Catena (Biblical commentary) - Revision history

Nick at 16:17, 25 March 2011

2011-03-25T16:17:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:17, 25 March 2011
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	A '''catena''' (from Latin ''catena'', a chain) is a form of biblical commentary, verse by verse, made up entirely of excerpts from earlier [[Biblical commentator]]s, each introduced with the name of the author, and with such minor adjustments of words to allow the whole to form a continuous commentary.		A '''catena''' (from Latin ''catena'', a chain) is a form of biblical commentary, verse by verse, made up entirely of excerpts from earlier [[Biblical commentator]]s, each introduced with the name of the author, and with such minor adjustments of words to allow the whole to form a continuous commentary.

	The texts are mainly compiled from mainstream authors, but they often contain fragments of certain [[patristic]] writings now otherwise lost.<~~ref~~>~~Cf. Holl, Fragmente vornikänischer Kirchenväter, Leipzig, 1899.~~</~~ref~~> It has been asserted by [[Faulhaber]] that half of all the commentaries on scripture composed by the church Fathers are now extant only in this form<~~ref~~>~~See bibliography.~~</~~ref~~>.		The texts are mainly compiled from mainstream authors, but they often contain fragments of certain [[patristic]] writings now otherwise lost.<sup>[]</sup> It has been asserted by [[Faulhaber]] that half of all the commentaries on scripture composed by the church Fathers are now extant only in this form<sup>[]</sup>.

	==History==		==History==

	The earliest Greek catena is ascribed to [[Procopius of Gaza]], in the first part of the sixth century. Between the seventh and the tenth centuries [[Andreas Presbyter]] and [[Johannes Drungarius]] are the compilers of catenas to various Books of Scripture. Towards the end of the eleventh century [[Nicetas of Heraclea]] produces a great number of catenas. Both before and after, however, the makers of catenae were numerous in the Greek Orient, mostly anonymous, and offering no other indication of their personality than the manuscripts of their excerpts. Similar compilations were also made in the Syriac and Coptic Churches.<~~ref~~>~~Wright, de Lagarde, Martin, in Krumbacher, 216.~~</~~ref~~>		The earliest Greek catena is ascribed to [[Procopius of Gaza]], in the first part of the sixth century. Between the seventh and the tenth centuries [[Andreas Presbyter]] and [[Johannes Drungarius]] are the compilers of catenas to various Books of Scripture. Towards the end of the eleventh century [[Nicetas of Heraclea]] produces a great number of catenas. Both before and after, however, the makers of catenae were numerous in the Greek Orient, mostly anonymous, and offering no other indication of their personality than the manuscripts of their excerpts. Similar compilations were also made in the Syriac and Coptic Churches.<sup>[]</sup>

	In the West, [[Primasius of Adrumentum]] in the former Roman province of Africa in the sixth century compiled the first catena from Latin commentators. He was imitated by [[Rhabanus Maurus]] (d. 865), [[Paschasius Radbertus]], and [[Walafrid Strabo]], later by [[Remigius of Auxerre]] (d. 900), and by [[Lanfranc of Canterbury]] (d. 1089). The Western catenae have had less importance attached to them. The most famous of the medieval Latin compilations of this kind is that of [[Thomas Aquinas]], generally known as the ''[[Catena Aurea]]'' (Golden Catena) and containing excerpts from some eighty Greek and Latin commentators on the Gospels.<~~ref~~>~~Ed. J. Nicolai, Paris, 1869, 3 vols.~~</~~ref~~>		In the West, [[Primasius of Adrumentum]] in the former Roman province of Africa in the sixth century compiled the first catena from Latin commentators. He was imitated by [[Rhabanus Maurus]] (d. 865), [[Paschasius Radbertus]], and [[Walafrid Strabo]], later by [[Remigius of Auxerre]] (d. 900), and by [[Lanfranc of Canterbury]] (d. 1089). The Western catenae have had less importance attached to them. The most famous of the medieval Latin compilations of this kind is that of [[Thomas Aquinas]], generally known as the ''[[Catena Aurea]]'' (Golden Catena) and containing excerpts from some eighty Greek and Latin commentators on the Gospels.<sup>[]</sup>

