INTRODUCTION

Summary

the accuracy of the quotations of st ambrose

Patristic quotations are of first-rate importance for determining the text of the New Testament. It should be remembered that the quotations of a Father are valuable for textual criticism in proportion as they reproduce the MS. or MSS. used by the author, or at least make it possible to detect the reading on which the writer is basing his remarks. J. M. Bebb, speaking of the useful and important evidence obtained both from Versions and from Patristic quotations, points out that the most indispensable requisite is that the supposed varia lectio should have MS. authority of some kind, and the further such MS. authority is from the possibility of any intimate relationship to the witnesses under consideration, the greater does the value of the evidence become; and the more such independent authorities for a reading (whether MSS., Versions or Patristic quotations) increase, the nearer may we find we are getting to the attainment of the original text of the New Testament. 1 Patristic quotations vary much as regards the standard of accuracy. It is seldom possible to take the scriptural quotations of Tertullian as literal representations of the Biblical text current in Carthage in his time. The Biblical quotations present a very difficult problem; it is doubtful whether he is (i) translating from the Greek for himself, (2) paraphrasing the Latin text in use at Carthage, or (3) quoting from memory, because frequently his words are distinct reminiscences of the text. On the other hand, Cyprian nearly always adheres to a particular type of text: if he quotes a passage a second time he usually does so in the same form.