ON THE PROBLEM OF THE ORIGIN OF THE SLAVIC APOSTOLOS WITH COMMENTARIES: Σκύθης – slovĕninъ (SLAV) IN COLOSSIANS 3:11

In the late 1950s, F. Mareš noted two main Slavic equivalents of the Greek Σκύθης in the Kl. 3:11, the only NT context for this word, i. e. скифъ/скоутъ in the majority of MSS vs словѣнинъ in some other MSS, and hypothesized the Macedonian origin of the latter. Extending Mareš’s hypothesis the paper investigates the dynamics of the text of Kl. 3:11 in the Apostolos MSS of different types (commented, continuous, aprakos), focusing on the pericope as a whole as well as the regular variations and the role of the current authoritative versions of the text. To trace back the origins of the innovative equivalent словѣнинъ, the most important sources are the two oldest Russian MSS of the commented Apostolos – Christinopolitanus (12th c.) and Pogodin 30 (14th c.) – so as the Skoplje aprakos (b. 14th c.) and the Karakallou continuous Apostolos (12/13th c.). The Russian commented MSS and the Skoplje aprakos have two points in common, i.e. the lexical pair иноземьць – словенинъ and the zero realization in the position of необрѣзание. The Skoplje Apostolos and the Russian commented MSS must represent two different continuations of the same cor- rupted source with the zero-realization. The text dynamics of the Kl. 3:11 suggests that the Slavic translation of the Apostolos catene (Apostolos with commentaries) was based on the tradition reflected in the Skoplje and Karakallou MSSs – both of them related to the Macedonian book tradition.