De teologiska utredningarna i Medeltidens bibelarbeten 1

Abstract

The collection of texts that usually are called Medeltidens bibelarbeten 1 (Medieval Bible Works 1, MB 1) contains a commented translation of the Pentateuch and some supporting texts, all probably from the first half of the fourteenth century. Among the supporting texts are two collections of theological expositions in the Old Swedish vernacular, which appear before and after the Pentateuch translation in the manuscripts. The first deals with questions of the creation and the original sin, the other one with the Old Law, and they are mainly translations of excerpts from Thomas of Aquinas’ Summa theologiæ. The investigations show clear indications of that it was the same person who translated and created the theological expositions and the Pentateuch translation, something that has been previously assumed but never investigated closely. The theme of the second theological exposition relates closely to an important feature of the translation method in the Pentateuch and there are close connections between the expositions and the comments of the Bible translation. From an investigation of metatextual comments it is argued that the Pentateuch translation was carried out first and the expositions later. Altogether, the connection between the supplementary texts and the Pentateuch translation improves our opportunities to discuss MB 1 as a work, what kind of reader MB 1 was intended for, and its place in the Swedish and Nordic text history of the fourteenth century in general.