BIBLICAL QUOTATIONS IN THE NOVGOROD FIRST CHRONICLE

Biblical quotations are important narrative elements in all Old Russian chronicles. In the Vladimir and South Russian chronicles, they were one of the most important means of interpreting events from the point of view of the theory of "God's executions," of depicting and asserting princes as their main characters, and of expressing thoughts and feelings of the chroniclers and their characters. The Novgorod First Chronicle, which was kept by the chroniclers of the archbishops of Novgorod, stands out due to a small number of biblical quotations and their irregular distribution throughout the text. Most of the quotations appear in didactic comments of the chroniclers, often as a means to interpret natural disasters, invasions, military defeats, and urban events while they are scarce in the speech of the characters. Quotations are not included directly in descriptions as it is common in other chronicles. This reduction leads to the limitation of the functions of biblical quotations: mainly, quotes serve here to evaluate and explain the course of events, only occasionally helping to emotionally express the feelings of the chronicler and the characters. Quotations are often included without reference to the source, sometimes with an incorrect reference. As in other chronicles, the main source of quotations is the Psalter. The Old Testament books, including the prophetic ones, are also quoted, but their range is smaller than in other chronicles. The number of New Testament texts is small, but it increases in the chronicle of junior recension, which includes extensive plots with princes as main characters.