Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the Gospel). Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) -- Preface to the online edition
E.H.Gifford published his massive edition and translation in 5 volumes in 1903. Vol. 1 and vol. 2 contained the Greek. Vol. 3 was split into two physical volumes -- part 1 and part 2. This contained the English translation that appears here. Vol. 4 was the last, and contained the notes, mainly philological. The English translation was also reprinted separately. This remains the only English translation.
His edition has been superceded by that of Karl Mras, Eusebius Werke 8, in the 'Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller' series 43 Berlin (1954-6). This text is reprinted by the French editors J. Sirinelli and Edouard des Places in the Sources Chrétiennes series. Sirinelli &c. also included a French translation.
At the head of each book stands a summary, formatted in this edition as a table of contents. These are found in most of the manuscripts, and are generally considered to be authorial by editors such as K. Mras or J. Sirinelli. In the medieval manuscripts, the text is divided into chapters and excerpts from the summary placed at the head of each 'chapter' as a chapter title. It is very hard to find definite information, but the division into chapters is probably later than Eusebius, as is the creation of the chapter titles. The works of St. Augustine, for instance, were divided into chapters in the 6th century, and an early 5th century manuscript of his De Civitate Dei , from Africa, and quite likely from his own scriptorium, has none. (Augustine did however compose summaries of the contents, which circulated separately.) As may be seen from book 1, even in Gifford's version, the chapter divisions do not in fact match the numbered sentences in the summaries, again indicating that the division in chapters is later than the author of the summaries.
The Praeparatio is perhaps best known from a narrow-minded attempt by Edward Gibbon in his Vindication to use it to 'prove' that Eusebius advocated deceit. The smear needs little discussion here. While Gibbon would like us to believe that Eusebius is really saying in book 12, chapter 31 that the bible is a lie so deceit is fine, some will feel that instead that it is simply part of his theme that the bible contains narrative fiction in order to get conceptually difficult truths into the uneducated. The reader is invited to read all of book 12 and decide for themselves.
There is one problem with the translation, which is as annoying as unnecessary. For some reason, Gifford did not always translate the summaries literally, but felt free to add to them, combine, abbreviate or alter them, in order to use them as table of contents himself. Possibly this is because the Greek numbers in the summaries do not align with the chapter divisions. He did not however place them in the text as per the manuscripts, as is done in Mras and Sirinelli.
To illustrate the sort of changes Gifford made, I have rendered as literally as I can from Sirinelli's French translation the Greek summary of book 1 (which is divided into 10 chapters) as follows:
Gk. Number Greek text Mras' chapter no Text chapter to which the contents relate
1. What the treatise on the Gospel promises 1 1
2. The charges usually brought against us by those who try to slander our doctrines 2 2-3
3. That we did not adopt the sentiments of the word of salvation without inquiry 3 3-4
4. Our adoption of belief in the greatest blessings is not uncritical as to time 4 4-5
5. We did not forsake the superstitious errors of our fathers without sound reason 5 5-6
6. What the Greeks have written on the subject of the first origins of the world, and how we have abandoned it for good reasons 7 7
7. On the disagreements between the philosophers on the system of the universe; we separate from them after a critical examination 8 8
8. The ancients worshipped no other gods than the stars visible in the sky 9 9
9. They knew nothing about the gods or about setting up carved images 9
10 The stories about the gods among other nations are of later introduction 9
11. Summary of the theology of the ancient Phoenicians. Some authors who wrote about them. That we have reason to reject them. 10 10
It would be useful if someone with more Greek than myself would translate these again, to replace the defective versions in Gifford, particularly since both Mras and Sirinelli suggest that they may be by Eusebius himself.
Gifford also used Gibbon's mistranslation of pseudos as 'falsehood' in the entry and text of book 12, chapter 31. The word is rendered 'fiction' in R.G. Bury's Loeb edition (1967, book 2, 663D-E, p.125) of Plato's Laws , which seems to fit the sense better, unless we are to suppose Eusebius to mean that the Hebrew scriptures contain intentional falsehoods! Modern readers will be aware of the difference between a lie and a piece of educational fiction, but the confusion is not uncommon among uneducated people, even today.
The manuscripts are discussed in detail by Mras. These are the extant manuscripts.
Siglum
Location
Shelfmark & Notes