St Jerome

This essay aims to applyPerformance Studies to investigate some theatrricala aspects of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Through this lens, the Sacred Poem emerges as a great work of transcodification that absorbs and recasts many elements of medieval theatre. This appears with evidence in Dante and Virgil’s struggle against the devils at the gates of Dis (Inferno VIII– IX), a “sacred drama” in which the two pilgrims are no longer involved as spectators but as actors on stage within a representation that ties ritual and theatre. The analysis of this episode through the lens of performance can highlight the transcoding of theatre in literature and help reconstructing an aspect – the performative one – that appears far from secondary in Dante’s poem.

Vérité des mythes » 23), 2003, 198 pages. 2. Poème judéo-hellénistique attribué à Orphée, « Production juive et réception chrétienne », Paris, Les Belles Lettres (« Fragments » 7), 2010, 308 pages. 3. Orphée et les Chrétiens, « La réception du mythe d'Orphée dans la littérature chrétienne grecque des cinq premiers siècles », Tome I, Orphée du repoussoir au préfigurateur du Christ, « Réécriture d'un mythe à des fins protreptiques chez Clément d'Alexandrie », Paris, Les Belles Lettres (« Anagôgê » 4), 2010, 488 pages. Prix Adalbert-Hamman, Fondation Migne, 2009-2010 Prix Zographos de l'Association pour l'Encouragement des Études grecques, 2012 4. Orphée et les Chrétiens, « La réception du mythe d'Orphée dans la littérature chrétienne grecque des cinq premiers siècles », Tome II, Pourquoi Orphée ? « Les réécritures polémiques et religieuses du mythe d'Orphée dans la littérature patristique grecque jusqu'au début du VI e siècle », Paris, Les Belles Lettres (« Anagôgê » 5), 2011, 478 pages. Prix Adalbert-Hamman, Fondation Migne, 2009-2010 Prix Zographos de l'Association pour l'Encouragement des Études grecques, 2012 5. Penser et être dieu, « Essais sur l'enseignement de Numénius mis en regard des Oracles chaldaïques et lu par Proclus », Universitätsverlag Winter (« Bibliotheca Chaldaica » 10), Heidelberg, 2023, 550 pages, .

This valedictory lecture reflects on practising New Testament Studies as an academic discipline in South Africa, explaining how the author’s academic horizons broadened over 45 years through interactions with students, peers, and the church. The discussion focuses on four key principles for effectively practising the discipline in the South African context. Firstly, it emphasises the necessity of a rigorous examination of the Biblical text in its original languages. This is illustrated by a discussion of Matthew’s changes to Mark’s storm narrative and of Paul’s layered use of metaphors in Galatians 4:19. Secondly, the lecture highlights the importance of generating new knowledge by finding novel angles of interpretation. This is illustrated by narrative-critical insights into the depiction of God’s fatherhood in the Gospel of John and the pioneering of Biblical Spirituality as a subdiscipline by several scholars associated with the University of the Free State. Thirdly, it underscores the cardinal principle of establishing a firm understanding of the current state of scholarship to uncover overlooked insights. This is illustrated by the groundbreaking research on Johannine ethics by Jan G. van der Watt, and by a discussion of the history of research on the Letter to Philemon. Fourthly, the lecture advocates for embracing the appropriation of texts as inherent to the discipline, particularly by balancing “compliant reading” with “resistant reading” to critically engage with how texts are applied in contemporary contexts. This is illustrated by the historical debates on slavery and interpretations of the ethics of the Letter to Philemon. The study also stresses that collaboration with other theologians significantly enhances understanding, for example by bringing multidisciplinary insights to complex issues like theological perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some medieval Muslim theologians considered Nicaea to be the cause of the corruption of the Christian faith, where the Trinitarian doctrine was invented and replaced the authentic monotheistic faith taught by Christ. The Commentary on the Nicene Creed, composed by Elias the East-Syrian Metropolitan of Nisibis (d. 1049), should be viewed not only as a polemic against non-East Syrian Christians but also as a Christian apology that addresses Muslim accusations against the Trinitarian and Christological dogmas. In this article, I analyze this aspect of Elias' Commentary on the Creed.

The depredations of the Scotti in the late fourth and early fifth centuries occasioned Honorius's withdrawal from Britannia in 410 ce. Curiously, these barbarian interlopers have tended not to feature among Rome's "rogues' gallery" of marauding barbarians of Late Antiquity. They ought rightly to feature in that story. So essential to this story were the Scotti that Roman ethnic thinkers used references to Scotti as rhetorical placeholders for extreme barbarity. In the works of historians (like Ammianus Marcellinus and Orosius), panegyrists (like Claudian), and theologians (like Jerome)-whether pagan or Christian-the extremity of the Irish formed a rhetorically useful framing device, conferring superlativity on the honorands on whose behalf they wrote. When encountering Scotti in Late Antiquity, we are not encountering flesh-and-blood people but rather rhetoricallyinflected stereotypes that communicate extremity and superlativity.

