrue providit Spiritus sanctus, ut tot libri essent, quot nationes, quibus populi et gentes ad perficiendam fidei gratiam aedifcarentur.

And here's an English translation.

And lections from the holy Scriptures are read in the churches of Christ. And the same sacred Scripture consists of the old law and the new. The old law is what was given first to the Jews through Moses and the prophets, which is called the Old Testament. Now it is called a Testament because it was written and sealed by suitable witnesses (testes), indeed by the prophets. But the new law is the Gospel, which is called the New Testament, which he gave through the Son of God himself, the Christ, and his apostles. That old law is like a root, this new one is like fruit from the root. For from the law one goes on to the Gospel. Now Christ, who has been manifested here, previously in the law he was predicted. Actually he spoke in the prophets, as it is written: "I who was speaking, here I am (Isa 52:6), sending the law beforehand like a pedagogue for children, but now supplying to all adults the Gospel, the perfect instruction for life." Therefore, in that one [= the Law], the good things of the earth were promised to those who worked, but here to those living under grace from faith a heavenly kingdom is offered. But the Gospel is called good news, and it really is good news, so that those who accept it are called sons of God.

So then these are the books of the Old Testament, which the leaders of the churches have handed down to be read and received on account of the love of doctrine and of piety. The first are five books of law, that is, of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Sixteen historical books follow these: Jesus Nave and Judges, single books, and Ruth, and four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, Tobit and Esther and Judith, single books, two of Ezra and two of the Maccabees. Beyond these there are sixteen prophetic books: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, single books, and also single books of the Twelve prophets, and these are prophetic. After these, there are eight books of verses, which are written among the Hebrews in a different meter, that is: the book of Job, and the book of Psalms and of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and Songs of Songs as well as Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Thus are completed the 45 books of the Old Testament.

Now of the New Testament, first are the four gospels, of Matthew, of Mark, of Luke, of John. Following these are the 14 epistles of Paul the apostle, to which also have been join seven catholic epistles: of James, of Peter, of John, and of Jude; and the Acts of the Twelve Apostles, and the seal of all of these is the Apocalypse of John, which is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, who concludes all the books in both time and order. These are the 72 canonical books, and for this reason Moses selected seventy elders who would prophesy [Num 11:25]; on account of this also Jesus, our Lord, commanded 72 disciples to preach [Luke 10:1]. And because 72 languages have been scattered in this world, the Holy spirit suitably provides that there are so many books as nations by which peoples and Gentiles might be edified for the grace of faith to be accomplished.

Notes:

The NT canon = the usual list of 27 books, first attested by Athanasius, Epistle 39. No surprises.

The OT canon = the Jewish canon + Tobit, Judith, 1–2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach). And the books of Daniel and Esther no doubt include the deuterocanonical additions.

There is no mention of Baruch, which is the other deuterocanonical book accepted at the Roman Catholic Council of Trent. During Rabanus' days, Jerome's translation of Jeremiah was becoming dominant, so it is possible—I would say likely—that Rabanus read an edition of Jeremiah without Baruch. Of course, the edition of Theodulf did include Baruch, but the edition of Alcuin did not. On these editions, see here, and for much more on Baruch in Latin Bibles, start here. In this regard, it is interesting that Rabanus separates Lamentations from Jeremiah, putting it in the poetry section rather than the prophets section.

Rabanus says there are 45 OT books. Roman Catholics today count 46, but if you take away Baruch, you get the 45 of Rabanus. Augustine had counted 44 books, but he didn't name Lamentations, no doubt because he considered it a part of the book of Jeremiah. (Augustine probably also considered Baruch a part of Jeremiah.)

The next chapter (2.54) covers the authorship of the canonical books, and contains several interesting comments.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Theodulf Bibles

Theodulf (760–821 CE; see Ann Freeman's article) became bishop of Orléans (75 miles south of Paris) in 797/8. He wrote in many genres: poems, letters, theological and liturgical treatises. Charlemagne died in 814, and his son, Louis the Pious, accused Theodulf of political intrigue, which led to Theodulf's resigning his see in 817. He died in 821 and was buried in Angers (125 miles west of Orléans), where he had spent most of his last years. Apparently, his principal work was the unattributed Libri Carolini, a polemical response to the Second Council of Nicaea (787). This work, written for Charlemagne, concentrated on criticizing the supposed position taken at Nicaea in regard to icons. According to Wikipedia:

The work appears to have been very largely a polemic based on a misunderstanding of the actual position taken by the Byzantine church, which was quietly archived when this was realized, probably in Rome.

