European Association of Biblical Studies Conference, 2022
In his famous study on Codex Bezae (1992), David C. Parker highlighted a gap in the scholarly dis... more In his famous study on Codex Bezae (1992), David C. Parker highlighted a gap in the scholarly discussion about the study of bilingual manuscripts, arguing that “an analysis of the physical characteristics of bilingual manuscript traditions has yet to be made. Such an undertaking would be a valuable contribution to our knowledge of ancient manuscripts”. Indeed, research on the histories of the Greek and Latin texts of the New Testament has most often been conducted considering them as separate entities. However, the relationship between those languages in ancient manuscripts could provide new insights into New Testament research. In this paper, I concentrate on two unexplored manuscripts where two different examples of linguistic convergences show some interesting features. The first, GA 620 (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Conv. Soppr. 150), is a bilingual codex from the XII century that contains the Catholic and Pauline Epistles as well as the book of Revelation. Concerning the latter, the Greek and the Latin text are different, but interestingly the scribe corrects the Latin text according to the Greek present in the exemplar. A second example is GA 90 (Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek, III F 28-29), produced in the XVI century, which presents noteworthy Latin marginal notes written by a contemporary of Erasmus, Jacobus Faber of Deventer, who annotated the Greek text of the New Testament, also translating portions of text and paratexts into Latin. These examples show that further investigation on the contact of Greek and Latin languages could allow us to advance our knowledge of these manuscripts, aiming to a deeper understanding of the New Testament manuscript culture. This approach also begins to trace the many ways that Greek and Latin interact in particular specific spaces. The New Testament is a key location of cultural encounter that speaks to its own transmission and interpretation in various contexts.
While among the writings attributed to John, the book of Revelation presents a strong influence o... more While among the writings attributed to John, the book of Revelation presents a strong influence of the apocalyptic texts, the study of the relationship between Apocalyptic and the Gospel of John has gained much interest only recently (Frey, 2013). Following this direction, this paper will offer the opportunity to investigate how the themes of the Jewish apocalyptic world have been shared in the broad Johannine literature. Is there a particular theme/idea which is present in all five writings? What apocalyptic framework do they present? In order to attempt to answer these questions, the analysis will concentrate not as much on the text (that is verbatim agreements) but rather on the hermeneutic and the images which could be retrieved. This study provides the opportunity to reflect on the reception and interpretation of a selection of apocalyptic themes found in the Johannine corpus. Further, it might also lead to re-consider whether there could be any relationship between those five writings attributed to the same apostle.
The peculiar transmission history of the Book of Revelation is nowadays well-known; further, it i... more The peculiar transmission history of the Book of Revelation is nowadays well-known; further, it is generally recognised that the paucity of direct witnesses that have survived, compared to the other New Testament writings, is due to the slow acceptance of this book in the Canon, above all in the eastern part of the Roman Empire; this is, in fact, the situation portraited by Eusebius of Caesarea (Aland, 1989). Within this scenario, I would like to focus the attention on a specific section of Revelation, that is the thousand-year reign, the coming of the New Jerusalem and the last judgment. Chapters 20 and 21, in fact, present a more complicated textual history which is probably reflective of the implications of these chapters for the theology of the early Christian communities. Regarding the Greek tradition, no papyri retain the text of these chapters, and the most ancient manuscript on our disposal is Codex Sinaiticus, which, as J. Hernández has pointed out, presents two principal complications: ‘1) block mixture 2) the quantity and diversity of its corrections’ (2006). On the other hand, the Latin tradition shows an early reception of this text; Victorinus of Petavium wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse, which, however, survives only in one manuscript (dated back to the XV century) and we possess a revision made by Jerome (398) who reworked the passages related to the millennial kingdom. The other relevant commentary came from the North African Tyconius, but it is lost, and it has been reconstructed through the later authors who quoted it. Among them, there is the one wrote by Primasius, yet in which, nevertheless, chapters 20 and 21 present a different text: the one of Augustine (De civitate dei). The Latin manuscripts tradition present a problem as well because the most ancient manuscript which retains the Latin text of Revelation (Fleury Palimpsest) stops at verse 16:5. Given these initial statements, this paper aims to trace the history of these chapters throughout their manuscript evidence, as well as church father’s reception; this could give us a chance also to reflect on the reasons for this peculiar situation. Further, in light of the meaningful work of Josef Schmid (1955) and the new acquisitions on Revelation, this study seeks to consider whether and how it is possible to have access to the most ancient text of these chapters.
