The article continues the publication of the homilies from the St. Cyril of Alexandria’s «Commentary on the Gospel of Luke» (CPG 5207), based on Manuscripts Damas. 12/19 and Damas. 12/20, offering the Syriac and parallel Greek text of Homilies 3–4 of the «Commentary». In the introduction are indicated the manuscript Syriac tradition. Their Greek tradition and their relationship to the Homily «On the Hypapante» (CPG 5207.1; BHG 1963) known by name of St. Cyril and fragments from Greek Catenas are considered in more detail. The inaccuracies made by J. Reuss when publishing the corresponding fragments of the «Commentary» on Greek Catenas are revealed. A summary analysis of manuscript sources of homily is made, and the reconstruction of their original text proposed in the publication is substantiated. A general review of the content is given and the question of the dating of these homily is touched upon. The publication of the Syriac and Greek text is accompanied by a Russian translation.

The publication focuses on the sermon of Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, «On the Divine Inhumanation» (GPG 5707; Loofs 18), which was delivered on December 6, 430 and is fully preserved in the Latin translation made by Marius Mercator. A full Russian translation of the sermon from Latin is offered, accompanied with historical, theological and philological commentaries. In preparing the Russian translation, excerpts from the sermon preserved in Syriac sources were taken into account. As an appendix, Syriac extracts from the manuscript Brit. lib. Add. 12,155 (= British Museum 857) are published for the first time. The introductory study provides information about the history of the text and its editions, analyzes the historical context and circumstances of the delivery of the sermon, and also offers a general outline of the theological beliefs of Nestorius reflected in the sermon.

The article deals with John Scotus Eriugena’s appropriation of the concept of self-movement. It begins with an overview of its history, beginning with Plato. For him, the soul possesses self-motion by its very nature. Aristotle demonstrates that the first cause of movement (be it the soul or the mind) must, as such, necessarily be unmoved. To meet Aristotle’s challenge, Proclus and Priscianus construe self-movement not as the movement of a pre-existing «self» (or, spiritual substance) but, rather, as the self’s constitution: the soul is the very act of self-reversal. According to Dionysius the Areopagite, the First Cause is not only the object of the creatures’ desire but, also, is Itself moved by Its love to them. The act of unification of the Divine is prior to Its self-movement; therefore, self-movement in Dionysius does not constitute the «Self» of the Divine but is either a self-reversion (for the Divine) or a self-determination (for the humans). Dionysius does not attribute self-movement to the angels. In Eriugena’s (mis-) translation of Dionysius, however, self-movement is attributed, also, to the angels and an element of inanimate nature — fire. The article demonstrates that despite this seemingly invalid application to creatures of the property belonging to God alone, the move made by Eriugena is, in an eschatological perspective, quite justified.

It is believed that in rabbinic tradition, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek was regarded as a tragic event with fatal consequences for Israel. To commemorate this misguided undertaking, a special day of fasting and lamentation was even established, and the translation itself was compared to the creation of the golden calf. Based on some rabbinic testimonies, European scholarship has developed the notion that the Jews abandoned the Septuagint at the turn of the first and second centuries AD. The latest research shows the complete inadequacy of this concept in relation to historical reality. The Jews who lived within the Roman and later Byzantine empires made extensive use of the Greek translation. The Septuagint was the Bible of Diaspora Judaism for many centuries. In fact, there are many positive evaluations of the LXX in the rabbinic literature itself. This article will show how the legend of «Torah for King Tolmai (Ptolemy)» was transformed in the context of rabbinic literature (2^nd–9^th centuries CE).

The article deals with a project of a new commented translation (and the first one direct from original into Russian) of the famous apocryphon Book of Enoch in its full redaction on Geez. The translator gives a characterisation of the relevance of this monument and the current state of its Russian-language versions; he explains the downsides of the old translation of rev. A. V. Smirnov, and introduces the reader to the principles of his own translation and their reasons. In conclusion, there are several verses from the 71st chapter of the apocrypha and information about crowdfunding for its publication.

There is the continuation of reviews of the Journal of Ecclesiastical History. Here is situated the issue for the January of 2018 which this time concludes more than eighty items of publications presumably a reviews of monographs and issues collections. In proposed review of this journal’s issue all the published materials will be as usually briefly considered from the point of view of their content and main authors’ ideas.