These volumes make available a diplomatic text and an English translation, the first ever modern translation, of the Commentary on Genesis preserved in Armenian and attributed to the fourth century poet, Ephrem the Syrian. Heretofore this text was known only from a single Venice manuscript, V873, printed by the Mekhitarist Fathers in 1836. This diplomatic edition utilizes the two other known manuscripts: another from the Venice Mekhitarist library, V352; and one from the library at Bzommar, Bza437. A lengthy introduction, the first real study of this text, demonstrates that while this Commentary is clearly based on a Syriac original, it represents a text that cannot have been written by the fourth-century Ephrem, but rather one that stems from a Syrian-Armenian milieu of around the tenth or eleventh centuries. This Commentary displays no correspondence with the surviving genuine Syriac Commentary on Genesis by Ephrem the Syrian, and makes manifest use of the work of Severus of Edessa (d. 861). This Commentary also shows marked characteristics of the translation technique well-known to have been supplied by the Armenians of the tenth to twelfth centuries.

24 scholars – Jewish, Protestant, Roman Catholic – from North America, Israel, and various European countries, contribute to this rich volume on medieval interpretation and exegesis of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (5th through 12th centuries). Geographically, they cover most of the world as it was known in these times: from Syria to Spain, from Rome to the Rhine and the Seine. The volume also contains supplements to the previous volume, on Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon. The indexes (names, topics, references to biblical sources and a broad body of literature beyond) are the key to the wealth of information provided. Undoubtedly, this volume will meet the high expectations set by the reviewers of the first volume (I/1) of the series: "Definitive reference work" (Religious Studies Review) "Mine d'information d'une grande richesse" (Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses) "Monumental ouvrage" (Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique) "A veritable treasury" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly) "The foremost account of Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation" (Expository Times) "Onmisbaar handboek voor jeder een die zich serieus met bijbelstudie bezighoudt" (Stem van het boek) "Respekt gebietende Summe wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Forschung" (Zeitschrift für Altes Testament) Selected chapters 23. The Problem of Periodization of Middle Ages 25. Jewish Bible Interpretation in Early Post-Talmudic Times 26. Gregory the Great 28. Seventh through Ninth Century 1. Isidore of Seville 3. Exegesis in the time of Charlemagne 4. From Angelomus of Luxeuil to Remigius of Auxerre 31. The Flourishing Era of Jewish Exegesis in Spain 1. The Linguistic School: Judah Hayyuj, Jonah ibn Janah, Moses ibn Chiquitilla and Judah ibn Bal'am 2. The Aesthetic Exegesis of Moses ibn Ezra 32. The School of Literal Jewish Exegesis in Northern France 4. Menahem ben Helbo5. Solomon Yishaqi / Rashi (1040–1105) 8. Samuel ben Meir / Rashbam (1080–1160) 33. Jewish Exegesis in Spain and Provence and in the East 2. Abraham ibn Ezra4. Moses ben Nahman / Nahmanides (Ramban) 5. Abraham Maimonides and the Yemenite School 34. The School of St. Victor in Paris 35. Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament 1. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Song of Songs 2. Gilbert of Poitiers and Peter Lombard 6. Albert, Thomas, Bonaventure 36. Development of Biblical Interpretation in the Syrian Churches 38. Literal and Spiritual Scriptural Interpretation: Aspects of Correspondence and Tension between Christian and Jewish Exegesis

These volumes make available a diplomatic text and an English translation, the first ever modern translation, of the Commentary on Genesis preserved in Armenian and attributed to the fourth century poet, Ephrem the Syrian. Heretofore this text was known only from a single Venice manuscript, V873, printed by the Mekhitarist Fathers in 1836. This diplomatic edition utilizes the two other known manuscripts: another from the Venice Mekhitarist library, V352; and one from the library at Bzommar, Bza437. A lengthy introduction, the first real study of this text, demonstrates that while this Commentary is clearly based on a Syriac original, it represents a text that cannot have been written by the fourth-century Ephrem, but rather one that stems from a Syrian-Armenian milieu of around the tenth or eleventh centuries. This Commentary displays no correspondence with the surviving genuine Syriac Commentary on Genesis by Ephrem the Syrian, and makes manifest use of the work of Severus of Edessa (d. 861). This Commentary also shows marked characteristics of the translation technique well-known to have been supplied by the Armenians of the tenth to twelfth centuries.

The text's elaborate illumination also brings to life a vibrant artistic center, the Monastery of Gladzor, which long ago disappeared." "The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor includes sixty color reproductions of the manuscript's illuminated pages, ten black-and-white illustrations, and two maps along with an essay that explores the book's artistic richness and theological complexity."--BOOK JACKET.