Gaps in the oldest Slavic translation of the homilies of St. Gregory of Nazianzus

The National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg stores a manuscript of the 11th century which contains the earliest translation of the homilies of St. Gregory of Nazianzus in the Slavic language. This collection is named XIII Slov Grigoriya Bogoslova [Thirteen Homilies of St. Gregory of Nazianzus]. This collection is unique not only for its antiquity (the other Slavic manuscripts with the works of St. Gregory of Nazianzus belong to the 14th century and later), but also because of the composition of the homilies. The Greek prototype of the collection is not found. The composition of the homilies as in the collection is found neither in the Greek tradition, nor in the later Slavic one. The differences in the volume and composition of the Slavic collection from the Greek collections can be explained if to consider the aims of the compilers of this collection. We need to keep in mind that the Slavic collection was intended for the Slavs newly converted to Christianity, and it could be used for missionary purposes. This assumption can be confirmed when considering the discrepancies between the Slavic and the Greek texts of the homilies. For example, Homily 15 has insertions devoted to denouncing Slavic pagan beliefs. Not only the insertions, but also some gaps in the homilies of the collection could be explained by the fact that the collection was intended for the Slavs newly converted to Christianity. For example, the Slavic translation lacks an excerpt of the text of "Oration on Easter" in which St. Gregory of Nazianzus explains the origin of the word "Easter". It could be a decision of the translator to omit this passage because its understanding requires knowing some of the Greek language. All the gaps of the collection can be divided into groups, one of which is omissions that can be attributed to the negligence and carelessness of the copyist or to the text damage, and the other one seem to be quite rational decisions of the translator or the editor. So, the translation of the homilies included in the collection Thirteen Homilies of St. Gregory of Nazianzus is not only a translation but partly a processing of the Greek text to make it more understandable for the Slavic audience. The consideration of all the gaps of the Slavic text can probably shed light on some questions of the compilation of the collection that are still unresolved.

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