Septuaginta and Peshitta Jacob of Edessa quoting the Old Testament in Ms BL Add 17134
Andreas Juckel
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
2005
Vol. 8, No. 2
For this publication, a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
license has been granted by the author(s), who retain full
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https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/HV8N2Juckel
Andreas Juckel
Septuaginta and Peshitta Jacob of Edessa quoting the Old Testament in Ms BL Add 17134
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Abstract
The Old Testament quotations in the margins
of Ms BL Add. 17134 (the Hymns of Severus Antiochenus
translated by Paul of Edessa and revised by Jacob of Edessa)
derive from Jacob himself and reflect the beginnings of his Old
Testament revision completed during the last years of his life.
The Peshitta text of the quotations is improved and often
substituted by renderings of the Septuagint. This paper
presents 207 verses in two sections (of 41 and 21 items)
according to their derivation from the Peshitta or the
Septuagint.
Contents
Introduction
The Old Testament: Jacob quoting the
Peshitta
The Old Testament: Jacob quoting the
Septuagint
Results
1. Introduction
[1] In
1910/11 E.W. Brooks published
E. W. Brooks, Jacob of Edessa. The Hymns of
Severus of Antioch and Others (PO 6.1 and 7.5; Turnhout,
1910/1911).
the Syriac version of �The
Hymns of Severus of Antioch and Others�, originally
translated by Paul of Edessa between 619/29, and revised by
Jacob of Edessa in 674/75
On this translation and its revision see A.
Baumstark, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur mit Ausschlu�
der christlich-pal�stinensischen Texte (Bonn, 1922), 190
and 253; R. Duval, La litt�rature syriaque. Des origines
jusqu� � la fin de cette litt�rature apr�s la conqu�te par les
arabes au XIII si�cle (Paris, 1907/Amsterdam, 1970),
317-18; W. Wright, A Short History of Syriac
Literature (London, 1894/Piscataway, 2001), 135 and 149;
J.-B. Chabot, La litt�rature syriaque (Paris, 1934),
86; I. Ortiz de Urbina, Patrologia syriaca (Rome,
1965), 173 and 180; F. Nau, �L�Aram�en chr�tien (Syriaque). Les
traductions faites du grec en syriaque au viie si�cle�,
RHR 99 (1929) 263-65.
. Based on the two extant
manuscripts
W. Wright, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in
the British Museum Acquired Since the Year 1838, 1
(London, 1870/Piscataway, 2003), 330-339 (no. ccccxxi) and
339-340 (no. ccccxxii). A facsimile of Ms Add 17134 in 3
(London, 1872/Piscataway, 2003), plate v.
of Jacob�s revision (Ms BL Add. 17134 and Add.
18816), Brooks� edition is a typographical master-piece by the
meticulous presentation of Ms BL Add. 17134 and of its
revisional features. This manuscript substantially gives the
text of Paul�s translation and carefully denotes the revisional
alterations Jacob introduced to it inter lineas or by
red ink.
Brooks puts Jacob�s corrections inter
lineas in the notes; the words and single letters that
Jacob painted red, are represented by Estrangelo-type to
distinguish them from Paul�s text in Serto-type, and by italics
in the translation.
In a note on fol. 75rv Jacob explains the reason
and the method of his revision for which he used Greek
manuscripts, and gives the date A. Gr. 986 (A. D. 674/75) for
his work
Syriac text by W. Wright, Catalogue 1,
336-37; text and translation by Brooks, The Hymns of
Severus (PO 7,5), 801-02.
:
�[...] and they [scil. the hymns] have been with
great care and industry corrected and compared with the Greek
manuscripts with all possible accuracy by me the poor and
sinful Jacob the industrious,
The identification of �Jacob the industrious� with
Jacob of Edessa was rejected by F. Nau, �Notice sur un nouveau
manuscript de l�Octoechus de S�v�re d�Antioche, et sur l�auteur
Jacques Philoponus, distinct de Jacques d��desse�, JA
12 (9� s�rie, 1898), 346-51; but later he accepted the
identification (F. Nau, �Les traductions�, 264 note 1).
in the year nine hundred
and eighty-six of the Greeks [...] and with all the
carefulness in my power I have distinguished between the
words of the doctor [i. e., Severus] and those that were
added by the same Mar Paul in order that the number of
rhythmical divisions might be equal when the words are
pronounced, on account of the brevity and succinctness of the
expressions of this Syriac language in comparison with the
Greek language, by writing the words of the doctor [i. e.,
Severus] in ink, and writing those that were added in red
paint (shrik�n); while
the words which the translator altered, for the same reason,
inserting one expression in place of another, in order that
the measure of the period might agree with the rhythm of the
Greek words, I have written for you in small, fine letters
above the same groups of words between the lines, in order
that you may easily know how they stand in the Greek whenever
you wish to do so; and how the proofs and testimonies from
the scriptural words of the Holy Scriptures in the hymns
themselves run, without variation and without addition or
diminution� (Brooks� translation in PO 7.5 page 801/02).
