ADMONITION TO STUDENTS OF SACRED LETTERS.
[LXXII] Although there are many things which, by their use, bring us utility and even ornament, it nevertheless happens that some of these things lie neglected, and some even pass away entirely. Such is the nature of human affairs: it is established that all things change; nothing is always the same. In the realm of literature, we have indeed suffered the greatest loss; so many writings of the ancients have perished through the calamity of time. But, oh remarkable man, who has discovered this new method of publishing books! For since the studies of Sacred Letters, with many writers brought to light who hitherto had lain in darkness, are being cultivated daily more and more by the most learned men, and the brilliant minds of scholars are exercising themselves upon them, I feel as much pleasure as my mind can hold, because this seems to have been brought about by a certain divine gift: that men of excellent talent and learning have dedicated themselves to these studies, by which we seek not some vain glory among men, but pave for ourselves a path to immortality. Thus, having utterly despised the weakness of human affairs, let us raise our minds to heavenly things, and embrace that supreme and all-powerful God with our whole heart, so that, while we are in this pilgrimage of life, there may be as little contagion as possible between us and our bodies; but let this be our sole and chief care, that, having been released from these bonds, we may migrate back to that heavenly fatherland, from which we were sent down a few years ago. Truly, A since we are aided by nothing more than the reading of the Gospel, by which we are instituted for the imitation of the heavenly life, we judged our labor would not be futile if we were to publish—for the first time, in Greek and with the Latin alongside—Theophylact’s interpretation of the Gospels, which is, as it were, a certain summary culled mostly from the commentaries of Chrysostom, to be read publicly: especially since in that version which was translated into Latin in previous years, many things are missing, and many are read incorrectly, whether this be the fault of the old exemplar or of the interpreter, especially Œcolampadius. Clearly, this benefit, however great—and it is certainly most great—is owed to the virtue of the Morelli. For those men, distinguished by their kindness, born for the utility and convenience of the republic, preserve the old custom, encourage the fine arts at any cost and with any reward, and ensure that we lack none of the monuments of the ancient Greek Fathers that are celebrated in this age. Therefore, it is our duty to pray to God for them, not only for the Theophylact that we have, but also for those things which we expect, and for the longevity of their lives, and for all that is held best in life. Farewell.
(a) So that the reader may have the means to know how ridiculously the Parisian editor has interpolated this preface, let him read the genuine words of the Roman editor, which we set out here: «Truly, since we are aided by nothing more than the reading of the Gospel, by which we are instituted for the imitation of the heavenly life, we judged our labor would not be futile if we were to publish the Greek interpretation of Theophylact on the Gospels, which is, as it were, a certain summary culled mostly from the commentaries of Chrysostom, to be read publicly; especially since in that version which was translated into Latin in previous years, many things are missing, and many others are read incorrectly, whether this be the fault of the old exemplar or of the interpreter. Clearly, this benefit, however great—and it is certainly most great—is owed to the divine virtue of Paul III. B The Pontiff, distinguished by his kindness, born to remove the discomforts of the human race, preserves the old custom, encourages the fine arts at any cost and with any reward, and ensures that we do not lack those who are celebrated for the praise of pontifical benevolence in this age; therefore, it is our duty to pray to God for him, not only for the Theophylact that we have, but also for those things which we expect, and for the longevity of his life, and for all those things which are held best in life. Farewell.» — EDITOR’S NOTE.
ADMONITION regarding various readings taken from the Venetian codices of St. Mark and from one Paduan codex.
