Sir Stephen Gaselee and the Daughters of Job

386 NOTES Sir Stephen Gaselee and the Daughters of Job Quinque Kezia et sex cyathis Jemima bibatur; Ebrius es, si quis te Keren-Happuc amat. This anonymous epigram appears on page 84 of An Anthology of Medieval Latin, an attractive medley of prose and verse asembled by Sir Stephen Gaselee, who edited the original Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse. He says it II refers to the custom, descended from classical times, of drinking the beloved's health in as many glasses as there are letters in her name". The epigram is dated from lithe period when the Authorized Version was famil iar"; for "in the Vulgate the names of Job's daughters are quite different". Before this assertion is challenged, the point of the epigram may be underlined by quoting the Vulgate of Job 42, 15: Non sunt autem inventae mul ieres speciosae sicut filiae I~in universa terra. Verse 14 supplies the daughters' names: et vocavit nomen unius diem et nomen secundae cassiam et nomen tertiae cornu stibii. Let us consider in turn the three names, Dies, Cassia and Cornu stibii. In Alexander Cruden's famous Concordance to the Old and New Testament, presented to Queen Caroline on November 3, 1737, seventeen days before her death, Jemima is said to mean "handsome as the day". That "day " is associated with the name Jemima is explained by the fact that the ~:~~~:g f~~ '~~:y~~~~ ~:m:~~v~~~fiCi~~~~ac'f~~e~~ Y::Sii~fh~n Ta~~~;~~ bark similar to cinnamon, is in Hebrew identical-wITh Keziah, the name of Job's second daughter in the Biblia Hebraica and in the Authorized Version. Cornu stibii, the third daughter's name, meaning literally "horn of antimony II , refers to the light grey metallic mineral used to accentuate the brilliance of eyes by darkening the edges of lids; d. IV Kings, 9,30 (of Jezebel): depinxit oculos suos stibio. In Brown-Drlver-Brigg's magisterial Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, the Hebrew name Keren-Happuch is translated as iihorn of antimony, i.e., beautifier". Thus Gaselee's assertion that "in the Vulgate the names of Job's daughters are quite different" is seen to be at best an exaggeration. Indeed, the epigram could have been composed by any competent Latinist with access to a Hebrew Bible. ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE HERBERT H. HUXLEY ...