The Gothic Version of the Gospels: A Study of Its Style and Textual History

Description

The writer’s aim in the present work has been, first, to essay a general stylistic appreciation of the Gothic renderings of Greek words, and to establish, on the internal evidence afforded by the renderings of the Codex Argenteus, the methods adopted by the translator or translators of the original Version. This has been followed by a scrutiny of all passages where the Gothic rendering seems to depart from the basic norm, and of every rendering that varies from the usual rendering of the same Greek word or sense, or which is in any other way remarkable. Part I Stylistic Criticism A. THE WULFILIAN TECHNIQUE I. THE BASIC NORM 15 § 1. Word-order. The unit of translation 15 § 2. Uniformity of rendering 23 § 3. Uniformity and some alleged Stilgesetze 28 § 4. Uniformity and the Africana 33 II. TYPICAL GOTHIC RENDERINGS OF NOUNS 35 § i. Adoptives and counterfeits 35 § 2. Renderings of nouns 41 III. TYPICAL GOTHIC RENDERINGS OF VERBS 46 § 1. Verb-aspects 46 § 2. 'Erhesthai' 49 IV. FURTHER EXAMPLES OF VERB-RENDERINGS 58 Β. DEVIATIONS FROM THE NORM V. STYLISTIC VARIATION 69 VI. DUAL RENDERINGS 83 VII. EXCEPTIONAL RENDERINGS 92 Preponderance of variation in Luke 119 VIII. RENDERINGS ILLUSTRATIVE OF AN INFERIOR LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT 122 IX. MISCONSTRUED PASSAGES 139 X. TWO EXTREMES 148 § 1. Free renderings 148 § 2. Literalisms of rendering 154 Part II The History of the Gothic Gospel Text XI. UNIFORM, DUAL AND MULTIPLE RENDERINGS AND THEIR BEARING ON THE HISTORY OF THE GOTHIC TEXT 157 XII. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS MAKING FOR THE LATINIZATION OF THE GOTHIC TEXT 162 XIII. THE PALATINIAN BILINGUAL 169 § 1. 'Arhiereus' 169 § 2. Gothic renderings and the Old Latin 172 § 3. The Palatinian Bilingual 182 XIV. THE GOTHS AND THE OLD LAT. WITNESSES 187 Provenance of MSS. The problem of e and k 187, 190 The Gospel of Luke in C.A., e and Bezae 191 XV. THE BRIXIAN BILINGUAL 194 § 1. Three stages of Latin influence 194 § 2. The 'Praefatio' and Jerome’s Epistle to Sunnia and Freteia 196 § 3. The text of the 'Praefatio' 199 § 4. The 'Wulthres'. Purpose. Examples 204 XVI. FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE TEXTUAL ACTIVITIES OF THE GOTHS 212 § 1. The conflation of L. ix. 43 212 § 2. Post-Brixian Revisions 216 § 3. The Glosses, (a) marginal; (b) interpolated 218, 221 § 4. Revisions of text with Greek MSS 223 XVII. GOTHIC PARALLELS 227 § 1. From passages more remote 228 § 2. Contextual Contacts 233 § 3. The Levelling-out of Parallels 238 XVIII. THE CODEX ARGENTEUS 240 Conclusion 246 APPENDIX Streitberg’s Vorlage 249 Suggested Emendations 250 INDEX List of Passages 255 Subjects and Persons 261