	Similar collections of Greek patristic utterances were constructed for dogmatic purposes. They were used at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451, at the [[Fifth General Council]] in 533, also apropos of [[Iconoclasm]] in the [[Seventh General Council]] in 787; and among the Greeks such compilations, like the exegetical catenae, did not cease until late in the Middle Ages. The oldest of these dogmatic compilations, attributed to the latter part of the seventh century, is the "Antiquorum Patrum doctrina de Verbi incarnatione".<~~ref~~>~~Edited by~~ [~~[Cardinal Mai]] in Scriptor. Vet. nova collectio, Rome, 1833, VII, i, 1-73; cf. [[Loofs]~~]~~, Leontius von Byzanz, Leipzig, 1887.~~</~~ref~~>		Similar collections of Greek patristic utterances were constructed for dogmatic purposes. They were used at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451, at the [[Fifth General Council]] in 533, also apropos of [[Iconoclasm]] in the [[Seventh General Council]] in 787; and among the Greeks such compilations, like the exegetical catenae, did not cease until late in the Middle Ages. The oldest of these dogmatic compilations, attributed to the latter part of the seventh century, is the "Antiquorum Patrum doctrina de Verbi incarnatione".<sup>[]</sup>

	Finally, in response to homiletic and practical needs, there appeared, previous to the tenth century, a number of collections of moral sentences and paraenetic fragments, partly from Scripture and partly from the more famous ecclesiastical writers; sometimes one writer (e.g. [[Gregory of Nazianzus]], [[Basil the Great]], especially [[John Chrysostom]] whom all the catenae-makers pillage freely) furnishes the material. Such collections are not so numerous as the Scriptural or even the dogmatic catenae. They seem all to depend on an ancient Christian "Florilegium" of the sixth century, that treated, in three books, of God, Man, the Virtues and Vices, and was known as τα ιερά (Sacred Things). Before long its material was recast in strict alphabetical order; took the name of τα ιερά parállela, "Sacra Parallela" (because in the third book a virtue and a vice had been regularly opposed to one another); and was attributed widely to [[John Damascene]],<~~ref~~>~~Migne, ''~~[~~[Patrologia Graeca]~~]~~'', XCV, 1040-1586; XCVI, 9-544.~~</~~ref~~> whose authority was defended (against Loofs, [[Wendland]], and Cohn) by [[K. Holl]] in the above-mentioned "Fragmente vornikänischer Kirchenväter" (Leipzig, 1899), though the Damascene probably based his work on the "Capita theologica" of [[Maximus Confessor]]. The text of these ancient compilations is often in a dubious state, and the authors of most of them are unknown; one of the principal difficulties in their use is the uncertainty concerning the correctness of the names to which the excerpts are attributed. The carelessness of copyists, the use of "[[sigla]]", contractions for proper names, and the frequency of transcription, led naturally to much confusion.		Finally, in response to homiletic and practical needs, there appeared, previous to the tenth century, a number of collections of moral sentences and paraenetic fragments, partly from Scripture and partly from the more famous ecclesiastical writers; sometimes one writer (e.g. [[Gregory of Nazianzus]], [[Basil the Great]], especially [[John Chrysostom]] whom all the catenae-makers pillage freely) furnishes the material. Such collections are not so numerous as the Scriptural or even the dogmatic catenae. They seem all to depend on an ancient Christian "Florilegium" of the sixth century, that treated, in three books, of God, Man, the Virtues and Vices, and was known as τα ιερά (Sacred Things). Before long its material was recast in strict alphabetical order; took the name of τα ιερά parállela, "Sacra Parallela" (because in the third book a virtue and a vice had been regularly opposed to one another); and was attributed widely to [[John Damascene]],<sup>[]</sup> whose authority was defended (against Loofs, [[Wendland]], and Cohn) by [[K. Holl]] in the above-mentioned "Fragmente vornikänischer Kirchenväter" (Leipzig, 1899), though the Damascene probably based his work on the "Capita theologica" of [[Maximus Confessor]]. The text of these ancient compilations is often in a dubious state, and the authors of most of them are unknown; one of the principal difficulties in their use is the uncertainty concerning the correctness of the names to which the excerpts are attributed. The carelessness of copyists, the use of "[[sigla]]", contractions for proper names, and the frequency of transcription, led naturally to much confusion.

