CHAPTER VI.

TEXT-DIVISIONS: STICHI, CHAPTERS, LECTIONS, CATENAE.

THE Greek Old Testament, as it appears in the editions of the last three centuries, is divided into chapters and verses which correspond generally with those of the printed Hebrew Bible.

The traditional text-divisions of the Hebrew and the Greek Bible are not, absolutely identical. Besides the more serious differences described in Part II. c. i., it not unfrequently happens that a Greek chapter is longer or shorter than the corresponding chapter of the Hebrew by a verse or more, and that as a consequence there are two systems of verse-numeration throughout the succeeding chapter⁷¹³⁷¹³In such cases both systems are represented in the Cambridge edition of the LXX. (see O. T. in Greek, i. p. xiv.)..

A system of verse-division⁷¹⁴⁷¹⁴For a full account of the divisions of the Hebrew text see Buhl, Kanon u. Text, p. 222; Bleek-Wellhausen, p. 574 f.; Ryle, Canon of the O. T., p. 235. Blau, Massoretic Studies, iii., in J.Q.R., Oct. 1896. is mentioned in the Mishnah (Meg. 4. 4, Kidd. 30. 1). The Massorets noted the number of verses (פְּסוּקִים) at the end of each book and portion of the canon; thus Deuteronomy is stated to consist of 955 pesukim, and the entire Torah of 5888. Of chapter-divisions in the Hebrew Bible there are three kinds. (a) There is a pre-Talmudic division of the canon into sections known as פרשיות. The parashahs are of two kinds, open and closed, i.e. paragraphs, 343which begin a new line, and sub-paragraphs⁷¹⁵⁷¹⁵A similar system of paragraphing has been adopted in the English Revised Version, and in the Cambridge LXX.; see R. V. Preface, and O.T. in Greek, i. p. xv., which are preceded only by a space. They are still registered in the printed Bibles by the פ (for פְּתוּחָה, 'open') and ס (for סְתוּמָה, 'closed') which occur at intervals throughout the Torah⁷¹⁶⁷¹⁶In Baer's edition they are given throughout the Bible.. (b) A second system of parashahs breaks up the text into longer sections for the use of the synagogue. The Law was divided into 54 Sabbath lessons according to the Babylonian tradition, but into 154 according to the tradition of Palestine. With few exceptions⁷¹⁷⁷¹⁷In the Pentateuch there is only one, the lesson (12) which begins at Gen. xlvii. 28 (Ryle, p. 236). the beginning of a lesson coincides with that of an open or closed parashah; the coincidence is marked in the Torah by a thrice repeated פ or ס. The Prophets were similarly divided for synagogue reading, but the prophetic lections were known as haphtaroth (הַפְטָרוֹת) and were not, like the liturgical parashahs, distinguished by signs inserted in the text. (c) Lastly, the printed Hebrew Bibles are divided into chapters nearly identical with those of the English versions. This system of capitulation is relatively modern, and was applied first to the Latin Vulgate in the thirteenth century, probably by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury († 1228)⁷¹⁸⁷¹⁸See Gregory, prolegg. p. 167 ff.. It was adapted to the Hebrew Bible in R. Isaac Nathan's Concordance, a work of the fifteenth century, in which use was also made of the older division into verses or pesukim.

Of printed editions the Bomberg Hebrew Bible of 1521 was the first to employ the mediaeval system of chapters; the verse-division found a place in the Latin version of Pagnini (1528), and the Latin Vulgate of Robert Stephen (1555), and finally in the Hebrew Bible of Athias (1661). Both chapters 344and verses were applied to the text of the Septuagint before the sixteenth century; the capitulation appeared in the Complutensian Polyglott and in the Aldine edition of 1518, and the verse-numeration in the Frankfort edition of the Aldine text⁷¹⁹⁷¹⁹It prints the verse-numbers in the margin, and begins every verse with a capital letter..

Neither the verses nor the chapters of the existing text-division occur in MSS. of the Greek Old Testament, except in relatively later copies⁷²⁰⁷²⁰E.g. H.-P. 38 (xv.), 122 (xv.), where the modern chapters are marked., or in older MSS. where the numerals have been supplied by a recent hand. But the student who examines MSS. of the LXX. or their facsimiles finds himself confronted by other systems which are both interesting and in some respects important. To these the present chapter will be devoted.

1. We begin with the shorter divisions, known as στίχοι, κῶλα, or κόμματα.

(a) Στίχος, Lat. versus, is properly a series of objects placed in a row. The word is used in the LXX. of the stones in the High Priest's breastplate (στίχος λίθων, Exod. xxviii. 17 ff.), the pomegranates wrought upon the capitals of the pillars in the Temple (στίχοι ῥοῶν, 3 Regn. vii. 6), and the rows of cedar wood shafts (τριῶν στίχων στύλων κεδρίνων, ib. 9). When applied to the art of writing, the word signifies a continuous line of letters or syllables. The extent of an author's literary work was measured by the stichi he had written; cf. e.g. Diogenes Laertius iv. 24, Κράντωρ κατέλιπεν ὑπομνήματα εἰς μυριάδας στίχων τρεῖς: Dionysius Halicarn. vi. 1126 πέντε ἢ ἓξ μυριάδας στίχων τοῦ ἀνδρὸς (sc. Δημοσθένους) καταλελοιπότος. The 'line' might be measured in various ways, as by the limits imposed upon the scribe by the breadth of his papyrus, or in the case of poetry by the number of feet in the metre; or again it might be fixed in each instance by the requirements of 345the sense; or it might depend upon a purely conventional standard. Evidence has been produced⁷²¹⁷²¹By Ch. Graux, Revue de philologie, II. (1878), p. 97 ff. to shew that the last of these methods was adopted in the copying of Greek prose writings, and that the length of the prose stichus was determined by that of the Homeric hexameter, i.e. it was normally a line of sixteen syllables; in some instances the Iambic trimeter seems to have been the standard preferred, and the line consisted of twelve syllables⁷²²⁷²²J. R. Harris, Stichometry, pp. 8, 15.. The number of letters in the stichus was on the average 37—38 in the one case, and 28—29 in the other. Such a system served more than one useful purpose. Besides facilitating reference, it regulated the pay of the scribe, and consequently the price of the book. The number of the lines in a book once determined, it might be written in any form without affecting the cost⁷²³⁷²³See E. Maunde-Thompson, Gr. and Lat. Palaeography, i. p. 80; Prof. Sanday, in Studia Biblica, iii. p. 263 f.; J. R. Harris, op. cit. p. 26.. The compiler of the Cheltenham list explains that dishonest scribes at Rome and elsewhere purposely suppressed or mutilated the stichometry⁷²⁴⁷²⁴"Indiculum versuum in urbe Roma non ad liquidum, sed et alibi avariciae causa non habent integrum.". Thus the careful entry of the στίχοι in the margins of ancient books, or the computation at the end of the number of στίχοι contained in them, was not due to mere custom or sentiment, but served an important practical end.

