Metaphysics and Translating. An Exodus-quotation in Medieval Vernacular Literature.

The Speculum Maius, encyclopaedia of Vincent of Beauvais – and in particular the section titled Speculum Historiale – was one of the most popular objects of vernacular translations in the 14th century. The first chapter contains a metaphysical expository, with some relevant quotations on the divine substance, among which appears the biblical auto-definition of God (Exodus 3:15): ‘Ego sum qui sum, hoc nomen mihi est in aeternum’. The translation of Jean de Vignay (Paris, Antoine Verard, 1496) renders this sentence with an alternative meaning: ‘Je suy ce que ie suy et ce nom est a moy en pardurablete’. Another manuscript version produced by an anonymous translator in Metz (Abrégé lorrain, ms. fr. 9558 of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) chooses to transcribe the Latin, then the French version: ‘Ego sum qui sum. Je suy qui suy. Cilz noms mest pardurables’. As a matter of fact, Gilson interprets the whole medieval philosophy as an amount of individual positions to the Exodus- manifestation of God.How do these two vernacular accounts behave towards the metaphysics of the Exodus, which philosophical position do they adopt among other Exodus-adaptations? Is it possible to differentiate in this sentence a theological point of view from that of the translator? What’s the relationship generally between the two texts and their translators who consider their work of translation slightly differently?This paper highlights at the same time the use of quotations and the textual equivalence in translations. Questioning this particular case can evaluate the degree of philosophical consciousness and the work of translation in the Middle Ages, exemplified in two philological rarities.