	==Printed editions==		==Printed editions==
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	From the sixteenth century to the nineteenth, various catenas were published. However no modern editions exist, and there are severe textual problems in editing them.		From the sixteenth century to the nineteenth, various catenas were published. However no modern editions exist, and there are severe textual problems in editing them.

	Among the editors of Greek catenae was the Jesuit [[Balthasar Cordier]], who published (1628–47) collections of Greek patristic commentaries on St. John and St. Luke and, in conjunction with his confrère [[Possin]], on St. Matthew; the latter scholar edited also (1673) similar collections of patristic excerpts on St. Mark and Job. The voluminous catenae known as ''Biblia Magna'' (Paris, 1643) and ''Biblia Maxima'' (Paris, 1660), edited by [[J. de la Haye]], were followed by the nine volumes of well-known "Critici Sacri, sive clarissimorum virorum annotationes atque tractatus in biblia",<~~ref~~>~~Edited by Pearson, London, 1660; Amsterdam, 1695-1701~~</~~ref~~> containing selections, not only from Catholic but also from Protestant commentators.		Among the editors of Greek catenae was the Jesuit [[Balthasar Cordier]], who published (1628–47) collections of Greek patristic commentaries on St. John and St. Luke and, in conjunction with his confrère [[Possin]], on St. Matthew; the latter scholar edited also (1673) similar collections of patristic excerpts on St. Mark and Job. The voluminous catenae known as ''Biblia Magna'' (Paris, 1643) and ''Biblia Maxima'' (Paris, 1660), edited by [[J. de la Haye]], were followed by the nine volumes of well-known "Critici Sacri, sive clarissimorum virorum annotationes atque tractatus in biblia",<sup>[]</sup> containing selections, not only from Catholic but also from Protestant commentators.

	An important collection of the Greek catenae on the New Testament is that of [[J. A. Cramer]] (Oxford, 1638–44), online at archive.org. See also the twenty-eight volumes of the [[Migne]] commentary in his "Scripturae sacrae cursus completus" (Paris, 1840–45).		An important collection of the Greek catenae on the New Testament is that of [[J. A. Cramer]] (Oxford, 1638–44), online at archive.org. See also the twenty-eight volumes of the [[Migne]] commentary in his "Scripturae sacrae cursus completus" (Paris, 1840–45).

Nick at 16:11, 25 March 2011

2011-03-25T16:11:22Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:11, 25 March 2011
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	[[~~File~~:Codex Bodmer 25 folio 4 recto.jpg\|thumb\|right\|220px\|The biblical text surrounded by a catena, in [[Minuscule 556]]]]		[[Image:Codex Bodmer 25 folio 4 recto.jpg\|thumb\|right\|220px\|The biblical text surrounded by a catena, in [[Minuscule 556]]]]
	A '''catena''' (from Latin ''catena'', a chain) is a form of biblical commentary, verse by verse, made up entirely of excerpts from earlier [[Biblical commentator]]s, each introduced with the name of the author, and with such minor adjustments of words to allow the whole to form a continuous commentary.		A '''catena''' (from Latin ''catena'', a chain) is a form of biblical commentary, verse by verse, made up entirely of excerpts from earlier [[Biblical commentator]]s, each introduced with the name of the author, and with such minor adjustments of words to allow the whole to form a continuous commentary.

Nick: Protected "Catena (Biblical commentary)" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

2010-05-29T03:51:29Z

Protected "Catena (Biblical commentary)" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

← Older revision	Revision as of 03:51, 29 May 2010
(No difference)

Nick: New page: The biblical text surrounded by a catena, in [[Minuscule 556]] A '''catena''' (from Latin ''catena'', a chain) is a form of bib...