This paper explores the presence of Florus in Jerome's works, with particular focus on the Vitae monachorum. Scholars of the Vita Pauli and Vita Malchi have identified passages where Jerome would employ words or expressions from Florus (no such evidence appears in the Vita Hilarionis). The significance of these lexical borrowings is assessed here. Jerome's knowledge extends not only to Florus' Epitome, but also to the fragmentary treatise Vergilius orator an poeta (whose attribution to the same Florus remains debated). If intertextual analysis allows for the investigation of an author's engagement with another one, there are indications that Jerome may have been familiar with this text as well. This paper provides a comparative analysis of passages in Jerome and Florus, discussing lexical borrowings, sources, rhetorical features, and individual words and expressions, including those drawn from other authors and works.

The main pass through the central Caucasus Mountains, the present-day Dariali Gorge, had various names in ancient Greco-Latin sources: the Gates of the Caucasus, the Caspian Gates, Gates of Alexander, Sarmatian Gates. These Gates represented the frontier between the known and unknown worlds and were understood as an impermeable barrier to the bar-barian groups from the Eurasian Steppe. This paper demonstrates the intersection between rhetoric and historicity and explains how these tropes about the Gates of the Caucasus were recycled in Late Antiquity and given new meaning in the context of the Hunnic invasion of the Near East in A.D. 395-398. This paper argues that Jerome’s 'Letter' 77 and Claudian’s 'Against Rufinus' used the perception of this gate as an impermeable barrier to further their literary agendas. Jerome used this perception to highlight the gravity of the Hunnic incursion to justify why Fabiola, a close friend and a devout Christian, had left Jerome’s side and returned to Rome before completing her pilgrimage. The literary associations of the Gates of the Caucasus also supported Jerome’s interpretation of the Hunnic incursion as divine punishment and an invitation for repentance. Claudian employed this same perception for a very different purpose: to slander a political opponent.

The study focuses on a hidden classical allusion that has remained undetected in the biography of St. Hilarion. The young monk, tempted by carnal desire, tries to escape sin by fasting, praying and basket-weaving. Describing this last method, Jerome refers not only to the well-know monastic activity and the sentence of St. Paul -qui non operatur non manducet -but depicts basket-work as a remedy for love, an allusion to the erotic context of Virgil's Third Eclogue.

The study focuses on a hidden classical allusion that has remained undetected in the biography of St. Hilarion. The young monk, tempted by carnal desire, tries to escape sin by fasting, praying and basket-weaving. Describing this last method, Jerome refers not only to the well-know monastic activity and the sentence of St. Paul -qui non operatur non manducet -but depicts basket-work as a remedy for love, an allusion to the erotic context of Virgil's Third Eclogue.

This article examines four Marian histories written by Bohuslav Balbín (1621–88), a Bohemian Jesuit, scholar, and noble, in the second half of the seventeenth century. Assessing the content and form of these works, it argues that Balbín reinterpreted and intellectualized the genre of Marian hagiotopography, expanding the historical sections of his works and conceiving of hagiotopography as historical scholarship. Balbín's unique approach to this genre and his focus on Bohemian, Moravian, and Silesian history allowed him to present his particular vision of the Bohemian composite monarchy, which was influenced by his status as a Jesuit and by his patriotism. Balbín's representation of the inherent unity of the territories which made up the composite state criticized Habsburg policy during and following the Thirty Years’ War. In this way, the article sheds light on the interplay between Catholicism, patriotism, and scholarship in early modern Europe.

Przedmiotem artykułu jest pojawiający się w starym Testamencie w tłumaczeniu św. Hieronima wzmianka o „wężu palącym oddechem” serpens flatu adurens (Pwt 8,14). Wąż ten obok innych wymienionych jadowitych stworzeń miał zagrażać Izraelitom podczas wędrówki po pustyni. W artykule podjęto próbę odpowiedzi w oparciu o realia świata starożytnego (literaturę z tego okresu), jaki konkretnie wąż kryje się pod tym niezwykłym opisem. Św. Hieronim w swym przekładzie wymienia różne gatunki węży znanych w świecie grecko- rzymskim jako ekwiwalenty hebrajskich nazw. Okazuje się, że analizowane w artykule określenie węża, Hieronim zaczerpnął z Symmacha. Sam Symmach opierał się na komentarzu rabinackim i popełnił błąd przy tłumaczeniu tekstu hebrajskiego. Pomyłka ta jednak była do zaakceptowania przez Hieronima w odniesieniu do bazyliszka W przekonaniu starożytnych wąż ten oprócz innych śmiercionośnych właściwości miał moc palenia wszystkiego dookoła. Hieronim wprowadził do Biblii bazyliszka z nazwy ...

