1. The Question (Quaestio 107)
| Joachim Périon (1554) | Sigismund Gelen (1555) | Johannes Lange (1565) | Friedrich Sylburg (1593) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Si ab iis qui a vera religione abhorrent, fallendi studio inventa sunt carmina et cantica, iis autem qui lege tenentur, inducta sunt propter mentis infantiam, cur ii qui gratiae perfecta munera et ab iis modis qui expositi sunt, aliena acceperunt, in templis eorum imitatione qui in lege pueri fuerunt et infantes, canticis usi sunt?[cite: 3] | Si ab infidelibus ad imposturam inventa sunt carmina, et in lege introducta sunt propter animi puerilitatem, cur qui gratiae perfectam et ab illis modis alienam disciplinam acceperunt, carminibus utuntur in ecclesiis more puerorum legis?[cite: 2] | Si ab infidelibus, fallaciae et seductionis gratia, reperta sunt carmina: iis vero qui in lege fuere, inducta sunt, propter mentis insipientiam (νηπιότε): nos qui gratiae perfectas, ab eis autem qui dicti sunt modis alienas accepimus disciplinas: quare in Ecclesiis, cantilenis, eorum qui in lege fuere insipientium more, utimur?[cite: 1] | Si ab infidelibus, fallaciae et seductionis gratia, reperta sunt carmina: iis vero qui in Lege fuere, inducta sunt, propter mentis insipientiam: nos, qui gratiae perfectas; ab eis autem qui dicti sunt modis alienas accepimus disciplinas; quare in Ecclesiis, cantilenis, eorum qui in Lege fuere insipientium more, utimur? |
2. The Response (Responsio 107)
| Joachim Périon (1554) | Sigismund Gelen (1555) | Johannes Lange (1565) | Friedrich Sylburg (1593) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canere non omnino pueros decet, sed canere cum inanimis instrumentis et cum saltatione et crotalis. Itaque ex templis explosus est et sublatus usus instrumentorum eius generis, aliorumque quae pueris digna sunt, relictusque est et retentus cantus omnino.[cite: 3] Movet enim animum ad ardentem cupiditatem eius rei, quae in cantibus delectat: sedat motus qui ex carne excitatur: cogitationes vitiosas, quae ab hostibus qui non cernuntur inferuntur, depellit: irrigat animum ad ferendum fructum divinorum bonorum: fortes ad patientiam in adversis rebus religionis cultores atque pugiles efficit: piis curationem adhibet molestiarum quae in rebus ad mundum pertinentibus versantur. Hoc Paulus gladium Spiritus nominavit, quo adversus hostes qui non videntur accingit et armat milites verae religionis. Dei enim verbum est, quod dum et cogitatur et canitur et resonat, daemones fundit et fugat, [quae] vim habent perficiendi animum virtutibus religioni consentaneis, dum canticis ecclesiasticis in religionis cultoribus oriuntur. | Non canere simpliciter est pueris conveniens: sed cum inanimis instrumentis canere, et cum saltatione et crepitaculis. Itaque in ecclesiis sublatus est ex carminibus usus talium instrumentorum, et aliorum pueris convenientium, & relictum est canere simpliciter.[cite: 2] Excitat enim haec res animum ad ardentem cupiditatem eius quod in carminibus canitur: sopit insurgentes ex carne affectiones: cogitationes malas expellit, quae nobis ab invisibilibus inimicis iniiciuntur: irrigat animam ad ferendos fructus divinorum bonorum: generosos reddit ad rerum adversarum tolerantiam certatores pietatis, et omnium quae in vita accidunt rerum tristium remedium affert piis. Paulus quidem gladium spiritus hoc nominat, ubi contra invisibiles hostes armat milites pietatis. Est enim verbum dei quod dum cogitatur et canitur et pulsatur, fugat daemones, perficientia animam in virtutibus pietatis, dum piis contingunt per ecclesiastica carmina. | Simpliciter canere, insipientibus non convenit: sed instrumentis inanimatis, et crotalis cum saltatione canere. Quocirca in Ecclesiis, non usus carminum per eius generis instrumenta, et alia insipientibus congruentia, receptus est: sed simplex cantio in eis manet.[cite: 1] Excitat haec enim cum voluptate quadam animum, ad flagrans eius quod carmine celebratur desiderium. Affectiones et concupiscentias carnis sedat, cogitationes malas inimicorum, quos cernere non est, suggestione oborientes amolitur. Mentem ad fructificationem divinorum bonorum rigat. Pietatis decertatores generosos et fortes per constantiam in rebus adversis efficit. Omnium rerum, quae in vita tristes et luctuosae accidunt, piis affert medicinam.] Gladium Spiritus hoc Paulus appellat in armamentario: ubi contra invisibiles adversarios, milites verae pietatis suis instruit armis. Verbum namque Dei est, et id quod animi cogitatione (ἐνθυμούμενον), quod carminis praeludio (ἀνακρουόμενον), quod carmine ipso (ᾀδόμενον) celebratur: ac daemones fugat ac depellit. (Et in rebus denique omnibus) quae piis eveniunt, animus verae pietatis virtutibus, per carmina Ecclesiastica perficitur. | Simpliciter canere, insipientibus non convenit; sed instrumentis inanimatis, et crotalis cum saltatione canere. Quocirca in Ecclesiis non usus carminum per eius generis instrumenta, et alia insipientibus congruentia, receptus est; sed simplex cantio in eis manet. Excitat haec enim cum voluptate quadam animum, ad flagrans eius quod carmine celebratur desiderium: affectiones et concupiscientias carnis sedat: cogitationes malas inimicorum, quos cernere non est, suggestione oborientes amolitur: mentem ad fructificationem divinorum bonorum rigat: pietatis decertatores generosos et fortes per constantiam in rebus adversis efficit: omnium rerum, quae in vita tristes et luctuosae accidunt, piis affert medicinam. Gladium Spiritus hoc Paulus appellat in armamentario; ubi contra invisibiles adversarios, milites verae pietatis suis instruit armis. Verbum namque Dei est, et id quod animi cogitatione, quod carminis praeludio, quod carmine ipso celebratur: ac daemones fugat depellitque. [Et in rebus denique omnibus] quae piis eveniunt, animus verae pietatis virtutibus, per carmina ecclesiastica perficitur. |
Friedrich Sylburg’s Critical Note on Q107 (1593)
Latin Text (Resolved):
Page 358, versus 15, ἀνακρουόμενον idem Perionius vertit, resonans: sic enim locum reddidit, dum et cogitatur et canitur et resonat. Langus noster et ipse lectionem illam retinet. sed cum organa inanima, et cantum cum pulsu harmonico, auctor hic improbet, ἀνάκρουσις vero, si pro pulsatione aut pulsationis exorsu capiatur, absque pulsu fieri nequeat, propterea fere adducor ut putem ab auctore scriptum ἀκουόμενον: ut significet, verbum Dei et cogitatum et cantatum et auditum, ad daemonas abigendos facere. Aut ἀνάκρουσις pro cantus auspicatione seu exorsu hic accipienda. quasi tanta cantionis vis sit, ut simul-atque ea intonuerit, Satanas confestim fugere significetur.
English Translation:
On page 358, line 15, the same Périon translates ἀνακρουόμενον [struck up as a prelude] as resonans [resounding]; for he rendered the passage thus: “while it is both meditated upon, and sung, and resounds.” Our colleague Lange likewise retains that textual reading himself.But since this author condemns inanimate instruments and singing accompanied by a musical beat, and an ἀνάκρουσις [an instrumental prelude or striking]—if it is taken to mean a striking or the inception of a striking—cannot occur without a physical beat, I am for this reason almost led to believe that the author actually wrote ἀκουόμενον [heard]. The sense would then be that the Word of God—when meditated upon, sung, and heard—avails for driving away demons.
Alternatively, anakrousis must be understood here as the inauguration or mere beginning of the song; as if the power of the singing were so great that the moment it has sounded forth, Satan is signified to flee immediately.
Philological Commentary on the Differences
The variation across these four texts perfectly showcases the competing ideological, stylistic, and text-critical priorities of late Renaissance humanism.
1. Classical Latinity vs. Ecclesiastical Tradition
- Joachim Périon represents pure Ciceronian Humanism. He consciously avoids common Church Latin terms to make the text sound like classical Roman prose. He translates “churches” as templa (temples) and “believers/Christians” as religionis cultores atque pugiles (worshippers and champions of religion).
- Gelenius, Lange, and Sylburg reject this over-classicization. They confidently deploy the historical Christian term ecclesiis (churches), treating it as an irreplaceable theological concept rather than a pagan stylistic mismatch.
2. The Spiritual Immaturity Problem
The core premise of the question hinges on the Greek concept of the Old Law being meant for humanity’s early, spiritually immature phase. The translators fractured along different understandings of this state:
- Périon: infantiam (literal speechlessness / absolute infancy).
- Gelenius: puerilitatem (boyishness / childhood).
- Lange & Sylburg: insipientiam (foolishness / lack of wisdom). Lange’s choice here is less precise than Gelenius’s; the Greek word points to age/development (infancy), whereas insipientia frames it as a moral or intellectual defect. However, it effectively conveys the early Protestant/Humanist stance on the comparative blindness of the old legal era.
3. Anakrouomenon (Meditation vs. Instrument)
The ultimate text-critical divergence appears in how each translator handles the three-part actions of the Word of God against demons, at which the section on ‘singing in the Church’ culminates. The printed Greek tradition offered a participle from anakrouo (to strike a chord / play a prelude).
- Périon (resonat): Softens the word to mean “echoing” or “resounding,”
- Gelenius (pulsatur): Leans into the instrumental meaning: pulsatur (is beaten/struck), which apparetnly introduces a contradiction (tension at least) with the beginning of the response.
- Lange & Sylburg (carminis praeludio): Render it as “the prelude of the song.” Because of this ‘initium’ Lange changed the word order, placing it second (before ‘sung’) Sylburg maintains this.
In his Annotationes Posteriores (too late to make changes to the normal annotations) he argues that both Lange and Périon dealt with the same manuscript reading. In his original annotation, he had suggested an emendation of the lacuna, using ‘pulsatur’ in his paraphrase of what went before. He now ‘feels impelled’ to imagine the original Greek author actually writing ἀκουόμενον (heard), meaning the Word of God drives away demons when it is thought upon (cogitatur), sung (canitur), and heard (auditum). (This note is taken over by Maran/Migne, and brought Leaver into confusion in appendix 5).
Punctuation and Orthography
- Abbreviation Resolution: All early modern abbreviations (such as the ampersand & to et, the enclitic -que shorthand q; to que, macron-indicated nasals like animũ to animum, and nõ to non) have been fully spelled out to optimize modern legibility.
- Syntactical Repunctuation: Johannes Lange’s 1565 translation structured the virtues of church chanting as fragmented, separate sentences[cite: 1]. Friedrich Sylburg recognized that the underlying Greek source content functioned as a unified periodic block; he substituted Lange’s periods with colons (e.g., desiderium: sedat: amolitur:), subordinating the parallel statements gracefully beneath the primary verb excitat.