THE GEORGIAN TRANSLATION (K14) OF THE DOGMATIC AND POLEMICAL TREATISES OF SAINT MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GREEK ORIGINAL TEXT (BASED ON TREATISES XIII AND I)

Abstract

This article examines the Georgian translation (K14) (= Gelatian translation) of Saint Maximus the Confessor’s Dogmatic and Polemical Treatises, focusing exclusively on the textual evidence of Treatises XIII and I, and evaluates its significance for the reconstruction of the Greek original text. The order follows the Constantinopolitan corpus, in which Treatise XIII precedes Treatise I. This sequence is therefore adopted intentionally in accordance with the manuscript tradition. Through comparative philological and text-critical analysis, the Georgian manuscript is collated with the principal witnesses of the Constantinopolitan corpus (A, N, Va, M, and Par), with attention to their composition, structure, and textual variants.

The study demonstrates that K14 closely follows the structural organization of codices A and N, while displaying a complex pattern of textual agreements—most frequently with N, and occasionally preserving unique readings found only in Par.

Particular importance is attributed to those passages in which the Georgian translation preserves readings absent from all extant Greek manuscripts. Such evidence suggests that the translation may derive from an earlier or otherwise unattested Greek archetype.

These findings confirm the critical value of the Georgian version for textual reconstruction and highlight its role as an independent witness within the manuscript tradition of Maximus’s treatises.

The analysis of the remaining treatises is planned for a subsequent stage of the research.

Keywords: Saint Maximus the Confessor, Dogmatic-polemical treatises, Constantinopolitan corpus, Gelatian manuscript (K14), textual criticism.