The Celtic Latin Tradition of Biblical Style

The subject of this book is Biblical style and its influence on Celtic Latin authors from the time of Roman Britain to the Norman Conquest and beyond. Initially the word 'style' is used as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary senses 14 and 15: 'those features of literary composition which belong to form and expression rather than to the substance of the thought or matter expressed' and 'a manner of discourse or tone of speaking'. We shall learn first to recognize Biblical style and to see how various writers employ it in Hebrew texts of the Old Testament, then compare Greek and Latin versions to see whether translators recognized and reproduced particular features of die originals. We shall examine texts which consider the Creation, taken as the model for literary composition. We shall examine also some texts by Classical and Late Latin authors who discuss Creation, literary composition, rhythm, and mathematical and musical ratios. Though we shall concentrate at first on 'form and expression' we shall note later ways in which Biblical style influences profoundly 'the substance of the thought or matter expressed'.