(For more on the Libri Carolini, see this other article by Ann Freeman.)

Theodulf's revision was not the first during the reign of Charlemagne (see this article).

There were also:
--Maurdramnus, abbot of Corbie (772–781). Five of twelve volumes survive at Amiens (90 miles north of Paris; BM Amiens, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12). This is the first known example of the caroline minuscule.
--Angilram, bishop of Metz (d. 791), who produced a single-volume Bible, a single manuscript preserved at Metz (200 miles east of Paris; Bibliothèque Municipale 7), but destroyed in 1944.

--Alcuin of York (c. 735–804), abbot at Tours (796–804), who produced the edition that became the most popular. Tours is 75 miles southwest of Orléans. There survive 18 complete and 28 incomplete pandects from the scriptorium at Tours, copied in the first half of the ninth century. The earliest of these is: St Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, 75 (images). Another important one is the Bible of Moutier-Grandval, London, Add. 10546 (see here). Alcuin's revision concentrated on issues of Latin grammar and style.

Theodulf wanted to attain the original translation from Jerome, the hebraica veritas. Theodulf himself knew neither Hebrew nor Greek, but he had a good knowledge of the Latin manuscript tradition, and chose variants among the manuscripts. Variant readings he sometimes recorded in the margin. He continued this work of revision for the rest of his life. This is why the six preserved Theodulf Bibles each contains a different state of the revision. This fact also helps to establish relative dates for the six Bibles.

"Theodulf's text was continuously revised during his lifetime, and was conceived as an accessible reference work, and so he chose a very small, three column 61-line format, with quires of five leaves" (Ganz, p. 53).

Each of Theodulf's six Bibles (except for the Le Puy Bible) is available in online digital images; references given below.

In chronological order:

Stuttgart, Württemburgische Landesbibliothek HB II, 16, deriving from the Konstanz Cathedral. This Bible lacks Gen 1:1–Lev 23:32; Josh 2:11–7:23; Baruch 6; Lamentations; Job; Psa 1:1–144:21; 2 Par 32:26–35:20; Sir 31:33–37:17; 1 Mac 1:27–3:56; 2 Mac 15:30–end. In the NT, all that remain are Paul's letters (including Hebrews), the letter of James, and 1 Pet 1:1–4:3. Digital images here.
Saint-Hubert Bible (abbey of Saint-Hubert), now in London, British Library Add. 24 142. Lacks: Gen 1:1–49:6; most of the Minor Prophets (Hos 6:8–Mal); 1 Pet 4:3–end of the NT (which would include Acts and Rev). Digital images here.
Le Puy Bible, Trésor de la Cathedral (at the Le Puy Cathedral).
Orléans Bible (Paris, BnF, lat. 9380) = Codex Mesmianus, because it was at one point acquired by the family of Mesmes. Digital images here. This Bible has variants from Alcuin.
Saint-Germain Bible (Abbey of Saint-Germain-de-Prés), now Paris, BnF, lat. 11 937. This manuscript is preserved only from Gen 18:20–Psa 92:5. The evidence for marginal readings attributed to the Hebrew Bible in this manuscript has made it the object of study by Graves (231–41) and Candiard and Chevalier Royet. "It seems that the purpose of these Hebrew scholia was to indicate to the Latin reader what the Hebrew contained according to the strictest and most literal understanding. They were presumably meant as a study tool for the reader interested in Hebrew" (Graves 231–32). Graves' comprehensive study of the Hebrew marginal notes in 1 Samuel is based on the apparatus in the Roman Vulgate (232n48). Digital images here. Jerome's prologue to Samuel begins on what is labeled on the manuscript as fol. 62, but the digital image is given the number 72. The text of Samuel begins at image 73, the right inside column. According to Candiard and Chevalier-Royet (21 with n30), in these last two manuscripts Theodulf is no longer chiefly concerned with comparing Latin manuscripts: the marginal glosses (numbering around 2000 in the Saint-Germain manuscript) are almost always preceded by an 'h', signaling a reading based on the Hebrew text, whereas there are only a few notes preceded by 'al' (= alii), signaling a reading derived from another Latin witness.
Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek NKS1, previously at the Carcassonne Cathedral. This Bible exists in fragments: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Dan 1:1–6:5. This Bible also presents abundant marginal notes offering comparisons with the Hebrew Bible. Digital images here.