2010-05-29T03:51:19Z

New page: thumb|right|220px|The biblical text surrounded by a catena, in [[Minuscule 556]] A '''catena''' (from Latin ''catena'', a chain) is a form of bib...

New page

[[File:Codex Bodmer 25 folio 4 recto.jpg|thumb|right|220px|The biblical text surrounded by a catena, in [[Minuscule 556]]]]
A '''catena''' (from Latin ''catena'', a chain) is a form of biblical commentary, verse by verse, made up entirely of excerpts from earlier [[Biblical commentator]]s, each introduced with the name of the author, and with such minor adjustments of words to allow the whole to form a continuous commentary.

The texts are mainly compiled from mainstream authors, but they often contain fragments of certain [[patristic]] writings now otherwise lost.<ref>Cf. Holl, Fragmente vornikänischer Kirchenväter, Leipzig, 1899.</ref> It has been asserted by [[Faulhaber]] that half of all the commentaries on scripture composed by the church Fathers are now extant only in this form<ref>See bibliography.</ref>.

==History==

The earliest Greek catena is ascribed to [[Procopius of Gaza]], in the first part of the sixth century. Between the seventh and the tenth centuries [[Andreas Presbyter]] and [[Johannes Drungarius]] are the compilers of catenas to various Books of Scripture. Towards the end of the eleventh century [[Nicetas of Heraclea]] produces a great number of catenas. Both before and after, however, the makers of catenae were numerous in the Greek Orient, mostly anonymous, and offering no other indication of their personality than the manuscripts of their excerpts. Similar compilations were also made in the Syriac and Coptic Churches.<ref>Wright, de Lagarde, Martin, in Krumbacher, 216.</ref>

In the West, [[Primasius of Adrumentum]] in the former Roman province of Africa in the sixth century compiled the first catena from Latin commentators. He was imitated by [[Rhabanus Maurus]] (d. 865), [[Paschasius Radbertus]], and [[Walafrid Strabo]], later by [[Remigius of Auxerre]] (d. 900), and by [[Lanfranc of Canterbury]] (d. 1089). The Western catenae have had less importance attached to them. The most famous of the medieval Latin compilations of this kind is that of [[Thomas Aquinas]], generally known as the ''[[Catena Aurea]]'' (Golden Catena) and containing excerpts from some eighty Greek and Latin commentators on the Gospels.<ref>Ed. J. Nicolai, Paris, 1869, 3 vols.</ref>

Similar collections of Greek patristic utterances were constructed for dogmatic purposes. They were used at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451, at the [[Fifth General Council]] in 533, also apropos of [[Iconoclasm]] in the [[Seventh General Council]] in 787; and among the Greeks such compilations, like the exegetical catenae, did not cease until late in the Middle Ages. The oldest of these dogmatic compilations, attributed to the latter part of the seventh century, is the "Antiquorum Patrum doctrina de Verbi incarnatione".<ref>Edited by [[Cardinal Mai]] in Scriptor. Vet. nova collectio, Rome, 1833, VII, i, 1-73; cf. [[Loofs]], Leontius von Byzanz, Leipzig, 1887.</ref>

Finally, in response to homiletic and practical needs, there appeared, previous to the tenth century, a number of collections of moral sentences and paraenetic fragments, partly from Scripture and partly from the more famous ecclesiastical writers; sometimes one writer (e.g. [[Gregory of Nazianzus]], [[Basil the Great]], especially [[John Chrysostom]] whom all the catenae-makers pillage freely) furnishes the material. Such collections are not so numerous as the Scriptural or even the dogmatic catenae. They seem all to depend on an ancient Christian "Florilegium" of the sixth century, that treated, in three books, of God, Man, the Virtues and Vices, and was known as τα ιερά (Sacred Things). Before long its material was recast in strict alphabetical order; took the name of τα ιερά parállela, "Sacra Parallela" (because in the third book a virtue and a vice had been regularly opposed to one another); and was attributed widely to [[John Damascene]],<ref>Migne, ''[[Patrologia Graeca]]'', XCV, 1040-1586; XCVI, 9-544.</ref> whose authority was defended (against Loofs, [[Wendland]], and Cohn) by [[K. Holl]] in the above-mentioned "Fragmente vornikänischer Kirchenväter" (Leipzig, 1899), though the Damascene probably based his work on the "Capita theologica" of [[Maximus Confessor]]. The text of these ancient compilations is often in a dubious state, and the authors of most of them are unknown; one of the principal difficulties in their use is the uncertainty concerning the correctness of the names to which the excerpts are attributed. The carelessness of copyists, the use of "[[sigla]]", contractions for proper names, and the frequency of transcription, led naturally to much confusion.

