Paul in Many Languages: Evidence for the Formation of the Pauline Corpus in the Ancient Versions of the New Testament

Theories regarding the formation and development of the Pauline Corpus have largely been developed on the basis of extant Greek manuscripts and what might be known from the testimony of ancient writers. What is often overlooked, however, is a consideration of the ancient versions of the New Testament. The ancient versions are of great significance to the study of the formation of the Pauline corpus given that they provide witness to the early state of the corpus in a variety of geographical regions and ecclesiastical settings. In addition, the ancient versions often provide witness to ancient Greek manuscripts which have not survived. Given the great significance of the ancient Greek translations, this paper will provide a brief overview of the relevant extant manuscripts in the ancient versions with the objective of determining what might be known of the early state of the Pauline corpus. As the ancient versions are considered, special attention will be given both to the content and arrangement of the corpus. In order to reach this end, the paper will briefly discuss the status of specific letters such as Hebrews and the Pastorals in the ancient versions in order to ascertain the possibility that the corpus expanded from a smaller edition of 9, 10, or 11 letters to a larger 14-volume collection. Ancient versions to be evaluated will include the Syriac, Latin, Coptic, and to a lesser extent, the Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, Gothic, and Slavonic languages.