(b) Besides this conventional measurement there existed another system which regulated the length of the line by the sense. Sense-divisions were commonly known as κῶλα or κόμμετα. The colon, according to Suidas, is a line which forms a complete clause (ὁ ἀπηρτισμένην ἔννοιαν ἔχων στίχος; the comma is a shorter colon⁷²⁵⁷²⁵See Wordsworth-White, Epilogus, p. 733, nn. 1, 2..

This arrangement was originally used in transcribing poetry, but before Jerome's time it had been applied to the great prose 346authors; cf. Hieron. praef. ad Isa.⁷²⁶⁷²⁶Migne, P. L. xxviii. 771.: "nemo cum prophetas versibus viderit esse descriptos, metro eos aestimet apud Hebraeos ligari, et aliquid simile habere de Psalmis vet operibus Salomonis; sed quod in Demosthene et Tullio solet fieri, ut per cola scribantur et commata, qui utique prosa et non versibus conscripserunt, nos quoque, utilitati legentium providentes, interpretationem novam scribendi genere distinximus"; praef. in Ezech.⁷²⁷⁷²⁷Migne, P. L. xxviii. 938.: "legite igitur et hunc iuxta translationem nostram, quoniam per cola scriptus et commata manifestiorem legentibus sensum tribuit." Cf. Cassiod. de inst. div. litt., praef. Hesychius of Jerusalem († c. 433) treated the Greek text of the Dodecapropheton in the same way⁷²⁸⁷²⁸Migne, P. G. xxiii. 1339 sq.: ἔστι μὲν ἀρχαῖον τοῦτο τοῖς θεοφόροις τὸ σπούδασμα στιχηδόν, ὡς τὰ πολλά, πρὸς τὴν τῶν μελετωμόνων σαφήνειαν τὰς προφητείας ἐκτίθεσθαι. οὕτω τοιγαροῦν ὄψει μὲν τὸν Δαβὶδ κιθαρίζοντα, τὸν Παροιμιαστὴν δὲ τὰς παραβολὰς καὶ τὸν Ἐκκλησιαστὴν τὰς προφητείας ἐκθέμενον· οὕτω συγγραφεῖσαν τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ Ἰὼβ βίβλον, οὕτω μερισθέντα τοῖς στίχοις τὰ τῶν ᾈσμάτων ᾄσματα . . . οὐ μάτην ἐν ταῖς δώδεκα βίβλοις τῶν προφητῶν καὶ αὐτὸς ἠκολούθησα.

Specimens of colometry may be seen in Codd. א B, where the poetical books are written in cola of such length that the scribe has been compelled to limit himself in this part of his work to two columns instead of dividing his page into three or four.

Among the lists of the books of the O. T. canon printed in an earlier chapter of this book (Part II. c. i.) there are three which are accompanied by a stichometry. We will now collect their measurements and exhibit them in a tabular form.

The figures given above correspond to those in the lists printed in c. i., which follow the text of Preuschen (Analecta, pp. 156 f., 142 ff., 138 f.). Some variants and suggested rectifications may be seen in Zahn, Gesch. d. NTlichen Kanons, ii., pp. 295 ff., 143 ff., and Sanday, Studia Biblica, iii., pp. 266 ff.

Many MSS. of the Greek Bible contain more or less complete stichometries of the several books of the canon. Either the total number of stichi is registered at the end of the book, or a record is kept throughout the book by placing a figure or figures in the margin at the end of each centenary of lines. Some of our oldest MSS: reproduce in this form the stichometry of their archetypes; in other cases, a stichometry which has been copied into the margin by a second or later hand. Thus in Cod. B, the margins of 1—4 Regn. and Isaiah present a nearly complete record⁷³²⁷³²It is printed by Harris, Stichometry, p. 59 ff. Cf. Nestle, Introd. to the Textual Criticism of the N. T. (E. tr.), p. 4. of stichi written prima manu, and doubtless transcribed from the MSS. to which the scribe owed his copy of those books. A marginal register of stichi is also found in part of Cod. F, beginning with Deuteronomy, and in Cod. Q, where it is due to the hand which has added the Hexaplaric matter. The entries in B and Q agree generally in Isaiah; in both MSS. the last entry occurs at Isa. lxv. 19, where the number of stichi reaches 3500. But the famous Chigi MS. of the Prophets (Cod. 87) counts 3820 stichi in Isaiah⁷³³⁷³³ωκ, or as Allatius read the MS., (3808); see Cozza, Sacr. bibl. vet. fragm. iii. p. xv.. This approaches the number given by Nicephorus, whilst the total number of stichi in BQ, 3600, agrees with the computation of the Claromontane list. The addition of 200 stichi in Nicephorus and Cod. 87 is due, Ceriani suggests, to the greater length of the Hexaplaric and Lucianic texts⁷³⁴⁷³⁴De cod. March., p. 23 f.. There is a similar disparity between the stichometry of Nicephorus and the reckoning of Cod. F in Deuteronomy, 349where in F the stichi are 3000⁷³⁵⁷³⁵The symbol used is , which occurs also in B. On this symbol, see J. Woisin, De Graecorum notis numeralibus, n. 67 (Kiel, 1886)., but in Nicephorus 3100. On the other hand the later uncial K makes the stichi of Numbers to be 3535, which comes very near to the reckoning of Nicephorus⁷³⁶⁷³⁶The numeration of the stichi in the poetical books ascribed to the greater uncials in the Cambridge manual LXX. is derived from Dr Nestle's Supplementum² (Leipzig, 1887) and rests on an actual counting of the lines, and not on statements in the MSS. themselves..

Stichometrical variation is doubtless chiefly or largely due to divergent types of text. But other causes of disparity were at work. It was easy for scribes to misread the letters which represented the number of the lines, especially when they were mechanically copied from an archetype. The older signs may have been sometimes misunderstood⁷³⁷⁷³⁷Cf. J. R. Harris, Stichometry, p. 31., or those which were intelligible may have been confused by careless copying. A glance . at the comparative table on p. 346 f. will shew that several of the larger discrepancies can only be explained in some such way.

The following stichometry is derived chiefly from Dr E. Klostermann's Analecta⁷³⁸⁷³⁸See p. 44 ff. Cf. J. Th. St., ii. p. 238 ff., giving the result of his researches among cursive MSS., with some additions supplied by the Editors of the larger LXX.

2. No complete system of capitulation is found in any of our existing uncial MSS. of the Greek Old Testament. Yet even the Vatican MS., which is written continuously except in the poetical books, bears traces of a system of chapter-divisions which is older than itself⁷⁴⁵⁷⁴⁵Tischendorf (Mon. sacr. ined. n. c., i. prolegg., p. xxvii.) points out that Tertullian recognises a system of chapters in Numbers.. It begins with Proverbs, and from that book onwards chapter-numbers appear in the margin of the canonical writings, whilst in some instances there is a double capitulation, as the following table will shew.

The figures in the left-hand column are prima manu; those on the right are in a hand of perhaps the eleventh century (? that of 'Clement the Monk,' the industrious instaurator who has left his name on pp. 238 and 264 of the MS.⁷⁴⁸⁷⁴⁸See the pref. to Fabiani and Cozza's facsimile, p. xvii. sqq.). In Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song the capitulation of the later hand differs widely, as will be observed, from the system which the original scribe reproduced from his archetype. But in the Prophets the corrector seems simply to have followed the numbers inscribed in the margin by B; the latter can be detected here and there under the large coarse characters of the later hand, and towards the end of Jeremiah and throughout 352Daniel the two sets of numbers are distinctly visible. In Jeremiah the instaurator here and there breaks away from the guidance of the first hand, and the totals are slightly different. But the difference is probably accidental, and it is certainly slight; whereas in the Salomonic books another system is followed, in which the chapters are three or four times as long as those of the older capitulation.

Cod. A is broken into paragraphs throughout the prose books, the beginning of each paragraph being indicated not only by paragraph-marks, but by the use of a capital letter which projects into the margin. Besides the paragraphing certain books—Deuteronomy, Joshua, 3—4 Kingdoms, Isaiah—retain traces of a capitulation imperfectly copied from the archetype. In Deuteronomy chapter-marks occur at cc. i. 1, 9, 19; 40; ii. 1, 7, 14; in Joshua they begin at ix. 1 (ιβ) and proceed regularly (x. 1, 16, 29, 31, 34, 36, 38; xi. 1, &c.) down to xix. 17 (λη); in 3 Regn. the first numeral occurs at c. viii. 22 (κβ), and the last at xxi. 17 (νθ); 4 Regn. returns only one or two numbers (e.g. θ stands opposite to c. iii. 20). In Isaiah, again, the entries are few and irregular; β appears at c. ii. 1, and θ at xxi. 1.

Cod. א seems to have no chapter-marks prima manu, but in Isaiah they have been added by א^c.c throughout the book⁷⁴⁹⁷⁴⁹Tischendorf, notes to facsimile, p. v..

Jeremiah, the Epistle of Jeremiah, and Ezekiel are capitulated in cod. Q, and in the two last-named books the capitulation of Q agrees with that of B. In Jeremiah, where the agreement is less complete, the chapters in Q do not proceed beyond c. xxiv., a circumstance which suggests a Hexaplaric origin⁷⁵⁰⁷⁵⁰Ceriani, de cod. March., p. 24 ff..

Cod. M like cod. B exhibits two systems of capitulation⁷⁵¹⁷⁵¹See Montfaucon, Biblioth. Coisliniana, p. 4 sqq., 353one of which is accompanied by brief headings corresponding in general character to the τίτλοι of the Gospels. The two capitulations, which are represented with more or less of completeness in the Hexateuch and in 1—3 Kingdoms⁷⁵²⁷⁵²Another Coislin MS. (Coisl. gr. 8) gives the following capitulation for some of the later histories: 1 Chron. 83, 2 Chron. 86, Tobit 21, Judith 34, 1 Esdr. 109, 2 Esdr. 80, Esther 55., differ considerably, as the following table will shew:

Cod. Sin. I. (x.) is divided into κεφάλαια which number as follows: Genesis, 150; Exodus, 88; Leviticus, 63; Deuteronomy, 69; Joshua, 30; 1 Regn., 66; 2 Regn., 63⁷⁵⁵⁷⁵⁵Cf. the numbers in B. M. Add. MS. 35123: Gen., 148; Exod., 84; Lev., 62; Num., 61; Deut., 69; Josh., 30; Jud., 33..