[2]
Impressed by this note and by the actual presence of the
revisional features it describes, W. Wright suggested Ms Add.
17134 to be an autograph
Wright, Catalogue 1, 338: �The reasons for
supposing that this manuscript is an autograph of the famous
Jacob, bishop of Edessa, are 1. The antiquity of the volume. 2.
The character of the handwriting, which is not regular enough
for that of a professional scribe. 3. The absence of any
indication of another scribe. 4. The care with which the
specifications contained in the note, fol. 75a, have been
adhered to throughout the whole volume, thus giving it an
entirely different character and appearance from those of such
copies as Add 18816 [...]. 5. The transcription in full, on the
upper and lower margins, of all the passages of Scripture
referred to in the hymns. 6. The general accuracy with which
the Greek proper names and other words are written in Greek
letters; and the correctness with which they are represented in
Syriac characters [...].�
of Jacob and took the date A. Gr.
986 as the date of the manuscript itself. Brooks in the preface
of his edition, however, rejected Wright�s suggestion by
declaring that the second manuscript Add. 18816 often gives a
�better� text than Ms Add. 17134. A check of the readings
rejected by Brooks indeed gives an idea about a certain
inferiority of Ms Add. 17134 to Ms Add. 18816. The text is
slightly corrupted by scribal errors and orthographical
mistakes,
F. Nau gives a different (and certainly wrong)
interpretation: �Il semble pr�f�rable de dire que le scribe du
seconde manuscript [i.e., Add. 18816] a simplifi� et parfois
corrig� le premier [i.e., Add. 17134] qui resterait ainsi
l�autographe de Jacques d�Edesse� (F. Nau, �Les traductions�,
263-64).
which reflect the process of transmission and
can hardly be ascribed to Jacob himself. As Ms Add. 17134 can
be assigned to the 8th cent. on palaeographical
ground,
The script is almost identical with the one of
plate LIII (Ms Sachau 321, A.D. 740/41) in W. H. P. Hatch,
An Album of Dated Syriac Manuscripts (Boston,
1946/Piscataway, 2003).
it is a copy perhaps written already during
Jacob�s lifetime or not long after his death in 708.
[3] The
authenticity of Jacob�s revisional principles is not affected
by the slightly corrupted text of Ms Add 17134. Although Ms
Add. 18816 does not exhibit these corruptions, it is of
restricted critical value especially with regard to Jacob�s
revisional imprint. This manuscript, which Wright assigns to
the 9th cent., basically gives the same text and the
same sequence of hymns as Ms Add. 17134; but it omits all
revisional features: no corrections, no coloured words or
letters are given (except in the hymns 131 and 132), and the
reviser�s note is excluded. In few instances, however, the text
of this manuscript tacitly adopts Jacob�s corrections in the
main text. The reduction of the revisional features in Ms Add.
18816 gives a greater significance to Ms Add 17134 with the
fully preserved revisional features;
This manuscript, however, is already
affected by a fading-out of the revisional features. In several
cases the biblical text usually fully cited in the margins (see
below) is not given, but replaced by the reference only.
in text-critical
respect, however, Ms Add. 18816 often is to be preferred. A
later arrangement and supplementation of the hymns according to
the �eight tones� to which they are set (Octo�chos) can be
found in numerous manuscripts.
See Brooks, The Hymns of Severus
(PO 6.1) 6. —� Mss Add. 17134 and Add. 18816 do not yet
indicate the tones to which the hymns later were set; but in a
few places the tones are added secunda manu. Brooks�
edition throughout adds the tones drawn from the later
collections. On the �Syriac Octo�chos� see A. Baumstark,
Festbrevier und Kirchenjahr der syrischen Jakobiten. Eine
liturgische geschichtliche Vorarbeit auf Grund
handschriftlicher Studien in Jerusalem und Damaskus (SGKA
3; Paderborn, 1910), 45-48; J. Jeannin/J. Puyade, �L�Octo�chos
syrien�, OrChr N.F. 3 (1913), 82-104; 277-98; J.
Jeannin, �Octo�chos syrien�, in DACL 12/2 (1936)
1888-1899.
The Biblical Quotations
[4] Ms Add.
17134 of the British Library is a treasury of biblical
quotations of both Testaments. There are two different kinds of
quotations: Those inside the text, and those outside in the
margins. Jacob not only revised Paul�s translation of the hymns
including its biblical allusions and quotations; he also
introduced biblical material to this revision which is not an
integral part of Paul�s translation but drawn from his own
resources. These independent marginal quotations are the
subject of the present study.