(See also another fragment here.)

The first four Bibles were produced around 800, the fifth and sixth one later on. Only the Le Puy and Orléans Bibles are complete. At least three other Theodulf Bibles are known to have once existed.

Theodulf began his work on the biblical text only after he became bishop, and his work was interrupted by his deposition.

The Theodulf Bibles were much more scholarly than Alcuin's with their marginal notes and concern for the Hebrew text, but they were also harder to use and presented no unified text. Alcuin's more straightforward and more magnificent volumes predominated, aided by the rapid production rate at Tours (about 2 Bibles per year for the first half of the ninth century).

Friday, June 8, 2018

Gabler on Theology: Bibliography

The German theologian Johann Philipp Gabler (1753–1826) is often given credit for distinguishing biblical theology from systematic theology, which he did in his inaugural lecture as professor at the University of Altdorf. This university was founded in 1578 in Altdorf bei Nürnberg (i.e., near—15 miles east of—Nuremberg). It's a small town, current population around 15,000. The university closed in 1809.

According to Wikipedia:

Gabler is widely considered to be the father of modern biblical theology because of his 1787 inaugural address at University of Altdorf: On the Correct Distinction Between Dogmatic and Biblical Theology and the Right Definition of Their Goals [citing Köstenberger]. Gabler sharply distinguished between biblical and dogmatic theology. For him, biblical theology was simply historical investigation into the beliefs of the biblical authors as they stand in the text. It is purely descriptive and uninfluenced by the viewpoints of modern thinkers. On the other hand, dogmatic theology is a systematized construction, built on the foundation of biblical theology and contextualized — applied to the context or era in which it is to be proclaimed.

Of course, the address was delivered and published originally in Latin, and the Latin title is De justo discrimine theologiae biblicae et dogmaticae regundisque recte utriusque finibus (Altdorf bei Nürnberg: Monath, 1787). The original publication is available here. (On the Roman numerals used in the date notation, see Wikipedia.)

An English translation and commentary was produced by theologian John Sandys-Wunsch and the medievalist Laurence Eldredge: “J. P. Gabler and the Distinction between Biblical and Dogmatic Theology: Translation, Commentary and Discussion of his Originality,” Scottish Journal of Theology 33 (1980): 133–58. The full text of their article is not available freely online, but the brief introduction and the entire translation has been made available here.

This translation is not based on the original publication, which was unavailable to Sandys-Wunsch and Eldredge, but rather on the reprint in Gabler’s (posthumously published) collected works (vol. 2, pp. 179–98, here).

According to Sandys-Wunsch and Eldredge (149n2), Gabler was recognized as the patriarch of biblical theology first by D. C. G. Cölln, Biblische Theologie, 2 vols. (Leipzig: Barth, 1836), 1.22–23 (here), and the first biblical theology to mention Gabler’s inaugural address was W. M. L. de Wette, Lehrbuch der christlichen Dogmatik I: Biblische Dogmatik Alten und Neuen Testaments (Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung, 1813), available here, p. 30 (point c).

Monday, June 4, 2018

Naḥal Ḥever Minor Prophets Scroll: Digital Images

Digital images of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever are available at the Leon Levy DSS Digital Library website here, but (as with all the digital images there) they can be a little hard to navigate because there's no index. Each image does contain a plate number that corresponds—not to the plate numbers of the DJD edition, but—to the inventory number of the Palestine Archaeological Museum, which are noted in parentheses on the plates of the DJD edition. These numbers were a help in matching the digital image to the corresponding DJD plates.

I have been able to find in the digital images every piece of the scroll represented on the plates in the DJD edition, except for fragments 1–5 of the Additional Fragments on Plate XX, though I didn't expend much energy searching for these additional fragments. I have gone through all 111 images available at the website, though I ignored some small pieces in the images that I couldn't readily identify in the DJD plates.

The following index is arranged according to the plates in the DJD edition (vol. 8, ed. E. Tov, 1990). I am not sure why there are so many high quality images available online for certain fragments and not for others. Personally, I would much appreciate better images for column 2.

Plate 1: col. 2–4 (B&W)

Plate 2: Col. 2, Jonah 1:14–2:7