This volume contains selected papers from an international conference held in 2009 in Varna, Bulgaria. The papers represent major trends and developments in current research on the medieval Slavonic biblical tradition, primarily in comparison with Greek and Hebrew texts. The volume covers the translation of the canonical, apocryphal and pseudepigraphical books of the Old and New Testaments and its development over the ninth to sixteenth centuries. Another focus is on issues relating to Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the first Slavonic alphabet in the ninth century and the first translators of biblical books into Slavonic. The analytical approach in the volume is interdisciplinary, applying methodologies from textual criticism, philology, cultural and political history, and theology. It should be of value to Slavists, Hebraists and Byzantinists.
Alexander Kulik, Ph.D. (2000), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of German, Russian and East European Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His publication include
Retroverting Slavonic Pseudepigrapha (SBL /Brill, 2004/2005),
3 Baruch (Walter de Gruyter, 2009),
Biblical Pseudepigrapha in Slavonic Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2015; with S. Minov), and
History of the Jews in Russia: From Antiquity to Early Modern Period (Zalman Shazar / Gesharim, 2010).
Catherine Mary MacRobert, D.Phil. (1981), is University Lecturer in Russian Philology and Comparative Slavonic Philology at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the textual and linguistic history of the Psalter in Church Slavonic translation.
Svetlina Nikolova, Ph.D. (1970), Sofia St. Kliment of Ohrid University, is Professor of Cyrillo-Methodian Studies (textual criticism, Slavonic palaeography, medieval manuscripts, literature, language, and Biblical translations into Slavonic) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She has published monographs, translations and more than 250 scholarly articles in European and North American venues.
Moshe Taube, Ph.D. (Paris-Sorbonne 1979) is Professor of Linguistics, holding the Saveli and Tamara Grinberg Chair in Russian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research focuses on Medieval Slavic translations from Hebrew, as well as on Modern Yiddish syntax.
Cynthia M. Vakareliyska (Ph.D. Harvard University 1990) is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Oregon. Her publications include
The Curzon Gospel. Vol I: An Annotated Edition, Vol. II: A Linguistic and Textual Analysis (Oxford University Press 2008).
"The production values of the book are excellent. The text, photographs, illustrations, tables, diagrams (stemmata), charts, lists of abbreviations, detailed endnotes, and lengthy bibliographies are clearly and helpfully presented. The editors and publisher deserve praise for producing a volume that accurately and legibly presents large amounts of material in Hebrew, classical and Byzantine Greek, Slavonic (Glagolitic and Cyrillic), Latin, and Arabic, frequently synoptically line by line." --
Paul Hollingsworth, Vienna, Virginia,
Slavic Review, Cambridge University Press, 792-794 pp.
Preface
SLAVONIC BIBLE
Hebrew Bible or Septuagint: Later Preferences and the Stance of Nascent Christianity,
Serge Ruzer Preliminary Remarks on the Old Church Slavonic Psalterium,
Demetrii Sinaitici, Heinz Miklas, Melanie Gau, and Dana Hürner The Place of Dimitri’s Psalter (MS Sinai Slav 3N) in the Early Transmission of the Church Slavonic Psalter,
Catherine Mary MacRobert The Headings in South Slavonic Copies of the Book of Exodus,
Veselka Zhelyazkova The Importance of the Slavonic Version of the Book of the Prophet Jeremian to the Study of Its Original Structure in the Old Testament,
Tatyana Mostrova The Three Slavonic Translations of the Greek Catena on Job. With an Appendix on the Author of the First Prologue to the First Translation: Polychronius or Photius?,
Francis J. Thomson The Book of Proverbs in Vilnius 262,
Moshe Taube Sophia, the Wisdom of God. According to Proverbs 9:1–11 in the Slavic Tradition of Word and Image,
Iskra Hristova-Shomova Biblical Quotations in the Late South Slavonic Translation of Catena B2 with Commentaries on the Song of Songs,
Margaret Dimitrova The Composition and Structure of the Book of Ben Sira in the Oldest Slavonic Translation,
Svetlina Nikolova Distinguishing Features of the Dobrejšo Gospel’s Book of Matthew,
Cynthia M. Vakareliyska The Banica, Dobrejšo and Curzon Gospels in Light of the Greek Text,
Alberto Alberti The Names of the Books from the Biblical Corpus in Old Bulgarian Literature,
Tatyana Ilieva Muslim Parallels to Slavonic Apocryphal Literature: the Case of the Narration of How God Created Adam,
Sergey Minov Melchizedek among Russian Saints. The History of Melchizedek between Jews and Slavs,
Christfried Böttrich CYRILLO-METHODIAN TRADITIONS
The Extent of the Works of St. Methodius: Syntactic Observations,
Johannes Reinhart Use of the Words ÞÄÝH, ÆHÄÎÂÅ, ÅÂÐÝH in the Long Vita of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher,
Maya Ivanova Towards the Critical Edition of the Vita Constantini,
Mario Capaldo Towards a Critical Edition of the Vita Constantini: The South Slavonic Tradition, the Russian Copies of the Menologium for February and the Russian Miscellanies,
Cristiano Diddi On the ‘Second’ Service for St. Cyril the Philosopher,
Boyka Mircheva Canonical and Apocryphal Texts from the Bible in Balkan Calendrical Miscellanies (Based on Material from Bibliotheca Hagiographica Balcano-Slavica),
Klimentina Ivanova Biblical Quotations in the Oration for the Nativity of the Theotokos by St. John Damascene in Two Middle Bulgarian Translations,
Tsvetomira Danova King David and Royal Penance in Medieval Bulgaria During the Ninth and Tenth Centuries,
Desislava Naydenova Convocato omni regno: The Council of 893 and its “Reflections” in Contemporary Historiography,
Angel Nikolov Index
The volume should be of value to any readers interested in medieval Slavic studies, as well as to Hebraists and Byzantinists studying Bible translations who have not yet had the opportunity to study the Slavic tradition of Bible transmission.