SHab Presentation_0.9

The Dual Textual History of the Song of Habakkuk in the

Ethiopic Manuscript Tradition

Annual Society of Biblical Literature Meeting, 2014, San Diego

Samuel Aldridge and Shaun Short,

Textual History of the Ethiopic Old

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Song of Habakkuk: Introduction


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It is our aim today to show that, within the Ethiopic canon, the Psalter and Biblical

traditions of the Song of Habakkuk display two different scribal agendas, creating two different stories of textual transmission that are highly, but not entirely, independent of

one another.



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one another.

Different in level of alteration



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one another.

Different in level of alteration Different patterns of textual clustering



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one another.

Different in level of alteration Different patterns of textual clustering Different in types of textual variants (TVUs) present



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traditions of the Song of Habakkuk display two different scribal agendas, creating two different stories of textual transmission that are highly, but not entirely, independent of one another.

Different in level of alteration Different patterns of textual clustering Different in types of textual variants (TVUs) present Discussion of any interaction between the traditions

Song of Habakkuk: The Base Texts


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Psalter Base Text Ludolf, Hiob. Psalterium

Davidis Aethiopice et latine. Francfort sur le Main, 1701.

Song of Habakkuk: The Base Texts


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Psalter Base Text Ludolf, Hiob. Psalterium

Davidis Aethiopice et latine. Francfort sur le Main, 1701.

Biblical Base Text Löfgren, Oscar. Jona, Nahum,

Habakuk, Zephanja, Haggai, Sacharja und Maleachi Äthiopisch unter Zugrundelegung des Oxforder Ms. Huntington 625 nach mehreren Handschriften. Paris, Uppsala and Leipzig, 1930.

Song of Habakkuk: The Psalter Manuscripts

Witness

Manuscript Date

W1 EMML 2064 C 14th W2 Bibliotheque National 10 C 14th W3 Codex Barbarini Or. 2 C 14th W4 EMML 2010 C 14th/15th W5 Abbadie 105 1468-1478W6 EMML 4415 C 15th W7 EMDL 0290 C 15th W8 IES 837 C 15th W9 Vatican Etiopico 7 C 15th W10 Davies Dabra Libanos C 16th W11 EMML 2496 C 15th/16th W12 EMML 2497 C 16th W13 EMML 2602 C 16th W14 EMML 3112 Late C 16th W15 EMIP 1 Herron Codex C 17th W16 EMIP 0099 C 17th W17 EMIP 1911 C 17th


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Witness Manuscript DateW18 Tanasee Collection

103C 17th

W19 UNESCO Collection 10.06

C 17th

W20 EMIP 0009 C 18th W21 EMIP 342 C 18th W22 EMIP 1084 C 18th W23 Yale Ethiopic C 18th W24 EMDL 274 Late C 18th W25 Green Collection Ms

120C 19th

W26 EMIP 0110 C 19th W27 EMIP 0161 1865-1913W28 EMIP 0486 Ṭəqəmt 2,1897

ECW29 EMIP 0925 Early C 20th W30 EMIP 1043 Early C 20th W31 Green Collection Ms

310C 19th / C 20th

W32 Green Collection Ms 313

C 20th

W33 Green Collection Ms 317

C 19th / C 20th

Song of Habakkuk: The Biblical Manuscripts

Witness

Manuscript Date

W1 IES 77 C 20th W2 EMIP 1029 C 15th/16th W3 EMIP 746 1719W4 EMIP 881 C 17thW5 UNESCO 10.04 C17th/18th W6 Davies’ Axum Church of

ZionC 15th

W7 EMIP 1063 C 19th/20th W8 UNESCO 10.34 C 19th W9 EMIP 2007 C 18th W10 IES 436 C 15th W11 EMML 6686 C 17th W12 EMML 1768 C 15th W13 EMML 1481 Early C 17th W14 EMML 2080 C 16th W15 EMML 6930 C 18th W16 Cerulli 75 1930W17 EMIP 1095 C 19th


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Witness Manuscript DateW18 UNESCO 10.65 C 18th/19th W19 EMIP 949 C 20th W20 Huntington 625 C 14th W21 GG 152 C 16th W22 GG 181 C 16th W23 GG 106 1694W24 EMML 1842 1662W25 EMML 2440 1663W26 EMML 7584 C 16th W27 Princeton Garret 7 C 16th/17th W28 Abb 55 C 15th/16th W29 *Wien 16 C 19th W30 JE5E C 19th W31 Abbadai 35 C 17th W32 EMML 349 1923-1924W33 EMML 36 C18th/19th

Song of Habakkuk: Uniformity of Traditions


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• By “uniformity” we are referring to the extent the text that is affected by textual variation. The less of the base text affected by variation, the more “uniform” the tradition.



