The Eusebian Canon Tables: Ordering Textual Knowledge in Late Antiquity (Oxford Early Christian Studies)

Description

One of the books most central to late-antique religious life was the four-gospel codex, containing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A common feature in such manuscripts was a marginal cross-referencing system known as the Canon Tables. This reading aid was invented in the early fourth century by Eusebius of Caesarea and represented a milestone achievement both in the history of the book and in the scholarly study of the fourfold gospel. In this work, Matthew R. Crawford provides the first book-length treatment of the origins and use of the Canon Tables apparatus in any language. Part one begins by defining the Canon Tables as a paratextual device that orders the textual content of the fourfold gospel. It then considers the relation of the system to the prior work of Ammonius of Alexandria and the hermeneutical implications of reading a four-gospel codex equipped with the marginal apparatus. Part two transitions to the reception of the paratext in subsequent centuries by highlighting four case studies from different cultural and theological traditions, from Augustine of Hippo, who used the Canon Tables to develop the first ever theory of gospel composition, to a Syriac translator in the fifth century, to later monastic scholars in Ireland between the seventh and ninth centuries. Finally, from the eighth century onwards, Armenian commentators used the artistic adornment of the Canon Tables as a basis for contemplative meditation. These four case studies represent four different modes of using the Canon Tables as a paratext and illustrate the potential inherent in the Eusebian apparatus for engaging with the fourfold gospel in a variety of ways, from the philological to the theological to the visual. Cover The Eusebian Canon Tables: Ordering Textual Knowledge in Late Antiquity Copyright Acknowledgements Contents List of Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction Part 1: Origins 1: Eusebius’ Canon Tables as a Paratext for Ordering Textual Knowledge CANON TABLES AS A PARATEXT Defining Paratextuality The Development of Paratexts in Greco-Roman Book Culture up to the Fourth Century CE CANON TABLES AND TABULAR PRESENTATION Tables as Information Visualization Tabular Presentation in Babylon and Rome Tabular Presentation in Ptolemy and Eusebius CONCLUSION 2: The Origins of Scholarship on the Fourfold Gospel: From Alexandria to Caesarea THE DIATESSARON-GOSPEL OF AMMONIUS OF ALEXANDRIA Who was Ammonius? Eusebius’ Description in the Letter to Carpianus Alexandrian Scholarly Traditions and Ammonius’ Work EUSEBIUS’ CONTINUATION OF AMMONIUS’ SCHOLARLY PROJECT Tabular Methods in Eusebius’ Broader Corpus What did Eusebius Take from Ammonius? Eusebius’ Modus Operandi From Formlessness to Polymorphic Diversity 3: Reading the Gospels with the Eusebian Canon Tables THE CANONIZING EFFECT OF THE CANON TABLES HYPERTEXTUAL READING WITHIN A BOUNDED CORPUS THE INDETERMINATE QUALITY OF EUSEBIUS’ PARALLELS CASE STUDIES IN EUSEBIUS’ PARALLELS Case Study 1: Divine and Human Origins Case Study 2: Jesus’ Passover Journeys to Jerusalem Case Study 3: The Cleansing(s) of the Temple Case Study 4: Jesus’ Body as Bread Case Study 5: Peter’s Confession Case Study 6: The Petrine Commission CONCLUSION Part 2: Receptions 4: ‘The Diversity of Agreement among the Four Evangelists’: Augustine’s Usage of the Canon Tables AUGUSTINE’S ACCESS TO JEROME’S VULGATE METHODOLOGICAL CLARIFICATIONS AUGUSTINE’S DEPENDENCE UPON THE CANON TABLES IN DE CONSENSU EVANGELISTARUM MEMORIA RERUM, MEMORIA VERBORUM, AND THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL CONCLUSION 5: Canon Tables 2.0: The Peshitta Version of the Eusebian Apparatus THE SYRIAC VERSION OF EUSEBIUS ’LETTER TO CARPIANUS MARGINAL CONCORDANCE TABLES IN SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS THE PESHITTA REVISION OF EUSEBIUS’ SECTIONING AND PARALLELS Canon I Canon II Canon III Canon IV Canon V Canon VI Canon VII Canon VIII Canon IX Canon XMt Canon XMk Canon XLk Canon XJn CONCLUSION 6: Scholarly Practices: The Eusebian Canon Tables in the Hiberno-Latin Tradition AILERÁN OF CLONARD, CANON EVANGELIORUM Pauca de Libris Catholicorum Scriptorum in Evangelia Excerpta The Irish Reference Bible SEDULIUS SCOTTUS CONCLUSION 7: Seeing the Salvation of God: Images as Paratext in Armenian Commentaries on the Eusebian Canon Tables ARTISTIC ADORNMENT OF CANON TABLES IN LATE ANTIQUE AND MEDIEVAL GOSPELBOOKS TWO ARMENIAN INTERPRETATIONS OF CANON TABLE DECORATION Introduction to Step‘anos of Siwnik‘ and Nerses Šnorhali The Function of Architecture and Ornamentation according to Step‘anos and Nerses Interpretations of Specific Motifs in the Decorative Scheme IMAGE AND SYMBOL: CANON TABLE DECORATION AS A SYSTEM OF LOCI AND IMAGINES IMAGE AND TEXT: ARMENIAN CANON TABLES AS BILDEINSÄTZE CONCLUSION Conclusion APPENDIX 1: A Translation of Eusebius’ Letter to Carpianus APPENDIX 2: Eusebian Parallels in Augustine’s De consensu evangelistarum APPENDIX 3: The Gospel Synopsis in Codex Climaci Rescriptus and its Possible Connection to Ammonius’ Diatessaron-Gospel APPENDIX 4: Theophanes the Grammarian’s Note about Canon Tables Bibliography Biblical Versions Reference Works Primary Sources Secondary Literature Index of Ancient Sources Index of Manuscripts and Papyri Index of Modern Authors Subject Index