Additional
Introduction.
Towards the close of 1875, at Constantinople, Philotheus
Bryennius, Metropolitan of Serræ, published the first complete
edition of the epistles ascribed to Clement. This he was enabled
to do by the discovery of a
ms.
in the library
of the Holy Sepulchre at Fanari in Constantinople. This
ms.
, of vellum, consists of one hundred and
twenty leaves in small octavo, nearly seven and a half inches in length
and six in breadth. The
ms.
bears the
date 1056, and was written by one Leo. Its contents are:
1. Chrysostom’s Synopsis of the Old
Testament (the New also being included in the title).
2. Epistle of Barnabas.
3. Clement to the Corinthians I.
4. Clement to the Corinthians II.
5. Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.
6. Ignatian Epistles.
The
ms.
is written with
comparative accuracy and clearness. Internal evidence seems to
establish its independent value;
e.g.
, words carelessly omitted
in the Codex Alexandrinus are found in this
ms.
It also supplies the
lacunæ
, notably
chapters 57 (concluding sentence)—63 inclusive of the first
Epistle and chapters 12 (concluding sentences)—20, being the
close of the second Epistle. Harnack seems to prove that the new
ms.
is as complete as the original
Alexandrian.
The
lacuna
of the first Epistle consists mainly
of a prayer, the writer somewhat abruptly passing from the
oratio
obliqua
to the
oratio recta
. The prayer is indicative
of intense earnestness and emotion rather than official
authority. It is marked by wealth of quotation, especially from
the Septuagint. Perhaps, too, the nature of the sufferings
referred to in the opening chapters may be inferred from the petitions
of this prayer.
In the Notes the old
ms.
is
indicated by A, the recently discovered
ms.
by
I.