Theodoret of Cyrus’s commentary on the Psalms contains hundreds of quotations from biblical translations included in Origen’s Hexapla. Like other textual units (lemmata, commentary, quotations from the Septuagint and the New Testament) these brief passages may differ across manuscripts, of which more than seventy are currently known. At times, these differences can be important for understanding the history of the manuscript tradition of Theodoret’s commentary as well as of literary practices of medieval scribes. Such a case will be discussed below.

A significant portion of the manuscripts of Theodoret’s commentary on the Psalms contain, in the second part (that is, in Ps 51–100) a large number of later interpolations, which Große-Brauckmann (citing the German theologian Friedrich Loofs) dated to the period before Justinian, that is late 5^th to early 6^th centuries.¹ The earliest such manuscripts are: Ra 9038 (Munich), Ra 9056 (Paris), Ra 9076 (Venice). We will use the abbreviation Ψ for this manuscript group.

Manuscript Ra 9076, housed in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, is notable for the fact that the frequent references to Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion found up to Ps 50 cease in Ps 51 and do not resume until Ps 101.

Here is how the commentary on Ps 51:3 appears in this manuscript, compared to Ps 50:16.

Venice, Marc. gr. Z. 19 = Ra 9076, f. 94^r (detail, Ps 50)
© Biblioteca Marciana

Venice, Marc. gr. Z. 19 = Ra 9076, f. 95^r (detail, Ps 51)
© Biblioteca Marciana

In Ps 50, we see a specific abbreviation of the name Symmachus, while in Ps 51, there is no mention of this name at all.

This last passage can be also compared with how it appears in the Paris manuscript of the same Ψ group:

Paris, BnF, gr. 141A = Ra 9056, f. 77^v (detail, Ps 51)
© Bibliothèque nationale de France; Gallica

There are numerous instances in this section of the commentary where the names of the hexaplaric authors (one, two, or all three) appear in Theodoret’s text along with references to the Hexapla itself (Symmachus alone is mentioned 135 times). And in all these cases – no exceptions here! – the names are absent in Ra 9076.

For example:

Ps 52:6 Ὁ Ἀκύλας καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος τὸ Διεσκόρπισεν ὀστᾶ ἀνθρωπαρέσκων, οὕτως ἡρμήνευσαν· Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς διεσκόρπισεν ὀστᾶ παρεμβαλλόντων περὶ σέ.

Paris, BnF, gr. 141A = Ra 9056, f. 77^v (detail, Ps 52)
© Bibliothèque nationale de France; Gallica

This passage is missing from Ra 9076:

Venice, Marc. gr. Z. 19 = Ra 9076, f. 97^r (detail, Ps 52)

© Biblioteca Marciana

Not only the names of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion are omitted, but the Hexapla as such is never mentioned:

Ps 64:1 Ταῦτα οὔτε τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν ἔχει, οὔτε οἱ ἄλλοι ἑρμηνευταί, οὔτε οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα ἐν τῷ Ἑξαπλῷ.

Ps 64:1 (Ra 9076) Ταῦτα οὔτε τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν ἔχει, οὔτε οἱ ἄλλοι ἑρμηνευταί, οὔτε οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα ἐν τῷ Ἑξαπλῷ·

We can compare this to the following example:

Ps 61:1 Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσεν· Ἐπινίκιος διὰ Ἰδιθούμ, ᾠδὴ εἰς Δαυίδ.

Ps 61:1 (Ψ, incl. Ra 9076) Ἡ δὲ τῶν Ἑβραίων ἔκδοσις οὕτως ἔχει· Eὐσεβὴς ἐπινίκιος Ἰδιθούμ, ᾠδὴ τῷ (om. Ra 9076) Δαυίδ.²

Venice, Marc. gr. Z. 19 = Ra 9076, f. 112^v (detail, Ps 61)

© Biblioteca Marciana

In search for the reasons of this practice, we will turn to the passages in which Ra 9076 omits references to the Hexapla, for it is precisely in these passages that we find other interesting differences from the manuscripts of the Ψ group, on which this Venetian manuscript clearly always depends. Let us consider the very first instance (Ps 51:3).³

Ps 51:3 Τὸ γὰρ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκεν.

Ps 51:3 (Ψ) Τὸ γὰρ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἀντὶ τοῦ καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ὁ Σύμμαχος τέθεικεν.

Ps 51:3 (Ra 9076) Τὸ γὰρ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἀντὶ τοῦ καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ὁ Σύμμαχος τέθεικεν.

