Medieval Biblical Exegesis: Moyses per tres menses in domo patris a matre absconditus, hominem signat

asulavik

New Member

Hi,

I have transcribed this passage from a medieval manuscript, and am having a bit of a problem completing its translation into English:

Moyses per tres menses in domo patris a matre absconditus, hominem signat, quem diuina Sapiencia que ipsum creauerat in paradiso terrestri per paucas horas seruauit, sed propter eius peccatum ipsum exposuit flumini miserie huius mundi, cui iam propter deffectum uagienti et quasi omnino defficienti, Sapiencia genita compaciens de muliere Hebrea, que interpretatur ‘transiens,’ hoc est theologia uie, que transiens dicitur eo quod continue nos faciat tendere ad theologiam beatorum, prouidit hoc, iuuante sorore nostra Maria, que interpretatur ‘illuminata,’ hoc est ecclesia triumphante, que soror nostra est racione creacionis et illuminata luce diuinitatis super hoc congaudente.

I am not sure how "cui" operates in this sentence.

This is my tortured translation as it stands now:

Moses, hidden by his mother in his father’s house for three months, represents man, whom divine Wisdom that created him, kept him in the earthly Paradise for a few hours, but because of his sin exposed him to the river of this miserable world, to which(?), due to the defect to the wailing child, and as to one wholly wanting, begotten Wisdom, who was already taking pity on the Hebrew woman, which means 'wayfarer,' that is the theology of the way, who is called a wayfarer because she should make us tend continuously to the theology of the blessed, foresaw this, [and] with the help of our sister [the blessed Virgin] Mary, whose name means “enlightened,” that is the Church Triumphant, who (Mary) is our sister by reason of creation and is illuminated by the light of the Godhead, rejoices over this.

If anyone can shed light on how this sentence can be better translated, I would be most appreciative.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
whom divine Wisdom ... kept him
The "him" is redundant, since you already have "whom".
the river of this miserable world
More exactly "this world's river of misery".
to which(?),
"Whom" (man), but it would be better to turn this connective relative into something like "then... him".
propter deffectum uagienti et quasi omnino defficienti,
due to the defect to the wailing child, and as to one wholly wanting,
The participles here go with cui, referring to man. Better to turn them into a clause like "as he was wailing out of want and almost entirely succumbing" or some such.
begotten Wisdom, who was already taking pity on the Hebrew woman
In spite of the word order it could be that compatiens goes with cui and de muliere Hebrea goes with genita. "Wisdom begotten of a Hebrew woman, taking pity on him..."
the theology of the way, who
I'd say "which", referring to the theology.
should make us tend
"Makes us tend", no "should" there.
I don't know enough context to be sure, but providit is perhaps more likely to mean "provided/took care [to bring about]".
that is the Church Triumphant, who (Mary) is our sister by reason of creation and is illuminated by the light of the Godhead, rejoices over this.
"that is, with the Church triumphant (which... ) rejoicing over this".
 
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