TRANSLATION

The earliest attestation of the Slavonic translation of the Scala Paradisi is not furnished by the excerpts in the Simeonov Sbornik, but by those in the Scaliger Patericon, which can reliably be dated before the removal of library resources from Pliska to Preslav, i.e. ‘after 887 but before 893’. It contains 59 excerpts (ca. 1210 words) from twelve chapters (1 through 30), which provide a convenient base to examine the relationship of versions a and b of the translation. Both versions have protographs written in Glagolitic, which discredits the claim that version b be a 14th century Athonite work. Both versions vary in 21%, but share 79% of the text, i.e. one of them served as an exemplar for the other. The proposal to consider a co–author of 21% is based on the following: a corrects deficiencies in b, but b not in a; recurrent variation shows patterning in a, not in b; a is ignorant of Cyrillo–Methodian monastic terminology. The most probable dating of a is to ‘before 887’ and of b correspondingly to ‘before a’.

Subject: Language studies Language and Literature Studies Theoretical Linguistics Historical Linguistics Philology Translation

Keywords: John of Sinai Scala Paradisi TRANSLATION Revision Excerption Transmission

The paper discusses a medieval Slavonic translation of Theodoret of Cyrrhus’ commentary of the Song of Songs and particularly the approach of the translator when he needed to render the etymological explanations of the exegete. It is hypothesized that Theodoret’s etymologies might have been one of the stimuli for Konstantin Kostenečki to use this method of explanation in the Treatise on the Letters

Превод на етимологии в славянската версия на коментарите
на Теодорит Кирски върху Песен на песните
Маргарет Димитрова
(Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, България)

В статията се анализират подходите на средновековния славянски преводач при предаване на етимологиите, с които Теодорит Кирски си служи, когато тълкува Песен на Песните. Изказва се предположение, че етимологиите на Теодорит може да са били един от стимулите за Костантин Костенечки да използва този метод в „Сказание изявлено о писменех“, макар че те не са били непосредственият му извор.

Subject: Language and Literature Studies Language studies Studies of Literature Philology Theory of Literature

Keywords: etymology TRANSLATION medieval Slavonic sources Canticum canticorum Konstantin Kostenečki

This paper examines the development of the image of the biblical Joseph (Genesis 37-50) in the Slavonic tradition. Although Joseph appears in the Slavonic Bible and the Christian tradition in many forms, e.g. as a righteous martyr, pious believer, merciful caretaker of the poor, ideal ruler, and as the prefigurement of Jesus Christ, the image of Joseph as a Christian spiritual expert has not been studied methodically. Based on the denomination that medieval Slavic Christians gave to Joseph, i.e. Їѡсифь Прѣкрасни, which literally means, “the most beautiful Joseph,” I argue it refers to his inner beauty, which makes him radiate with divine light and turns him into a spiritual expert in the interpretation of the messages from God. Slavs took over the biblical traditions about Joseph from the Greek translations before enriching them with their own creativity and spirituality. The fact that Їѡсифь Прѣкрасни is clearly the translation of Ἰωσὴφ ὁ Πάγκαλος, and that the Syriac History of Joseph does not exist in Slavonic, precisely because it had never existed in Greek despite its literary quality, supports this premise.

Subject: Language and Literature Studies Theory of Literature Language studies Philology Studies of Literature

Keywords: JOSEPH OLD TESTAMENT Slavonic tradition MANUSCRIPTS TRANSLATION RECEPTION