The Book of the Toledot (Descendants) of Adam (Genesis 5; 11:10–26 and Related Texts)

Author(s):  
David M. Carr

This chapter moves through multiple phases in tracing the formation of Genesis 5 and 11:10–26. Because the textual history of these chapters is particularly unclear, the chapter starts by treating this issue. It argues that key indicators in Gen 11:10–26 suggest that the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch represent later scribal revisions that solve problems implicit in an early chronology found in the Masoretic text for Gen 11:10–26 by lengthening the lives of most postflood primeval patriarchs. In turn, it appears that the scribes who produced the Septuagint and Masoretic text of Genesis 5 used a similar strategy of lengthening the lives of primeval patriarchs in order to solve problems implicit in an early chronology found in the Samaritan Pentateuch text for Genesis 5. These scribes appear to have been dealing with problems that emerged when an earlier, pre-Priestly “scroll of the toledot (=descendants) of Adam” (Gen 5:1a), with its chronology of long-lived primeval patriarchs, was appropriated by the author of the Priestly source as the initial basis for the primeval history section of that source. This Toledot scroll, in turn, likely took its basic genealogical information from non-P materials about Adam and Eve’s descendants (now found in Genesis 4) as well as Noah’s offspring (Gen 9:18–27 and parts of Genesis 10). Yet it rearranged those materials into a form that was partially modeled on late versions of the Sumerian King List tradition, even as the nonroyal focus of the non-P materials was preserved.

Author(s):  
Anneli Aejmelaeus

The textual history of the books of Samuel, both in Greek and in Hebrew, is laden with problems that the researcher needs to be acquainted with, whatever the focus of textual research. The Septuagint translation shows a close word-for-word correspondence to its Hebrew Vorlage, however, not without occasional freedom of translation, especially in lexical choices and grammatical forms, as well as erroneous translation due to defective knowledge of Hebrew. The Hebrew Vorlage used by the translator differed at times substantially from the later Masoretic Text, used for comparison during the early textual history of the Septuagint text as well as in research today. Not only is the Masoretic Text corrupted but it underwent editorial changes until the turn of the era. Textual differences caused by both the translator and the editors of the Hebrew text must have occasioned the repeated revisions of the Greek text by Jewish and Christian scribes.


Author(s):  
W. Edward Glenny

This essay discusses the textual history of the Minor Prophets in the Hebrew manuscripts and the Versions, excluding Qumran. The most important textual tradition for the Minor Prophets is the Hebrew Masoretic Text tradition from the medieval period (MT), which continues the earlier proto-masoretic textual tradition that is represented in the Qumran scrolls and is the basis of the translations of the Targums and Peshitta. The Septuagint (LXX) is the most important ancient Version of the Hebrew Bible, because it was the first complete translation and because its Hebrew source differed considerably from the other textual witnesses. Other important Versions of the Hebrew Bible are the Targums, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Latin Vulgate.


Author(s):  
Paul Goldin

This book provides an unmatched introduction to eight of the most important works of classical Chinese philosophy—the Analects of Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Sunzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi. The book places these works in rich context that explains the origin and meaning of their compelling ideas. Because none of these classics was written in its current form by the author to whom it is attributed, the book begins by asking, “What are we reading?” and showing that understanding the textual history of the works enriches our appreciation of them. A chapter is devoted to each of the eight works, and the chapters are organized into three sections: “Philosophy of Heaven,” which looks at how the Analects, Mozi, and Mencius discuss, often skeptically, Heaven (tian) as a source of philosophical values; “Philosophy of the Way,” which addresses how Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Sunzi introduce the new concept of the Way (dao) to transcend the older paradigms; and “Two Titans at the End of an Age,” which examines how Xunzi and Han Feizi adapt the best ideas of the earlier thinkers for a coming imperial age. In addition, the book presents explanations of the protean and frequently misunderstood concept of qi—and of a crucial characteristic of Chinese philosophy, nondeductive reasoning. The result is an invaluable account of an endlessly fascinating and influential philosophical tradition.


Author(s):  
Simeon Dekker

AbstractThe ‘diatribe’ is a dialogical mode of exposition, originating in Hellenistic Greek, where the author dramatically performs different voices in a polemical-didactic discourse. The voice of a fictitious opponent is often disambiguated by means of parenthetical verba dicendi, especially φησί(ν). Although diatribal texts were widely translated into Slavic in the Middle Ages, the textual history of the Zlatostruj collection of Chrysostomic homilies especially suits an investigation not only of how Greek ‘diatribal’ verbs were translated, but also how the Slavic verbs were transmitted or developed in different textual traditions. Over time, Slavic redactional activity led to a homogenization of verb forms. The initial variety of the original translation was partly eliminated, and the verb forms "Equation missing" and "Equation missing" became more firmly established as prototypical diatribal formulae. Especially the (increased) use of the 2sg form "Equation missing" has theoretical consequences for the text’s dialogical structure. Thus, an important dialogical component of the diatribe was reinforced in the Zlatostruj’s textual history on Slavic soil.


Traditio ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 257-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Celenza

There are many still unstudied aspects of the cultural history of early Quattrocento Rome, especially if we consider the years before 1443, the date of the more or less permanent re-entry into the civitas aeterna of Pope Eugenius IV. The nexus between the still ephemeral papacy and the emerging intellectual movement of Italian Renaissance humanism is one of these aspects. It is hoped that this study will shed some light on this problem by presenting a document that has hitherto not been completely edited: the original will of Cardinal Giordano Orsini. As we shall see, this important witness to the fifteenth century provides valuable information on many fronts, even on the structure of the old basilica of Saint Peter. The short introduction is in three parts. The first has a discussion of the cardinal's cultural milieu with a focus on the only contemporary treatise specifically about curial culture, Lapo da Castiglionchio's De curiae commodis. The second part addresses the textual history of the will as well as some misconceptions which have surrounded it. The third part contains a discussion of the will itself, along with some preliminary observations about what can be learned from the critical edition of the text here presented for the first time.


2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Hernández

The publication of Josef Schmid's landmark work on the textual history of the Apocalypse seemingly established the Andreas Text Type as a fourth-century product. The primary evidence for Schmid's claim came from the fourth-century corrections of the Apocalypse in Codex Sinaiticus, corrections which bore a close resemblance to the Andreas text of the Apocalypse. Schmid's reconstruction, however, is flawed. The fourth-century corrections he identified are actually from the seventh century. The data supporting a fourth-century Andreas text type does not exist. Schmid's widely influential error appears to have been based on a misreading of Milne and Skeat'sScribes and Correctors of the Codex Sinaiticus.


2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 445-449
Author(s):  
Gianni Pellegrini

Abstract The study of the concept of meta-language, meta-linguistic devices, meta-rules and hermeneutic rules is pivotal to understand the linguistic as well as philosophical development of Indian textual history. While writing their works, the authors recur to linguistic, lexical, stylistic and doctrinal peculiarities. Sometime, in order to facilitate the reading, the authors themselves insert into their treatises some hermeneutical rules concerning concepts and technical terms. When such insertions are not present, it is likely to find signs, suggestions or abbreviations referring to those interpretative tools. All these devices are collectively called paribhāṣās. The word of paribhāṣā variously translated as “meta-rule”, “interpretative-rule”, “hermeneutic-key”, “indication”, “technical definition” has been very scarcely investigated within the history of Indology. This is a proposal of a series of 6 articles, an introduction and a series of abstracts and biodata of the authors.


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