A new first century inscription to ponder on yom hakippurim:
בן הכהן הגדול
The following article has a fairly clear photo:
here
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Augustine's Text of John: Patristic Citations and Latin Gospel Manuscripts by Hugh Houghton
We are pleased to announce the recent publication of Hugh Houghton's monograph Augustine's Text of John: Patristic Citations and Latin Gospel Manuscripts by Oxford University Press.
The data, description and review below is from the OUP online catalogue(also order page):
Price: £50.00 (hardback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-954592-6
Publication date: 4 September 2008
336 pages, 216x138 mm
Series: Oxford Early Christian Studies
Description
What sort of Bible did Augustine have? How did he quote from it - and was he accurate? Do Augustine's biblical citations transmit readings not found in any surviving manuscripts? This book is part of a major project on the Old Latin versions of the Gospel according to John, and uses Augustine as a test-case to examine the importance of the evidence provided by the Church Fathers for the text of the Gospels. The early history of the Latin Bible is reconstructed from Augustine's comments in his treatise De doctrina christiana (On Christian teaching). Details are assembled from sermons, letters, and other writings to show how Augustine and his contemporaries used the Bible in the liturgy of the Church, public debates, and in composing their own works. Augustine's own methods of citing the Bible are analysed, and features are identified which are characteristic of citations produced from memory rather than read from a gospel codex. The second part of the book is a chronological survey of the biblical text in Augustine's works, showing how he switched from using the older versions of the Gospel to the revised text of Jerome, which later became known as the Vulgate. Finally, a verse by verse commentary is provided on all the significant readings in Augustine's text of John, assessing their significance for the history of the Latin Bible, and in some cases the Greek tradition as well. Details are also given of Augustine's exegesis of particular verses of the Gospel, making this an indispensable handbook for biblical scholars and church historians alike.
Review
"Houghton demonstrates to the twenty first century reader, accustomed to printed texts, copyright and immediate access to almost any text anywhere in the world, the impact which oral culture had upon Christian exegesis and use of Scripture. The first four chapters constitute a wonderfully lucid, step by step initiation into the discipline, art and practice of textual criticism, which enable the reader (whatever their previous knowledge or experience) to follow the author with enthusiasm and interest into the serious work of textual criticism which takes place in the remaining two-thirds of the book. The chapter on Augustine's exegesis deserves special mention: it is an outstanding treatment of a somewhat neglected area in Augustine studies." - Carol Harrison
The data, description and review below is from the OUP online catalogue(also order page):
Price: £50.00 (hardback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-954592-6
Publication date: 4 September 2008
336 pages, 216x138 mm
Series: Oxford Early Christian Studies
Description
What sort of Bible did Augustine have? How did he quote from it - and was he accurate? Do Augustine's biblical citations transmit readings not found in any surviving manuscripts? This book is part of a major project on the Old Latin versions of the Gospel according to John, and uses Augustine as a test-case to examine the importance of the evidence provided by the Church Fathers for the text of the Gospels. The early history of the Latin Bible is reconstructed from Augustine's comments in his treatise De doctrina christiana (On Christian teaching). Details are assembled from sermons, letters, and other writings to show how Augustine and his contemporaries used the Bible in the liturgy of the Church, public debates, and in composing their own works. Augustine's own methods of citing the Bible are analysed, and features are identified which are characteristic of citations produced from memory rather than read from a gospel codex. The second part of the book is a chronological survey of the biblical text in Augustine's works, showing how he switched from using the older versions of the Gospel to the revised text of Jerome, which later became known as the Vulgate. Finally, a verse by verse commentary is provided on all the significant readings in Augustine's text of John, assessing their significance for the history of the Latin Bible, and in some cases the Greek tradition as well. Details are also given of Augustine's exegesis of particular verses of the Gospel, making this an indispensable handbook for biblical scholars and church historians alike.
Review
"Houghton demonstrates to the twenty first century reader, accustomed to printed texts, copyright and immediate access to almost any text anywhere in the world, the impact which oral culture had upon Christian exegesis and use of Scripture. The first four chapters constitute a wonderfully lucid, step by step initiation into the discipline, art and practice of textual criticism, which enable the reader (whatever their previous knowledge or experience) to follow the author with enthusiasm and interest into the serious work of textual criticism which takes place in the remaining two-thirds of the book. The chapter on Augustine's exegesis deserves special mention: it is an outstanding treatment of a somewhat neglected area in Augustine studies." - Carol Harrison
Monday, October 06, 2008
Vetus Latina Iohannes Electronic Edition v. 1.3
Hugh Houghton of the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing (ITSEE)in Birmingham informs me that a new version (1.3) of the Vetus Latina Iohannes Electronic Edition has been uploaded. It includes four new witnesses, 22B, 32, 33 and 48. There have been a number of corrections in the transcriptions. Moreover, the manuscript description page now includes the dates of all the witnesses. Feedback is welcome.
Hugh has underlined that the electronic edition is still work in progress. There has been constant proofreading for the last year, and this phase is planned to be completed sometime in next year. ITSEE has recently appointed a new Research Fellow, and the institute is making very good progress towards a print edition.
I have been using the electronic edition during the last couple of days for a paper on the Periocope of the Adulteress for the upcoming SBL (on what Jesus wrote on the ground). One conclusion is that the PA is attested by most OL witnesses (extant in this part of John). I can only recommend this valuable resource.
