Liber numerorum

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liber numerorum (also the term De numeris is used) is a script that combines numerical mysticism with biblical exegesis . It was probably written in Latin by Isidore of Seville in the early 7th century.

Author question and tradition

The authorship of the work is controversial. The Spanish Jesuit Faustino Arévalo, however, edited the Liber numerorum in his complete edition of the writings of Isidore of Seville, which was included in the Patrologia Latina (Vol. 81-83) in 1797 . The book also fits well with an entry in the list of works that Braulio von Saragossa made for Isidore: De numeris librum ... arithmetica ... ecclesiasticis scripturis tetigit (a book about numbers ... touches on arithmetic and ecclesiastical writings).

The reception of the text can be proven to the extent that Adhelm von Sherborne , who appeared only a few decades later , was influenced by it. But only 5 manuscripts have survived, the two older ones from the 12th and 13th centuries. Jean-Yves Guillaumin published an edition in 2005 with extensive commentary and a translation into French. A translation into the German language is not available.

Predecessors and sources

Isidore finds models for his arithmetic and Pythagorean / number-mystical work in ancient literature, especially in Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius and Martianus Capella , from whose De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii he takes a great deal.

The early church fathers adopted these ideas and transformed the number into a concept of order of the immaterial kind of the intelligible world, in particular Augustine of Hippo . Isidore follows these thoughts and there are about 50 parallels to the texts of Augustine. Isidore makes this clear through numerical examples from the Bible , both the Old Testament and the New Testament . There are also predecessors here. In his commentary on Job, Gregory the Great already combines numerical data from the biblical text with arithmetic and theological. An almost 200 year earlier text by Eucherius von Lyon ( Formulas spiritalis intellegentiae , Cap.XI De numeris ), in which mostly only numbers are combined with biblical passages , is less demanding . These numbers and biblical passages also form the framework of Isidore's book. The citation does not include the book and chapter, but Isidore does mention biblical names: Ezekiel , Ioannes in Apocalypsi , Noe, etc .: over 200 biblical uses can be identified. He does not mention his other sources at all.

content

number

In the 1st chapter the number is defined: Numerus est congregatio unitatis, ... cuius quidem universitas infinita est (number is a union of units, ... their totality is unlimited / infinite). While the first part of the definition is still based on Greek arithmetic, the second part approaches Augustine's understanding of numbers, which is infinitum possible through the scienta Dei (the wisdom of God) ( Der Gottesstaat , XII, 19). In the same way, Greek arithmetic is also transformed into a Christian number-oriented Bible exegesis in the following (see also the article Perfect Number , 6.2 Bible Exegesis).

Chapters 2 to 26 deal with the numbers 1–16, 18–20, 24, 30, 40, 46, 50 and 60. They are always structured according to the same scheme. A look at numbers is followed by examples from the Christian area, mainly the Bible and then from the "secular" area. The observation of numbers begins, especially in the first chapters, arithmetic definitions. In the 7th chapter the number 6 is defined and calculated as the perfectus numerus ( perfect number ), in the 11th chapter 8 is defined as paribus par (corrupted by pariter par ).

The Christian numbers offer important or well-known things , such as the Numerus Decalogi legi ( Ten Commandments ), the 12 apostles , but also less well-known, such as 24 as the length of Noah's ark . The worldly numbers form a colorful mixture: the 3 parts of the world ( Asia, Europe, Lybia ) and languages ​​of the holy law ( hebraea, graeca, latina ), five human senses , 7 circuli planetae caeli (celestial bodies that circle the earth), 15 Days from new moon to full moon, 60 years is the age at which soldiers are released from military service.

Some numbers are particularly noteworthy

seven

The longest chapter is dedicated to the number 7. Not only are a lot of information given about the most diverse areas, it is also particularly important and interesting. The number is divided into the numbers 3 and 4, which are also considered significant, as was common in ancient times. But while with Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius the 3 and the 4 stand for surface and body and the 7 thus almost forms the key to the universe ( Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis , I, VI, 34), with Isidore the 3 stands for trinitatis mysterium and the 4 for the Christian virtues. According to the Bible, the 7 is praised as the day of rest to the Lord after creation (Genesis 1.2). For the secular part, there are topics as diverse as the 7 planets that orbit the earth, an unusual list of the 7 Artes Liberales ( arithmetica, geometria, musica, astronomia, astrologia, mechanica, medicina ), a similar list of the internal organs of mortals ( Tongue, heart, lungs, spleen, liver and 2 kidneys).

Nineteen

Isidore can't think of a Bible quote about the number 19. His predecessor Eucherius von Lyon did not work on this figure either. In a short section, Isidore deals exclusively with the ... numerus lunaris cylus ... paschales , the lunar cycle for determining the date of Easter . It is possibly based on the preface to the Liber de Paschal by Dionysius Exiguus , to which there are some parallels.

Forty-six

The connection with Augustine of Hippo in Chapter XXIV with regard to the number 46 is particularly clear. First, Isidore, like his predecessor Eucherius of Lyon, cites the 46 years of construction of the temple in Jerusalem (John 2:20). But then he constructs a relationship from this period to the period between the proclamation and the birth of Jesus Christ. He finds his unbiblical, Roman date designation ( octavo Kalendas Aprilis ), the expression fabrica dominici corporis (formation / creation of the body of the Lord) and the conversion that is necessary to get from the number 46 to a gestation period of about 9 months, at Augustine.

Text editing and translation

  • Jean-Yves Guillaumin: ISIDORVS HISPALENSIS Liber nvmerorvm , Paris 2005.
  • Jacques-Paul Migne: Patrologia Latina , Volume 89, pp. 179ff, Paris 1850.

literature

  • Bernhard Bischoff : A lost division of the sciences into medieval studies , Volume 1, Stuttgart 1966
  • Hans-Joachim Diesner : Isidor von Sevilla and his time , Stuttgart 1973
  • Max Manitius : History of Latin Literature in the Middle Ages , first volume, Munich 1911

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernhard Bischoff: A lost classification of the sciences , p. 277
  2. ↑ Max Manitius: History of Latin Literature in the Middle Ages , p. 56
  3. ↑ Jean-Yves Guillaumin: ISIDORVS HISPALENSIS Liber nvmerorvm , pp. VIIIff
  4. ↑ Bernhard Bischoff: A lost classification of the sciences , p. 278
  5. ↑ Max Manitius: History of Latin Literature in the Middle Ages , p. 57
  6. ^ Jean-Yves Guillaumin: ISIDORVS HISPALENSIS Liber nvmerorvm , pp. XXXVIIIff
  7. ↑ Hans-Joachim Diesner: Isidor von Sevilla und seine Zeit , p. 24
  8. ↑ Kurt Flasch : Augustinus, Introduction to His Thinking, 6.1 Truth , p. 58
  9. ^ Jean-Yves Guillaumin: ISIDORVS HISPALENSIS Liber nvmerorvm , pp. LXIII-LXVI
  10. ^ Gregory the Great: Moralia in Job , XXXV, VIII, 15-16; XXXV, XVI, 42
  11. ^ Jean-Yves Guillaumin: ISIDORVS HISPALENSIS Liber nvmerorvm , S. LII-LXVI
  12. ↑ Jean-Yves Guillaumin: ISIDORVS HISPALENSIS Liber nvmerorvm , pp. 118f
  13. ↑ Augustine of Hippo: De doctrina christiana , 2,16,26; De Trinitate , 4,5,9