St. John Chrysostom: Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1

by John Chrysostom, Robert C. Hill

Two volumes of Chrysostom's commentaries on the Psalms. Volume One contains commentaries on Psalms 4-13, 44-50, and Volume Two contains commentaries on Psalms 109-150 (with the exception of the long Ps 119). While St. John Chrysostom may have commented on all 150 psalms in the Psalter, commentary has survived on only fifty-eight. In these volumes, Robert Charles Hill has prepared an excellent translation of the commentary - in Volume One Psalms 4-13, 44-50, and in Volume Two Psalms 109-150 (with the exception of the long Ps 119) - all appearing for the first time in English. In this work, probably composed while he was still in Antioch, Chrysostom's brilliance as an exegete of the "literal school" of Antioch shines forth, even as he works with the metaphorical language and imagery of the psalms. As Hill writes, "it is fascinating to watch Chrysostom . . . coming to grips with this lyrical material, achieving some sense of comfort, and eventually devising - for the first time? - his own hermeneutical principles for coping with such texts." The extensive Introduction in Volume One covers basic issues on the commentary, including its origins, its relationship to Chrysostom's other exegetical work, his attitude to Scripture, and the theology, spirituality and other moral accents of the commentary. Comment on Chrysostom's text is also given in endnotes, and indexes are provided in each volume.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies

398 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2007

About the author

John Chrysostom (c. 347–407, Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος), Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. After his death in 407 (or, according to some sources, during his life) he was given the Greek epithet chrysostomos, meaning "golden mouthed", in English and Anglicized to Chrysostom.

The Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches honor him as a saint and count him among the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzus. He is recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church as a saint and as a Doctor of the Church. Churches of the Western tradition, including the Roman Catholic Church, some Anglican provinces, and parts of the Lutheran Church, commemorate him on 13 September. Some Lutheran and many Anglican provinces commemorate him on the traditional Eastern feast day of 27 January. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria also recognizes John Chrysostom as a saint (with feast days on 16 Thout and 17 Hathor).

John is known in Christianity chiefly as a preacher, theologian and liturgist. Among his homilies, eight directed against Judaizing Christians remain controversial for their impact on the development of Christian antisemitism.

Reviews

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a sense in which somebody like me is unqualified to review this book. I am a new Orthodox, Chrysostom was one of the Fathers of the Church. And despite a year of college Greek, I can't read the original well enough to judge whether the translation is good or bad.

The accompanying notes are almost uniformly irritating. The editor apparently doesn't like Chrysostom and loses no chance anywhere to point out infelicities or mistakes that scholarship unavailable to Chrysostom revealed. But the continual sneering tone gets on my nerves.

Yes, Chrysostom spoke about Jews (and other unbelievers) in politically incorrect terms. Yes, he apparently believed serious biblical exegesis was the province of men.

The Church doesn't say a saint can't make mistakes. Chrysostom was human. But at his best he shines a light on passages in the Psalter in a way that emphasized the Christological aspect of the text in a way that few other commentators had done.

This book is a worthwhile read for serious Christians who want to "get under the hood" of the Psalter, so to speak.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review serves for both Volume 1 and 2 of this series.

I picked up the two volumes of this set about a year and a half ago, largely because I was curious about what a patristic scriptural commentary was like and, since I use the psalms regularly, in my devotions, I thought it would be interesting to see what a master of the form, St. John Chrysosthom would do with them. I'm grateful for the experience, even if I'm not entirely sure I want to repeat it.

This a dense work. I mean, really dense. St. John goes through the psalms in the surviving portion of this commentary (something close to half of the Psalms are commented on) line by line. He reports variant readings from the Septuagint and, sometimes, even from the Hebrew. It is a monument of his erudition, but it doesn't make it an easy read. Well, okay, what church father is an easy read? But, even by the patristic standard, this is a hard read. There is a lot of repetition and, given St. John, a bit of rhetorical fireworks and moralizing (but not as much as you'd think).

Despite the slog (measured by the fact that it took me a year to read it), I'm still glad I read these volumes. I suspect a Biblical scholar or a philologist would be happier (I am, after all, just a humble Roman historian), but these volumes offer an important insight into how church fathers read the Bible.