Garegin Hambardzumyan The Book of Sirach in the Armenian Biblical Tradition Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies Edited by Friedrich V. Reiterer, Beate Ego and Tobias Nicklas Volume 33 Garegin Hambardzumyan The Book of Sirach in the Armenian Biblical Tradition Yakob Nalean and His Commentary on Sirach ISBN 978-3-11-043163-6 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-042896-4 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-042905-3 ISSN 1865-1666 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Acknowledgments LearningthatarenownedpublishinghousesuchasWalterdeGruyteriswilling topublishmyPhDdissertationwithinDeuterocanonicalandCognateLiterature Serieswasagreatdelightnotonlyformebutalsoformythree-years-shut-down- less laptop which eternally fell asleep aftergivingup to contain the amount of material that it had to,while I was doing my research. I would like to exprees my deep gratitude to de Gruyter and to Prof. Friedrich Reiterer personally, for their kind consideration to include the current work into the DCLS. As Ben Sira himself would have put it, ‘Let us now sing the praises of fa- mousmen’.ThesearethosepeopletowhomIoffermyappreciationandrespect for all the support shown to me in the past three years of my studies as a doc- toral student. Myfirstwordsofgratitudegotomytwosupervisors:Dr.MarkFinneyandRt. Rev. Dr. Vahan Hovhanessian for their continued support throughout my re- search. It has been an honour to work with Dr. Finney whose constant encour- agement and wise guidance made the entire process of my research a greatex- perienceofexplorationofnewhorizonsinthefieldofbiblicalstudies.Bp.Vahan Hovhanessian, my second supervisor, has been a tremendous mentor for me throughoutthe past three years. Heopenedup tome an entire spectrum of op- portunitieswhichwillhelpmetobeactivelyinvolvedinacademiaforthevisible future of my life. I also thank Robert Thomson, Alison Salvesen and John Barton at the Uni- versity of Oxford as well as Allan Lowe (Leeds),Claude Cox (Canada), Michael Stone(Jerusalem)andAlexanderDiLella(USA)fortheirwiseadviceandhelpful comments onvarious parts and aspects of my thesis. MysincerethankstothemembersoftheCollegeoftheResurrectioninMir- field and St. Stephen’s House in Oxford for their warm hospitality and care shown to me while writing my dissertation. Especially, I am indebted to Fr. Peter Allan, the Principal of CoR, and Canon Robin Ward, the Principal of SSH,fortheirpersonalkindnessandhelp.IamalsoextremelygratefultoFr.Nic- olas StebbingCR for a much helpful course of Greek which Ieventuallydid for creditattheUniversityofSheffieldandtoDeborahRookeforayear-longcourse ofHebrewatOxford.IthankTheovanLint,ChairofArmenianStudiesatOxford, Dr.Christine Gore, Principal of the Yorkshire Ministry Course, and many others fortheopportunitiesgiventometolectureonthesubjectsofmyinterest.Inad- dition,IthankRev’dKatherinePriceforhercontinuoussupportandMrs.Alison BygraveintheDepartmentofficeforherhelpandadviceaswellasthelibrarians at Oxford Bodleian libraries and Sheffield Western Bank library. VI Acknowledgments I would also like to express mygratitude for their love and support,to the membersofboththeparishesofHolyTrinity,ManchesterandSt.Yeghiche,Lon- don,where I have been serving as avisiting pastor all this time. Finally, my wholeheartedthanks to myfamilyandthe Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin to which I belong, for their prayers and love. Contents Abbreviations IX  Introduction 1 . General Introduction 1 . General Plan of the Research 5 . Review of Existing Secondary Literature 6 . The Name of the Author and the Date of the Book of Sirach 12 . Sirach and Hellenism 16  The Armenian Version of Sirach 19 . The Translation of the Book of Sirach and its Inclusion in the Canon of the Armenian Bible (The Earliest Translations of the Bible into Armenian) 19 . Dating the First Translation of the Book of Sirach 22 . References from the Book of Sirach in Medieval Armenian and Translated Literature 31 . Textual Sources of the Armenian Translation of Sirach 58 .. Hebrew Version of Sirach 59 .. Syriac Version of Sirach 62 .. Greek Version of Sirach 65 . Listof all the Extant Armenian Manuscripts, Complete and in Fragments, which Contain Sirach 68 . Printed Editions of the Armenian Bible 72 . The Newly Found Chapters of Sirach in Jerusalem and Yerevan 77 . Misplaced Chapters 79 . Four Unique Passages Which Are Found Only in the Armenian Translation 82 . A Comparative Chart of the Extant Armenian Texts of Sirach 88  Yakob Nalean’s commentary on Sirach 127 . Yakob Nalean 127 . A Historical Glance on Armenia and the Armenian Communities Abroad Which Shaped the Theology of Nalyan’s Commentary 130 . Nalean in Literatureand His Commentary 143 . The Twelve MSS of Nalean’s Commentary 144 . Nalean’s Theological Views and Hermeneutical Methods 147 . One-Line Commentary by Nalean 152 VIII Contents  The Main themes of Sirach discussed by Yacob Nalean 160 . Wisdom, Fear of God, the Law and Happiness 160 . The Vocation of the Sages and Scribes 172 . Creation, Free Will and Sin 177 . God 182 . Retribution 185 . Prayer, Worship 188 . Social Justice 192 . Attitude towards Women 197  Conclusions 202 Bibliography 211 Manuscripts 211 Volumes and Entries 211 Index of names 223 Subject index 225 Abbreviations Arm. Armenian Bag. BagratowniEditionoftheArmenianBible(1860) Eth. EthiopicBible Gr. Greek HB HebrewBible Heb. Hebrew Jer. MSN.2558ofJerusalem,St.James’Monastery Jer.SJ St.James’DepositoryinJerusalem LXX Septuagint M Masoretictexts MM. MesropMaštoc‛MatenadaraninYerevan MS Manuscript MSB CairoGenizahMSB MSS Manuscripts NJ. TheArmenianMSDepositoryofNewJulfa NRSV NewRevisedStandardVersionoftheEnglishBible NT NewTestament Os. OskanErewanc‛i’seditionoftheArmenianBible(1666) OT OldTestament Pl. Plural Sg. Singular Syr. Syriac VeM MechitaristArmenianMonasteryinVenice ViM MechitaristArmenianMonasteryinVienna Vul. Vulgate Yer. MSN.5608ofMesropMaštoc‛Matenadaran Zôh. ZôhrapeanEdtionoftheArmenianBible(1805)