This article examines the question of whether there was a genuine friendship between Augustine and Jerome by analyzing their own ideas and requirements for friendship as expressed in their writings. For Jerome, the essential conditions were disinterested love, frank and unflattering sincerity, and deep-rooted unity of purpose. Augustine's view aligned closely, emphasizing consensus or agreement on divine and human matters, benevolence or willingness to do good for the other, and caritas or Christian love and charity.
The author argues that while Augustine and Jerome did not achieve full consensus on all exegetical and doctrinal issues, their basic agreement on the truths of the faith allowed for a real friendship characterized by benevolence and love. However, their unanimity was not perfect, making theirs a "difficult friendship." Nevertheless, both strove to maintain an authentic, sincere and affectionate friendship through their lengthy correspondence over more than two decades, even when disagreements arose. The article concludes that in their minds, despite the challenges, their relationship constituted a genuine friendship according to the criteria they set forth.

U članku se raspravlja o mramornom reljefu sv. Stošije, koji je sredinom 15. stoljeća bio naručen za svetičinu kapelu u zadarskoj katedrali. U prvom se dijelu razmatraju okolnosti narudžbe i izvornog smještaja reljefa u odnosu na oltar i u njemu pohranjene relikvije, a u drugom se dijelu članka analiziraju dosadašnje atribucije reljefa, koji je po mnogim svojim značajkama
jedinstven u okvirima dalmatinskog 15. stoljeća, pa je nedvojbeno riječ o umjetničkom importu.
Od niza atribucija dosad su u stručnoj javnosti ponajviše odjeka imale one pripisane Frani Laurani i Jacopinu da Tradateu, a ključni stilsko-morfološki elementi reljefa govore u prilog autorstva potonjeg

It was the 27 th year of the war with the Moscow. Taking advantage of a favorable political situation, Ivan III, Duke of Moscow, attacked the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1492. His son and father of Ivan the Terrible, Vasily III, later continued the aggression. The war came to an end only after his death -a truce was concluded in 1537, so this war lasted as long as for 45 years. At that time, Francysk Skaryna, bent over his lectern in Prague, was writing his famous preface to The Ruthenian Bible, beseeching his Ruthenian compatriots to strengthen their faith and to educate themselves. For this purpose, it would be best to use the Holy Scripture, since, in his words, "This book teaches about the beginning and the end of all possible wisdom -the God Almighty. In this book, all the laws and all the rights are written down -people must follow them on earth. In this book, you will find all the remedies for the mind and body. Here we also find the moral teaching of philosophy, and how to love God for own sake, and our neighbor, for God's sake. Here, the case of every human community and every town is also laid out, and here it is shown how public good is increased through faith, ties of love and harmony of opinion. All seven liberal arts are sufficiently laid out here. If you want to know grammar, or, speaking in Ruthenian, the lore of letters, which teaches to read and write well, you will find it in the entire Bible, in the Psalms -read them. If you want to understand logics that teaches you how suitably to distinguish right from wrong, read the book of Saint Job or the epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul. If you are resolved to have knowledge of rhetoric, that is, the art of eloquence, read the books of Solomon. These are the three arts of the word. If you desire to learn music, that is singing, you will find plenty of verses or holy hymns throughout the book. If you wish to learn arithmetic and how it, concisely, but correctly, teaches you to count, read the fourth book of Moses more often. If you want to have geometry, or in Ruthenian, land measurement, before your eyes, read the book of Joshua. If it is astronomy, or the science of the stars, then in the beginning of this book, you will find out about the creation of the sun, moon, and stars; in the book of Joshua, about how the sun stayed in one place all day; in the books of Kings, how the sun went back a few feet; in the Holy Gospel, you will also find out about a new star that rose at the hour of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ.

Symbolism of Animals in Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek.
The aim of this article is to outline the symbolism of animals in Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek. This analysis leads to the following conclusions: The author uses symbols of over twenty species of animals to present religious truths, primarily the problem of sin and a man tainted with sin, as well as Satan's activities. Naturally, the predominance of symbols with a negative meaning results from the nature of the work itself in which repentance and confession of sins are the leading theme. The Armenian poet refers to many motifs, metaphors and comparisons from the Scriptures, but he does not explain them in detail as a rule, which is also related to the fact that his primary goal is internalising and applying God's word. Moreover, the author refers to ideas, symbols and biblical interpretations used by early Christian Greek writers. Evagrius of Pontus deserves particular mention among them. Additionally, when considering patristic sources which influenced Gregory, it would be also necessary to examine the Armenian and Syriac traditions. Nevertheless, Gregory's use of earlier tradition does not diminish his originality. As far as the symbolism of animals in Gregory is concerned, the meaning he gives to the symbols of worms and insects poisoned with oil, a scorpion and a jackdaw (in reference to Aesop's fable), as well as the extension of the metaphor of dogs (from the pericope of Matthew 15:21-28) and the allegorical interpretation of the motif of the beast of burden (from the parable of Luke 10:30-35), appear to be unique contributions.