A list of sections quoted by Dr Klostermann⁷⁵⁶⁷⁵⁶Analecta, p. 80 ff. This division into sections, however, refers not to the text of the books, but to that of the synopsis contained in the MS. Cf. also the κεφάλαια in Hab. iii. found in Barb. v. 45 (86, H.-P.). from the cursive MS. cod. Barberini iii. 36 (cent. x. or xi.) exhibits another widely different scheme⁷⁵⁷⁷⁵⁷Interesting traces of another old capitulation are to be found in the ἐκλογὴ τοῦ νόμου printed in Cotelerii Eccl. Gr. Mon. i. p. 1. The chapters here are shorter and therefore more numerous than in any of the lists given above, e.g. Exod. xxii. 1—27 forms part of the 68th chapter and Deut. xxv. 11 ff. of the 93rd in their several books, while Leviticus apparently contains 150 chapters and Numbers 140.:

It is clear that no induction can be drawn from the facts which are at present within our reach; nor can the various systems of capitulation be safely classified until some scholar has collected and tabulated the chapter-divisions of a large number of MSS. of varying ages and provenance⁷⁵⁸⁷⁵⁸Paragraphs or sections marked by capitals protruding into the margin or written in red ink, or (less frequently) distinguished by numbers, occur perhaps in the majority of cursives; the following list of cursives thus divided is taken from descriptions of MSS. made for the use of the Editors of the larger LXX.: H.-P. x. xi., 16, 17, 18, 29, 38, 46, 53, 54, 56, 57, 59, 64 (double system of capitulation), 68, 70, 73, 74, 76, 78, 79 (in Gen. χπβʹ), 83, 84, 93, 108, 118 120, 121, 123, 126, 127, 128 (contemporary numbers), 130, 131, 134; B. M. Add. 35123, Lambeth 1214; Paris Ars. 8415; Esc. Ω. i. 13, Σ i. 16; Munich gr. 454; Grotta Ferrata A. γ. 1; Leipzig gr. 361; Athos, Pantocr. 24 (double system of capitulation, τίτλοι), Vatop. 513, 516; Laur. γ. 112 (both chapters and στίχοι numbered); Athens, nat. gr. 44; Sinai 1, Jerusalem, H. Sep. 2.. It is probable, however, that the systems, which at present seem to be nearly as numerous as the capitulated copies of the LXX., will prove to be reducible to a few types reproduced by the scribes with many variations in detail.

The 'titles' deserve separate consideration. In the few instances where we are able to institute a comparison these headings seem to be independent. In Numbers, e.g., the following table shews little correspondence between those in codd. K, M, even when the chapters coincide.

The following τίτλοι for Exod. ii.—viii. are taken from a Vienna MS. (Th. gr. 3):

α.  περὶ τῆς γεννήσεως Μωυσέως.

β.  πρώτη ὀπτασία πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἐν τῇ βάτῳ.

γ.  περὶ τῆς συναντήσεως μετ᾿ (?) Ἀαρών.

δ.  εἴσοδος (?) Μωυσέως καὶ Ἀαρὼν πρὸς Φαραώ.

ε.  περὶ τῶν μαστιγωθέντων γραμματέων.

ς.  περὶ τῆς ῥάβδου τῆς στραφείσης εἰς ὄφιν.

ζ.  πρώτη πληγή· μεταστροφὴ τοῦ ὕδατος εἰς αἷμα.

η.  δευτέρα πληγή, τῶν βατράχων.

θ.  τρίτη πληγή, τῶν σκνιπῶν. Κτλ.

Examples occur of longer headings, which aim at giving a comprehensive summary or a brief interpretation. (a) The preface to Hesychius's colometrical arrangement of the Minor Prophets is followed by a complete set of τίτλοι for the Twelve Prophets and Isaiah⁷⁶⁰⁷⁶⁰Migne, P. G. xciii., 1345 sqq. The titles for Isaiah with a collection of glosses, apparently by the same author, have been edited by M. Faulhaber from cod. Vat. Gr. 347 (Hesychii Hieros. interpretatio Isaiae, Freiburg i. Breisgau, l900).. The numbers are as follows: Hosea 35620, Joel 10, Amos 17, Obadiah 3, Jonah 4, Micah 13, Nahum 5, Habakkuk 4, Zephaniah 7, Haggai 5, Zechariah 32, Malachi 10, Isaiah 88. The titles are with scarcely an exception polemical or dogmatic in character, e.g. Hosea: ᾱ. Εἰκὼν τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων συναγωγῆς, ἐξ ἧς ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα τίκτεται, καὶ λαοῦ τὸ μὲν ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ ἔμεινεν, τὸ δὲ ὕστερον ἐπιστρέφει καὶ σῴζεται. (b) The Syro-hexaplaric Daniel is divided into ten chapters, each headed by a full summary of its contents⁷⁶¹⁷⁶¹Bugati, Daniel, p. 1. See also the περιοχαὶ (or ὑποθέσεις) εἰς τοὺς ψαλμούς ascribed to Eusebius of Caesarea, which precede the Psalter in Cod. A (printed in Migne, P. G. xxiii. 67 sqq.)..

3. One class of sections calls for separate treatment. In Part I. c. v. (p. 168 f.) some account has been given of MSS. which consist of lessons taken from the Old Testament. Few of these lectionaries are older than the eleventh century, and only one goes back to the sixth or seventh. But the choice of passages for public reading in the services of the Church must have begun at a much earlier period. The public reading of the O. T. Scriptures. was an institution inherited by the Church from the Synagogue (Lc. iv. 16 ff., Acts xiii. 15, xv. 21; cf. 1 Tim. iv. 13), and there is evidence that it was prevalent in Christian communities of the second and third centuries⁷⁶²⁷⁶²See above, p. 168, and cf. Gregory, Textkritik, i. p. 337.. At one great Christian centre provision was made for the liturgical reading of the Bible on certain week-days as well as on Sunday. "At Alexandria (writes Socrates) on Wednesdays and Fridays the Scriptures are read and the clergy expound them . . . and this is at Alexandria a practice of long standing, for it was on these occasions that Origen appears to have given most of his instructions in the Church⁷⁶³⁷⁶³H. S. v. 22 ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ τῇ τετράδι τῇ λεγομένῃ παρασκευῇ γραφαί τε ἀναγινώσκονται, καὶ οἱ διδάσκαλοι ταύτας ἐρμηνεύουσι . . . καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ἔθος ἀρχαῖον· καὶ γὰρ Ὠριγένης τὰ πολλὰ ἐν ταύταις ταῖς ἡμέραις φαίνεται ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας διδάξας. ." Turning to Origen's homilies on the Old Testament 357we find allusions which shew that they were usually based on the lesson for the day, and we get light upon the length of the selected passages.