The revisional procedure probably is the
same as that Thomas of Harqel used at the beginning of the
7th century revising the Philoxenian version.
[5] Texts of
sometimes considerable length (e.g., Luke xv, 3-32) Jacob
quotes in the upper and lower margins of Ms Add. 17134. Their
intention is—according to Jacob�s note on fol. 75rv—to present
the full scriptural texts (�without variation and without
addition or diminution�) alluded to or distorted by adaptation
to the Greek metre in Paul�s translation.
The last sentence of Jacob� note quoted
above (�and how the proofs and testimonies ...�) refers to the
biblical texts in the margin, not to Jacob� interlinear
corrections of biblical quotations inside the text. These
interlinear corrections are part of the general corrections of
Paul�s translation according to the Greek text of the Hymns;
they are not corrections according to an �unvaried� Bible text.
Brooks obviously missed an explicit reference to the margin in
Jacob� note, and declared: �Some words have perhaps fallen out
in this sentence� (802).
All marginal
quotations belong to the original lay-out of the manuscript; by
a graphical sign they are attached to words in the main text.
Brooks� biblical index
The index is appended to PO 14.1 300-309
[470-479] (Letters of Severus of Antioch, ed. by
Brooks).
gives ca. 1000 Old Testament
quotations. Fully quoted in the margins are ca. 600, additional
365 short quotations from the Psalms are used as headers for
the 365 hymns inside the text; the rest is represented by a
marginal reference only (e.g.,
). From the New Testament ca.
350 texts are quoted.
Septuagint and Peshitta
[6]
According to Brooks� index, ca. 150 of these marginal texts are
classified as being quoted from the Septuagint; 17 are �neither
P nor LXX�;
Unfortunately these texts are very short,
only Lam 3:22 is suitable for comparison. It shows a mixture of
the Septuagint and the Peshitta, a characteristic feature of a
large number of Jacob� marginal quotations (see below).
Although Exod 3:2 (PO 7.5 page 639 [227]) is a rather long
quotation, there are no significant distinctive features
between Jacob�s text, the Syro-Hexapla and the Peshitta. The
remaining 15 quotations (Psalms) are short headers of the
hymns.
4 are taken from Theodotion, 1 from the
Syro-Hexapla; and all 13 quotations from Acts are given
according to the Harklean version. The majority of unclassified
references in the index are quotations from the Peshitta. This
mixture of versions seems to be inconsistent with the reviser�s
intention to give the scriptural words �without variation and
without addition or diminution�. To contrast the allusions and
distorted quotations in Paul�s translation we expect him to
quote a uniform �Greek� text (i.e., the Syro-Hexapla, and the
Harklean) in accordance with the original language of the
hymns. Instead of fully adopting the existing versions from the
Greek, Jacob is quoting the Septuagint (and Theodotion) in
translations of his own; although there are agreements with the
Syro-Hexapla, these translations are independent renderings of
the Septuagint.
[7] How to
explain Jacob�s versional inconsistency with quoting the
scriptural texts? The versional diversity of scriptural
quotations does not derive from the specific wording of the
allusions and quotations in Paul�s text. The dominating text
quoted (of both Testaments) is the Peshitta, followed next by
the Septuagint, while the Syro-Hexapla, Theodotion, and the
Harklean are too infrequently quoted to contribute much to the
versional inconsistency. With regard to the general intention
of Jacob�s marginal quotations to cite an �unvaried� text, the
Septuagint quotations are likely to take the place of Peshitta
texts which differ too much from Jacob�s standard, i.e., the
Greek (Septuagint). This suggestion receives support from the
distribution of the Septuagint quotations: Most of them are in
poetic books, poetic passages or in the prophecies of Isaiah
and Jeremiah, i.e., not in texts of simple narrative
structure.
Brooks declares �[...] I cannot trace any
principle except that in Genesis they [i.e., the citations] are
from P, in the rest of the law from LXX, in Job and in the
books not contained in the Hebrew from LXX, in Daniel from
Theodotion, and in Isaiah in the earlier hymns generally from
P, in the later generally from LXX� (PO 7.5 page 6).
In these portions the Peshitta could be easily
incongruent with the Septuagint. The Peshitta texts accepted by
Jacob for quoting, however, are also far from being
fully aligned with the Septuagint; but they are in a
remarkably better alignment with the Septuagint than
the Peshitta texts rejected by Jacob. The criterion for
adoption or substitution of Peshitta text obviously is not the
literal agreement with the Septuagint, but the
general congruence given by (almost) identical
structure of the verse and by (almost) identical sense.
