Book One
DIVINE LETTERS

PREFACE

1. Perceiving that the schools were swarming with students because of a great longing for secular letters (a great part of mankind believed that through these schools it attained worldly wisdom), I was, I confess, extremely sorry that the Divine Scriptures had no public teachers, since worldly authors were rich in instruction beyond doubt most distinguished. I strove with the most holy Agapetus, bishop of the city of Rome,1 to collect sub-scriptions and to have Christian rather than secular schools re-ceive professors in the city of Rome, just as the custom is said to have existed for a long time at Alexandria and is said even now to be zealously cultivated by the Hebrews in Nisibis,2 a city of the Syrians, that thereby the soul might obtain eternal salvation and the tongue of the faithful might be adorned with a holy and completely faultless eloquence.1 But although my ardent desire could in no way have been fulfilled because of the struggles that seethed and raged excessively in the Italian realm, inasmuch as a peaceful affair has no place in anxious times, I was driven by divine charity to this device, namely, in the place of a teacher to prepare for you under the Lord’s guidance these introductory books; through which, in my opinion, the unbroken line of the Divine Scriptures and the compendious knowledge of secular letters might with the Lord’s beneficence be related books not at all fluent, perhaps, since in them is found, not studied eloquence, but indispensable narration; to be sure, they are extremely useful, since through them one learns the ihdicated origin of both the salvation of the

1 That is, pope; consecrated 535.
2 The (Jewish) school at Nisibis is also mentioned by Junilius, bishop of Africa, in the letter prefixed to his work De partibus divinae legis ad Primasium episcopum (Migne, Pat. Lat., LXVIII, 15, middle). See chap. x, note 5 below. On the school see Hermann and Nelz.

[page 68]

soul and secular knowledge. In them I commit to you, not my own learning, but the words of men of former times, which it is right to praise and glorious to proclaim for future generations, for whatever is said about men of former times by way of praise of the Lord is not considered hateful display. Add to this the fact that one is pleased with a venerable teacher if one consults him frequently; moreover, whenever one desires to have recourse to such teachers, one will find no harshness in them.
2. On this account, most beloved brothers, let us climb unhesi-tatingly to the Divine Scripture by means of the laudable exposi-tions of the Fathers, as if by a certain ladder in Jacob’s vision, in order that, borne aloft by their words, we may deserve to reach an effectual contemplation of the Lord, For this is perchance Jacob’s ladder,3 on which angels climb up and down; on which the Lord leans, extending a hand to the faint and supporting, through their contemplation of Him, the weary steps of the climbers. There-fore, if you please, we ought to preserve this kind of reading, that the novices of Christ, after they have learned the psalms,4 may in the beginning study the divine authority with perpetual prac-tice in faultless books, until under the Lord’s guidance it becomes very well known to them, for fear lest the mistakes of scribes become fixed in unpolished minds; since that which is manifestly implanted and rooted in the recesses of the memory cannot easily be torn out. Happy indeed the soul which through the Lord’s bounty has hidden in the recesses of the memory the secret of such a great gift; but much happier the man who through criti-cal searching has learned the paths of knowledge and in conse-quence zealously drives human thoughts from himself and, to his salvation, is filled with divine communications. For we remember that we have seen that many men, mighty in strength of memory, when asked about very unintelligible points, have solved the questions brought forward merely by examples drawn from divine authority, inasmuch as that which is evidently said rather obscurely in one book is set down more clearly in an-other. A witness of this fact is the apostle Paul, who in great measure in the letter which is written to the Hebrews clarifies

3  Genesis 28: 12. (Subsequent references to the Bible follow this style of citing first the chapter and then the verse.)
4. Cf. Comm. Psalt. pref. xvi. D.
 

[page 69]

the writings of the Old Testament by referring to their recent fulfillment.
3. On this account, dearest brothers, after the soldiers of Christ have filled themselves with divine reading and, strength-ened by frequent meditation, have begun to know the properly designated passages of the books,8 then someone, perhaps, Will not vainly pass over the instructions of the present work, in whose two books are set forth in a manner most appropiiate to each passage involved and in compact style the things which ought to be read; students will consequently learn by what Latin interpreters the separate items have be en explained But if in these writers one discovers something carelessly said, then let those to whom the tongue is known inquire which items have been wholesomely treated by Greek interpreters, that in the school of Christ the lukewarmness of carelessness may be removed and necessary knowledge sought by zealous minds.
4. And so it appears that the Divine Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament from the very beginning to the end have been expounded in the Greek. language by Clement of Alexandria, surnamed Stromateus,6 and Cyril, bishop, of the same city, and John Chrysostom, Gregory, and Basil, and other studious men. whom eloquent Greece celebrates. But with the Lord’s aid we follow rather after Latin writers, that, since we are writing for Italians, we may most fitly seem to have pointed out Roman in-terpreters as well. For more gladly is that narration undertaken by every man which is told in the language of his fathers, whence it is possible for a task which cannot be completed through the use of new teachers to be completed through the use of old ones. On this account it will be enough to have pointed out to you the most learned writers, since to have sent one to such men is gen-erally proved to be an appropriate completeness of instruction; for in your case as well it will be more efficacious not to sip at the cup of audacious novelty, but to drink deeply from the fount of the ancients. Hence it follows that I teach you in leisurely man-ner and instruct you without false assurance; and I believe that this kind of teaching will be profitable for us also-this training of others in such a way that we may seem most opportunely to

