The article continues the publication of Syrian homilies from St. Cyril of Alexandria’s «Commentary on the Gospel of Luke» (CPG 5207) based on Manuscripts Damas. 12/19 and Damas. 12/20, and offers the first edition of the Syrian text of the homily included in the «Commentary» with an explanation of the Gospel pericope about the paralytic (Lk. 5:17–26). Parallel to the Syriac text are presented fragments of the original text of the homily based on Greek manuscripts of the Catenas on the Gospel of Luke, taking into account their previous editions and drawing on additional manuscripts. In the introduction the manuscript tradition of the homily and previous editions of its Greek text are discussed. Errors in J. Reuss’s edition when publishing the relevant fragments are noted. The numbering of this homily in the «Commentary», which is absent in the sources, is justified. An overview of its content is given, the question of dating is touched upon, and the signs of the Nestorian controversy present in it are noted. The similarity of one passage to the St. Cyril’s 7th anathema and his treatise «Against the Blasphemies of Nestorius» is pointed out, and it is concluded that at the time of delivering this homily, the saint was already familiar with Nestorius’ sermons, which was reflected in its content. The publication of the Syrian and Greek texts is accompanied by a Russian translation.

Part four of the Church academic translation of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah according to the Septuagint version includes chapters from the 19^th to the 25^th. The translators rely on the interpretations preserved under the name of St. John Chrysostom, as well as the commentaries of St. Ephraim the Syrian, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Theodoret of Cyrus, Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Ambrose of Milan, as well as daughter translations and parallels in the text of the Septuagint itself and in the New Testament. In the following chapters and notes, the reader will learn about the fates of Egypt and Tyre, what it means to drink water near the sea and to drink joy, who a horseman on a pair is, what harvest the seed of merchants brings, and whom the death could overcome.

Gerasimus, abbot of the Monastery of St. Simeon the Stylite, located twenty kilometers from Antioch, is among the Arab Christian authors who have been unfairly overlooked by scholars. He remains a completely unknown figure in Russian scholarship. In this article, which should be considered an introduction to Gerasimus’ theology, the author aims to provide a general characterization of Gerasimus as an Arab Christian apologist. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to establish the time of Gerasimus’ literary activity, present his apologetic strategy, examine Gerasimus’ apologetics in the context of the Melkite theological-apologetic tradition, identify the features of his apologetics that distinguish him from previous authors, and, where possible, determine his patristic foundation. An analysis of Gerasimus’ main work, «The Complete Book of Healing Meaning» («Apology»), allows us to assume with a high degree of probability that this work was composed in the last third of the 13^th century. Gerasimus’ apologetic strategy consists of creating a coherent system of Christian apologetics that allows for a rational justification of the truth of Christianity and its superiority over other religions. To achieve this goal, the Antiochene apologist develops a clear algorithm for defining the true religion; formulates criteria for identifying messengers who come preaching the true religion; and seeks out additional arguments in favor of the truth of the Christian faith. Being essentially the last writer in the line of medieval Melkite theologians and apologists, Gerasimus is closely connected to the preceding Melkite tradition. Thus, the apologetic strategy he developed reveals an undeniable dependence on the works of Theodore Abu Qurrah (d. c. 830). Gerasimus’ «Apology» share certain characteristics common to most Melkite theologians: he favors rational argumentation over biblical and patristic evidence, and makes no reference to the holy fathers. The influence of Muslim theology and Islamic culture in general on Gerasimus is undeniable. At the same time, his apologetics possesses a number of distinctive features that distinguish him from Orthodox Arabic-language authors and allow allow us to consider him a highly original thinker. «The Complete Book of Healing Meaning» is rightfully considered the finest theological and apologetic work of all Melkite authors of the 8^th–13^th centuries.

This article attempts to examine and resolve some problems in the use and understanding of the term tropologia in modern literature and ancient Latin Christian exegetical works. The term is examined in the context of individual Latin exegetical works in light of the usage of the Western tradition from the 4^th to the 16^th centuries. In general, the tradition of using the Greek term τροπολογία since the time of St. Jerome maintains a connection with the ancient definition of this term as a system and sequence of tropes in a literary work. However, a group of authors, influenced by St. John Cassian the Roman, began to use this term narrowly to denote moral allegory. This is a feature of Latin exegesis. However, this understanding was never universal. The usage of individual authors and even different works by the same author can vary significantly.

Although the question of the dating of the Book of Joel has been examined by a number of scholars, it remains a subject of debate. The reason for this lies in the difficulty of unambiguously interpreting the indirect indications of its date of composition found within the text, as well as the possibility of the book’s gradual formation over time. The purpose of this article is to classify the existing hypotheses regarding the dating of the Book of Joel, along with the arguments put forward by exegetes and scholars in their support, and to identify the specific complexities of its dating problem. To achieve this, the text of the Book of Joel is analyzed, alongside existing commentaries and scholarly works addressing this issue. The research is based primarily on the historiographical method. Furthermore, in the direct analysis of the Book of Joel, philological methods (literary, intertextual, and hermeneutical analysis) as well as historical-critical and comparative-historical methods were employed. The primary sources, besides the Masoretic text of the Book of Joel, included its interpretations by Clement of Alexandria (2^nd–3^rd centuries A.D.) and by authors of the 4^th–5^th centuries A.D.: Jerome, Cyril of Alexandria, and Theodoret of Cyrus. As a result of this analytical work, the author concludes that the most substantiated dating for the Book of Joel is the post-exilic period (515 BC — 5^th century B.C.).