also known as Valentinus Ecchius is one of the most prolific humanist authors associated with the territory of current Slovakia. Though born in the Bavarian city of Lindau, he spent the majority of his life in the eastern Slovak city of Bardejov serving, at first, as the principal of the local school until he finally reached the position of the city judge (der Richter). Behind his rise to prominence stood the patronage of Alexius Thurzo, one of the most influential royal dignitaries of Louis II. and Ferdinand I., to whom he dedicated most of his works including the epyllion Vita divi Pauli Primi Eremitae, a poetic adaptation of the legend about the anchorite Paul of Thebes written by Jerome more than a thousand years ago. Our paper contains a short introduction both into the life and works of the poet trying to describe his political and literary activities in the then Kingdom of Hungary in connection with other eminent humanist scholars of those times such as Rudolf Agricola Junior and Leonard Cox. Then it compares the Eck's versified version of Paul's life to its prosaic original briefly trying to identify the main changes which the Hieronymian work underwent. Neither the aesthetic appraisal of the poem is neglected. The heart of the paper is, however, represented by the commented translation of the aforementioned Pauline epyllion into English hexameter the purpose of which is to popularize the literary production of this humanist scholar abroad.

RESUMO Jerônimo de Estridão (347-419) foi um dos maiores eruditos do seu tempo, conforme depreendese da extensa obra literária legada sobretudo ao Ocidente. A partir dos seus escritos de caráter exegético, histórico, epistolar, biográfico, entre outros, é possível observar diferentes tipologias intertextuais. O elemento cristão é a principal característica que permeia o seu trabalho, pois além da formação que recebeu dos seus pais na província romana da Dalmácia, desde jovem adentrou à comunidade cristã a partir do batismo, do convívio com seguidores dessa religião e dos estudos sistemáticos das Escrituras. Entretanto, a presença da tradição clássica é outro aspecto pertencente à obra jeronimiana, evidenciada, por exemplo, pelas citações recorrentes de autores gregos e latinos. Assim, apresentaremos ideias relacionadas ao exposto, partindo de alguns excertos de Jerônimo, e recorrendo a estudiosos que abordam a faceta clássica desse intelectual. Além disso, assumiremos dois pressupostos a respeito da intertextualidade: o conceito de comunidade textual, apontado por Tania Franco Carvalhal e a ideia de todo texto ser um intertexto, explicada por José Luiz Fiorin. Pretendemos, de tal maneira, refletir sobre a integralidade da formação intelectual e religiosa do estridonense, demonstrando, também, a complexidade do período em que viveu.

In contrast to the “silence” of its Vorlage (Samuel-Kings), Chronicles presents a detailed account of the involvement of king David in the preparations for the building of God’s temple (1 Chr 21-29). In its closing chapter (1 Chr 29), the ageing ruler invites the leaders of the people to show their magnanimity vis-à-vis the project, in imitation of his own generosity. The analysis of this episode tends to emphasize its links with the Exodus’ account of the building of the Tabernacle (Exod 25-40) and, although less frequently, with the offerings of the princes in Numbers 7. It appears as a telling example of the Chronicler’s tendency to engage in “recapitulative historiography” for the sake of affirming the continuity between the “time of the beginnings” and its glorious culmination in the golden age of David and Solomon. In this paper, I look in the opposite direction to investigate the links between the preparations under king David and the efforts of the first generation of returnees, described in Ezra 1-6 (viz. Ezra 1; 2:68-69; 3). The correspondences between these two texts suggest a process of narrative analogization of king David’s generation and that of the first returnees. I propose that such a phenomenon is aimed at vindicating a generation “stained” by the dishonor of having neglected the sacred duty of rebuilding the deity’s ruined temple (Hag 1:4.9). Building on this hypothesis, the essay also offers a fresh proposal regarding the Chronicler’s historiographic technique: alongside its recapitulative quality, it also relies on the potential the (re)telling of a story may have on reshaping the reader’s interpretation of later narratives and events.

This book traces the categorical construction and discursive employment of the Church Fathers across a variety of textual genres and contexts during the Carolingian era. This study shows that Carolingian intellectual culture was imbued with a distinctive sense of ‘progress toward the past,’ bolstered by texts associating the Church Fathers with the perceived harmony and continuity of the ancient Christian tradition across time and space. The new Christian ‘Roman’ empire that the Carolingians sought to create, reform, and ultimately perfect was fundamentally rooted in a certain idealized vision of ancient Christianity and the Church Fathers as a special type of timeless, transdiscursive authority.