We present to the benevolent and studious reader all the various readings which occur frequently, both shorter and longer, in Theophylact’s Commentaries on the four Gospels, taken from five Venetian Marcian codices and one Paduan codex of St. Justina, which seemed of some good merit. Offered first in order are those which the Venetian codices of the library of Saint Mark provide—26, 29, 30, 31, and 32—and these are followed by others taken from the Paduan codex. Regarding the truth of such readings, or at least their clarity in some places, or their general utility, and perhaps the redundancy of many, it must be sedulously noted that the Greek text, which appears both in the edition prepared in Paris in the year 1631 and in our Venetian edition, is that which first appeared in the year 1542 printed in Rome, taken from the Vatican codex; and that the Latin translation placed alongside should by no means be considered to be expressed exactly from the same, since it is the one which Joannes Œcolampadius prepared while having before his eyes a different, and in some places discrepant, Greek text, later amended by Philippus Montanus, who compared it with the Roman text. But here, as far as the various readings are concerned, which were extracted with the utmost diligence from the Venetian Marcian codices by Georgius Constantini, a Greek by nation from the city of Ioannina in Epirus:
A whoever examines them more attentively will easily and securely be able to judge that some of them are abundant, usually more verbose, and not found in the codex of Oecolampadius; and that others, namely the shorter ones, for the most part existed in that same Oecolampadius codex, as they are eminently conformable to his Latin interpretation; and finally, that there are others by which both texts can undoubtedly be corrected and perfected with no small benefit. But must it be said that Theophylact is the author of these readings? Nothing prevents one from believing that he in fact wrote almost all the shorter ones: but we neither wish nor dare to deny that he may also be the author of some of the longer ones, which indeed the context in some places appears to admit and the sense to require. But that most of them should not be attributed to that illustrious man, no one can fail to infer from the very nature of a style that is sometimes discrepant, or from a prolixity of exposition far too excessive, alien to the genius of Theophylact, or finally, from the fact that no connection between these readings and what precedes or follows them is apparent. Perhaps there were later Greeks, students of Theophylact, who, when they observed that his work was compiled from the sayings of others, and especially of Chrysostom, considered themselves free to inscribe in the margin additions — whether their own or taken from elsewhere — which later crept into the text, that they might illustrate what seemed less clear or perhaps deficient in the Commentaries. Although this opinion pleases us, it was nevertheless worth the effort to bring such variants, whether short or long, into the public light, leaving it to learned readers so that they may form their own judgment about these matters, and B be able to derive whatever benefit they may from them, whatever their true source. The most illustrious man, whom we name for the sake of honor, D. Athanasius Peristianus, a monk of the same Saint Justina of the Order of Saint Benedict, and custodian of the library, collected all the various readings from the Paduan codex with the greatest diligence and skill; but P. Bonifacius Finetti of the Order of Preachers made the selection of those which we provide here. Concerning the excellence of this codex, which the most learned Bernard de Montfaucon, a Maurist monk of the Order of Saint Benedict, attested to in his *Diarium Italicum*, read what has been said in the preceding Dissertation at no. 32 (a). Furthermore, these various readings so agree in many places with the Latin version of Oecolampadius (where Montanus left it intact) that the Paduan codex may be said to be very similar to the Greek codex which the first interpreter used; yet it also corrects and perfects it in some places. One thing remains, of which the benevolent reader must finally be admonished: namely, that those annotations or emendations which the Venetian edition exhibits as placed in the lower margin of the Commentaries are in agreement with the published Roman Greek text; and that not a few of them could have been omitted, since the prior Latin interpretation, which the annotator thought should be corrected or improved, although it differs from the Roman text, nevertheless generally agrees with the variant readings which we provide from other Greek codices.
(a) The following verses exist in this codex before the Commentary on John: Εὔληπτον ἐξήγημα τοῦ Βουλγαρίας Εὐαγγελίων τῶν κατὰ Ἰωάννην· Ὦ πατρὶς ἦν Εὔβοια, καὶ βίος λόγοι, Θεῖος δὲ κλῆρος, καὶ τάφος Βουλγαρία. The excellent Commentary of the Archbishop of Bulgaria C On the Gospel according to John: Whose homeland was Euboea, life was letters, Divine was his lot, and Bulgaria his tomb.
Since it can hardly be doubted that for *Eubola* we should read *Euboea*, as is set forth in the Latin version; hence, from this codex (especially if it is of such antiquity as Montfaucon supposed it to be), the opinion which holds that Theophylact was born in Chalcis in Euboea, or in some other place near the Chalcidian Euripus, is validly confirmed; for it is highly probable that the writer of this codex, or whoever else might have been the author of these little verses, committed to memory what was common knowledge in his own time, when the true homeland of Theophylact could have been easily known by anyone. Concerning this matter, see the preceding Dissertation, n. 17. D