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• We have chosen to display this as a percentage of the base text.



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• We have chosen to display this as a percentage of the base text.

• Calculated by the following formula:



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Words in TVUs

Words in Base Textx100



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%Psalter Tradition

26 TVUs consisting of 36 words274 word base text

Base text unaffected by TVUs

Base text affected by TVUs



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70.00%

13.14%Psalter Tradition

26 TVUs consisting of 36 words274 word base text

Biblical Tradition

108 TVUs* consisting of 167 words240 word base text

Base text unaffected by TVUs

Base text affected by TVUs

*19 TVU’s excluded due to ignoring of those textual variations that arise solely in UNESCO 10.34 and EMIP 949. Total 127 TVUs

Song of Habakkuk: The Clustering of Texts


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Grouping of similar texts together to form textual clusters



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Used to create a clearer picture of the divergence in a tradition.



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Achieved by using Hierarchical Clustering using an Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA).



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Achieved by using Hierarchical Clustering using an Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA).

Results shown as a dendrogram.

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Dendrogram of Psalter Texts

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Dendrogram of Biblical Texts

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Song of Habakkuk: Types of TVUs


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Psalter texts Vast majority are small changes▪ Strophe 3c: ሥኖ (W05) / ስኑ (W29) / ስና (W07)

Most discriminating variant is በ መንሱት / እም መንሱት (strophe 2f)



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The exception: Barbarini Or. 2



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The exception: Barbarini Or. 2 Several small additions and minuses



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The exception: Barbarini Or. 2 Several small additions and minuses One noticeable minus ▪ Probable homeoteleuton on repetition of …ወአ



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The exception: Barbarini Or. 2 Several small additions and minuses One noticeable minus ▪ Probable homeoteleuton on repetition of …ወአ

One significant addition in strophe 17b▪ Base Text: ወኢይከውን ፍሬ ውሰተ ዐጸዳ ወይን

▪ Bar. Or. 2: ወኢይከውን ፍሬ ውሰተ ዐጸዳ ወይን አእጸደተ ኢትዮጵያ ይደነግፃ

▪ Addition matches strophe 7b of Psalter text



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Biblical texts Amount of TVU’s is far greater▪ 108 TVUs consisting of 167 words in Biblical

texts▪ 26 TVUs consisting of 36 words in Psalter

texts



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Biblical texts Amount of TVU’s is far greater▪ 108 TVUs consisting of 167 words in Biblical texts▪ 26 TVUs consisting of 36 words in Psalter text

Diversity of TVU’s far more expansive▪ Suffixal changes▪ Prepositional changes ▪ Word order; syntax▪ Substitutions▪ Additions and subtractions



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Biblical text, strophe 17d ወኃልቁ አባግዕ እምቅማሕ And they were destroyed, the sheep of the pastures (Fam. 2) ወአኅለቀ አባግዕ ሲሳዮ And I will destroy the sheep of

(his) nourishment (Fam. 3) ወኅልቀ ሲሣየ አባግዕ And it was destroyed, the nourishment of sheep (Fam.4&10) ወየራልቁ አባግዕ እምቅማኅ And they will be destroyed, the

sheep of the pastures (Family 5) ወሐልቁ አባግዕ እመብልዕ And they were destroyed, the sheep

of provision (Family 6) ተሐጒሉ አባግዕ እመብልዕ You will lose, the sheep of

provision (Fam. 7, 8 and 9)



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Biblical text, strophe 17e ወአልህምት እምጎል And the oxen of the stables (Families 2, 5 and 6) ወኢይረክቡ አልህምት ዘይቀምኁ ውስተ ምቅማኆሙ

And they will not be fattened, the oxen that graze within their pastures (Families 3, 4 and 10) ወእልህምትኒ ኢይትረከቡ በውስተ ጎል : And the oxen will not ever again be fattened within the stable (Families 7, 8 and 9)

Song of Habakkuk: Interaction of Traditions


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Is there any overlap in variant points between the Psalter and Biblical Traditions of the Song of Habakkuk?