5. That is, "assigned reading" for novices.
6 = stromateus a writer of miscellanies (stromata).

[page 70]

have avoided the snares of those who represent us in a false light,
5. In the first book, therefore, present and ready you have masters of a bygone generation to teach you not so much by their tongues as by your eyes. Wisely, then, studious brothers, restrain your eager desires, learning in the proper order what should be read, imitating, of course, those who long to have bodily health. For those who want to be healed ask the doctors what to eat at their first repast and what to eat at their second, lest disorderly greediness overwhelm rather than reinvigorate the very delicate strength of their feeble limbs.
6. In the second book, which concerns the arts and disciplines of liberal letters, a few things ought, of course, to be culled; here, however, one would make a mistake with less danger if in making it he preserved his faith steadfast. Moreover, whatever will be found in the Divine Scriptures concerning such matters will generally be better understood because of previous knowl-edge. For it is agreed that in the origin of spiritual wisdom, as it were, evidences of these matters were sown abroad in the man-ner of seeds, which instructors in secular letters later most wisely transferred to their own rules; we have shown our approval of this action in a suitable place, perhaps in our expounding of the Psalter.’
7. Therefore, beseeching the Lord, from Whom comes every advantage, read, I pray, unremittingly; bring yourself to this task again and again with loving care; for the mother of under-standing is constant and eager contemplation. Nor does it escape me that the most eloquent Cassian, in the fifth book of his Col-lations,8 said that a certain simple old man had been asked about a very obscure passage of the Divine Scripture and that as a re-sult of very frequent prayer he had recognized its meaning by means of a celestial light, so that suddenly, filled with a divine inspiration, he had expounded most difficult matters to his ques-tioners-matters which he had not previously learned through human teachers. Of the same sort is that famous story of St. Augustine, which he tells in the books On Christian Learning: 9 a certain foreign servant, unskilled in letters, through frequent
 

[page 71]

prayer suddenly read a book which had been handed to him as if he had been brought to perfection by long practice at school. St. Augustine later says of this matter: though these were amaz-ing miracles and though it be established that "all things are pos-sible to them that believe," 10 we, however, ought not to long for such things frequently, but we ought rather to abide by the com-mon practice of teaching, lest when we boldly seek after those things. which are above us, we seem rather to risk the blame of temptation contrary to the injunction of the Lord, who says, in Deuteronomy, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," 11 and again, in the Gospel, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign," 12 and so forth. Let us, therefore, pray that those things which are closed to us be opened, and let us in no manner be cut off from the pursuit of reading; for even David, although he was continually occupied with the law of the Lord, neverthe-less cried out to the Lord, saying, "Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments." 13 For so exceedingly sweet is the gift which this thing offers, that the more it is received, the more it is sought after.
8. But however much all Divine Scripture may shine with ce-lestial light, and however much the excellence of the Holy Ghost may manifestly illumine it, nevertheless, I have spent the great-est and most zealous toil upon the Psalter and the Prophets and the Epistles of the Apostles, since they seemed to me to stir up greater profundity of thought and, as it were, to encompass the height of all Scripture and its most glorious depth. Insofar as my age has allowed, I have gone over all nine codices of divine au-thority, reading them carefully, after a comparison of ancient codices and previous reading on the part of friends; and in them I admit that with the Lord’s help I have worked hard not to lack melodious eloquence and not to mutilate the holy books with rash presumption.
9. We have believed that this too ought to be brought to mind: St. Jerome, driven by consideration for the simple broth-ers, said in the preface to the Prophets 14 that because of those who had not learned the marks of punctuation at the schools of

10Mark 9:22 (9:23). 11 Deuteronomy 6:16. 12 Matthew iz:39. 13 Psalms 118:73 (119: 73). 14 Preface to Isaiah.