[8] A hint
to Jacob�s intention of substituting Peshitta texts by
Septuagint renderings of his own is his obvious refusal to
replace the rejected Peshitta texts by the Syro-Hexapla. This
refusal might derive from the extreme Graecised style of this
translation. His own renderings match better the style of the
Peshitta by the occasional adoption of Peshitta elements
without adopting the Peshitta as such. The influence of the
Peshitta in Jacob�s own renderings of the Septuagint is mainly
on the lexical level, while the syntax and the general
structure of the verse are taken from the Septuagint. On the
other hand, numerous minor adaptations to the Septuagint Jacob
introduces to those Peshitta texts taken over by him without,
however, introducing substantial changes to the text.
[9] With
regard to the New Testament quotations there is some
reason to believe that Jacob was satisfied with the Peshitta
version and its translational features. The New Testament
quotations in Ms Add 17134 are hardly affected by diversity or
revisional activity. With the exception of thirteen quotations
from the Harklean version of Acts,
The Harklean quotations are studied by W. D.
MacHardy, �James of Edessa�s citations from the Philoxenian
text of the Book of Acts�, JThS 43 (1942), 168-173;
�The text of Jacob of Edessa�s citations and in the Cambridge
Add. MS 1700�, JThS 50 (1949), 186-87.
they are all taken from the
Peshitta. According to the ca. 120 quotations from the
Corpus Paulinum,
These quotations are included in the
comparative edition of that Corpus published by B.
Aland/A. Juckel, Das Neue Testament in syrischer
�berlieferung, II, 1-3 (ANTT 14, 23, 32; Berlin-New York,
1991, 1995, 2002).
the textual character of the New
Testament quotations agrees with the �majority text� of that
version.
This �majority text� of the Corpus
Paulinum was prepared by G. H. Gwilliam and J. Pinkerton
and included in the New Testament volume issued by the
British and Foreign Bible Society in 1920. The
majority character of this text, however, needs to be improved
by additional collations.
This agreement and the versional uniformity
are in strong contrast with the diversity of Jacob�s Old
Testament quotations and may be taken as his acknowledgement of
the New Testament Peshitta as a satisfactory translation. While
Jacob might have taken the New Testament texts in the margins
of Ms Add 17134 from a Peshitta manuscript, he carefully
checked for the congruence of the Old Testament quotations with
the Septuagint.
[10] To
set out the textual character of Jacob�s marginal quotations in
some detail, a total of 207 verses in 62 items are presented in
two sections (of 41 and 21 items) according to their derivation
from the Peshitta or the Septuagint.
2. The Old Testament: Jacob quoting the
Peshitta
[11]
In the following list 41 OT
texts quoted by Jacob of Edessa in the margins of Ms Add 17134
are compared with the OT Peshitta
The Peshitta follows the Leiden
edition: Liber Genesis (based on material collected
and studies by T. Jansma, prepared by the Peshitta Institute
(I,1 1977); Leviticus ed. D. J. Lane, (I,2 1991);
Liber Samuelis ed. P. A. H. de Boer (II,2 1978);
Liber Isaiae ed. S. P. Brock (III,1 1987); Liber
Ezechielis ed. M. J. Mulder (III,3 1985);
Dodekapropheton, ed. A. Gelston (III,4 1980); for
Jeremiah and Lamentations (both to be
published in the Leiden Edition) I use the edition of S. Lee
(1823). — The Syro-Hexapla is used according to the
edition of Ceriani (and V��bus, where appropriate): Codex
Syro-Hexaplaris Anbrosianus photolithographice editus
[Monumenta sacra et profana 7]. Mediolani, 1874; A. V��bus,
The Book of Isaiah in the Version of the Syro-Hexapla. A
facsimile edition of Ms. St. Mark 1 in Jerusalem (CSCO
449/Subs. 68; Louvain 1983).
and with the
Septuagint.
The Septuaginta are quoted according to the
Septuaginta. Vetus Testamentum Graecum. Auctoritate
Societatis Litterarum Gottingensis editum; I: Genesis,
ed. J.W. Wevers (1974), II,2: Leviticus, ed. J. W.
Wevers, U. Quast (1986), XIII: Duodecim prophetae, ed.
J. Ziegler (1943), XIV: Isaias, ed. J. Ziegler (1939),
XVI,1: Ezechiel, ed. J. Ziegler (1952), XV:
Ieremias, Baruch, Threni, Epistula Ieremiae, ed. J.
Ziegler (G�ttingen 1957). For the books of Samuel I used the
edition of A. E. Brooke/N. McLean/H. J. Thackeray, The Old
Testament in Greek, II,1:1 and 2 Samuel (Cambridge, 1927).
The Targumim
A. Sperber, The Bible in Aramaic. Based
on old manuscripts and printed texts. 1: The Pentateuch
according to Targum Onkelos (Leiden, 1959); 2: The Former
Prophets according to Targum Jonathan (Leiden, 1959); 3: The
Latter Prophets According to Targum Jonathan (Leiden, 1962).
were constantly consulted
but did not influence the formation of Jacob�s quotations (nor
does the Masoretic Text). The Lemmata are taken from
the Leiden Peshitta, the variants from Jacob�s
quotations published by Brooks (I = PO 6.1; II = PO 7.5).