New Jerusalem: Conceptions of Revelation’s Holy City in Late Antique Christianity. September 2020
Although condemned and neglected in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, the Book of Revelation ... more Although condemned and neglected in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, the Book of Revelation was read and interpreted from the very beginning of the history of Patristic exegesis in the West. Already in the second half of the III century, in fact, Victorinus of Petavium wrote a commentary on the last book of the New Testament. An important reception of the Apocalypse is also found in Roman North Africa. In this region, in fact, starting with Tertullian, Revelation played a key role not only in the works of the Church Fathers, but also in martyrdom literature (see, for example, the numerous references to it in the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis). In this context, this paper will focus on the exegesis of the coming of the New Jerusalem in the early North African Christian communities. Particularly, I will begin examining the quotations of Tertullian, moving later on to Cyprian and the pseudo-Cyprian writings which present an interesting interpretation (in particular, the treatise De montibus Sina et Sion where the New Jerusalem is linked to Jesus on the cross). Lastly, I will concentrate on the interpretation of Tyconius, which Gryson has described as “une véritable révolution exégétique” (Les commentaires patristiques latins de l’Apocalypse). This path will give us a chance to reflect on the exegesis of Revelation 21 – 22 in a circumscribed context; further, it would also be possible to evaluate if and how the interpretation of these chapters changed during the centuries.
British New Testament Society Conference. September 2020
As Paul Middleton has emphasized in his study, “martyrdom is a major theme in the Apocalypse” (20... more As Paul Middleton has emphasized in his study, “martyrdom is a major theme in the Apocalypse” (2018). However, the role of the martyrs and the significance of the language used to refer to them in the Book of Revelation are still debated among scholars. Moreover, regarding the relationship between the Apocalypse and martyrdom in early Christianity, in his article ‘The Concept of Martyrdom in Revelation’ (2012), Jan W. van Henten has tried to examine whether the book of Revelation accorded martyrdom the same importance and shared a concept of martyrdom with other early Christian communities. Nevertheless, in this paper, I attempt to answer to the opposite question, that is: how is the interpretation of Revelation used in martyrdom literature? And in what forms do we find it? In particular, starting with the Martyrdom of Polycarp - the most ancient document at our disposal - I intend to examine the reception of both the quotations and imagery of the Apocalypse of John in martyrdom documents between the II and the III century in order to offer some reflections on whether and how the exegesis of Revelation shaped the theology of martyrdom in the early communities.
This paper will provide some new observations on the early church reception of Revelation 19 – 21... more This paper will provide some new observations on the early church reception of Revelation 19 – 21. First of all, it should be noticed that the textual transmission of these chapters is very deficient; at the present, in fact, we do not possess any papyrus witness and the most ancient Greek manuscript that retains their text is Codex Sinaiticus (IV century). Moreover, also the Latin text transmission lacks important witnesses; Codex Bezae does not have Revelation, and the earliest manuscript that retains its Old Latin form, the Fleury Palimpsest, stops at Rev 16:5. Significantly, an important tradition of exegesis of Revelation could be found in North African authors (T.W. Mackay, Early Christian Exegesis of the Apocalypse). In these Christian communities, in fact, the Book of Revelation played a crucial role not only as far as the interpretation is concerned, but also related to the consequences that its interpretation had in the ecclesial practice. Through the analysis of the text and the reception of Revelation 19 – 21 in the first North African authors, this paper attempts to provide an account of the early Roman Africa Latin tradition of these three chapters of Revelation. Through this analysis it is also be possible to shed new light on the most ancient text of this section.