[page 72]

instructors in secular letters he had indicated points of division in his translation, just as it is read today, through the use of cola and commata.15 We too, impressed by the authority of this very great man, have decided that this system ought to be fol-lowed although other works may be embellished by marks of punctuation. By all means let those instructions which the above-named man gave, just as has been stated above, for separation by cola and commata suffice for the most simple reading, lest we seem through blameworthy presumption to have, gone beyond the judgment of this great man. But I have left the remaining codices, which are not marked by such punctuation, to be read again 16 and corrected by scribes who are, however, particular about taking pains; and although they will not be able to pre-serve entirely insignificant points of spelling, they will, neverthe-less, in my opinion hasten in every way to accomplish the cor-rection of ancient codices. For they have a knowledge of the critical marks 17 used in their profession, which for the most part have to do with expertness in correction and encourage it. But that ingrown error may in some measure be taken from their midst, we have set down a few remarks summarily and in ac-cordance with their mental capacity in the book which follows on the rules of spelling, that the unpolished presumption of hasty correctors may not be handed down for posterity to revile. I have also determined to find as many ancient orthographers as pos-sible, through whose use the scribes may seem, if not made alto-

15 An arrangement by which certain texts are divided into lines or short periods to facilitate reading; in other words, into "sense-lines." In the preface cited (to Isaiah) St. Jerome tells us that for convenience of reading he has followed the sys-tem of the M55 of Demosthenes and Cicero and arranged his translation in this new style of writing. But actually he had found the same system already followed in the Psalms, Proverbs, and other poetical books of the Old Testament-the very places in which one would naturally expect to find the first experiment in casting the text into sense lines.
16 "Relegendos." "Relego" usually means simply "read" in C., but cf. chap, xv below ("read and correct"). In Late Latin a compound verb frequently is used with the force of the simple form.
17 C. is clearly thinking here of spelling as well as punctuation; he therefore probably refers to the regular system of signs used in correcting and annotating a MS, as the use of the asterisk (*) and obelus (—). On punctuation and the critical signs used by scholars shortly after C.’a death see Isidore, Etymologiae t (Dc grammatica), chap. xx (Dc positura), and chap. xxi (Dc notis sententiarum). Note also the various items which C. calls notae in chap. xxvi below. (Notae clearly cannot mean shorthand [Isidore’s notae vulgarcs] here or in chap. xxvi.)
 
 

gether correct, nevertheless in large measure improved. If, in-deed, among the Greeks spelling is for the most part clear and without ambiguity, among, the Latin writers, however, it lies neglected because of its great difficulty, and hence even now it requires considerable zeal on the reader’s part.
10. Since the arrangement of the work here undertaken has been proclaimed, it is now time for us to come to the most whole-some glory of religious teaching, the light of devoted souls, the heavenly gift and joy to abide without end. This joy, I believe, has been briefly intimated in the two books which follow,

Here ends the preface of Cassiodorus Senator. Here begins the first book of his Introduction, fhut on divine readings, and the order in which they ought to be read is clearly set forth.
 

Here through God ‘s grace begins the table of contents for Book z

I. ON THE OCTATEUCH
II. ON KINGS
III. ON THE PROPHETS
IV ON THE PSALTER
V. ON SOLOMON
VI. ON THE HAGIOGRAPHA
VIl. ON THE GOSPELS
VIll. ON THE EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLES
IX. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES AND THE APOCA-LYPSE
X. ON THE MODES OF UNDER-STANDING
XI. ON THE FOUR ACCEPTED SYNODS
XII. THE DIVISION OF THE DIVINE SCRIPTURE ACCORDING TO JEROME
XIII. THE DIVISION OF THE DIVINE SCRIPTURE ACCORDING TO ST. AUGUSTINE
XIV. THE DIVISION OF THE DIVINE SCRIPTURE ACCORDING TO THE SEPTUAGINT
XV. THE CAUTION WHICH ONE SHOULD EMPLOY IN READ-ING THE HEAVENLY AU-THORITY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CORRECTION
XVI. ON THE EXCELLENCE OF THE DIVINE SCRIPTURE
XVII. ON CHRISTIAN HISTORIANS
XVIII. ON ST. HILARY
XIX. ON ST. CYPRIAN
XX. ON ST. AMBROSE
XXI. ON ST. JEROME
XXII. ON ST. AUGUSTINE
XXIII. ON THE ABBOT EUGIPPIUS AND THE ABBOT DIONYSIUS
XXIV. GENERAL RECAPITULATION :  THE ZEAL WITH WHICH THE HOLY SCRIPTURE OUGHT TO BE READ
XXV. COSMOGRAPHBRS TO BE READ BY THE MONKS
XXVI. ON THE ADDING OF CRITICAL MARKS
XXVII. ON FIGURES OF SPEECH AND THE LIBERAL ARTS
XXVIII. WHAT IS READ BY THOSE WHO CANNOT ENTER UPON PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS
XXIX. ON THE SITUATION OF THE MONASTERY OF VIVARIUM AND THAT OF CASTBLLUM
XXX, ON SCRIBES AND THE RE-MBMBBRING 0 F CORRECT SPELLING
XXXI. ON DOCTORS
XXXJI. AN ADMONITION FOR THE ABBOT AND THE COMMU-NITY OF MONKS
XXXIII. PRAYER