Brooks� texts are checked with the help of a
microfilm.
The beginning and the end of
verses not fully quoted by Jacob are indicated by
incipit and desinit respectively.
Peshitta variants are only quoted (by their Leiden
sigla) in support of variants in Jacob�s quotations.
Scribal errors (already noted by Brooks) are included
in the list to proof the slightly corrupted condition of Ms Add
17134.
By their structure and sense the
following texts are fairly well congruent with the Septuagint.
Not surprisingly, the congruence is not the same in the items
of narrative texts (e.g., Gen and 1/2 Sam) and in those of
prophetic texts. There are two texts (item 4 and 38) with
explicit (though tacit) �corrections� according to the
Septuagint. One more text (item 21) is followed by Jacob�s note
to the different text of the Septuagint. With regard to the
numerous minor adaptations to the Septuagint there is no doubt
that Jacob carefully compared the Peshitta text taken over by
him with the Greek text.
1) Gen 1:27-28/I 155; fol. 34v
2) Gen 2:15/I 69; fol. 15v
3) Gen 2:21-22/I 157; fol. 35r
4) Gen 3:14-15/II 603 [191]; fol. 40v
Jacob substitutes the Old
Testament Peshitta of vs 15b by a translation of the
LXX (similar below in no. 38).
5) Gen 3:17-20/I 55; fol. 12r
6) Gen 3:17-20/I Ι 767 [355]; fol. 69v
No variant reading
7) Gen 18:1-5/II 794 [382]; fol. 74r
According to Jacob�s text, Abraham
is addressing a single person.
8) Gen 19:15.17.26/II 716 [304]; fol. 61r
9) Gen 19:17.26/II 732 [320]; fol. 64r
10) Gen 28:16-17/I 156; 35r
11) Gen 28:16-19/I 161; fol. 35v
12) Gen 50:24-26/II 773 [361]; fol. 70r
no variant reading
13) Lev 14:3-7/II 750 [338]; fol. 67r
14) 1Sam 17:34-36/II 759 [347]; fol. 68r
The variants do not agree with
Jacob�s later revision, see A. Salvesen, The Books of
Samuel in the Syriac Version of Jacob of Edessa (MPIL 10;
Leiden, 1999), part I, 54.
15) 1Sam 17: 49-51/ II 759 [347]; fol. 68r
16) 2Sam 23: 13-17/ II 631 [219]; fol. 46v
Jacob�s later revision offers also
(in vs 14 and 15; in
16 different construction), see A. Salvesen, The Books of
Samuel part I, 160.
17) Isa 8:23 � 9:1/II, 605 [193]; fol 41r
18) Isa 10:33 � 11:3/I, 175; fol. 38v
19) Isa 12:2-3/I, 63; fol. 14v
20) Isa 14:3-15/II, 599 [187]; fol. 40r
21) Isa 14:10-12/I 101; fol. 23r
22) Isa 28:16/II, 662 [250]; fol. 52v
23) Isa 29:13-14/II 742 [330]; fol. 65v
no variant reading
24) Isa 32:1-6/II 596 [184]; fol. 39v
25) Isa 35:3-10/I 134; fol. 30v
26) Isa 40:27-41:2/II 615 [203]; fol. 43v
27) Isa 49:14-18/II 662 [250]; fol. 52r
28) Isa 49:18-21/I 137; fol. 31r
29) Isa 61:3-8/II 639 [227]; fol. 48r
30) Isa 58:1-2/II 710 [298]; fol. 60r
31) Isa 62:1-4/I 136; fol. 31r
32) Isa 66:6-9/I 131; fol. 30r
33) Jer 31:15-17/I 154; fol. 34v
no variant reading
34) Ezek 18:21-23/II 697 [285]; fol. 58r
35) Ezek 37:15-17/ I 176; fol. 38v
36) Hos 2:23-25/I 135; fol. 30v
37) Amos 8:9-10/II 703 [291]; fol. 59r
38) Jonah 3:7-9/I 68; fol. 15v
39) Hag 2:6-9/II 649 [237]; fol. 50r
40) Zech 11:7-8/I 175; fol. 38v
41) Lam 3:25-30/II 731 [319]; fol. 63v
Evaluation
[12]
Jacob�s 41 marginal Peshitta quotations compared with the Old
Testament Peshitta and the Septuagint offer the following
interpretation:
In 7 items (6, 12, 15, 19, 21, 23, 33) Jacob�s quotations
are in full agreement with the printed text of the
Leiden Peshitta (i. e., with the traditional text of the Old
Testament Peshitta). In 14 more items (1, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14,
16, 17, 20, 24, 28, 29, 30, 37) Jacob agrees with a
variant quoted in the Leiden Peshitta. In six of
these items (16, 20, 28, 29, 30, 37) Jacob's quotation is the
earliest witness of the Peshitta variants. All these variants
are minor variations, already extant in the
7th-century transmission of the Peshitta
text.