In Hom. in Num. xv. Origen apologises to his hearers for not keeping strictly to the lesson for the day: "licet non ordo lectionum quae recitantur de illis dicere magis exigat quae lector explicuit, tamen quoniam nonnulli fratrum deposcunt ea potius quae de prophetia Balaam scripta sunt ad sermonem disputationis adduci, non ita ordini lectionum satisfacere aequum credidi ut desideriis auditorum." This homily probably belongs to Origen's life at Caesarea⁷⁶⁴⁷⁶⁴D. C. B. iv, p. 104., and if so, it is clear that at Caesarea as well as at Alexandria there was a well-defined order of Church lessons before the middle of the third century. In another homily, on the Witch of Endor (in 1 Sam. hom. iii.), Origen complains that the O.T. lesson for the day was too long to be expounded at a single sitting: τὰ ἀναγνωσθέντα πλείονά ἐστι· καὶ ἐπεὶ χρὴ ἐπιτεμνόμενον εἰπεῖν, δυσὶ περικοπαῖς ἀνεγνώσθη τὰ περὶ Ναβάλ . . . εἶτα μετὰ τοῦτο ἡ ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τοῦ κεκρύφθαι τὸν Δαυίδ . . . εἶτα τὰ ἐξῆς ἡ ἱςτορία ἦν τρίτη, ὅτε κατέφυγεν πρὸς Ἀχάρ . . . ἐξῆς τούτοις ἦν ἡ ἱστορία ἡ διαβόητος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐγγαστριμύθου . . . τεσσάρων οὐσῶν περικοπῶν . .  . ὅτι ποτὲ βούλεται ὁ ἐπίσκοπος προτεινάτω. On this occasion the O.T. lesson seems to have extended from 1 Regn. xxv. 1 to xxviii. 25, including four περικοπαί or shorter sections, which, judging from the description, corresponded in length very nearly to our own chapters⁷⁶⁵⁷⁶⁵Cf. the τίτλοι in the Coislin MS. (M), where μηʹ, μθʹ, νʹ are nearly identical with cc. xxxi., xxxii., xxxiii. respectively (Montfaucon, Bibl. Coisl., p. 28). .

The lections to which Origen refers were doubtless those which were read in the pre-anaphoral portion of the Liturgy in the hearing of the catechumens as well as the faithful. In the liturgy of Apost. Const. ii., the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, the Kingdoms, the Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Job, the Salomonic books, and the sixteen Prophets, are all mentioned as books from which the Old Testament lection might be taken; i.e. all the books of the Hebrew Canon, with the exception of the 358Psalter and perhaps the Book of Esther, were employed for this purpose. The order in Book viii. names only the Law and the Prophets, but probably the scope is the same. The 'Prophet,' i.e. the Old Testament lesson, preceded the 'Apostle' (the Epistle) in the liturgy of Antioch as known to St Chrysostom at the end of the fourth century, and it held its place in the East generally till the seventh⁷⁶⁶⁷⁶⁶Brightman, Eastern Liturgies, pp. 470, 476, 527, 580. See Chrys. in Rom. xxiv. 3 (cited above, p. 168).. In the West the 'prophecy' was read by the North African Church of St Augustine's time, and it still holds its ground in the Mozarabic and Ambrosian rites⁷⁶⁷⁷⁶⁷D. C. A., Prophecy Liturgical (ii. 173b ff.).. In Egypt, as John Cassian tells us, the monastic communities read two lessons from Scripture both at Nocturns and Vespers, and (Saturdays and Sundays excepted) one of the two lessons was from the Old Testament⁷⁶⁸⁷⁶⁸De inst. coenob. ii. 6.; and the West generally adopted the custom of reading both the Old and the New Testament in the daily offices.

Before the formation of Lectionaries the liturgical lessons were marked in the margins of Church Bibles by the words ἀρχή, τέλος, written opposite to the beginning and end of the περικοπή⁷⁶⁹⁷⁶⁹On this word see Suicer, Thesaurus, ii. 673 sqq . It is used by Justin, Dial. 78 and Clem. Al., Strom. iii. 38. In Origen (quoted above) the περικοπή is merely a section; at a later time it was used for the ἀνάγνωσμα. . Such traces of adaptation to liturgical use are found even in cod. B, though not prima manu⁷⁷⁰⁷⁷⁰Fabiani and Cozza, prolegg., p. xix.. Whether any of the larger chapters which appear in certain MSS. (e.g. the later system in cod. B) are of the nature of lections, must remain doubtful until the whole subject has received the fuller treatment which it demands.

The Psalter obviously needed no capitulation, nor was it ever read by the ἀναγνώστης in the lessons for the day. But special Psalms were recited or sung in the Church, as they had 359been in the Synagogue⁷⁷¹⁷⁷¹See p. 251., and in some early monastic communities arrangements were made for a regular recitation of the Psalter both in public and private⁷⁷²⁷⁷²Cf. Cassian, Inst. iii. 289.. The scribe of cod. A has copied into his MS. a list of Psalms for daily use, in which three are appointed to be said at each of the two public services, and one is selected for private use at each hour of the day and night. It is as follows:

Ὀρθρινοὶ773773Cf. Const. viii. 37, μετὰ τὸ ῥηθῆναι τὸν ὀρθρινόν.	γʹ	ξβʹ	αμʹ	ρμαʹ	Λυχνικοὶ774774Cf. Const. viii. 34, τὸν ἐπιλυχνικὸν ψαλμόν.	γʹ	ρκθʹ	ρκʹ	ιβʹ
Ὥρ[α]	αʹ	ψαλμὸς		ηʹ	Ὥρ[α]	αʹ	ψαλμὸς		οδʹ
"	βʹ	"		κθʹ	"	βʹ	"		κθʹ
"	γʹ	"		αʹ	"	γʹ	"		νδʹ
"	δʹ	"		μαʹ	"	δʹ	"		ςʹ
"	εʹ	"		νʹ	"	εʹ	"		δʹ
"	ςʹ	"		οʹ	"	ςʹ	"		μʹ
"	ζʹ	"		ξθʹ	"	ζʹ	"		ναʹ
"	ηʹ	"		δʹ	"	ηʹ	"		πʹ
"	θʹ	"		ριαʹ	"	θʹ	"		πζʹ
"	ιʹ	"		ρμʹ	"	ιʹ	"		ζοʹ
"	ιαʹ	"		ρηʹ	"	ιαʹ	"		καʹ
"	ιβʹ	"		ρκʹ	"	ιβʹ	"		κςʹ

