Interpreting the Bible and Aristotle in late antiquity: The Alexandrian commentary tradition between Rome and Bagdhad

Lössl, Josef ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5829-6500 and Watt, John William, eds. 2011. Interpreting the Bible and Aristotle in late antiquity: The Alexandrian commentary tradition between Rome and Bagdhad. Farnham: Ashgate. 10.4324/9781315589619

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

This book brings together sixteen studies by internationally renowned scholars on the origins and early development of the Latin and Syriac biblical and philosophical commentary traditions. It casts light on the work of the founder of philosophical biblical commentary, Origen of Alexandria, and traces the developments of fourth- and fifth-century Latin commentary techniques in writers such as Marius Victorinus, Jerome and Boethius. The focus then moves east, to the beginnings of Syriac philosophical commentary and its relationship to theology in the works of Sergius of Reshaina, Probus and Paul the Persian, and the influence of this continuing tradition in the East up to the Arabic writings of al-Farabi. There are also chapters on the practice of teaching Aristotelian and Platonic philosophy in fifth-century Alexandria, on contemporaneous developments among Byzantine thinkers, and on the connections in Latin and Syriac traditions between translation (from Greek) and commentary. With its enormous breadth and the groundbreaking originality of its contributions, this volume is an indispensable resource not only for specialists, but also for all students and scholars interested in late-antique intellectual history, especially the practice of teaching and studying philosophy, the philosophical exegesis of the Bible, and the role of commentary in the post-Hellenistic world as far as the classical renaissance in Islam.

Item Type:	Book - edited
Book Type:	Edited Book
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BC Logic B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BS The Bible
Publisher:	Ashgate
ISBN:	9781409410072
Funders:	Arts and Humanities Research Council
Projects:	The Latin and Syriac Commentary Project
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2026 13:31
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/28490

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item