Genesis 12-50

Genesis 12-50 recounts the history of the patriarchs--Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
From their mentors Paul, Peter, Stephen, and the author of the letter
to the Hebrews, the early fathers learned to draw out the spiritual
significance of the patriarchal narrative for Christian believers. The
Alexandrian school especially followed Paul's allegorical use of the
story of Sarah and Hagar as they interpreted the Genesis accounts. The
Antiochene school eschewed allegorical interpretation but still set
about to find moral lessons in the ancient narrative. For all of them
the events pointed toward the promises of the age to come, the new age
revealed in the resurrection of Jesus. Among the principal
Greek-speaking commentators included within this Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture volume, readers will find Origen, Didymus the
Blind, John Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria. Among the
Latin-speaking interpreters they will find Ambrose of Milan, Augustine
of Hippo, Caesarius of Arles, and Bede the Venerable. Ephrem the Syrian
is the most commonly cited Syriac-speaking interpreter, while the
fifth-centuryCatena on Genesis
provides access to such fathers as Eusebius of Caesarea, Basil the
Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Didymus of Alexandria,
Epiphanius of Salamis, Irenaeus of Lyons, Eusebius of Emesa, Severian of
Gabala, and Theodore of Mopsuestia among others. Varied in texture and
nuance, the interpretations cited provide a wealth of ancient wisdom,
some appearing here in English translation for the first time, to
stimulate the mind and nourish the soul of the church today.