S. MANTELLI, Servant mysterium Trinitatis. The Role of Seraphim (Is 6, 2-3) in Concealing and Revealing the nature of God in the Origenian Work and its Sources, in The Pattern and the Image. Insights from the Alexandrian Exegetical Tradition, ed. D. Vopřada, M. Dudziková, V. V. Lytvynenko, Berlin-Boston 2025, 139-159.

Molte e varie leggende di san Girolamo sono state conservate nella più antica tradizione letteraria croata e confermate in più alfabeti e lingue. Numerose e varie leggende medievali croate di san Girolamo testimoniano la diffusione e la popolarità del suo culto. San Girolamo fu venerato in particolar modo dai glagolitici croati che lo consideravano l’ideatore dell’alfabeto glagolitico, il fondatore della tradizione glagolitica e il traduttore della Bibbia in lingua croata. Di special interesse sono le Vite di san Girolamo, conservate nei vari breviari e miscellanee glagolitici. In questo studio la Traslazione di San Girolamo viene pubblicata nella translitterazione latina per la prima volta.

Many and diverse legends about Saint Jerome are preserved in older Croatian literary traditions. They are confi rmed in several scripts and languages. Glagolitic medieval legends about Saint Jerome bear witness to the extent and popularity of his cult, and confirm the position that this saint, who is considered to be the author and patron saint of the Glagolitic script and Glagolitism, held in Croatian culture. His Vitae in many Glagolitic breviaries and miscellanies are remarkable, as is the Glagolitic Translatio sancti Hieronymi, which is here published for the fi rst time in Latin transliteration.

Although Origen’s condemnation has long been associated with synods in Egypt around 400 and sixth-century councils in 543 and 553 under
Emperor Justinian, there also seem to be explicit anti-Origenist  implications to the Council of Ephesus in 431, and thereby anti-Origenism’s
association with the four major ecumenical councils of Christendom.
Twelve anathemas “On the faith (De fide)” seem intended to serve as
a kind of touchstone of orthodoxy and, in continuity with the synods around 400, to provide an anti-Origenist underpinning to the ecumenical Council of Ephesus, over a century prior to the sixth-century councils specifically condemning Origen, Didymus, and Evagrius. Related to the anathemas’ inclusion in the Ephesus materials is the influence there of “Epiphanius’ protégés,” the Cyprus bishops. “The vote of this holy synod [on adopting no other creed than that of Nicea],” that council decreed, “is given on the appeal made to it by the bishops of Cyprus” (Dogma and Mysticism in Early Christianity: Epiphanius of Cyprus and the Legacy of Origen, 1988, page 469).

Pre-Islamic Beliefs : Kitab Al Asnam by Hisham ibn-al-Kalbi (737 CE - 819 CE)

This work pays tribute to the eminent Palestinian historian Nabih Amin Faris, whose contributions to the study of Arab history and culture remain invaluable. His scholarship continues to inspire critical engagement with the richness of pre-Islamic Arab societies.

The graphic design and editorial layout of this publication were undertaken by Mateusz Zalewski-Grzelak (23.777 Saturnin), whose visual contributions have helped bring this project to life with clarity and purpose.

We also extend this dedication to the great matriarchal traditions of the Arab world prior to Islam—an era marked by complexity, resilience, and cultural depth, which deserves continued scholarly attention.

The Book of Idols

Being a Translation from the Arabic of
The Kitab Al-Asnam
by Hisham ibn-Al-Kalbi
Translated with Introduction and Notes by Nabih Amin Faris
                                 
1952

Ps 110,3 is, beyond any reasonable doubt, one of the most text-critically challenging verses of the Psalter. Almost every generation of Christian and Jewish commentators has been puzzled by the enigmatic syntax and imagery reflected in the Hebrew text. In this paper, I will try to offer new insights into one of the most intriguing choices of the Syriac Peshiṭta translator – namely, the translation of the Hebrew «dew» (טַל) with the Syriac noun «child» (ܛܠܝܐ).

I examine Miss Miller's poem 'The Moth to the Sun' in this essay. In it, she describes her longing for perfect light, only to die. She then talks about leafing through the works of Lord Byron and quotes from 'Heaven and Earth', a drama based on the biblical story of the Flood. C.G. Jung suggests that this quote is about repressed sexuality. However, I think Miss Miller is looking for a punishment for incest. Examining Lord Byron's 'Heaven and Earth' reveals an entirely different meaning!

The paper summarizes Jerome’s Latin translation of the law against kidnapping in Deut 24:7, highlighting the differences in meaning between the Hebrew and Latin texts and exploring how Jerome’s interpretation reflects the Roman understanding of this crime. The author concludes that Jerome’s translation effectively balances fidelity to the Hebrew text with simplification and his own interpretive insight, particularly in the choice of the verb sollicitare to describe the crime of kidnapping. This choice resonates with Deuteronomy’s emphasis on the importance of treating fellow Israelites with compassion and aligns with the social realities of Jerome’s time in the Roman world, where deceitful kidnapping and enslavement were significant concerns.