The existing order of the Orthodox Eastern Church divides the Psalter into 20 sections known as καθίσματα, each of which is broken by the recitation of a Gloria into three στάσας. The larger sections are i.—viii., ix.—xvi,, xvii.—xxiii., xxiv.—xxxi., xxxii.—xxxvi., xxxvii.—xlv., xlvi.—liv., lv.—lxiii., lxiv.—lxix., lxx.—lxxvi., lxxxvii.—lxxxiv., lxxxv.—xc., xci.—c., ci.—civ., cv.—cviii., cix.—cxvii., cxviii., cxix.—cxxxi., cxxxii.—cxlii., cxliii.—cl. In the later liturgical Greek Psalter the cathismata are divided by an ornamental band or some other mark of separation, and the staseis by a marginal (δόξα, i.e. the Doxology, which was repeated at the end of each)⁷⁷⁵⁷⁷⁵Cf. O. T. in Gr., ii. p. xi..

(1) A few other text-divisions, peculiar to certain contexts or books, may be specified here. In Isaiah it was not unusual to mark in the margin the place where each of the books of Origen's commentary ended (τόμος αʹ—λςʹ, cf. Eus. H.E. vi. 36). Both in Isaiah and in Daniel certain prophetic ὁράσεις were distinguished. Thus cod. Q^mg places opposite to Isa. vii. 1, and at c. xvii. 1. In Daniel cod. A marks 12 ὁράσεις, which begin respectively at Sus. 1, Dan. i. 1, ii. 1, iii. 1, iii. 98, v. 1, v. 30, vii. 1, viii. 1, ix. 1, xi. 1, Bel 1, and the same method of division is used in codd. QΓ. In Lamentations each stanza is preceded by a representation of the Hebrew letter with which it begins, e.g. ἀλέφ (ἄλφ, ἀλφά⁷⁷⁶⁷⁷⁶The variations in the MSS. are interesting and instructive.), βήθ, γίμελ (γίμλ), δάλεθ (δέλεθ, δέλτ, δέλθ), and so forth⁷⁷⁷⁷⁷⁷Greek numerals are sometimes added in the margin; see above, p. 351.. In the analogous case of Psalm cxviii. (cxix.), there are no signs of this treatment, except in the Graeco-Latin Psalters RT⁷⁷⁸⁷⁷⁸R gives the Heb. letters in Greek; T the corresponding Greek numerals..

In the Song a marginal enumeration distinguishes the speeches of the interlocutors, and some MSS. (e.g. א and V) add marginal notes after the manner of stage-directions, such as ἡ νύμφη πρὸς τὸν νυμφίον, ταῖς νεανίσιν ἡ νύμφη, αἱ νεανίδες τῷ νυμφίῳ⁷⁷⁹⁷⁷⁹In cod. V = 23 these become sometimes lengthy τίτλοι, e.g. at v. 7 ἐξῆλθεν μὴ εὑροῦσα τὸν νυμφίον ἡ νύμφη καὶ ὡς ἐν νυκτὶ εὑρεθεῖσα ἀπὸ τῶν φυλακῶν τῆς πόλεως τραυματίζεται, καὶ αἴρουσιν αὐτῆς τὸ θέριστρον οἱ τειχοφυλακοῦντες. .

Small departures from the continuous or slightly paragraphed writing of the oldest MSS. are found in a few contexts which lend themselves to division. Thus even in cod. B the blessings of the tribes in Gen. xlix. 3—27 are separated and numbered —. A similar treatment but without marginal enumeration is accorded to Deut. xiv. 12—18 and 1 Paral. i. 51—54, Eccl. iii. 1—8. The ten words of the Decalogue are numbered in the margins of codd. BA, but not prima manu; and the systems of numeration differ to some extent. Thus according to B^a, αʹ = prologue, βʹ = i + ii, γʹ=iii, δʹ = iv, εʹ = v, ςʹ = vii, ζʹ = viii, ηʹ = vi, θʹ = ix, ιʹ = x, while A¹ makes γʹ = iv, δʹ = v, εʹ = vi; the other numbers in A are effaced, or were never appended.

(2) It would be interesting, if sufficient materials were available, to pursue the subject of text-division with reference to the daughter-versions of the LXX. On the stichometry and capitulation of the Latin Bible much information has been brought together by M. Berger (Histoire de la Vulgate, p. 307 ff.) and Wordsworth-White (Epilogus, p.733 ff.); for the stichometry see also Dr Sanday in Studia Biblica, iii. p. 264 f. But it remains 361doubtful whether these divisions of the Latin Bible belonged originally to Jerome's version or were transferred to it from the Old Latin⁷⁸⁰⁷⁸⁰Cf. Sanday, op. cit., p. 272.; or, supposing the latter view to be correct, whether they came from the MSS. of the LXX. which were used by the early African or Italian translators. In referring to the N.T. Tertullian speaks of capitula not seldom (ad uxor. ii. 2, de monog. 11, de virg. vel. 4, de praescr. 5, adv. Prax. 20); but it is not clear that he uses the word to connote definitely marked sections.

On the capitulation of the Coptic versions the student will find something in Wilkins, Pentat. praef., ad fin., and Lagarde, Orientalia, p. 125 ff.; on the Egyptian lectionary, he may consult the list of authorities collected by Brightman, Ancient Liturgies, p. lxix. For the Ethiopic version, cf. Dillmann's Ethiopic Pentateuch, I. ii., pp. 163 f., 173. The stichometry of the Syro-Hexaplaric is discussed by Lagarde, Mittheilungen, iv. (1891), p. 205 f. A list of Church lessons, taken from the Palestinian-Syriac lectionary recently discovered by Mrs Lewis and Mrs Gibson, is given by Nestle in Studia Sinaitica, vi. p. xxix. ff.

