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Justinian (b.483- r.527-d.565)

Saksagan

March 21, 2020

Justinian (b.483- r.527-d.565): Novella 146: On Jews

A Permission granted to the Hebrews to read the Sacred Scriptures according to Tradition, in Greek, Latin or any other Language, and an Order to expel from their community those who do not believe in the judgment, the Resurrection, and the Creation of Angels.

Preface.

Necessity dictates that when the Hebrews listen to their sacred texts they should not confine themselves to the meaning of the letter, but should also devote their attention to those sacred prophecies which are hidden from them, and which announce the mighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And though, by surrendering themselves to senseless interpretations, they still err from the true doctrine, yet, learning that they disagree among themselves, we have not permitted this disagreement to continue without a ruling on our part. From their own complaints which have been brought to us, we have understood that some only speak Hebrew, and wish to use it for the sacred books, and others think that a Greek translation should be added, and that they have been disputing about this for a long time. Being apprised of the matter at issue, we give judgment in favour of those who wish to use Greek also for the reading of the sacred scriptures, or any other tongue which in any district allows the hearers better to understand the text.

Chapter I.

We therefore sanction that, wherever there is a Hebrew congregation, those who wish it may, in their synagogues, read the sacred books to those who are present in Greek, or even Latin, or any other tongue. For the language changes in different places, and the reading changes with it, so that all present may understand, and live and act according to what they hear.

Thus there shall be no opportunity for their interpreters, who make use only of the Hebrew, to corrupt it in any way they like, since the ignorance of the public conceals their depravity. We make this proviso that those who use Greek shall use the text of the seventy interpreters, which is the most accurate translation, and the one most highly approved, since it happened that the translators, divided into two groups, and working in different places, all produced exactly the same text.

Moreover who can fail to admire those men, who, writing long before the saving revelation of our mighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet as though they saw its coming with their eyes completed the translation of the sacred books as if the prophetic grace was illuminating them. This therefore they shall primarily use, but that we may not seem to be forbidding all other texts we allow the use of that of Aquila, though he was not of their people, and his translation differs not slightly from that of the Septuagint.

Divine inspiration through the prophets

But the Mishnah, or as they call it the second tradition, we prohibit entirely. For it is not part of the sacred books, nor is it handed down by divine inspiration through the prophets, but the handiwork of man, speaking only of earthly things, and having nothing of the divine in it. But let them read the holy words themselves, rejecting the commentaries, and not concealing what is said in the sacred writings, and disregarding the vain writings which do not form a part of them, which have been devised by them themselves for the destruction of the simple.

By these instructions we ensure that no one shall be penalised or prohibited who reads the Greek or any other language. And their elders, Archiphericitae and presbyters, and those called magistrates, shall not by any machinations or anathemas have power to refuse this right, unless by chance they wish to suffer corporal punishment and the confiscation of their goods, before they yield to our will and to the commands which are better and clearer to God which we enjoin.

Read More about Manuscript once preserved at Spires

Manuscript once preserved at Spires

Saksagan

March 21, 2020

The text comes to us through four manuscripts, now at Oxford, Paris,Vienna and Munich respectively. The last named is of the sixteenth century, the other three of the fifteenth. The four are exact copies, even in form, of a manuscript once preserved at Spires, but lost in the latter part of the sixteenth century. This Spires manuscript contained several other documents besides the Notitia Dignitatum, one of them known to be of the year 825. Thus the earliest possible date for the Spires MS. is fixed, and its palaeographic form, reproduced in the four copies mentioned, shows that it was written not later than the eleventh century.

The Notitia Dignitatum has preserved for us, as no other document has done, a complete outline view of the Roman administrative system in early fifth century. The hierarchic arrangement is displayed perfectly. The division of prefectures, dioceses and provinces, and the rank of their respective governors is set forth at length. The military origin of the whole system appears in the titles of the staff officers, even in those departments whose heads had, since the time of Constantine, been deprived of all military command.

Prefixed to the accounts of some eighty-seven of the chief offices are insignia. These were probably emblazoned on the codicils, or commissions of these officers, and they are illustrative of the dignities and duties of those to whom they were assigned.

Those of the pretorian prefects display a book of mandates reposing on a richly covered table, and flanked by four tapers; also the four-horse chariot and a pillar with the portrait of the emperor or emperors. The insignia of military commanders show the distinctive shields of the several bodies of troops under them. The insignia of the master of the offices in the West are reproduced on p. 28.

A few illustrative examples

This translation gives practically everything of prime importance in the text. The spheres of work and the staffs of the chief officials have been given in full. Omissions are always indicated in the translation, as where lists of troops, after a few illustrative examples, are summarized, without giving the names and locations of the various organizations. From the list of minor officials, of whom there are a considerable number of the same rank, one has been selected as typical of the rest, as, e. g., one duke, one count, one consular, in each half of the empire.

The matter of translation was somewhat difficult, owing to the lack of precedents, especially in the case of the staff officers. The lexicons for the most part say of any one of these designations that it was “the title of a high official of the later empire.”

This is true, but not sufficient for the purposes of this book. A careful study of the functions of these officials, as disclosed in the Theodosian Code, and as commented on by Boecking (see bibliography), has made possible a more exact, if somewhat arbitrary, rendering. An English word which fully expresses the Roman function is, in many cases. hard to find. Sometimes the translation is only approximate, and requires a note.

In general, the effort is made to retain the Roman flavor of the original, and not to translate the official terms of the empire by modern ones which might convey a false implication. For instance, it has been thought better to say -count of the sacred bounties” rather than ” chancellor of the exchequer,” or “grand treasurer,” and “provost of the sacred bedchamber rather than “grand chamberlain.”

In this extext footnotes, marked with *, have been moved from the foot of pages to the end of sections.