Shenute e le sue citazioni dei Salmi nell’omelia: Ad philosophum gentilem

Abstract

The main sources of the Holy Scripture text are, obviously, the biblical manuscripts; though they are not the only ones. We can also find the biblical text among writings of fathers of the Church, in which there are very often many biblical quotations. This article, as the title suggests, presents the Coptic verses of Psalms which can be found in one of the homilies of Abba Shenute: Ad philosophum gentilem. Firstly it contains a short biography of Shenute: his writing activity, and especially the diverse information regarding his homily. Secondly it includes 13 quotations from the Psalms ‒ part of this homily – with their counterparts from the different biblical manuscripts which we have today at our disposal. The comparison between the appropriate Coptic verses of Psalms reveals a great similarity between the quotations of Shenute’s homily and other biblical manuscripts. The small differences are explained below each quotation. Abba Shenute assures us that in his time the Book of Psalms was well known in the Coptic environment.