Theodoret Of Cyrrhus As Exegete Of The Old Testament

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Early Christians were fed by their pastors a solidly scriptural diet from both the Old and the New Testaments. The commentary on Daniel by Theodoret, a member of the school of Antioch and fifth-century bishop of Cyrus, illustrates the typically Antiochene approach to biblical texts and shows the commentator posing key questions such as, What is prophecy? or What does a prophet do? While demonstrating the moderation for which his approach to the Bible became proverbial, Theodoret here instructs his readers to see in the dreams and visions of Daniel the pattern of prediction and fulfillment that guarantees for an Antiochene the authenticity of true prophecy. This commentary, with Greek text and English translation on facing pages, will be valuable to biblical and patristic scholars, theologians, and church historians.

Early Christians were fed by their pastors a solidly scriptural diet from both the Old and the New Testaments. The commentary on Daniel by Theodoret, a member of the school of Antioch and fifth-century bishop of Cyrus, illustrates the typically Antiochene approach to biblical texts and shows the commentator posing key questions such as, What is prophecy? or What does a prophet do? While demonstrating the moderation for which his approach to the Bible became proverbial, Theodoret here instructs his readers to see in the dreams and visions of Daniel the pattern of prediction and fulfillment that guarantees for an Antiochene the authenticity of true prophecy. This commentary, with Greek text and English translation on facing pages, will be valuable to biblical and patristic scholars, theologians, and church historians. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)

In the period between the councils of Nicea and Chalcedon in the fourth and fifth centuries, the faithful in the churches of the ecclesiastical district of Antioch were the beneficiaries of the ministry of the Word from distinguished pastors. Included in this ministry were homilies on the Old Testament by John Chrysostom and written commentaries by his mentor Diodore and his fellow student Theodore, and later by Theodoret. Though the biblical text was admittedly Jewish in origin, "the text and the meaning are ours," claimed Chrysostom; and the great bulk of extant remains reveals the pastoral priority given to this often obscure material. Students and exegetes of the Old Testament and its individual authors and books will be introduced here to Antioch1s distinctive approach and interpretation by commentators reading their local form of the Greek Bible. In the course of this survey, readers will gain an insight also into Antioch1s worldview and its approach to the person of Jesus, to soteriology, morality and spirituality.

Biblical scholars have often contrasted the exegesis of the early church fathers from the eastern region and “school” of Syrian Antioch against that of the school of Alexandria. The Antiochenes have often been described as strictly historical-literal exegetes in contrast to the allegorical exegesis of the Alexandrians. Patristic scholars now challenge those stereotypes, some even arguing that few differences existed between the two groups. This work agrees that both schools were concerned with a literal and spiritual reading. But, it also tries to show, through analysis of Theodore and Theodoret’s exegesis and use of the term theoria, that how they integrated the literal-theological readings often remained quite distinct from the Alexandrians. For the Antiochenes, the term theoria did not mean allegory, but instead stood for a range of perceptions—prophetic, christological, and contemporary. It is in these insights that we find the deep wisdom to help modern readers interpret Scripture theologically.