The Minor Prophets as Christian Scripture in the Commentaries of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W Martens
Keyword(s):  
Cyril Of Alexandria ◽  
Theodore Of Mopsuestia ◽  
Minor Prophets

The Minor Prophets as Christian Scripture in the Commentaries of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hauna T. Ondrey
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Cyril Of Alexandria ◽  
Theodore Of Mopsuestia ◽  
Positive Account ◽  
Mosaic Law ◽  
Recent Tendency ◽  
The Church ◽  
Minor Prophets

This work compares the Minor Prophets commentaries of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria, isolating the role each interpreter assigns the Twelve Prophets in their ministry to Old Testament Israel and the texts of the Twelve as Christian scripture. It argues that Theodore does acknowledge christological prophecies, as distinct from both retrospective accommodation and typology. A careful reading of Cyril’s Commentary on the Twelve limits the prospective christological revelation he ascribes to the prophets and reveals the positive role he grants the Mosaic law prior to Christ’s advent. Exploring secondly the Christian significance Theodore and Cyril assign to Israel’s exile and restoration reveals that Theodore’s reading of the Twelve Prophets, while not attempting to be christocentric, is nevertheless self-consciously Christian. Cyril, unsurprisingly, offers a robust Christian reading of the Twelve, yet this too must be expanded by his focus on the church and concern to equip the church through the ethical paideusis provided by the plain sense of the prophetic text. Revised descriptions of each interpreter lead to the claim that a recent tendency to distinguish the Old Testament interpretation of Theodore (negatively) and Cyril (positively) on the basis of their “christocentrism” obscures more than it clarifies and polarizes no less than earlier accounts of Antiochene/Alexandrian exegesis. The Conclusion argues against replacing old dichotomies with new and advocates rather for an approach that takes seriously Theodore’s positive account of the unity and telos of the divine economy and the full range of Cyril’s interpretation.

The Minor Prophets and the Book of the Twelve in Late Eighteenth-Century through Early Twenty-First-Century Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 266-278
Author(s):  
Marvin A. Sweeney
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Theodore Of Mopsuestia ◽  
Critical Scholarship ◽  
Late Eighteenth Century ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Late Eighteenth ◽  
Book Of The Twelve ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Minor Prophets

This essay traces and analyzes modern-critical scholarship on the Minor Prophets or Book of the Twelve Prophets from the late eighteenth century through the early twenty-first century. It differentiates between the Christian practice from the time of Jerome and Theodore of Mopsuestia that treated the Twelve as twelve individual Minor Prophets that were collected together and the Jewish practice of reading the Twelve as the Book of the Twelve Prophets. Early treatment of the Minor Prophets focuses especially on the early work of J. G. Eichhorn (1780–1783), W. M. L. de Wette (1817), F. Hitzig (1838), H. Ewald (1840–1841), and B. Duhm (1875, 1922). More modern treatment of the Book of the Twelve Prophets focuses especially on the work of K. Budde (1922), R. E. Wolfe (1935), D. Schneider (1979), O. H. Steck (1991, 1999), James D. Nogalski (1993, 2011), Jakob Wöhrle (2006, 2008), and the author (Sweeney 2000).

Cyril of Alexandria

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hauna T. Ondrey
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Cyril Of Alexandria ◽  
Moral Teaching ◽  
The Church ◽  
Minor Prophets

Chapter 5, “Cyril of Alexandria: The Twelve as Christian Scripture,” considers the meaning Cyril draws from the Minor Prophets as Christian scripture. For Cyril, the texts of the Twelve ground the identity of the church in Christ’s work, identifying those within the church as the single beneficiaries of the restoration effected in Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection. Through his commentary, Cyril further calls the church to its mission of extending Christ’s victory through true doctrine and virtuous lives, and equips his readers for this mission through the doctrinal and moral teaching of the prophets—most significantly, offering moral interpretation from the plain sense of prophetic admonitions. The Commentary on the Twelve Prophets warrants an expanded account of Cyril’s Old Testament interpretation, acknowledging the prominence of moral and ecclesial exegesis as well as Cyril’s ecclesiology as the necessary context for his supersessionism.

Antioch and Alexandria

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Daley, SJ
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Meaning ◽  
Cyril Of Alexandria ◽  
Theodore Of Mopsuestia ◽  
Didymus The Blind ◽  
Nestorius Of Constantinople ◽  
Theodoret Of Cyrus ◽  
The Church

The opposition between theologians centered in Antioch and those centered in Alexandria, both in their ways of interpreting Scripture and in their understandings of Christ’s person, is well known, if often somewhat exaggerated by modern scholars. Antiochene exegetes tended to insist more than their Alexandrian counterparts on the importance of seeing each biblical passage in its context within the longer narrative of Israel’s history, and to search for practical, moral applications, while Alexandrian interpreters tended to be more interested in the theological and spiritual meaning. More importantly, Antiochene theologians tended to see the fullness of salvation as eschatological, Alexandrians as present and accessible in the Church; as a result, Antiochenes tended to emphasize more the boundaries between God’s life and creation. The chapter looks at works of Diodore of Tarsus, his pupil Theodore of Mopsuestia, Nestorius of Constantinople, Theodoret of Cyrus, Didymus the Blind, and Cyril of Alexandria.

AN APPRAISAL OF SOURCE MATERIAL FOR THE STUDY OF TARGUM MINOR PROPHETS

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-469
Author(s):  
Gudrun Lier ◽  
Anna Fransina Van Zyl
Keyword(s):  
Source Material ◽  
Bible Translations ◽  
Integrated Research ◽  
Translation Techniques ◽  
Former Prophets ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
History Of Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Minor Prophets

The study of Aramaic Bible translations (Targumim) continues to be a valuable source of information, not only for uncovering the history of biblical interpretation but also for providing insights for the study of linguistics and translation techniques. In comparison with work done on the Pentateuchal Targumim and Targum Former Prophets, research on the individual books of Targum Minor Prophets has been scant. By providing an overview of selected source material this review seeks (i) to provide incentives for more focussed studies in the field of Targum Minor Prophets and (ii) to motivate new integrated research approaches which are now made possible with the assistance of highly developed software programmes.

Theodore of Mopsuestia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hauna T. Ondrey
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Theodore Of Mopsuestia ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Bear Witness

Chapter 4, “Theodore of Mopsuestia: The Twelve as Christian Scripture,” considers the meaning Theodore draws from the texts of the Twelve Prophets as Christian scripture. Whereas scholars have largely denied any Christian value to Theodore’s Old Testament interpretation, this chapter demonstrates that Theodore offers a self-consciously Christian reading of the Twelve. In Theodore’s reading, the texts bear witness to the continuity of God’s providential guidance of history that has Christ as its telos. Additionally, Theodore finds the prophetic and typological correspondences between the Two Ages established by God in order to highlight the superiority of the benefits secured by Christ and thus increase the faith of those who live after the inauguration of the Second Age, awaiting its consummation at the general resurrection. Finally, Theodore affirms the ongoing catechetical value of the prophets’ foundational teaching of monotheism and the absolute distinction between Creator and creation.

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