4. In connexion with the subject of text-division it will be convenient to mention the expositions which accompany and often break up the text in MSS. of the Greek Bible. The student will have observed that many of the codices enumerated in Part I. c. v. (pp. 148—168) contain commentaries, either original (comm.), or compiled (cat.). Of the Greek commentators something will be said when we come to consider the use of the LXX. by the Greek fathers; in this place we will limit ourselves to the relatively late compilations which are based on the exegetical works of earlier writers⁷⁸¹⁷⁸¹Ch. Q. R. i. 99, p. 34: "the process of drawing up Catenae goes on from the fifth to the fourteenth or fifteenth century.".

Such expositions were formerly described as ἐκλογαί or παραγραφαί, or as ἐπιτομαὶ ἑρμηνειῶν, or ἐξηγήσεις ἐρανισθεῖσαι ἀπὸ διαφόρων πατέρων, or συνόψεις σχολικαὶ ἐκ διαφόρων ὑπομνημάτων συλλεχθεῖσαι, or by some similar periphrasis. The use of the technical term catena (σειρά) is of comparatively modern date. Catena aurea is a secondary title of the great 362compendium of comments on the Four Gospels brought together by Thomas Aquinas, and a Greek MS. Psalter of the 16th century (Vat. Gr. 2240) adopts the phrase, translating it by χρυσῆ ἅλυσις. Σειρά is used in this sense by the editor of the Greek catena of Nicephorus, which bears the title Σειρὰ ἐνὸς καὶ πεντήκοντα ὑπομνηματιστῶν εἰς τὴν Ὀκτάτευχον καὶ τὰ τῶν Βασιλειῶν. The metaphor so happily expresses the principle on which such commentaries are constructed, that books of this description are now universally known as catenae or σειραί. They are 'chains' in which each link is supplied by some ancient author, scraps of exegesis threaded together by the ingenuity or industry of a collector who usually elects to be anonymous.

The catenists drew their materials from all sources within their reach. They laid under contribution Jewish writers such as Philo and Josephus, heretics like Basileides, Valentinus, and Marcion, suspects like Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Apollinarius, and Theodore of Mopsuestia, as well as the accepted teachers and Saints of the Catholic Church. Their range extended from the first century to the fifth or sixth, and they had access to a number of writers whose works have since disappeared. Hence their value in the eyes of patristic scholars and editors. But they are not without importance for the purposes of the biblical student. The text embedded in the commentary may be late⁷⁸²⁷⁸²See, however, the facts collected in Ch. Q. R. i. 99, p. 46 f., but the commentary itself often preserves the witness of early writers to an old and valuable type.

The catena is usually written in the broad margins which surround the text, or it embodies the text, which in that case is usually distinguished from it by being written in uncials or in coloured ink, or enclosed within marks of quotation. The names of the authors who have been pressed into the service of the catenist are commonly inserted in the margin at the 363place where their contributions begin: thus , , , , , , . If a second passage from the same author occurs in the same context it is introduced as ; an anonymous writer is . Unfortunately in the copying of catenae such attributions have often been omitted or misplaced, or even erroneously inserted, and as to this particular the student must be on his guard against a too unsuspecting acquiescence in the witness of his MS. Nor can he place implicit confidence in the verbal accuracy of the excerpts. The catenists evidently regarded themselves as free, while retaining the substance; to abbreviate and otherwise modify the language of their authors.

The following is a list of the chief Greek catenae of the Old Testament which have appeared in type. Octateuch, Historical books: the Catena of Nicephorus, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1772—3; Psalms: B. Corderii expositio Graecorum patrum, 3 vols., Antwerp, 1643; Proverbs: Commentary of Procopius first printed by Mai, and in Migne, P. G. lxxxvii.; Song: Commentary ascribed to Eusebius and Polychronius (Meursius, Leyden, 1617); Job: Catena of Nicetas of Serrae (P. Junius, i.e. Patrick Young, London, 1636); Isaiah: Commentary of Procopius (J. Curterius, Paris, 1580); Jeremiah, with Lamentations and Baruch: Catena published by M. Ghisler, 3 vols., Leyden, 1623; Daniel: Catena published by A. Mai in Script. vet. nov. coll. 1. On these see Ch. Q. R. i. 99, pp. 36—42.

The nineteenth century has added little to our collection of printed Greek catenae on the Old Testament, and the earlier editions do not always adequately represent the witness of the best MSS. Meanwhile a great store of MS. catenae awaits the examination of Biblical scholars. Some of these are at Athos, Athens, Smyrna and Jerusalem, but there is an abundant supply in libraries more accessible to Western students, at St Petersburg, Rome, Paris, and London. Perhaps no corner of the field of Biblical and patristic research offers so much virgin soil, with so good a prospect of securing useful if not brilliant results.

The following LXX. MSS. amongst others contain catenae on one or more of the books which form their text: H.-P. 14, 17, 24, 25, 31, 33, 52, 57, 73, 77, 78, 79, 83 87, 90, 91, 97) 98, 99; 109, 112, 128, 135, 147, 181, 209, 238, 240, 243, 264, 272, 292, 302, 309; London B.M. Add. 35123, Lambeth 1214; Paris, Coisl. gr. 5, 7, Reg. gr. 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 161; Zurich c. 11; Basle gr. iv. 56, vi. 8; Esc. Σ. i. 16; Leyden, 13; Munich gr. 82; Athos Vatop. 15, Ivér. 15; Athens, nat. 43; Constantinople 224; Smyrna, Ev. sch. 1; Patmos, 216, 217; Sinai 2; Jerusalem H. Sep. 3. Scholia are to be found in H.-P. 14, 16, 38, 52, 56, 64, 70, 77, 79, 93, 128, 130, 131, 135, 159, 256, 310; Paris Ars. 8415, Coisl. gr. 184.