Abstract: Septuagint – The Bible of the Jewish Diaspora and the New Testament  //  This study takes as its starting point the verbatim quotation from the Septuagint (LXX) in Acts 8:26–40 (vv. 32–33 = Isa 53:7–8). In this pericope, the author identifies a pivotal moment in the development of the early Church, just prior to its emergence from the Jewish context into the wider Gentile world. As the Church was bearing witness “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), its Holy Scripture – interpreted christologically – was the Septuagint, the Bible of the Jewish diaspora.
Bearing in mind that the LXX became the Bible of the New Testament and the early Church, the author raises the question of the justification for its subsequent abandonment in the Western Church. A possible trace of the answer to this question lies in the continuous understanding of the identity of the Septuagint. On the one hand, there existed a strong conviction regarding its inspiration; on the other, a persistent awareness that the LXX was, nevertheless, a translation. This distinctive theological and hermeneutical dichotomy of the LXX can already be discerned in the Letter of Aristeas, followed by the New Testament writings (particularly in Paul’s “hebraising”), then in Origen’s Hexapla, and finally in Jerome’s translation (Vulgate) from the Hebrew.
Key words: Septuagint (LXX), Palestinian canon, Alexandrian canon, Inspiration, Christological interpretation, Letter of Aristeas, Jamnia, Origen’s Hexapla, Jerome’s translation.

Sažetak
Septuaginta – Biblija židovske dijaspore i Novoga zavjeta
Ovo istraživanje polazi od doslovnog citata (verbatim) iz Septuaginte (LXX) u Dj 8,26–40 (rr. 32–33 = Iz 53,7–8). U navedenoj perikopi autor prepoznaje značajan trenutak u razvoju rane Crkve, neposredno prije njezina iskoraka iz židovskog konteksta u širi poganski svijet. U skladu s programatskim navještajem iz Dj 1,8 evanđelje se treba širiti „do kraja zemlje“. Sveto pismo koje rana Crkva pritom koristi – interpretirano kristološki – jest Septuaginta, Biblija židovske dijaspore.
Polazeći od činjenice da je Septuaginta postala Biblija Novoga zavjeta i rane Crkve, autor se pita o opravdanosti njezina kasnijeg napuštanja u zapadnoj Crkvi. Trag mogućeg odgovora na to pitanje pronalazi u kontinuitetu razumijevanja identiteta Septuaginte. Dok je, s jedne strane, postojalo snažno uvjerenje o njezinoj inspiriranosti, s druge strane bila je prisutna kontinuirana svijest o činjenici da je LXX ipak prijevod. Tu svojevrsnu teološku i hermeneutička dihotomiju Septuaginte može se prepoznati već u Aristejevu pismu, zatim u novozavjetnim spisima (osobito u Pavlovu hebraiziranju), potom u Origenovoj Heksapli, te konačno u Jeronimovu prijevodu (Vulgata) s hebrejskoga.
Ključne riječi: Septuaginta (LXX, Prijevod sedamdesetorice), palestinski kanon, aleksandrijski kanon, inspiracija, kristološka egzegeza, Aristejevo pismo, Jamnija, Origenova Heksapla, Jeronimov prijevod.

Ojcowie Kościoła wobec książek i bibliotek na przykładzie księgozbiorów Orygenesa, św. Hieronima i św. Augustyna Epoka późnego cesarstwa rzymskiego to czas wielkich przemian cywilizacyjnych, politycznych i religijnych. W tym to okresie do elity społecznej i kulturalnej Rzymu zostali przyjęci przedstawiciele duchowieństwa chrześcijańskiego, a wśród najwyższych warstw społeczeństwa szybko zaczęła rosnąć liczba świeckich wyznawców nowej religii 1 . Podobnie wyglądała sytuacja wyznaniowa w opiniotwórczych zawodach, takich jak: nauczyciele, retorzy, literaci, przedstawiciele administracji i wojska. Były to te warstwy społeczeństwa rzymskiego, które z racji swoich związków ze strukturami państwa, albo nie mogły do tzw. edyktu mediolańskiego przyjmować wiary w Chrystusa, albo fakt jej przyjęcia musiały skrzętnie ukrywać. W rezultacie opisanej zmiany, zaczęła szybko rozwijać się literatura o charakterze chrześcijańskim, a przy siedzibach biskupich i tworzących się klasztorach pojawiły się biblioteki już o wyraźnie religijnym, chrześcijańskim profilu. Dotychczas wśród wyznawców nowej religii, większe zbiory książek gromadzili przede wszystkim wybitni teologowie i filozofowie związani z nową religią, tacy jak: Klemens Aleksandryjski, Orygenes, Pamfil z Cezarei Palestyńskiej czy Lucjan z Antiochii 2 . O Orygenesie wiadomo, że posiadał dwa księgozbiory. Pierwszy odziedziczył po swoim ojcu Leonidasie. Wśród zgromadzonych tam manuskryptów znajdowały się również pozycje o charakterze świeckim, ale bezpośrednim powodem sprzedaży całej biblioteki, miały być problemy finansowe rodziny. Biskup i historyk Euzebiusz z Cezarei, który podaje te informacje stwierdza jednak, że dodatkowym impulsem do pozbycia się książek, była decyzja Orygenesa o skoncentrowaniu się w swoich dalszych badaniach naukowych na tematyce religijno-filozoficznej.

