Saint John Chrysostom: Exegete and Textual Critic

Abstract

The present paper is devoted to the study of the problem of the textual meth od of analyzing the books of the Old Testament used by St John Chrysostom. Using the method of linguistic analysis of texts and linguistic units in the commentaries of St John Chrysostom on the Old Testament books (especially the Book of Psalms and Prophet Isaiah) we have revealed that he tends to compare various Greek biblical translations to clarify the meaning of the texts from the Holy Scripture. At the same time certain preferences of St John Chrysostom become apparent—working with the Septuagint and the Lucianic version of the Septuagint he most often appeals to the revisions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. The comparative method of analyzing the commentaries of St John Chrysostom on the books of the Old Testament allowed us to conclude that, on the one hand, the use of the revisions was determined by the necessity to translate the meaning of the biblical texts as accurately as possible. On the other hand, the use of different translations was crucial for St John Chrysostom in constructing the exegetical vision of the Old Testament messianic texts under discussion.