On the Paris O. T. catenae see H. Lietzmann, Catenen, p. 37 ff. Some of the Vatican catenae are handled by Pitra, analecta sacra 11, Klostermann, analecta, passim; a full and valuable account of Roman MS. catenae on the Prophets is given by Faulhaber (die Propheten Catenen). For lists of the catenae in the great libraries of Europe and the East, the student must consult the published catalogues, e.g. Montfaucon, Omont (Paris), Stephenson (Vatican), Lambeccius (Vienna), Lambros (Athos), Papadopulos (Jerusalem). The more important MSS. are enumerated by Harnack-Preuschen, and Heinrici, and in the older work of Fabricius-Harles. A Catenarum graecarum catalogus by G. Karo and H. Lietzmann is in progress (Nachrichten der K. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen (Philologisch-hist. Klasse), 1902 ff.

5. Besides catenae and detached scholia the margins of LXX. MSS. frequently contain notes of various kinds, written oftentimes in perplexing abbreviations. Lists of abbreviations are given by the principal palaeographical authorities, such as Montfaucon's Palaeographia Graeca, Gardthausen's Griechische Paläographie, and Sir E. Maunde Thompson's Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography; but the subject can only be mastered by working upon the MSS. themselves or their facsimiles. It may be useful, however, to print here a few of the abbreviated notes and symbols which occur in the apparatus of the Cambridge manual LXX., or are of frequent occurrence in the principal codices.

= Ἀκύλας.   , = Σύμμαχος.   θʹ, θεʹ = Θεοδοτίων.

= οὐ κεῖται παῤ Ἐβραίοις. = οἱ ὠβελισμένοι (στίχοι) οὐ κεῖνται παῤ Ἐβραίοις. = ὁμοίως τοῖς ἐβδομήκοντα. = οἱ τρεῖς, i.e. Aquila, Symmachus, 365Theodotion. πʹ = πάντες. λ = Λουκιανός (Field, Hexapla, 1. lxxxv.).    = οἱ λοιποί. ΜΟ^Ν = μόνος.    = ὡραῖον,    or = Ὠριγένης. For ΠΙΠΙ see above, p. 39 f.

= σημείωσαι, σημειωτέον, σημεῖον.   ΓΡ = γράψον or γράφεται.    = ἀρχή.   τεʹ = τέλος.    = στίχος.   κεʹ = κεφάλαιον.    = κάθισμα.    = ἀνάγνωσμα.    = διώρθωται (i.e. 'corrected thus far'), a mark inserted by the διορθωτής usually at the end of a book. For further particulars see Field, op. cit., p. xciv. sqq⁷⁸³⁷⁸³For terms connected with writing and reading which occur in the text of the LXX. see Nestle, Introd. to the Textual Criticism of the N. T., p. 46 f..

LITERATURE.

Stichometry, colometry, &c.

Kitto, Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, art. Verse; Herzog-Plitt, art. Stichometrie; Gregory, i. p. 112 f.; Scrivener-Miller, i., p. 52 ff.; Gardthausen, Paläographie, p. 127 ff.; E. M. Thompson, Handbook, p. 78 ff.; Zahn, Gesch. d. Kanons, ii. p. 295 ff.; Sanday in Studia Biblica, iii. p. 261 ff.; J. R. Harris, Stichometry, passim; Wordsworth-White, Epilogus, p. 733 ff. (Oxford, 1898).

Capitulation.

Schürer, II. ii. 79 ff.; Buhl, Kanon u. Text d. A. T., p. 222; Ryle, Canon of the O. T., p. 235; Morinus, Exerc. Bibl. xvii. 3; Dathius, De ordine pericoparum (opusc. iv.); Zacagni, Collectanea, praef, pp. lxvii., lxxxi.; Montfaucon, Biblioth. Coisl., p. 1 ff.; the Benedictine Prolegomena in div. S. Hieron. biblioth. iv. (reprinted in Migne, P. L. xxviii. 101 sqq.); Suicer, Thes. eccl. s.vv. κεφάλαιον, περικοπή; Herzog-Plitt, art. Perikopen; Gregory, i. p. 120 ff.; Scrivener-Miller, i. p. 56 ff.; Thomasii opp. i.; Berger, Histoire de la Vulgate, p. 323 ff.

Lections.

Suicer, Thes. eccl. s.vv. ἀνάγνωσμα, ἀνάγνωσις, γραφή; Brill, De lectionariis or. et occ. eccl. (Helmstadt, 1703); Neale, Hist. of the H. Eastern Church, i. p. 369; Herzog-Plitt, artt. Lectionen, Perikopen; D.C.A., art. Lections; Burgon, Last twelve verses of St Mark, p. 191 ff.; E. Ranke, Das kirchl. Perikopen-system der röm. Liturgie (Berlin, 1847).

Acrostics.

P. A. de Lagarde, Symmicta i. 107; C. Taylor in Hastings' Encycl of Religion and Ethics, i. p. 75; G. Bickell, art. Acrostic in Oxford New English Dict.; I. Abrahams, art. Acrostics in Jewish Encycl.; Driver, Introd. to Lit. of O. T., ch. vii. 366Catenae.

T. Ittig, De bibliothecis et catenis patrum (Leipzig, 1707); J. C. Wolf, De catenis Gr. patrum (Wittenberg, 1742); Fabricius-Harles, viii. p. 637 ff.; J. G. Dowling, Notitia scriptorum ss. patrum (Oxford, 1839); Walch-Danz, Biblioth. patristica (Jena, 1834), p. 247 ff.; Harnack-Preuschen, Gesch. d. altchr. Litteratur, i. p. 835 ff.; G. Heinrici, in Hauck, Real-Encyklop. iii., art. Catenen; L. Eisenhofer, Procopius von Gaza, Freiburg, 1897; P. Batiffol, in Vigouroux' D. B. ii., p. 482 ff., art. Chaînes Bibliques; Lietzmann, Catenen (Freiburg i. B., 1897); M. Faulhaber, Die Propheten-Catenen nach römischen Handschriften, in Biblische Studien, iv. 2, 3 (Freiburg i. Breisgau, 1899) The two last-named works are indispensable to students who desire to prosecute research in this field. The whole subject is summarised with admirable clearness and precision in the Church Quarterly Review for Apr. 1900, pp. 29—48.