Catena on the Psalms

 Alongside the manuscript tradition from full and partial psalm commentaries, we also need to include the fragmentary compilations known as catenae.Gilles Dorival is perhaps the most published scholar on the Psalms catenae in history, especially in the Greek tradition.

The Basics

According to Dorival, "Biblical catenae appeared in Judaea-Palestine at the beginning of the sixth century," and their authorship can be traced to Procopius of Gaza (ca. AD 465-528). [n1] He gives the following outline of various Psalm catenae in the manuscript tradition.

Palestinian Catenae

• The first Palestinian catenae of the Psalms was written ca. AD 540, perhaps from Caesarea Maritima. It quotes Apollinarius, Didymus, Eusebius, and Origen, complementing them with Basil of Caesarea, Cyril of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, and Theodoret
• The second Palestinian catenae was produced "some years later," and introduces a new author, Hesychius, but is much abbreviated from the first version
• The third Palestinian catenae was produced "at a date which is not certain," and combines the first two catenae versions

Scholia-Catenae

• Dorival also recognizes a category he calls Scholia-Catenae, which trace their roots back to the scholia tradition (intermittent explanations of various length that were written in a column beside the biblical text)
• As they get passed down, the empty spaces are filled in with fragments belonging to other commentators or homilists
• Some scholia-catenae can be dated to the sixth century, while others come as late as the tenth (or even later), beginning in Palestine and then spreading throughout the Byzantine empire

Mixed Palestineinan Catenae

• There are fourteen catenae on the Psalms created during the first stage (up until AD 650)
• The second and final stage took place in Constantinople, beginning in AD 650-700
• There are about forty psalm catenae
• The marginal model of presentation is used until the 1000s, then from 1100s onward a full-page presentation is utilized
• New authors are introduced (e.g., Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Euthymius Zigabenus)
• New sources are utilized, e.g., commentaries on other books that quote the Psalms
• Nicetas' catenae
• There are thirty copies of it that we know of
• It quotes Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, and Theodore

Editions of the Catenae

Since catenae of the Psalms are quite lengthy, scribes had split them into multiple volumes. One edition split them into three volumes (1-50, 51-100, 101-150) while another had split them into two (1-76, 77-150). Roger Pearse has helpfully split summarized these two editions here:
https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2010/01/28/catenas-on-the-psalms-the-palestinian-catena/

• From the three-volume edition, volume 1 is preserved in good condition, but volume 2 had only been passed down in one manuscript, which was destroyed in a fire before being copied or photographed. Volume 3 has no extant copies.
• From the two-volume edition, the material in volume 1 has no extant copies, but volume 2 is extant by combining various fragmentary manuscripts

[n1] Gilles Dorival, "Biblical Catenae: Between Philology and History," pages 65-81 in HAG Houghton, Commentaries, Catenae and Biblical Traiditon, TS 13 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2016), 72.

Initial Research on the Psalm Catenae

Robert Devreesse, ‘Chaînes exégétiques grecques.’ Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplément I. Paris: Letouzey & Ané, 1928, col. 1084–1233.

R. Cadiou, Commentaire inédit des psaumes. Etude sur les textes d’Origène contenus dans le manuscrit Vindobonensis 8. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1936; 

Marcel Richard, ‘Les premières chaînes sur le psautier.’ Bulletin d’information de l’Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes 5 (1956) 87–98.

R. Devreesse, Les anciens commentateurs grecs des psaumes. Studi e Testi 264. Vatican City: BAV, 1970.

M. Harl, La chaîne palestinienne sur le psaume 118 (Origène, Eusèbe, Didyme, Apollinaire, Athanase, Théodoret). Sources chrétiennes 189/190. Paris: Cerf, 1972

A. Schenker, Hexaplarische Psalmenbruchstüke. Die hexaplarischen Psalmenfragmente der Handschriften Vaticanus graecus 752 und Canonicianus graecus 62. Fribourg/ Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1975.

G. Dorival, ‘Origène dans les chaînes sur les psaumes: deux séries inédites de fragments.’ Origeniana, Bari, Quaderni di Vetera Christianorum 12 (1975) 199–213

A. Schenker, Psalmen in den Hexapla. Erste kritische und vollständige Ausgabe der hexaplarische Fragmente auf dem Rande der Handschrift Ottobonianus graecus 398 zu den Ps. 24-52. Studi e Testi 295. Vatican City: BAV, 1982.

G. Dorival, Les chaînes exégétiques grecques sur les Psaumes. Contribution à l’étude d’une forme littéraire. 4 vol., Leuven: Peeters, 1986–95.

Research on the Psalm Catenae

The most up-to-date state-of-the-field survey is the recently published Research on Psalter Catenae: Current Trends and Recent Developments, edited by Cordula Bandt and Reinart Ceulemans (TUGAL 197; de Gruyter, 2024). This volume was from a 2019 workshop at the XVIII International Conference on Patristic Studies.

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111502595/html