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Is there any overlap in variant points between the Psalter and Biblical Traditions of the Song of Habakkuk? Only 3 TVUs are found in both traditions

▪ Within the Psalter tradition these 3 belong to the 16 that solely serve to separate W01 (C14th)and W05 (C15th) from the rest of the Psalter tradition



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W05 Strophe 6d ኢድባ ር (base text: አውግር) ▪ ኢድባር also as an erasure in the singular C16th biblical MS EMML 2080



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W05 Strophe 6b ወሶበሂ (base text: ወሶበ)▪ Found in 3 biblical MSS, two C19th, one C17th



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W05 Strophe 6b ወሶበሂ (base text: ወሶበ)▪ Found in 3 biblical MSS, two C19th, one C17th

W05 Strophe 8a addition of አፍለግ▪ Found in the majority of the Biblical MSS



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Is there any other interaction at all between the Psalter and Biblical Traditions of the Song of Habakkuk? No family of the Biblical Tradition lines up

precisely with the Psalter Tradition However three later dated Biblical families do

seem to be influenced by the Psalter Tradition in some way▪ Family 7: Comprised of Witness 14 EMML 2080 C16th; Coincides

with a later branch of the Transitional and Standardized Forms of the Text.

▪ Family 8: C19th – C20th; Coincides with the Textus Receptus ▪ Family 9: C17th – C19th, Coincides with the Standardized Form of

the Text



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You will lose the sheep of provision; and the oxen will not ever again be fattened within the stable

Biblical Families 7, 8 and 9 Strophes 17d and e

ተሐጒሉ አባግዕ እመብልዕ ወእልህምትኒ ኢይትረከቡ

በውስተ ጎል

Psalter Tradition Strophes 17d and e

ተኃጒሉ አባግዕእመብልዕ

ወአልህምትኒ ኢይትረከቡ በውስተ ጎል



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Many such places of obvious similarity However, each of the three Biblical families

distinguishes themselves form one another and the Psalter Tradition at many points



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Many such places of obvious similarity However, each of the three Biblical families

distinguishes themselves form one another and the Psalter Tradition at many points

Thus the Biblical Tradition comes into contact with the Psalter Tradition, at some point, and is in some way influenced by it Earliest we can see this happening is during C16th

Most pronounced after C17th



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One-directional influence only Whatever social clime resulted in this

interaction remains of interest to us Area of research we wish to explore in the

future



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One-directional influence only Whatever social clime resulted in this

interaction remains of interest to us Area of research we wish to explore in the

future

Does not change our overall conclusion

Song of Habakkuk: Conclusions


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We have established that there are two separate scribal agendas at work here They function by two different sets of rules



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We have established that there are two separate scribal agendas at work here They function by two different sets of rules ▪ In the Psalter Tradition the rule is one of immutability▪ Points of variance (TVUs) are few and inconsequential▪ 5oo+ years of a tradition in stasis



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▪ In the Biblical Tradition the rule is one of diversity▪ Points of variance (TVUs) are multiple and assorted ▪ Speaks to the freedom of linguistic license



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▪ In the Biblical Tradition the rule is one of diversity▪ Points of variance (TVUs) are multiple and assorted ▪ Speaks to the freedom of linguistic license

▪ They do not vary internally at the same points▪ Example of Psalter influence on certain Biblical Families is a

one directional phenomenon by which the above rules are not broken



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We have established that there are two separate scribal agendas at work here The two scribal agendas could result from

different social climes



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different social climes▪ The Psalter Tradition is exacted within the liturgical

setting▪ Is hence accessible to the common clergy and laity▪ Is representative of religious practice in action



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different social climes▪ The Psalter Tradition is exacted within the liturgical

setting▪ Is hence accessible to the common clergy and laity▪ Is representative of religious practice in action

▪ The Biblical Tradition is perpetuated within the monastic setting▪ Is accessible to and influenced by the scribal elite▪ Evolves in a very different way and is given to nuanced

inflection



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We have established that there are two separate scribal agendas at work here The two scribal agendas could result from different

social climes▪ The Psalter Tradition is exacted within the liturgical setting▪ Is hence accessible to the common clergy and laity▪ Is representative of religious practice in action

▪ The Biblical Tradition is perpetuated within the monastic setting▪ Is accessible to and influenced by the scribal elite▪ Evolves in a very different way and is given to nuanced inflection

Whatever original archetype birthed these two traditions is lost to us now



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The End

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SHab Presentation_0.9