$27.00

Diodore of Tarsus presided over the Antiochene school of interpretation in its heyday. In his sole surviving exegetical work on the Old Testament he formulated the principles of interpreting Scripture taught in that school. Available here for the first time in English is Diodore’s commentary on Psalms 1–51, with Robert C. Hill’s insightful notes on Diodore’s exegesis of the Psalter. It was from their mentor Diodore that later Antiochenes Chrysostom, Theodore, and Theodoret derived the distinctive principles underlying the theology that figured prominently in debate and controversy in the fourth and fifth centuries. Patristic scholars and students of the Psalms look to the approach of the great Eastern commentators as an important development in the history of exegesis, Christology, morality and spirituality and will find this translation an invaluable asset.

Robert C. Hill, Honorary Fellow and adjunct professor at Australian Catholic University, has translated many of the Old Testament commentaries of the Antiochene Fathers and written on their exegetical, hermeneutical, and theological features. He is the author of a number of works, including Theodoret of Cyrus: Commentary on Daniel and Theodore of Mopsuestia: Commentary on Psalms 1–81, both available from the SBL.

“More than any other modern scholar, in his series of gifted translations Robert Charles Hill has unlocked for expert and amateur alike the representatives of the early Christian method of Antioch: Diodore, his pupils John Chrysostom and Theodore of Mopsuestia, and their successor Theodoret of Cyrus. One could be forgiven for thinking that these ancient exegetes wrote in English.”
—Pauline Allen, Director, Centre for Early Christian Studies, Australian Catholic University; and President, International Association of Patristic Studies

“Here we have an expert translator and master of the Old Testament in Antioch providing the first English translation of an ancient commentary on Psalms 1–51. What could be better? It is fortuitous that Diodore’s commentary survived and also that it found itself in the hands of Robert Hill. His introduction is insightful and informative, a helpful orientation not only to Diodore’s Commentary on Psalms but also to aspects of Antiochene interpretation. The translation itself is clear and faithful to the original. This convenient access to Diodore’s sole surviving work now provided by Hill is an important contribution to both biblical and patristic scholarship.”
—D. Jeffrey Bingham, Dallas Theological Seminary

“Diodore’s Commentary on Psalms 1–51, despite its awkward elements with regard to linguistic and textual variables, is by far the ancient text par excellence that gives us an insight into the hermeneutic of Antiochene exegesis. Now, thanks to Robert C. Hill, we have available to us the first translation of this commentary in English.”
—D. J. Human, Review of Biblical Literature