XVIII International Conference on Patristic Studies. Oxford, 2019
The aim of this paper is to attempt to shed new light upon the early text of Rev 19 – 21. It is k... more The aim of this paper is to attempt to shed new light upon the early text of Rev 19 – 21. It is known that the book of Revelation has played a very particular role in the history of the text of the New Testament; while it was contested by many Christian authors of the eastern part of the Empire, it presents a significantly tradition in the western part, above all in North Africa. One of the reasons of its difficult acceptance was the passage related to the millennial kingdom of Christ and the coming of the New Jerusalem (Rev 19 – 21). The peculiar history of Revelation interpretation has influenced the scarcity of witnesses that we have nowadays; the most ancient one that retains the Greek text of these chapters, in fact, is the Codex Sinaiticus (IV century). As far as the Old Latin text is concerned, we preserved a continuity tradition in North Africa, but the earliest direct witness at our disposal, the Fleury Palimpsest, stops at Rev 16:5. In this critical situation, this research would propose the study of North African authors’ quotations of Rev 19 – 21 in order to try to establish, when possible, the early Latin text of these chapters which influenced the exegesis of the early Christian communities. This research could also allow us to make some considerations on the Greek text and to deal with the still actual debate concerning the possibility of recognizing a “Western” text type of Revelation.
This paper aims to propose some reflections upon the so-called “Parable chapter” (Mk 4:1-34). Thi... more This paper aims to propose some reflections upon the so-called “Parable chapter” (Mk 4:1-34). This section is generally considered a unitarian redactional composition, i.e. Mark’s redactors have unified various sources in order to combine it (Snodgrass 2008, Zimmermann 2015). In particular, there is a large consensus on the hypothesis that the redactors of the Gospel of Mark used as a source a pre-marcan collection containing three parables: the one of the sower (vv. 3-8), the one of the seed growing by itself (vv. 26-29) and the one of the mustard seed (vv. 30-32). This study will focus on Mk 4:1-34 through a methodology that will take into account both the forms present in the text and the redactional work. This approach could allow us to identify two different parts of this section: from line 1 to line 20, in fact, there are signs of a strong redactional composition, while in the second part a series of Jesus’ sayings can be stressed. Furthermore, this subdivision of Mk 4:1-34 reflects the way in which the redactors of the two other Synoptic Gospels transpose this material; they, in fact, follow the structure and the text of the first part of the marcan section, while they transpose the material of the second part in different chapters, preferring the formulation present in the Q source. This analysis will provide the chance to investigate on the Parable chapter with an attempt to shed new light upon the different kinds of sources utilized and the relationships between Mk 4:1-34 and Q. Finally, the same concept of “parable” will be explored to better evaluate it in the history of the synoptic tradition.
The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of the interpretation of Revelation 19–21 in t... more The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of the interpretation of Revelation 19–21 in the early North African Christian communities (II–III century). These chapters refer to one of the most controversial passages of John’s Apocalypse (the eschatological war, the millennial kingdom, and the descent of the New Jerusalem). After a brief methodological reflection, the article will investigate how these chapters were interpreted not only in the early Latin authors but also how this material was employed in martyrdom accounts as well. The study, in fact, will begin with the first Latin document of Christian literature, the Acta Martyrum Scilitanorum, followed by the corpus of Tertullian, the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, and the writings of Cyprian.
The aim of the paper is to analyze a Jesus’ saying contained in the so-called Little Apocalypse (... more The aim of the paper is to analyze a Jesus’ saying contained in the so-called Little Apocalypse (Mk 13:9-11). In particular, the research aims to formulate an hypothesis of a late inclusion of v. 13:10 in which a delaying clause is found. After taking into account the textual-criticism, it has been studied the meaning of Mk 13:10 and the implications that it determines through its inclusion in the literary context inside which it can still be read. Later on, the work has been focused on the rework of the marcan passage made by the redactors of Matthew and Luke, in order to outline the possible genesis of the verse.