In 6 items (4, 8, 16, 17, 38, 41 [vs 25]) we
find adaptations to the Greek or influence of the
Septuagint; one of these adaptations (17) is identical with a
Peshitta variant. With special variants of the Septuagint
Jacob agrees in item 1, 14 (both also Peshitta variants), 3,
31, 32 (vs 8), and 41 (vs 27).
Most striking is the great number of singular
variants in Jacob�s marginal quotation (in 26 items: 1,
2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27,
29, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41). The majority of these
otherwise not attested variants are beyond text-critical
control; few of them might be scribal errors (like the
omissions in item 2, 13 vs 5, 18 vs 1, 22
vs 16, and 29 vs 4) or Peshitta variants
(see item 10, 18 vs 33, 25 vs 5, 26
vs 28, 29 vss 3 and 4, 32 vs 8, 34
vs 23, 35 vs 17, 39 vs 6). Some of
them, however, seem to be intentional changes introduced by
Jacob to the Peshitta text:
In item 7 Jacob changes the imperatives to the
singular in order to make Abraham talking to only one of
the three persons who came to meet him.
Some of Jacob�s singular variants make the text more
explicit: Item 9, 16 (vs 15); 27 (vs
17); 32 (vs 7:
, and vs 8:
add
).
In item 20 (vs 8) and 26 (vs 31)
Jacob imposes the plural of the Septuagint on words of
the Peshitta in the singular; in item 20 (vs 13)
the plural of the Peshitta is changed to the singular of
the Septuagint (and
seems to be omitted by
error). We also find conflations of Peshitta and
Septuagint in item 25 (
is from the Septuagint;
the verb is from the Peshitta), and 32 (vs 7:
the addition of
derives from the Septuagint, the tempus from the
Peshitta).
There is a tendency to omit the suffix in a genitive
relation in item 8, 10, 16, 29, 38 (except 38 all in
accordance with Peshitta variants), and to reduce
to
(14, 20, 24).
In item 27 (vs 15) Jacob introduces an
expansion of the verse (
)
which is difficult to explain. It is a general
statement that God will not forget Zion (suffix 3rd
pers. sg.) immediately before the special
address to Zion (suffix 2nd pers. sg.).
The variants
(for
)
in item 40, and
(for
)
in item 41 (vs 29) cannot be traced anywhere.
The same is true for Jacob�s variants in item 4
(vs 14), 5 (vs 17), 13 (vs 6).
As these variants are hardly scribal errors, we have to
allow for the possibility that Jacob introduced them
deliberately.
3. The Old Testament: Jacob quoting the
Septuagint
[13]
The Syriac text
quoted is Jacob�s translation of the Septuagint taken from
Brooks� edition (I = PO 6.1; II = PO 7.5), and checked with the
help of a microfilm of Ms BL Add 17134. The text is collated
against the printed Septuagint-texts of Rahlfs and Ziegler. As
most of the variants in Jacob�s Septuagint text can be
identified in the apparatus of Rahlfs� edition I adopted his
sigla and his style of quoting (not Ziegler�s). The
few variants of Jacob�s translation attested only in Ziegler�s
fuller edition are quoted without specification of their
inner-recensional attestation. The purpose of the apparatus
thus compiled is not to give the exhaustive attestation but the
affiliation of the variants to Septuagint recensions as far as
possible. The Greek Lemmata are taken from Rahlfs�
text; in all given cases they are identical with Ziegler�s. The
variants quoted are from Jacob�s Syriac text presented in
Greek.
Recensions in italics: O
= recensio Origenis, L = rec. Luciani, C =
rec. in Catena magna in prophetas inventa.
Jac = Jacobus Edessenus,
P� = Peshitta (Leiden Edition), SyH = Syro-Hexapla, SyL =
Syro-Lucianic translation (see Ziegler�s edition, page 16 and
81-82). Further sigla are given according to Rahlf�s
and Ziegler�s editions.
Shadowed portions are passages
identical with the Peshitta text.
