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DISSERTAZIONI DI DOTTORATO
2019-2020

ZILVERBERG Kevin Jay

The Textual History of Old Latin Daniel from Tertullian to Lucifer

Mod.: R.P. José Manuel CAÑAS REILLO

This study traces the textual history of the Old Latin, or Vetus Latina, version of the Book of Daniel and its additions (Sus-Dn-Bel), from the turn of the third century in North Africa to 360 AD. The work focuses on the patristic evidence, dedicating a chapter to each of the following: Tertullian, the Adversus Iudaeos attributed to him, Cyprian of Carthage, minor witnesses to Dn, and Lucifer of Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy. The fragmentary manuscript evidence and other Fathers’ citations are treated in relation to the Fathers just listed. Each chapter includes a text-critical analysis complemented by a linguistic one.

The work begins with Tertullian’s citations, which he probably translated ad hoc from a Greek text closer to the Septuagintal version than the Theodotionic one. At least the first half of the Adversus Iudaeos is contemporary to Tertullian; however, for the most part, this work cites Dn according to the Theodotionic text. It bears similarities to citations of the next period, especially the Pseudo-Cyprianic De pascha computus. By Cyprian’s time, Theodotionic readings have further encroached upon the Septuagintal version. The Cyprianic citations attest modest affinity with other witnesses, including Lucifer. Between these two Fathers lies the brief chapter on minor witnesses. Finally, Lucifer’s citations imply a Vorlage thoroughly within the Theodotionic stream of transmission. His agreements with Latin authors from a wide geographical range suggest a common textual history, namely, that of a North African translation that underwent subsequent revisions as it spread.

From Tertullian to Lucifer, the Theodotionic Greek manuscript group headed by Codex Marchalianus (Q) is the one that most consistently shares variant readings with Old Latin Sus-Dn-Bel. Within this entire span of Latin citations, one encounters remarkable linguistic characteristics, some morphological, many lexical, and still others syntactical.