European Association of Biblical Studies Conference, 2022
In his famous study on Codex Bezae (1992), David C. Parker highlighted a gap in the scholarly dis... more In his famous study on Codex Bezae (1992), David C. Parker highlighted a gap in the scholarly discussion about the study of bilingual manuscripts, arguing that “an analysis of the physical characteristics of bilingual manuscript traditions has yet to be made. Such an undertaking would be a valuable contribution to our knowledge of ancient manuscripts”. Indeed, research on the histories of the Greek and Latin texts of the New Testament has most often been conducted considering them as separate entities. However, the relationship between those languages in ancient manuscripts could provide new insights into New Testament research. In this paper, I concentrate on two unexplored manuscripts where two different examples of linguistic convergences show some interesting features. The first, GA 620 (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Conv. Soppr. 150), is a bilingual codex from the XII century that contains the Catholic and Pauline Epistles as well as the book of Revelation. Concerning the latter, the Greek and the Latin text are different, but interestingly the scribe corrects the Latin text according to the Greek present in the exemplar. A second example is GA 90 (Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek, III F 28-29), produced in the XVI century, which presents noteworthy Latin marginal notes written by a contemporary of Erasmus, Jacobus Faber of Deventer, who annotated the Greek text of the New Testament, also translating portions of text and paratexts into Latin. These examples show that further investigation on the contact of Greek and Latin languages could allow us to advance our knowledge of these manuscripts, aiming to a deeper understanding of the New Testament manuscript culture. This approach also begins to trace the many ways that Greek and Latin interact in particular specific spaces. The New Testament is a key location of cultural encounter that speaks to its own transmission and interpretation in various contexts.
While among the writings attributed to John, the book of Revelation presents a strong influence o... more While among the writings attributed to John, the book of Revelation presents a strong influence of the apocalyptic texts, the study of the relationship between Apocalyptic and the Gospel of John has gained much interest only recently (Frey, 2013). Following this direction, this paper will offer the opportunity to investigate how the themes of the Jewish apocalyptic world have been shared in the broad Johannine literature. Is there a particular theme/idea which is present in all five writings? What apocalyptic framework do they present? In order to attempt to answer these questions, the analysis will concentrate not as much on the text (that is verbatim agreements) but rather on the hermeneutic and the images which could be retrieved. This study provides the opportunity to reflect on the reception and interpretation of a selection of apocalyptic themes found in the Johannine corpus. Further, it might also lead to re-consider whether there could be any relationship between those five writings attributed to the same apostle.
The peculiar transmission history of the Book of Revelation is nowadays well-known; further, it i... more The peculiar transmission history of the Book of Revelation is nowadays well-known; further, it is generally recognised that the paucity of direct witnesses that have survived, compared to the other New Testament writings, is due to the slow acceptance of this book in the Canon, above all in the eastern part of the Roman Empire; this is, in fact, the situation portraited by Eusebius of Caesarea (Aland, 1989). Within this scenario, I would like to focus the attention on a specific section of Revelation, that is the thousand-year reign, the coming of the New Jerusalem and the last judgment. Chapters 20 and 21, in fact, present a more complicated textual history which is probably reflective of the implications of these chapters for the theology of the early Christian communities. Regarding the Greek tradition, no papyri retain the text of these chapters, and the most ancient manuscript on our disposal is Codex Sinaiticus, which, as J. Hernández has pointed out, presents two principal complications: ‘1) block mixture 2) the quantity and diversity of its corrections’ (2006). On the other hand, the Latin tradition shows an early reception of this text; Victorinus of Petavium wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse, which, however, survives only in one manuscript (dated back to the XV century) and we possess a revision made by Jerome (398) who reworked the passages related to the millennial kingdom. The other relevant commentary came from the North African Tyconius, but it is lost, and it has been reconstructed through the later authors who quoted it. Among them, there is the one wrote by Primasius, yet in which, nevertheless, chapters 20 and 21 present a different text: the one of Augustine (De civitate dei). The Latin manuscripts tradition present a problem as well because the most ancient manuscript which retains the Latin text of Revelation (Fleury Palimpsest) stops at verse 16:5. Given these initial statements, this paper aims to trace the history of these chapters throughout their manuscript evidence, as well as church father’s reception; this could give us a chance also to reflect on the reasons for this peculiar situation. Further, in light of the meaningful work of Josef Schmid (1955) and the new acquisitions on Revelation, this study seeks to consider whether and how it is possible to have access to the most ancient text of these chapters.