1) Isa 1:4-6/II 697 [285], fol. 58r
2 Isa 3:12-14/II 738 [326], fol. 65r
3) Isa 6:1-7/ ΙΙ 671-72 [259-60], 54r
4) Isa 9:15-16/II 738 [326], 65r
5) Isa 21:3-4/II 744 [332], 66r
6) Isa 24:15-20/II 694 [282], fol. 57v
7) Isa 24:23-25:1/II 683 [271], 55v
8) Isa 25:6-10/II 767 [355], 69v
9) Isa 26:9/I 124, fol. 28r
10) Isa 26:18-19/II 700 [288], fol. 58v
11) Isa 30:18-19/II 768 [356], fol. 69v
12) Isa 46:12-13/II 715 [303], fol. 60v
13) Isa 55:6-9/II 783 [371], fol. 72r
14) Isa 57:19-21/II 710 [298], fol. 60r
15) Isa 59:11-13/II 699 [287], fol. 58r
16) Isa 63:17-18/II 766 [354], fol. 69r
17) Isa 63:19/II 711 [299], 60r
18) Isa 64:4-8/II 772 [360], 70r
19) Isa 65:15-18/II 775 [363], fol. 70v
20) Isa 65:22/II 775 [363], fol. 70v
21) Isa 66:17-19/II 723 [311], fol. 62r (hardly
legible in the microfilm)
Evaluation
[14]
Jacob�s translation of the 21 Septuagint texts presented above
includes three formative elements: 1. The Septuagint itself and
its different recensions; 2. The Peshitta, and modifications of
the Septuagint by the Peshitta; 3. Untraceable modifications of
the Septuagint. The Syro-Hexapla may have influenced his
translation in a general way, special influence is hardly
traceable (see item 7, 11, 18, 19, 21). The Masoretic Text
coincides with some Peshitta readings adopted by Jacob (see
item 1 vs 4; vs 6:�cnouj
ante
pod�n; item 3 vs 1: the
beginning of the vs; item 13 vs 9); no
special influence of the Hebrew is traceable.
[15] Ad
1. Jacob adopts variants from different recensions of the
Septuagint (disagreeing with the Peshitta) in item 1
(vs 5), 3 (vs 6), 6 (vs 17), 8
(vs 10), 10, 19, 21 (vs 18). Adoption of
different Septuagint recensions with agreement of the
Peshitta we meet in item 1 (vss 4 and 6), 3
(vs 6), 11, (vs 7), 18 (vss 5 and
7). All these items show a striking preponderance of the
Lucianic recension.
[16] Ad
2. Jacob�s rendering of the Septuagint follows the Peshitta,
not the Septuagint and/or Septuagint recensions in item 3
(vss 1.3.4.7), 13 (vs 9), 16. It is
influenced by the Peshitta (without being exactly traceable to
any existing reading) in item 8 (vs 9), 13
(vs 7), 15, 20, 21 (vs 19). With exception of
the items 15 and 20 again the Lucianic recension is
involved.
[17] Ad
3. Jacob offers untraceable variants in item 2, 6 (vs
16), 8 (vs 8), 14, 18 (vs 5), 21 (scribal
errors are possible in item 8, 14, 21). The retroversion of
Jacob�s quotation is without control in item 6 (vs 20)
and 8 (vs 7 in the second quotation). With regard to
Jacob�s ability to use different textual traditions in the
Septuagint renderings of his own, it may be possible that
�untraceable variants� may originate from Jacob himself.
4. Results
[18] 1.
The first result we can draw from the textual material
presented above is that Jacob�s approach to a translation of
the Old Testament text must have started ante A. Gr.
986 (A. D. 674/75). We are not informed about the scope of this
approach or about the actual incarnation of his textual
material so far; but the consistency of the translational
principles point to a well prepared written source which covers
most of the Old Testament books. Jacob�s decision to add a
full-text apparatus of biblical testimonia in the
margins to offer the explicit scriptural proof for what is only
implicitly said or alluded to in the text was hardly the actual
reason for his new approach. Possibly Jacob had started to
prepare new translations of unsatisfactorily translated
passages of the Peshitta earlier. The preponderance of the
Lucianic-Antiochene recension in Jacob�s translations may be
due to a local Septuagint text.
[19] 2.
The second result is that Jacob�s introduction of Septuagint
renderings in fact is a substitution of �unsatisfactory�
Peshitta texts. The main reason for this interpretation is the
mutual influence of Peshitta and Septuagint in Jacob�s
quotations. Jacob�s intention is to maintain the Peshitta where
it is congruent with the Septuagint, and to replace it by a
rendering of the Septuagint where both differ too much. Full or
partial agreement of the Peshitta with the Lucianic recension
favoured the inclusion of the Old Testament Peshitta during the
process of rendering the Septuagint texts.
The textual affinity between the Old
Testament Peshitta and the Lucianic recension is disputed, but
it was already acknowledged at the end of the 19th
century, see Th. Stockmayer, �Hat Lucian zu seiner Septuaginta
revision die Peschito ben�tzt?�, ZAW 12 (1892)
218-223; and M.P. Weitzmann, The Syriac Version of the Old
Testament: An Introduction (UCOP 56; Cambridge, 1999)
83-84.
