On the Creation of the World (De opificio mundi)

...again, among the incomplete things are the immediate divisions|In logic, "division" is the process of breaking a broad category (genus) into more specific sub-categories (species). into what are called predicates and accidents and whatever is smaller than these. original Greek: πάλιν δὲ τῶν ἀτελῶν αἱ εἰς τὰ λεγόμενα κατηγορήματα καὶ συμβεβηκότα καὶ ὅσα τούτων ἐλάττω διαιρέσεις προσεχεῖς. Sextus Empiricus, Against the Mathematicians XI, 15: "For every healthy division, they say, is a cutting of a genus into its immediate species." Diogenes Laertius VII, 61: "Division is the cutting of a genus into its immediate species."

29,9 neither folly and cowardice and injustice and the immense multitude of other vices original: κακιῶν V: evils original: κακῶν [in the] vulgate The "vulgate" here refers to the common or standard printed version of Philo's text available to scholars at the time, rather than the Latin Bible..

29,13 the other manuscripts are severely corrupted: but for those who have done wrong, the necessity is hard to provide for [others]; but it is for those who have done wrong for punishment the things of necessities are hard to provide for [others]; but justice is one of the necessities, the hard to provide for [Medicean manuscript]. The Medicean is close to the truth, but manuscript V provides the uncorrupted reading: but justice is the hard provision of necessities. original: ἔστι δ’ ἡ δίκη τὸ τῶν ἀναγκαίων δυσπόριστον. The editor is comparing how different scribes struggled with this difficult sentence about the nature of justice and necessity.

32,21 indeed original: δὴ V: but original: δὲ vulgate. "Indeed" is required by the logical connection of the sentences.

I believe it has been sufficiently demonstrated by these examples how much manuscript V excels the others in quality and integrity. Therefore, there is no doubt that we ought to follow its authority above all in the first part of Philo’s book, which by an unfortunate accident is the only part it has preserved.

2. The Mediceo-Laurentian Manuscript (M)

Next to manuscript V in both age and authority is the Mediceo-Laurentian manuscript [shelfmark] plut. X cod. 20 (M). M is a parchment codex|A codex is a book made of individual pages bound together, rather than a scroll., in the format called duodecimo Referring to a smaller book size where the paper is folded to create twelve leaves., written in minute letters at the beginning of the 13th century. A specimen of the handwriting of this manuscript was published by Constantinus Tischendorf in a photographic plate added to the book titled Philonea (Leipzig, 1868). On the inner page of the cover, these words are read: A. Cocchius of Mugello collated To "collate" is to compare a manuscript against a known text to note differences. this in the year 1733 with the edition of Turnebus. He collated it for the use of Mangeii (see below). On another page of the second leaf, this is written: This book belongs to Francesco Filelfo. Filelfo (1398–1481) was a famous Italian Renaissance humanist. Prefixed to the text of Philo is a table original: πίναξ of the contents in the present book of the works of Philo the Hebrew.

Twenty-six writings of Philo exist in this manuscript, among them the treatise On the Creation of the World original: de opificio mundi on folios 136r — 154v (cf. Bandini, Catalogue of Greek manuscripts in the Laurentian Library I p. 487 ff.). A larger lacuna|A lacuna is a gap or missing section in a manuscript text. opens between chapters 33 and 34: the scribe omitted everything on folio 146v without adding any sign of a gap, from the words so that it has a special reason original: ὥστ’ ἐξαίρετον ἔχει λόγον up to the words perfect and equal to its own parts original: τέλειον καὶ τοῖς αὑτοῦ μέρεσιν ἰσούμενον (p. 36,4 — 37,12); how this gap arose...