The lost Genesis-commentary by Theodore of Mopsuesia as key-text of the Christian Genesis-discourse in antiquity. A digital reconstruction as a basis for an interactive Genesis-catena

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Benjamin Johannes Gleede
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 555708714

The main aim of the proposed project is to reconstruct one of the most important late antique works on Genesis, the commentary by Theodore of Mopsuestia, from both its context of origin and its context of reception and, in turn, to shed new light on the structure and nature of the aforesaid contexts, in the form of a database comprising all relevant texts in the original and partly also in English translation, integrated into the Patristic Text Archive (https://pta.bbaw.de). In terms of content, new insights into the person of Theodore, his theology and exegesis would have to be gained, especially with regard to his conception of biblical salvation history, the attribution of the two catastases and the associated exegetical scope of Christological typology. Especially since the Genesis commentary takes a clearly different path here than is known from the other surviving commentaries by Theodore, this should also result in a different picture of its context of origin, the Antiochian discourse at the turn of the fourth and fifth centuries, insofar as the Genesis exegesis alone provides the basis for being able to directly compare all of its important representatives (Euseb of Emesa, Diodorus, Theodore, Chrysostom, Severian, Theodoret) with one another. In addition, the comparative analysis of the extensive reception history of the text, which transcended confessional boundaries in both Greek and Syriac-speaking areas (Jacob of Sarug, Philoponus) at least until the late sixth century and was only later limited to the East Syriac Theodorians, will not only bring to light numerous new testimonies for the text, but also shed light on the way in which the East Syrians in particular develop the thought of their blessed Interpreter and synthesize it with genuinely Syriac ideas.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Bas Ter Haar Romeny
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Annette von Stockhausen