New Jerusalem: Conceptions of Revelation’s Holy City in Late Antique Christianity. September 2020
Although condemned and neglected in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, the Book of Revelation ... more Although condemned and neglected in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, the Book of Revelation was read and interpreted from the very beginning of the history of Patristic exegesis in the West. Already in the second half of the III century, in fact, Victorinus of Petavium wrote a commentary on the last book of the New Testament. An important reception of the Apocalypse is also found in Roman North Africa. In this region, in fact, starting with Tertullian, Revelation played a key role not only in the works of the Church Fathers, but also in martyrdom literature (see, for example, the numerous references to it in the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis). In this context, this paper will focus on the exegesis of the coming of the New Jerusalem in the early North African Christian communities. Particularly, I will begin examining the quotations of Tertullian, moving later on to Cyprian and the pseudo-Cyprian writings which present an interesting interpretation (in particular, the treatise De montibus Sina et Sion where the New Jerusalem is linked to Jesus on the cross). Lastly, I will concentrate on the interpretation of Tyconius, which Gryson has described as “une véritable révolution exégétique” (Les commentaires patristiques latins de l’Apocalypse). This path will give us a chance to reflect on the exegesis of Revelation 21 – 22 in a circumscribed context; further, it would also be possible to evaluate if and how the interpretation of these chapters changed during the centuries.
British New Testament Society Conference. September 2020
As Paul Middleton has emphasized in his study, “martyrdom is a major theme in the Apocalypse” (20... more As Paul Middleton has emphasized in his study, “martyrdom is a major theme in the Apocalypse” (2018). However, the role of the martyrs and the significance of the language used to refer to them in the Book of Revelation are still debated among scholars. Moreover, regarding the relationship between the Apocalypse and martyrdom in early Christianity, in his article ‘The Concept of Martyrdom in Revelation’ (2012), Jan W. van Henten has tried to examine whether the book of Revelation accorded martyrdom the same importance and shared a concept of martyrdom with other early Christian communities. Nevertheless, in this paper, I attempt to answer to the opposite question, that is: how is the interpretation of Revelation used in martyrdom literature? And in what forms do we find it? In particular, starting with the Martyrdom of Polycarp - the most ancient document at our disposal - I intend to examine the reception of both the quotations and imagery of the Apocalypse of John in martyrdom documents between the II and the III century in order to offer some reflections on whether and how the exegesis of Revelation shaped the theology of martyrdom in the early communities.
This paper will provide some new observations on the early church reception of Revelation 19 – 21... more This paper will provide some new observations on the early church reception of Revelation 19 – 21. First of all, it should be noticed that the textual transmission of these chapters is very deficient; at the present, in fact, we do not possess any papyrus witness and the most ancient Greek manuscript that retains their text is Codex Sinaiticus (IV century). Moreover, also the Latin text transmission lacks important witnesses; Codex Bezae does not have Revelation, and the earliest manuscript that retains its Old Latin form, the Fleury Palimpsest, stops at Rev 16:5. Significantly, an important tradition of exegesis of Revelation could be found in North African authors (T.W. Mackay, Early Christian Exegesis of the Apocalypse). In these Christian communities, in fact, the Book of Revelation played a crucial role not only as far as the interpretation is concerned, but also related to the consequences that its interpretation had in the ecclesial practice. Through the analysis of the text and the reception of Revelation 19 – 21 in the first North African authors, this paper attempts to provide an account of the early Roman Africa Latin tradition of these three chapters of Revelation. Through this analysis it is also be possible to shed new light on the most ancient text of this section.
XVIII International Conference on Patristic Studies. Oxford, 2019
The aim of this paper is to attempt to shed new light upon the early text of Rev 19 – 21. It is k... more The aim of this paper is to attempt to shed new light upon the early text of Rev 19 – 21. It is known that the book of Revelation has played a very particular role in the history of the text of the New Testament; while it was contested by many Christian authors of the eastern part of the Empire, it presents a significantly tradition in the western part, above all in North Africa. One of the reasons of its difficult acceptance was the passage related to the millennial kingdom of Christ and the coming of the New Jerusalem (Rev 19 – 21). The peculiar history of Revelation interpretation has influenced the scarcity of witnesses that we have nowadays; the most ancient one that retains the Greek text of these chapters, in fact, is the Codex Sinaiticus (IV century). As far as the Old Latin text is concerned, we preserved a continuity tradition in North Africa, but the earliest direct witness at our disposal, the Fleury Palimpsest, stops at Rev 16:5. In this critical situation, this research would propose the study of North African authors’ quotations of Rev 19 – 21 in order to try to establish, when possible, the early Latin text of these chapters which influenced the exegesis of the early Christian communities. This research could also allow us to make some considerations on the Greek text and to deal with the still actual debate concerning the possibility of recognizing a “Western” text type of Revelation.