==Printed editions==

From the sixteenth century to the nineteenth, various catenas were published. However no modern editions exist, and there are severe textual problems in editing them.

Among the editors of Greek catenae was the Jesuit [[Balthasar Cordier]], who published (1628–47) collections of Greek patristic commentaries on St. John and St. Luke and, in conjunction with his confrère [[Possin]], on St. Matthew; the latter scholar edited also (1673) similar collections of patristic excerpts on St. Mark and Job. The voluminous catenae known as ''Biblia Magna'' (Paris, 1643) and ''Biblia Maxima'' (Paris, 1660), edited by [[J. de la Haye]], were followed by the nine volumes of well-known "Critici Sacri, sive clarissimorum virorum annotationes atque tractatus in biblia",<ref>Edited by Pearson, London, 1660; Amsterdam, 1695-1701</ref> containing selections, not only from Catholic but also from Protestant commentators.

An important collection of the Greek catenae on the New Testament is that of [[J. A. Cramer]] (Oxford, 1638–44), online at archive.org. See also the twenty-eight volumes of the [[Migne]] commentary in his "Scripturae sacrae cursus completus" (Paris, 1840–45).

==References==
For the Byzantine collections of ethical sentences and proverbs of (Stobaeus Maximus Confessor, Antonius Melissa, Johannes Georgides, Macarius, Michael Apostolios) partly from Christian and partly from pagan sources, see Krumbacher, pp. 600–4, also Elter, E. (1893), De Gnomologiorum Graecorum historii atque origine, Bonn .

Ehrhardt (1897), Krumbacher, ed. (in German), Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur (2nd ed.), Munich, pp. 106–18 Bibliography and manuscript indications.
Ittig (1707) (in Latin), De Catenis et bibliothecis, Leipzig
(in Latin) Bibliotheca Graeca, VIII, pp. 639–700
A very full list of catenae is given in Harnack, Adolf (1893) (in German), Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, Teil I Halfte 2, Leipzig, pp. 835–42
For the catena manuscripts in the Vatican, see Analecta Sacra, II, pp. 350, 359, 405 and Faulhaber (1899), Die Propheten-Catenen nach den römischen Handschriften, V, Washington, D. C.: Catholic University Bulletin, p. 368 and Faulhaber (1900), Die Propheten-Catenen nach den römischen Handschriften, VI, Washington, D. C.: Catholic University Bulletin, p. 94 .
==External links==
Pearse, Roger (31 March 2009), Greek gospel catenas, http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/?cat=55, retrieved 2009-05-03 - a classification
Aquinas, Thomas (1953), Alarcón, Enrique, ed. (in Latin), Catena Aurea, http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/cmt01.html From a machine translation by Robert Busa SJ
e-Catena: Compiled Allusions to the NT in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, September 2002, http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/e-catena/, retrieved 2009-05-03

==Notes==
1.^ Cf. Holl, Fragmente vornikänischer Kirchenväter, Leipzig, 1899.
2.^ See bibliography.
3.^ Wright, de Lagarde, Martin, in Krumbacher, 216.
4.^ Ed. J. Nicolai, Paris, 1869, 3 vols.
5.^ Edited by Cardinal Mai in Scriptor. Vet. nova collectio, Rome, 1833, VII, i, 1-73; cf. Loofs, Leontius von Byzanz, Leipzig, 1887.
6.^ Migne, Patrologia Graeca, XCV, 1040-1586; XCVI, 9-544.
7.^ Edited by Pearson, London, 1660; Amsterdam, 1695-1701

[[Category:Biblical exegesis]]