Les Passions — H. IBRAHIM
1. 2. La Passion arabe de Jacques le Perse.  Status quæstionis 
2.a.  La rédaction «gréco-syriaque» (A)
2.b. La rédaction copto-arabe de Fākiyūs (C)
2.c.  Récit sur l’origine de l’église Saint-Jacques  près de Bahnasā 
3.  La rédaction «gréco-syriaque» (A)
3.a.  La recension «ancienne» (1a)
3.b.  La recension de Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ (1b)
3.c.  D’autres familles de mss liées à la recension «ancienne»
3.d.  La recension «syriaque» (rec. 2)
3.e.  Recension garšūnī (rec. 3)
4. La rédaction «sinaïtique» (B)
5. Rédaction attribuée à Fākiyūs, évêque de Yūsiyūs (C)
6. Récit sur l’origine de l’église Saint-Jacques près de Bahnasā 
7. Ratio edendi
8. Aperçu récapitulatif 
Éditions et traductions 
Recension «ancienne» (1a)
Recension attribuée à Fākiyūs, évêque de Yūsiyūs (C) 
Récit sur l’origine de l’église Saint-Jacques près de Bahnasā (D)

In this study, considering the Patristic Era Adversus Judaeos Tradition, various works and topics concerning Judaism and Jews have been tackled to find the origin of anti-semitism. Also, the Adversus Judaeos tradition has been investigated separately, and Tertullian’s Adversus Judaeos, written in this era, has been examined in terms of the topics of Judaism and Jews in the same way. In the first part of the thesis, the history of Jewish-Christian relations in the first four centuries has been brought up. Again, in this part, the positive progressions in favor of Christians that had occurred in the field of political, legal, and economic have been demonstrated in terms of parallel cases that contributed to the emprovement of Adversus Judaeos Tradition in the Patristic Era with a historical method. In the second part, the Adversus Judaeos Tradition in the Patristic Era, its characteristics, several concepts related to this era, and the topics about Judaism and Jews in the Church Fathers' works have been discussed with a descriptive method. In the third part, Tertullian’s Adversus Judaeos has been inspected in the three titles as the topics related to the Law, the issues about the Messiah, and the theological matters. Again in this part, when dealing with the issues, the descriptive method has been used just as in the second part.

This article argues that John Florio was the former owner and reader of a copy of Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia now held at the British Library (Shelfmark C.78.d.13, dated 1564). This discovery not only sheds new light on Florio’s engagement with Dante but also has the potential to resolve the long-standing mystery of Florio’s lost library, an enigma that has remained unresolved to this day. Through comparative analysis of the annotations with Florio’s known works and handwriting, this study reveals the working method of an Italian linguist actively engaging with Dante’s complex lexicon. These annotations reflect a deliberate effort to expand the English lexicon, as evidenced in his pioneering dictionaries, positioning him as a crucial mediator between Italian Renaissance literature and Elizabethan England. By situating Divina Commedia within Florio’s intellectual framework, this study reconsiders his influence on Shakespeare and highlights his lasting impact on the development of the English language.

The purpose of this paper is not to assess every comment Pelagius writes; it is not to function as a commentary on a commentary. Instead, I desire to examine Pelagius’s commentary on Romans chapters 5 and 6 holistically, paying especially attention to how Pelagius purports his views on the human condition and sin while reviewing the literature surrounding the topic of Pelagius, his theology, and his commentaries. When researching this project, my question developed into “How does Pelagius understand the effects of the fall on humanity as reflected in his commentary on Romans chapters 5 and 6?” His views on this topic and the rippling implications would prove to be the most noticeably controversial in his work on Romans. As Squires notes, Pelagius’s commentary strongly rejects “any notion of ontological corruption or evil.” Other than his anthropology, hamartiology, and thanatology, Pelagius’s work on Romans does not differ much from the universal teaching of the Church of the West during his day. As one reads his comments on Romans 5-6, one will notice that it reads much like any Christian ascetic, as one who desires to faithfully live out the Christian life with help from the grace of Christ. Without paying too much attention to some of the nuances and leaving aside his argumentation on Romans 5:12-15 and 5:19, to some degree, it could almost pass as a regular commentary written by Augustine himself. I will be writing this literature review thematically as I examine Pelagius’s perspective on the effects of the fall on humankind as seen in his commentary on Romans chapters 5 and 6. First, I will survey how Pelagius understood the role of Adam as an example and model for humanity. Then, I will look at Pelagius’s perspective on the will of man after the fall. Lastly, I will examine what baptism accomplishes in Pelagius’s thought.

