The allegorical exegesis (the theology of parables) in the Slavonic translation of the letter to Marcellinus on the interpretation of the psalms

Abstract

The Church Slavonic translation of The Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms (Еἰς τὴν ἑρμενείαν τῶν ѱαλμῶν) is published in the Russian Bible of 1663, placed before the Psalter just as in the famous 5th centuries Greek Codex Alexandrinos. Athanasius of Alexandria’s allegorical exegesis of interpreting the Scripture in the text macrostructures called Приточное богословие (The theology of parables) is investigated in this article based on some selected dogmatic and pastoral writings. The criterion for the correctness of the interpretation is formulated in the polemical Orations against the Arians. The polemical Sermon against all heresies is built on wordy allegories that have semantic and lexical parallels in the Orations. In the pastoral Letter to Marcellinos the technique of building allegories has changed according to the postulate of the selfsufficiency of the Holy Script without permission to change the words. The Preslav men of letters consciously chose the “spiritual” free translation and expand the grammatical exegesis with the means of the Old Bulgarian language. Using the term Приточное богословие for allegorical exegesis, they emphasize the need for allegories to clarify the hidden meaning in the quoted text. The Church Slavonic translation of the Letter to Marcellinus in the printed Russian Bible of the year 1663 contains some archaic forms which testify to the existence of a previous history of the text.