The textual
character of Jacob�s Septuagint renderings, however, is clearly
distinguished from the one of the Peshitta quotations. The
accommodation does not eliminate the different textual
character of both types of quotations. With regard to
translation technique, Jacob�s renderings are far from adopting
the extreme Graecising translation technique (�mirror
translation�) of the Syro-Hexapla; but they are much better
adapted to the Greek than the Peshitta.
[20] 3.
The third result is that Jacob�s marginal quotations reflect a
prehistory of his later Old Testament revision which came into
existence few years before his death in 708. For the purpose of
this investigation it is sufficient to state that Jacob�s
revision
The books of Samuel are the best presented
and studied part of Jacob� revision so far; see R. J. Saley,
The Samuel Manuscript of Jacob of Edessa. A Study in Its
Underlying Textual Traditions (MPIL 9; Leiden, 1998); �A.
Salvesen, The Books of Samuel in the Syriac Version of
Jacob of Edessa (MPIL 10; Leiden, 1999); A. Salvesan,
�Jacob of Edessa�s version of Exodus 1 and 28�, Hugoye:
Journal of Syriac Studies 8:1 (2005)
[http://www.bethmardutho.org/hugoye]. An instructive article on
Jacob� revision was written by W. Baars, �Ein neugefundenes
Bruchst�ck aus der syrischen Bibelrevision des Jakob von
Edessa�, VT 18 (1968) 547-54. — For further
literature, see D. Kruisheer and L. van Rompay, �A
Bibliographical Clavis to the Works of Jacob of
Edessa�, Hugoye 1:1 (1998), section II A
[http://www.bethmardutho.org/hugoye].
�is fundamentally an amalgam of the Peshitta
and Greek texts�.
A. Salvesen, The Books of Samuel, x.
It is based on the Peshitta using the
different recensions of the Greek (Septuagint); the
Syro-Hexapla may have influenced his renderings, but is no
primary source. Special features are a number of regular
substitutions in the vocabulary of the Peshitta, glosses and
creative expansions to improve the text, and a more Graecised
representation of proper nouns than in the Peshitta. A
subscription at the end of 1Sam
Syriac text in A. Salvesen, The Books of
Samuel, part I, 90.
provides the link with
Jacob�s quotations in Ms Add. 17134. It states that
�this First Book of the Kingdoms [i.e., 1Sam] was corrected
as far as possible and with much difficulty from the
different traditions &mdash from that of the Syrians and
from those of the Greeks — by the holy Jacob, bishop of
Edessa ...�.
Jacob�s quotations in Ms Add. 17134 actually represent the
�different traditions� mentioned in the subscription, thus
anticipating the revisional principle of the future work. These
�traditions�, however, are still isolated from each other in Ms
Add. 17134 and lack the characteristic later degree of
amalgamation, despite their mutual influence already traceable
in the single quotations. The dominance of the Peshitta
quotations, however, preludes the increased significance of
this version for the future revision; and Jacob�s own
renderings of the Septuagint correspond well with the reduced
impact of the Syro-Hexapla on his later work.
[21] From
the very beginning of his revisional activity Jacob adopted the
principle of �graeca veritas�, but in a different way than the
Harklean version and the Syro-Hexapla half a century before
him. While the latter two versions by their �mirror
translation� are intended to be read as Greek texts,
Jacob is anxious to offer a Syriac text without
dropping, however, the substantial relation to the Greek. The
�graeca veritas� is reduced to the Septuagint traditions to
which a Syriac textual incarnation is given by adoption,
correction, and substitution of the traditional Peshitta text.
In the marginal quotations of Ms BL Add 17134 this principle is
in its infancy and still lacks the refinement and maturity of
the later revision.
The present study presents only a limited
number of Jacob�s marginal quotations. Further investigations
have to study the remaining quotations and compare all of them
with Jacob�s later Old Testament revision extant in a small
number of manuscripts, see W. Baars, �Ein neugefundenes
Bruchst�ck�, 548-549.
_______
Notes
_______
Bibliography
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Abbreviations
ANTT = Arbeiten zur neutestamentlichen Textforschung.
Berlin.
CSCO = Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.
Louvain.
DACL = Dictionnaire d'arch�ologie chr�tienne et de liturgie.
Paris.
JA = Journal Asiatique. Paris.
JThS = Journal of Theological Studies. Oxford.
MPIL = Monographs of the Peshitta Institute Leiden.
Leiden.
OrChr = Oriens Christianus. Wiesbaden.
PO = Patrologia Orientalis. Paris/Turnhout.
RHR = Rvue de l'Histoire des Religions. Paris.
SGKA = Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums.
Paderborn.
UCOP = University of Cambridge Oriental Publications.
Cambridge.
VT = Vetus Testamentum. Leiden.
ZAW = Zeitschrift f�r die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.
Berlin.