Homilies on Genesis 1-17

by John Chrysostom

This translation makes available for the first time in English one of the most significant Old Testament commentaries of the patristic period. St. John Chrysostom's extant works outnumber those of any other Father of the East; in the West, only Augustine produced a larger corpus. Of Chrysostom's more than 600 exegetical homilies, however, only those on the New Testament have previously been translated into English. The Genesis homilies, his richest Old Testament series, reveal a theologian, pastor, and moralist struggling to explain some of the most challenging biblical material to his congregation in Antioch. He admonishes them to "apply yourself diligently to the reading of Sacred Scripture, not only when you come along here, but at home," encourages spiritual discourse, and frequently envisages them leaving church reminiscing on the day's sermon. While critical exegetical details go without mention and Chrysostom was limited to the Greek version of the Old Testament in his studies, his oratory has been judged golden and his theology profound. He was a preacher satisfied with commenting on Scripture with his moral purpose always to the fore. Chrysostom studied the Scriptures with Diodore of Tarsus, a distinguished exegete known from fragments of his commentaries on Genesis and Psalms, and a polemic style developed from his pastoral concern to protect his congregation from the dangerous influences of fourth-century Antioch. Most importantly, he shared the Antiochene school's insistence on the literal sense of Scripture and their unwillingness to engage in allegorical interpretation. As such, his Genesis homilies constitute a milestone in the history of biblical interpretation. This first of several volumes on Genesis contains homilies 1-17, delivered in Antioch before Chrysostom moved to Constantinople in 398. Robert C. Hill's thorough introduction highlights Chrysostom's significance as a scriptural commentator and provides the basis for an interesting comparison with modern commentators, such as Von Rad and Speiser.

Genres: Christianity, Religion, Biblical Studies

258 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1986

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

[DúviAurvandil Ericsson e Pereira]

While Chrysostom is one of my favorite, if not THE favorite, commentators on scripture from all the Church Fathers, in this he felt a bit lost and unsure of what lessons he wanted to draw out of the text. It is perhaps, a drawback to the Antiochene school, and to Chrysostom's insistence on literalism, that makes commentary on Genesis more difficult. By literalism here, I do not mean in a 20th Century fundamentalist sense, since St John does take pains several times to explain to his audience that scripture in Genesis obviously condescends to human understanding and uses language we can understand to describe events, e.g. God "walked" in the cool of the evening, God "saw" that it was good, etc. But St John does insist on taking all the words for their basic sense, and thus often slips into simple moralism (i.e. "the message here is 'don't sin'") instead of drawing out something deeper and more profound. This is not to say that this commentary is nothing but moral instructions. On the contrary, there are great lessons on the greatness of God's love, the fitness of His Creation, and the precision of the biblical text that are imminently important for Christians to glean, but they are somewhat few and far between when Chrysostom here has to wrestle with pre-historic stories of such symbolic and primordial structure.

[Chris Heren]

Excellent and readable translation of the first 17 homilies given by St. John Chrysostom (Gen. 1-3) during Lent (I believe in Antioch if I recall). Very detailed exegesis based on practical reading for the catechumens and those who were already baptized. He even includes a tirade against chariot racing at the "circus" due to completely immoral acts that would occur at the races.

Translator also gives an excellent introduction to Chrysostom's two sets of Genesis homilies and the rest of his homilies on the Old Testament, and his understanding of the "condescension" of God who used written text to get across His message to humanity.

[Christopher Hall]

You don't get much better than St John Chrysostom. Particularly interesting was his repeated comments that we must understand any Scripture in the context of Scripture as a whole, and that Scripture interprets Scripture.