The Greek Loan Word Presbyteri in Vetus Latina and Vulgate Susanna (Vvlg. Dan. 13). Reception by Cyprian, Lucifer, and Jerome

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The Greek Loan Word Presbyteri in Vetus Latina and Vulgate Susanna (Vvlg. Dan. 13). Reception by Cyprian, Lucifer, and Jerome, Page 1 of 1

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‘The translation of πρεσβύτεροι by presbyteri succeeds in conveying the Greek word’s technical meaning in reference to Christian priests but obscures its comparative denotation of old age. Cyprian of Carthage, Lucifer of Cagliari, and Jerome of Stridon all attest presbyteri as an Old Testament translation for πρεσβύτεροι in the story of Susanna according to its Vetus Latina and Vulgate versions (Vvlg. Dan. 13), a translation which lends itself to allegorizing those presbyteri as Christian priests. In the mid-third century, Cyprian applies the lesson of Susanna’s presbyteri to Christian clergymen, notwithstanding the Jewish character of the story. Lucifer, however, primarily interprets Emperor Constantius II as the allegorical embodiment of the two lecherous presbyteri in Susanna, an emperor who attempts to force the sacerdotes of his day to join him in condemning Athanasius of Alexandria. Nevertheless, Lucifer also equates Constantius’s priestly allies, pseudopresbyteri, to the lechers. Jerome continued the Latin Christian tradition of translating πρεσβύτεροι by presbyteri, both in his writings and in Vvlg. Dan. 13. In the latter, he renders the Greek with senes in ten of fourteen instances and presbyteri in the other four. Despite his preference for senes, he continues the Latin patristic tradition of taking Susanna’s presbyteri as a lesson for the clergymen of his day’.