Bible Bifolium: Ecclesiasticus 35:14-20 (Beals 16, Folio 1, verso)
Author: Unknown
Annotated and edited by Jason Grossmann-Ferris
Introduction
The text contained in this digital edition is an excerpt from the vulgata Bible, the commonly used Bible originally translated by St. Jerome, which became the Catholic Church’s official version in 1590. This specific excerpt from Ecclesiasticus 35, created somewhere in Northern Europe in the 13th century, is written in Protogothic script in medieval Latin. Both the main text and its accompanying glosses contain many contractions and ligatures to save space on the page, although the text itself is quite large for a manuscript of this period. The page material is parchment, with only black ink and no embellishment. Because of this, it is possible that this text is Cistercian in origin, as by the 13th century there were strict mandates within that order that limited the use of color and illumination in textual production. Disregarding its origin, the text is a fine example of Protogothic script.
In my approach to transcribing and translating the main text, I focused on creating as unchanged of a final product as possible: I included line breaks when the text did, included annotations when I needed to change words from their original spelling or meaning, and approached the text using a model that preserves the original text as much as possible, Professor Kevin Kiernan’s Electronic Beowulf. The complicated contractions and ligatures posed somewhat of a challenge, as my transcription and translation was supposed to both add clarity for modern readers as well as preserve as much of the text in its original form as possible. I ended up doing phonetically accurate versions of said contractions and ligatures rather than inserting them in their original forms, veering on the side of clarity over preservation in that regard. However, my previously mentioned efforts at verisimilitude did, I believe, wield a final product in line with the text’s original meaning and form.
Transcription
NOLI OFFERE MU-
NERA PRAVA[1] NON
ENIM SUSERPRET IL-
LA ET NOLI MFPI-
CERE SACRIFICIUM
MINUSTUM QUANDO
MINUS IUDEX EST
ET NON EST APUD INUGLIA PRO
NE NON ACCEPIET DEUS[2] PERFO-
NĀM PAUPOREM ET DEPRECATIO-
NEM IESI EXAUDIET NON DE-
SPICIET PRES[3] PUPILLI NEC IU-
DUAM SI EFFUNDAT LOQUELAM
GENUTUS. NONNE LACRIMEUI
DUE AD MAXILLAM DESCENDUTER.
ET EXCLAMATIO EIUS SUPER DE-
DUCENTEM EAS. AMAXILLA
ENIM [INDECIPHERABLE][4]
QUI ADORAT DEUM
Translation
DO NOT OFFER RE-
WARDS FOR THINGS
THAT ARE WRONG
AND DO NOT MFPI-
CERE[5]SACRIFICE
MINUSTUM WHEN
THE JUDGEMENT IS LESS
AND IS NOT IN INUGLIA FOR
GOD WILL NOT ACCEPT
POOR PEOPLE AND PETI-
TION JESUS HE WILL ANSWER TO DES-
PISE THE ORPHAN NOR HELP IF WE
BEGET OR EBB AND FLOW. DID I NOT MOURN
AS THE JOWL DESCENDS.
AND HIS EXCLAMATION TO BRING
THEM OVER. AND HIS JOWL [INDECIPHERABLE]
[INDECIPHERABLE] HE WHO ADORES GOD…
Bibliography
Cappelli, Adriano., Heimann, David, and Kay, Richard. 1982. The
Elements of Abbreviation in Medieval Latin Paleography.
Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries.
Clemens, Raymond, and Graham, Timothy. 2007. Introduction to
Manuscript Studies. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Latham, R. E., and British Academy. 1975. Dictionary of Medieval Latin
from British Sources. London: Oxford University Press.
Wheelock, Frederic M., and LaFleur, Richard A. 2011. Wheelock's Latin.
7th edition. New York: Collins Reference.
Some words, like “prava” remain slightly indecipherable, and are thus less likely to be translated accurately. Thus, I have left them in their original form in the translation. ↑
Here is a common contraction in medieval Latin. The word was originally written “DŪS”, with the macron accent indicating an extended vowel sound in the middle of the word. Thus, the word is the nominative form of “god”. ↑
Some consonants, such as the p in “pres” have macron accents above them to indicate a contraction. However, the modern keyboard does not allow me to add macron accents above most consonants. ↑
Some parts of the original document have been torn or otherwise damaged, rendering the text illegible. ↑
Words with contractions too difficult to decipher or nonsensical words I couldn’t find a meaning for are left in italics. The contraction MFPI, by itself, could extend to mean “menspater”, meaning “mind of the father”, but the perfect active plural indicative “-ere” verb ending on the next line transforms the contraction from a potential noun to a verb. ↑