Byzantine Reception

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the Byzantine reception of patristic methods of biblical exegesis, focusing on the period between approximately the sixth and the fourteenth centuries. Byzantine exegetes accepted the threefold method of interpretation, as defined by Origen, but were flexible with regard to how Scripture should be read in particular liturgical or didactic settings. The chapter explores four separate contexts of Byzantine biblical exegesis, including (1) liturgical celebration; (2) commentaries and theological treatises; (3) lay piety; and (4) monastic life, asking whether these demanded different hermeneutical approaches. Above all, the chapter demonstrates that patristic influence remained strong throughout the Byzantine period, with medieval exegetes regarding the fathers as authoritative in their interpretation of the Old and New Testaments for contemporary Christian audiences.