Subject: tc-list Greek O.T. "editiones quinta et sexta"

From: "Glen Thompson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 11:00:03 -0600

Dear TCers:

I am needing to find information on what became known as the "editio 
quinta" and the "editio sexta."  Origen's Hexapla had 4 Greek 
versions - LXX, Symmachus, Aquila and Theodotion.  In addition, for 
certain sections, including the Psalms,  he had a fifth and sixth 
(7th and 8th columns in his edition).  I have discovered a little 
about their origin, but am especially interested in their 
circulation. 

Were editions of these versions available outside 
Caesarea where ORigin's Hexapla lay.  I have seen it said that the 
Tetrapla (the 4 Greek versions mentioned above) circulated separately 
from the Hexapla.  Also, that the Hexapla as a whole never 
circulated, i.e. that Jerome had to have copies of parts made as 
needed or had to go to Caesarea to consult the whole.  

The point of my research is to try to nail down at what periods of 
his life Jerome might have had access to the quinta and sexta, i.e. 
only during his Bethlehem years, or perhaps during his stay at 
Antioch, Constantinople and/or Rome.

Any help or thoughts or references where to look further would be 
appreciated.

Glen L. thompson
Martin Luther College

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From: "Robert B. Waltz" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 14:36:58 -0500

>Antioch, Constantinople and/or Rome.

As I recall, Origen found one of those versions in a jar somewhere.
Not what one would call the ordinary mode of circulation. :-)

I have read that neither the hexapla nor the tetrapla actually
circulated -- and I believe it. Too big, too expensive, too
hard to copy accurately (since the former needed a scribe versed in
both Greek and Hebrew, and even the latter, while the demands on
the scribe were less, *still* required four times the parchment
of an ordinary LXX).

On the subject of the tetrapla, BTW, see H. M. Orlinsky,
"Origen's Tetrapla--A Scholarly Fiction?" reprinted in
Sidney Jellicoe, ed., _Studies in the Septuagint: Origins,
Recensions, and Interpretations_ (Ktav, 1974).

But the basic work you should consult is, of course, Field's
edition of the Hexapla. It's a century and a quarter old,
but I (based on my admittedly limited knowledge) know of
no comprehensive replacement.

Bob Waltz
[email-masked]

"The one thing we learn from history --
   is that no one ever learns from history."