This paper aims to propose some reflections upon the so-called “Parable chapter” (Mk 4:1-34). Thi... more This paper aims to propose some reflections upon the so-called “Parable chapter” (Mk 4:1-34). This section is generally considered a unitarian redactional composition, i.e. Mark’s redactors have unified various sources in order to combine it (Snodgrass 2008, Zimmermann 2015). In particular, there is a large consensus on the hypothesis that the redactors of the Gospel of Mark used as a source a pre-marcan collection containing three parables: the one of the sower (vv. 3-8), the one of the seed growing by itself (vv. 26-29) and the one of the mustard seed (vv. 30-32). This study will focus on Mk 4:1-34 through a methodology that will take into account both the forms present in the text and the redactional work. This approach could allow us to identify two different parts of this section: from line 1 to line 20, in fact, there are signs of a strong redactional composition, while in the second part a series of Jesus’ sayings can be stressed. Furthermore, this subdivision of Mk 4:1-34 reflects the way in which the redactors of the two other Synoptic Gospels transpose this material; they, in fact, follow the structure and the text of the first part of the marcan section, while they transpose the material of the second part in different chapters, preferring the formulation present in the Q source. This analysis will provide the chance to investigate on the Parable chapter with an attempt to shed new light upon the different kinds of sources utilized and the relationships between Mk 4:1-34 and Q. Finally, the same concept of “parable” will be explored to better evaluate it in the history of the synoptic tradition.
The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of the interpretation of Revelation 19–21 in t... more The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of the interpretation of Revelation 19–21 in the early North African Christian communities (II–III century). These chapters refer to one of the most controversial passages of John’s Apocalypse (the eschatological war, the millennial kingdom, and the descent of the New Jerusalem). After a brief methodological reflection, the article will investigate how these chapters were interpreted not only in the early Latin authors but also how this material was employed in martyrdom accounts as well. The study, in fact, will begin with the first Latin document of Christian literature, the Acta Martyrum Scilitanorum, followed by the corpus of Tertullian, the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, and the writings of Cyprian.
The aim of the paper is to analyze a Jesus’ saying contained in the so-called Little Apocalypse (... more The aim of the paper is to analyze a Jesus’ saying contained in the so-called Little Apocalypse (Mk 13:9-11). In particular, the research aims to formulate an hypothesis of a late inclusion of v. 13:10 in which a delaying clause is found. After taking into account the textual-criticism, it has been studied the meaning of Mk 13:10 and the implications that it determines through its inclusion in the literary context inside which it can still be read. Later on, the work has been focused on the rework of the marcan passage made by the redactors of Matthew and Luke, in order to outline the possible genesis of the verse.
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In this paper, I concentrate on two unexplored manuscripts where two different examples of linguistic convergences show some interesting features. The first, GA 620 (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Conv. Soppr. 150), is a bilingual codex from the XII century that contains the Catholic and Pauline Epistles as well as the book of Revelation. Concerning the latter, the Greek and the Latin text are different, but interestingly the scribe corrects the Latin text according to the Greek present in the exemplar. A second example is GA 90 (Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek, III F 28-29), produced in the XVI century, which presents noteworthy Latin marginal notes written by a contemporary of Erasmus, Jacobus Faber of Deventer, who annotated the Greek text of the New Testament, also translating portions of text and paratexts into Latin.
These examples show that further investigation on the contact of Greek and Latin languages could allow us to advance our knowledge of these manuscripts, aiming to a deeper understanding of the New Testament manuscript culture. This approach also begins to trace the many ways that Greek and Latin interact in particular specific spaces. The New Testament is a key location of cultural encounter that speaks to its own transmission and interpretation in various contexts.
Is there a particular theme/idea which is present in all five writings? What apocalyptic framework do they present? In order to attempt to answer these questions, the analysis will concentrate not as much on the text (that is verbatim agreements) but rather on the hermeneutic and the images which could be retrieved.
This study provides the opportunity to reflect on the reception and interpretation of a selection of apocalyptic themes found in the Johannine corpus. Further, it might also lead to re-consider whether there could be any relationship between those five writings attributed to the same apostle.