A similar situation is found in the commentaries on Ps 64:7 and Ps 76:9.

Ps 64:7 Τὸ ἑτοιμάζων, ἑδράζων ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκε.

Ps 64:7 (Ψ) Τὸ ἑτοιμάζων ἀντὶ τοῦ ἑδράζων ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκε.

Ps 64:7 (Ra 9076) Τὸ ἑτοιμάζων ἀντὶ τοῦ ἑδράζων ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκε.

Ps 76:9 Συνετέλεσε ῥῆμα ἀπὸ γενεᾶς εἰς γενεάν. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως (referring to the following)· Συνετέλεσε ῥῆσιν περὶ γενεᾶς ἑκάστης.

Ps 76:9 (Ψ) Συνετέλεσε ῥῆμα ἀπὸ γενεᾶς εἰς γενεάν. Ὁ Σύμμαχος οὕτως (referring obviously to the previous) ἀντὶ τοῦ Συνετέλεσε ῥῆσιν περὶ γενεᾶς ἑκάστης.

Ps 76:9 (Ra 9076) Συνετέλεσε ῥῆμα ἀπὸ γενεᾶς εἰς γενεάν Ὁ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἀντὶ τοῦ Συνετέλεσε ῥῆσιν περὶ γενεᾶς ἑκάστης.

In the following instance, the Ψ group offers an interpretation of Symmachus’ translation. In Ra 9076, this becomes an interpretation of the Septuagint translation, which, unsurprisingly, is not found in other manuscripts.

Ps 91:11 Καὶ τὸ γῆράς μου ἐν ἐλαίῳ πίονι. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως· Ἡ παλαίωσίς μου, ὡς ἐλαία εὐθαλής.

Ps 91:11 (Ψ) Καὶ τὸ γῆράς μου ἐν ἐλαίῳ πίονι. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως· Ἡ παλαίωσίς μου, ὡς ἐλαία εὐθαλής ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐπαλαιώθην ὡς ἐλαία εὐθαλής.

Paris, BnF, gr. 141A = Ra 9056, f. 157^r (detail, Ps 91)
© Bibliothèque nationale de France; Gallica

Ps 91:11 (Ra 9076) Καὶ τὸ γῆράς μου ἐν ἐλαίῳ πίονι ἀντὶ τοῦ Ἐπαλαιώθην ὡς ἐλαία εὐθαλής.

Venice, Marc. gr. Z. 19 = Ra 9076, f. 180^r (detail, Ps 91)
© Biblioteca Marciana

Such instances are striking; they are quite numerous, though not as numerous as the hexaplaric insertions. Their presence may serve as grounds for the following assumption: in the manuscripts of the Ψ group, the Septuagint translation and the translation of (for example) Symmachus are interchanged. Noticing such instances in his template, the scribe of the Vorlage of Ra 9076 (Ps 51–100) obviously decided to remove entirely these questionable authors, to whom, for some reason, Septuagint readings – well known as such – were attributed. As a result, even those references to Symmachus etc. that had not been altered by the Ψ group’s editorial work disappeared from Ra 9076:

Ps 65:4 (incl. Ψ) Πᾶσα ἡ γῆ προσκυνησάτωσάν σοι, καὶ ψαλάτωσαν. Ψαλάτωσαν δὲ τῷ ὀνόματί σου, Ὕψιστε. Τοῦτο σαφέστερον ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκε· Πάντες οἱ ἐπὶ γῆς προσκυνήσουσί σοι μελῳδοῦντες, ᾄσουσι τὸ ὄνομά σου.

Ps 65:4 (9076) Πᾶσα ἡ γῆ προσκυνησάτωσάν σοι, καὶ ψαλάτωσαν. Ψαλάτωσαν δὲ τῷ ὀνόματί σου, Ὕψιστε. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκε· Πάντες οἱ ἐπὶ γῆς προσκυνήσουσί σε μελῳδοῦντες, ᾄσουσι τὸ ὄνομά σου.

This topic certainly warrants a more detailed examination. In doing so, it is essential to take into account the fact that manuscripts of the Ψ group already contain instances where hexaplaric readings and references to translators (other than the Seventy) have been omitted (cf. Ps 61:1 above). Furthermore, it should be noted that in manuscripts Ra 9004 (Mount Athos) and Ra 9052 (Paris), which contain a significant portion of the insertions characteristic of the Ψ group in Ps 51–100, such instances are not observed.