CHAT "nominibus suis: (was: nomothete)

On Tuesday, December 7, 2004, at 07:39 , Steg Belsky wrote:

> On Dec 7, 2004, at 8:46 PM, Ray Brown wrote:
>> I note Eco refers to "nominibus suis" which is in the Vulgate version
>> of
>> verse 20:
>> Appellavitque Adam nominibus suis cuncta animantia, et universa
>> volatilia
>> caeli, et omnes bestias terrae.
>> And Adam call all living things by their own names: both all the flying
>> creatures of the sky, and all the beasts of the earth.
>> But I notice the Septuagint has nothing corresponding to "nominibus":
>> Kai ekalesen Adam onomata pasi tois kthnesi, kai pasi tois peteinois
>> tou
>> ouranou, kai pasi tois qhriois tou agrou.
>> And Adam summoned names for all the domestic animals, and for all the
>> winged creatures of the sky, and for all wild beasts of the
>> country-side.
>> I wonder what the Hebrew has. Hopefully Steg or Isaac will enlighten
>> us.
>
> It says:
> Vayiqra ha'adam sheimot; lekhol habeheima ule`of hashamayim, ulekhol
> hhayat hasadeh
> "And [then] the human called names; for all of the domesticated animals
> and for the birds of the heavens, and for all of the wild animals of
> the field..."
Thank you - that is practically the same as the Septuagint.

Where the Vulgate & Septuagint differ, one often finds that it is a case
where Jerome has decided to follow the Hebrew text in preference to the
Septuagint. He certainly knew Hebrew and moved to Bethlehem to do his
revision, compilation & translation where he had access to Hebrew texts.

_animantia_ is however an odd word to use if he meant just "domesticated
animals" - the translation I give above would be the normal to understand
from the Latin. So where did the "nominibus suis" come from? It is likely
Jerome had access to manuscripts no longer available to us now.

Ray
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