The present article is the first to examine the inscription in the dome of one of the most famous churches of medieval Novgorod from a philological point of view, namely the one in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street (14th c.). So far all that was known about the inscription was that it quoted Psalm 102:20b–22a. However, as I try to show, this inscription is a new translation of these Psalm verses. The version of the text differs from all the recensions of the Psalter known at the time. There is also no parallel to this text version of the psalm in the ecclesiastical epigraphy of the Slavic-Byzantine cultural realm. A clue to the secrets of the inscription’s origin is provided by its language. A detailed linguistic analysis reveals certain imitations of Greek linguistic structures and reflections of Novgorodian pronunciation (e.g. softened [š]); writing from memory or by ear seems to have played an important role in the work of the writer. Certain linguistic changes in the inscription turn the narrative text of the psalm into a prayer. The article closes with conjectures about possible creators of the inscription and an analysis of the pragmatics of the text and of its function in the semiotic ensemble of the church interior and the religious procedures performed in it.

The article is written in Russian.