Significantly, an important tradition of exegesis of Revelation could be found in North African authors (T.W. Mackay, Early Christian Exegesis of the Apocalypse). In these Christian communities, in fact, the Book of Revelation played a crucial role not only as far as the interpretation is concerned, but also related to the consequences that its interpretation had in the ecclesial practice.
Through the analysis of the text and the reception of Revelation 19 – 21 in the first North African authors, this paper attempts to provide an account of the early Roman Africa Latin tradition of these three chapters of Revelation. Through this analysis it is also be possible to shed new light on the most ancient text of this section.
This study will focus on Mk 4:1-34 through a methodology that will take into account both the forms present in the text and the redactional work. This approach could allow us to identify two different parts of this section: from line 1 to line 20, in fact, there are signs of a strong redactional composition, while in the second part a series of Jesus’ sayings can be stressed.
Furthermore, this subdivision of Mk 4:1-34 reflects the way in which the redactors of the two other Synoptic Gospels transpose this material; they, in fact, follow the structure and the text of the first part of the marcan section, while they transpose the material of the second part in different chapters, preferring the formulation present in the Q source.
This analysis will provide the chance to investigate on the Parable chapter with an attempt to shed new light upon the different kinds of sources utilized and the relationships between Mk 4:1-34 and Q. Finally, the same concept of “parable” will be explored to better evaluate it in the history of the synoptic tradition.
In this paper, I concentrate on two unexplored manuscripts where two different examples of linguistic convergences show some interesting features. The first, GA 620 (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Conv. Soppr. 150), is a bilingual codex from the XII century that contains the Catholic and Pauline Epistles as well as the book of Revelation. Concerning the latter, the Greek and the Latin text are different, but interestingly the scribe corrects the Latin text according to the Greek present in the exemplar. A second example is GA 90 (Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek, III F 28-29), produced in the XVI century, which presents noteworthy Latin marginal notes written by a contemporary of Erasmus, Jacobus Faber of Deventer, who annotated the Greek text of the New Testament, also translating portions of text and paratexts into Latin.
These examples show that further investigation on the contact of Greek and Latin languages could allow us to advance our knowledge of these manuscripts, aiming to a deeper understanding of the New Testament manuscript culture. This approach also begins to trace the many ways that Greek and Latin interact in particular specific spaces. The New Testament is a key location of cultural encounter that speaks to its own transmission and interpretation in various contexts.
Is there a particular theme/idea which is present in all five writings? What apocalyptic framework do they present? In order to attempt to answer these questions, the analysis will concentrate not as much on the text (that is verbatim agreements) but rather on the hermeneutic and the images which could be retrieved.
This study provides the opportunity to reflect on the reception and interpretation of a selection of apocalyptic themes found in the Johannine corpus. Further, it might also lead to re-consider whether there could be any relationship between those five writings attributed to the same apostle.
Significantly, an important tradition of exegesis of Revelation could be found in North African authors (T.W. Mackay, Early Christian Exegesis of the Apocalypse). In these Christian communities, in fact, the Book of Revelation played a crucial role not only as far as the interpretation is concerned, but also related to the consequences that its interpretation had in the ecclesial practice.
Through the analysis of the text and the reception of Revelation 19 – 21 in the first North African authors, this paper attempts to provide an account of the early Roman Africa Latin tradition of these three chapters of Revelation. Through this analysis it is also be possible to shed new light on the most ancient text of this section.
This study will focus on Mk 4:1-34 through a methodology that will take into account both the forms present in the text and the redactional work. This approach could allow us to identify two different parts of this section: from line 1 to line 20, in fact, there are signs of a strong redactional composition, while in the second part a series of Jesus’ sayings can be stressed.
Furthermore, this subdivision of Mk 4:1-34 reflects the way in which the redactors of the two other Synoptic Gospels transpose this material; they, in fact, follow the structure and the text of the first part of the marcan section, while they transpose the material of the second part in different chapters, preferring the formulation present in the Q source.
This analysis will provide the chance to investigate on the Parable chapter with an attempt to shed new light upon the different kinds of sources utilized and the relationships between Mk 4:1-34 and Q. Finally, the same concept of “parable” will be explored to better evaluate it in the history of the synoptic tradition.