Jerome’s Vulgate Version of Tobit and Its Reception in the Jewish Medieval Text “Hebraeus Londini of Tobit” (North French Miscellany BL Add. 11639)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Beate Ego
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 443757362

State of the art: The Book of Tobit (around 200 BCE) has become an object of intensive research. The Qumran Hebrew and Aramaic fragments (4Q196-200), as well as the old Greek versions, have been the focus of interest thus far. In addition to examining the history of the text, special attention was paid to the individual religious-historical and theological motifs (e.g., the concept of the Torah; magic, sickness and healing).However, previous studies still leave many questions unanswered. The Vulgate tradition, for example, has been examined in detail from a linguistic point of view (see Skemp); however, its interpretation, which focusses on its “Sondergut” and its integration into the entire narration is still a desideratum. Moreover, the relationship of its theological conceptions with Jerome’s and the Church Fathers’ world of thought has to be explored.A further field of research about the Tobit tradition, which has been almost untapped so far, are medieval manuscripts (e.g., Hebraeus Muenster [HM], Hebraeus Fagius, Hebraeus Londini et al.). These traditions are to be seen as meaningful in their own right and as witnesses of Jewish piety at the time of their formation. Of particular importance in this context is the “Hebraeus Londini” tradition, insofar as a Jewish reception of the Vulgate text took place. Therefore, the textual history of the Tobit book must be regarded in the context of the medieval Jewish-Christian religious contact.Project Objectives: On the one hand, this project aims to investigate the theological dimensions of the Tobit-Vulgate and its traditions, and on the other hand, to examine the reception of the Tobit-Vulgate in the medieval “Hebraeus Londini” manuscript. The topic of the Jewish-Christian religious contact and the question of the concrete “Sitz im Leben” of such a reception is a topic of further investigation.Based on a fresh translation of the two texts, the study will explore the subject in a methodologically tradition-critical and narratological way. Both the applicant and the future project collaborator are trained in these matters through their intensive study of the Tobit traditions. The project collaborator also has expertise in researching the Vulgate and Patristic exegesis, which is indispensable for carrying out the project. The investigators will publish the research results in a monograph in the renowned series, “Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies” (under the authorship of Lucas Brum Teixeira). Since the work is also of highly relevant for research into the post-Ancient Tobit texts in general, the applicant will present the translation of Ms. Hebraeus Londini with a detailed commentary on the individual sources in a separate publication.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants