The SBLHS 2 recommends that readers use the abbreviation “Ep.” when epistula(e) appears within an abbreviated title (see SBLHS 2 §8.3.14.1). For example:
John Chrysostom
| Ep. carc. | Epistula ad episcopos, presbyteros et diaconos in carcere |
| Ep. Cyr. | Epistula ad Cyriacum |
| 1 Ep. Innoc. | Ad Innocentium papam epistula I |
| 2 Ep. Innoc. | Ad Innocentium papam epistula II |
Similarly, unnamed epistles can be abbreviated:
Gregory of Nazianzus
| Ep. | Epistulae |
For consistency, we recommend changing the following abbreviation of Jerome in the SBLHS 2 §8.3.14.3 to match:
Jerome
Current:
| Epist. | Epistulae |
Corrected:
| Ep. | Epistulae |
For instructions on how to number epistles and how to cite epistles in a bibliography, see the SBLHS 2 §6.4.4.
SBL Handbook of Style 
SBLHS 2 §8.3.14.3 (not §8.3.14.1 as indicated above) contains the abbreviations for Jerome’s corpus (as far as I can tell).
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You are correct. SBLHS 2 §8.3.14.3 contains the abbreviations for Jerome. SBLHS 2 §8.3.14.1 contains the general abbreviation for “epistle.” We have corrected the post. Thanks!
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SBLHS 2 §8.3.14.3 contains the abbreviations for Ambrose, but does not discuss his letters.
What abbreviation do you recommend for his “Epistulae extra collectionem”?
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Thank you for your question. We would recommend the abbreviation Ep. ex. coll.
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Many thanks!
I would like to ask another question, if I may. As a matter of fact, I asked it in an e-mail of 08/31/2016, but nobody has responded. Here it goes:
The 15th edition of the Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum has several printings. It it sometimes important to mention those, since “4. korrigierter Druck” is often different in important details from “2. korrigierter Druck”. Unfortunately, SBLHS2 does not discuss references to printings. Could you please give me some recommendation about such references?
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That is an excellent question. We will answer it in a blog post later this week.
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