Hugh has underlined that the electronic edition is still work in progress. There has been constant proofreading for the last year, and this phase is planned to be completed sometime in next year. ITSEE has recently appointed a new Research Fellow, and the institute is making very good progress towards a print edition.
I have been using the electronic edition during the last couple of days for a paper on the Periocope of the Adulteress for the upcoming SBL (on what Jesus wrote on the ground). One conclusion is that the PA is attested by most OL witnesses (extant in this part of John). I can only recommend this valuable resource.
The Oldest Bible in the News!
The BBC has an article on Codex Sinaiticus here.
What can we say about this article? It took me till the seventh paragraph before I found a paragraph without a factual mistake (oops Roger Bolton, this is even for sensationalist journalism rather poor).
1. Codex Sinaiticus is not the world oldest (Christian) Bible.
2. It did not lay undisturbed in a monastery. It was disturbed over the centuries given the corrections from the 7th/8th century, the mediaeval Arabic notes, and the fact that the manuscript had been split up sometime before the end of the 18th century. When the manuscript arrived in the monastery no-one knows.
The year 1844 is correct, at least for a part of the manuscript. Other parts were 'discovered' in the years 1845-50 (Uspenski), 1853, 1859 (both Tischendorf), early 20th century (Beneshevich), 1975 (the opening of blocked off room).
3. Ok, no factual mistake in this paragraph, I was too quick with my judgment above, penitentiam agite.
Well, I hope there will be no mistake.
I very much hope, because it would be great if by next July the whole codex is on-line including all the recent bits found at Mt Sinai.
4. Will there be uncomfortable questions to answer? Will there be anything 'new' in the on-line publication that was not known for the past 140 years? Come off it. I'm glad the codex comes on-line, but there is very little about the text of this codex that was not known before (the text of the 1975 fragments comes from the Greek Old Testament and from the last book added to the New Testament, the Shepherd). And let's face it, the Christian church has known about and studied and written on the differences between Bible manuscripts since the second century!
5. "Crucial verses about the Resurrection are missing." I have read the New Testament a couple of times, and I may be one of the few people who can say that I have read the New Testament text of this codex more than once. I found the resurrection narrative complete in Matthew's gospel: the text of Codex Sinaiticus does not miss out on verses telling about the resurrection. Neither is the resurrection in Luke missing, and the story is all there in the gospel according to John. I have not counted all the times that the resurrection is mentioned in any of the other books of the New Testament, but most of these verses are all there. Makes me wonder what Roger Bolton is referring to (as there are so many references to the resurrection it is difficult to single some out as 'crucial'). Perhaps he is thinking about the last verses of Mark, where the AV has an account of the resurrection in Mark 16:9-20, but which is not present in many modern Bible translations (as it is suspected by many to be a later addition to this particular gospel). I don't think any user of a modern Bible translation has felt the need to answer the so-called uncomfortable question of why these 'crucial' verses on the resurrection are not there as the resurrection is everywhere in the New Testament.
6. Constantin Tischendorf (the German who took part of the Old Testament to
The codex was indeed made in the 4th century, yet the monastery was built in the 6th century. Unlikely - let's call it impossible - that the codex was hidden in it since the 4th century.
Yet I haven't lost faith because of this article: I still believe that there are people at the BBC who know what they are writing about (clearly, the desperate call of someone who duly pays his licence fee). I wouldn't expect that either Bart or David are particularly impressed with this article. Having said this, bad publicity is often better than no publicity: keep manuscripts in the news!
I am not going to continue with the numerous other errors, misconstruals, and straw-men in the BBC article; after all, this is a serious blog.
Northern Scholars Lecture in Edinburgh
Recently I was nominated by Prof. Larry Hurtado, Head of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, for a Northern Scholars scholarship. The nomination was met with approval by the Northern Scholars Committee.
Thus, on March 9, 2009 I will give a "Northern Scholars lecture" in Edinburgh (the date on this page is wrong).
The topic will be:
"The New Testament in the "Original" Greek: Westcott and Hort Revisited"
On the same day I will also deliver a paper in the research seminar.
The last (and first) time I was in Edinburgh was at the SBL International Meeting 2006, and that was a very nice experience. I remember there was a very fine exhibition of old Bible editions just outside Larry Hurtado's office. The door to the office was so huge that Goliath could have entered without having to bend his head.
Thus, on March 9, 2009 I will give a "Northern Scholars lecture" in Edinburgh (the date on this page is wrong).
The topic will be:
"The New Testament in the "Original" Greek: Westcott and Hort Revisited"
On the same day I will also deliver a paper in the research seminar.
The last (and first) time I was in Edinburgh was at the SBL International Meeting 2006, and that was a very nice experience. I remember there was a very fine exhibition of old Bible editions just outside Larry Hurtado's office. The door to the office was so huge that Goliath could have entered without having to bend his head.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
TC Notes at CSNTM
Latest news from CSNTM tells us of a new feature of the website — “TC Notes.” In this section textual scholars are offered some more specific data on manuscripts. The first TC note is about a manuscript presumed to be missing from the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge, Greg.-Aland 1281. It has now been located again during the CSNTM-team's recent visit to Cambridge.
Update: The original TC Note on Greg.-Aland 1281 has been corrected as the result of some corrections in the comment section on this blog, e.g., the MS in question was never presumed to be lost, but there was incertainty about the shelf number (TW).
Update: The original TC Note on Greg.-Aland 1281 has been corrected as the result of some corrections in the comment section on this blog, e.g., the MS in question was never presumed to be lost, but there was incertainty about the shelf number (TW).
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