The article attempts to shed light on the function of the bizarre martyrdom
episode at the beginning of Jerome’s Life of Paul the First Hermit,
which, due to its indecency, causes embarrassment among scholars. It, at
first glance, seems to be a superfluous and somewhat awkward attempt to make the narrative about the founder of the Egyptian eremitic movement more entertaining. Considering how much space the author devotes to this anecdote in this fairly short text and in what detail he describes the unusual sexual torture, it is apparent that this is not just a titillating interlude to amuse the reader. The “torture” by the woman therefore plays a much more important role in the structure of the text. In this scene, Jerome reverses the standard martyrological pattern of the female martyr being subjected to sexual torture by male persecutors, in an attempt to show the ethos of the new Eastern ascetic movements of which he became an enthusiastic advocate. The entire scene can thus be seen as an allegorical parable about the inner spiritual struggle of an adept at the ascetic life with sexual temptation. This can only be overcome at the cost of physical suffering, which the ascetic inflicts on himself by the strict suppression of his own bodily desires, and which can match the torture that the martyrs have to undergo. He thus makes a connection between martyrdom and the ascetic life, placing both forms of extraordinary faith on the same level. The fact that this struggle with carnal temptation is not thematized in the following narrative of the first hermit is the result of a specific narrative strategy based on the use of the isolated fragments of the story between which there are large narrative gaps. The link, however, between the seemingly unrelated opening martyrdom episode and the main narrative of Paul’s eremitic career may not only be the symbolic meaning of the scene as a parable about the struggle with carnal temptation, but also the word meretrix (harlot) itself, which also appears in the main body of the text in the phrase civitas meretrix (harlot city), which Saint Anthony uses to refer to Alexandria. The martyr’s radical break with his female tormentor may prefigure the hermit’s equally uncompromising break with depraved urban civilization and all its worldly temptations. The strange martyrdom episode can thus also be interpreted as a hidden message about the nature of radical eremitic asceticism.

Die Einordnung in die Tradition deutschsprachiger Novellen wäre einen eigenen Aufsatz wert. Hier seien einige formale und inhaltliche Anhaltspunkte genannt: Die Erzählung hat die Länge einer Novelle und im Gegensatz zur Breite des Romans hält sie den Fokus auf einem einzigen Erzählstrang mit einem katastrophalen Höhepunkt. Kanonische Novellen des 19. Jahrhunderts haben häufig einen politischen Anspruch, etwas Parabelhaftes, und prangern (christliche) Doppelmoral an, man denke etwa an Heinrich von Kleists Das Erdbeben in Chili (1807) oder an Annette von Droste

A specialized bibliography on Origen and the Alexandrian (Jewish and Christian) Tradition, starting with the Hellenistic period, throughout antiquity and including its reception in the medieval and modern periods, published yearly in «Adamantius».

Cloistral scriptoria and medieval Cistercian legislation on the book

The earliest books in the early Piast state in the second half of the 10th century were likely imported from the Benedictine scriptoria in Bavaria, Saxony, Rhineland, and Lorraine. These manuscripts contained Biblical texts and liturgical books indispensible for celebrating the Mass. The 12th-century precepts determining the establishment of new Cistercian cloisters necessitated the parent monastery to provide the monks delegated to the new coenobiumwith at least nine basic and indispensible books: the Missal, the Epistolary, the Gospels, the Gradual, the Antiphonary, the Hymnal, the Psalter, the Lectionary, and the Calendar. The said regulations rendered the work of copyists particularly important. One testament to the weight of the Cistercian cloister scribes was their exemption by the General Chapter from other monastic duties performed for their respective monasteries, coupled with dispensation from prescribed rest in favor of additional work (if so required). Apart from the reproduction of liturgical texts and memorative libri vivorum et mortuorum, the Cistercian scriptoria also saw the edition of the running administrative and economic records of a given monastery. Working in the silence of the scriptorium, monks would edit the cloistral yearbooks, obituaries, monastery chronicles, and rhymed epitaphs. They contained notes of daily life outside the enclosure, the names and functions of individual friars, notes of watershed events taking place away from the monastery, and mentions of natural disasters (floods, fires, epidemics) in the surrounding areas, along with the incurred losses. The surviving monastery chronicles provide invaluable insight to the sensibilities and interpersonal relations of cloistered communities, as well as their relations with the immediate surroundings, and manifestations of medieval worldviews.