Scriptures Fit for a King

This paper examines the use of translational doublets (multiple translations of a single expression presented together in a translated text) in the revised text of the Later Version of the Wycliffite Bible found in Oxford University MS. Bodley 277 (1420s or 1430s). The manuscript in question contains a large number of doublets found in no other copy of the Wycliffite Bible, and these appear to be the contributions of an independent revisor. The various functions that doublets have in this text are discussed, and it is argued that, in his use of doublets, the revisor focused primarily on clarifying or explaining details of the text’s literal, immediate meaning, especially in Old Testament historical books. It is suggested, moreover, that a large proportion of the revisor’s doublets reflect the interests of an aristocratic or royal audience, in line with the probable origin of MS. Bodley 277 (which was once owned by King Henry VI). Special attention is paid to the apocryphal 3 Ezra, for which Bodley 277 is the only copy of the Wycliffite Bible to include translational doublets and which appears in no other manuscript of the Later Version.

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Canons to the Left of Him: Brevard Childs, his Critics, and the Future of Old Testament Theology

Scottish Journal of Theology ◽

10.1017/s0036930600036115 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 1-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Iain Provan

Keyword(s):

Old Testament ◽

18Th Century ◽

Biblical Theology ◽

Point Of View ◽

The Bible ◽

The Difference ◽

Probable Origin ◽

The Individual ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Church

It is well known that the seeds from which the modern discipline of OT theology grew are already found in 17th and 18th century discussion of the relationship between Bible and Church, which tended to drive a wedge between the two, regarding canon in historical rather than theological terms; stressing the difference between what is transient and particular in the Bible and what is universal and of abiding significance; and placing the task of deciding which is which upon the shoulders of the individual reader rather than upon the church. Free investigation of the Bible, unfettered by church tradition and theology, was to be the way ahead. OT theology finds its roots more particularly in the 18th century discussion of the nature of and the relationship between Biblical Theology and Dogmatic Theology, and in particular in Gabler's classic theoreticalstatementof their nature and relationship. The first book which may strictly be called an OT theology appeared in 1796: an historical discussion of the ideas to be found in the OT, with an emphasis on their probable origin and the stages through which Hebrew religious thought had passed, compared and contrasted with the beliefs of other ancient peoples, and evaluated from the point of view of rationalistic religion. Here we find the unreserved acceptance of Gabler's principle that OT theology must in the first instance be a descriptive and historical discipline, freed from dogmatic constraints and resistant to the premature merging of OT and NT — a principle which in the succeeding century was accepted by writers across the whole theological spectrum, including those of orthodox and conservative inclination.

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