Origenes Orientalis

The Syrohexapla is widely believed to be a faithful witness to the Hexapla of Origen. This Syriac version was produced in the seventh century on the basis of Greek texts related to Origen’s six-columned masterpiece of biblical scholarship. The signs used in Origen’s Hexapla, as well as the readings of several Greek Jewish versions which are no longer fully extant, are preserved in this version. The present study evaluates the Syrohexapla as a witness to these hexaplaric materials in 3 Kingdoms (1 Kings).The nearly 600 signs preserved in the Syrohexapla are analysed, divided into correctly marked asterisks, correctly marked obeli, and inaccurately marked readings. The more than 300 readings attributed to the Greek Jewish versions are treated separately. Finally, by including a chapter which examines a portion of the many readings in the Syrohexapla for which no hexaplaric sign has been preserved, the author balances assessments of the reliability of the Syrohexapla for studying the remains of Origen’s Hexapla.This study prepares the way for the author’s new critical edition of the hexaplaric fragments of 3 Kingdoms.