Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2006 Gnat or Apostolic Bee: A Translation and Commentary on Theodoret's Commentary on Jonah Jeanne M. Heisler Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES GNAT OR APOSTOLIC BEE: A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY ON THEODORET’S COMMENTARY ON JONAH By JEANNE M. HEISLER A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2006 Copyright© 2006 Jeanne M. Heisler All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of the student’s name defended on June 20, 2006 ________________________ David Levenson Professor Directing Dissertation _________________________ Svetla Slaveva-Griffin Outside Committee Member __________________________ Nicole Kelley Committee Member Approved: __________________________ John Kelsay, Chair, Department of Religion The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii Dedicated to the blessed Theodoret, who should be a saint! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations v List of Tables vi Abstract viii INTRODUCTION 1 1. THEODORET’S COMMENTARY ON JONAH: TRANSLATION 33 2. COMMENTARY ON THE PREFACE, LINES 1-74 83 3. COMMENTARY ON LINES 75-212 91 4. COMMENTARY ON LINES 213-285 123 5. COMMENTARY ON LINES 286-361 153 6. COMMENTARY ON LINES 362-440 179 CONCLUSION 204 APPENDIX A: INDEX OF THEODORET’S BIBLICAL CITATIONS 212 APPENDIX B: INDEX OF RABBINIC REFERENCES TO JONAH 215 BIBLIOGRAPHY 219 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 232 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Lampe Lampe, G.W.H. A Patristic Greek Lexicon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961. LSJ Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. A Greek English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996 NPNF1 The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers. Series 1. Edited by Phillip Schaff. 1886-1889. Repr. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 1994. NPNF2 The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers. Series 2. Edited by Phillip Schaff. 1886-1889. Repr. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 1994. PG Patrologia Graeca, ed. J.P. Migne (Paris, 1847-1886) TLG Thesaurus Linguae Graecae v LIST OF TABLES 3:1 Jonah’s Identity 92 3:2 Nineveh’s Wickedness 94 3:3 Jonah’s Flight 97 3:4 Location of Tharsis 99 3:5 Jonah’s Fare 101 3:6 The Storm 103 3:7 The Reaction of the Sailors 105 3:8 Jonah’s Reaction 107 3:9 The Captain’s Actions 108 3:10 Jonah’s Judgment 110 3:11 Jonah’s Interrogation 111 3:12 Jonah as Servant of God 113 3:13 Jonah’s Reflections on his Attempted Flight 114 3:14 Jonah’s Death Sentence 116 3:15 The Hesitance of the Sailors 118 3:16 God’s Will 119 3:17 The Sailors’ Sacrifice 121 4:1 God’s Command 125 4:2 Number of Fish 127 4:3 Description of the Whale’s Interior 129 4:4 God’s Will as Mystery 131 4:5 The Meaning of Three Days 133 4:6 Type of Death 135 4:7 Description of the Storm 137 4:8 God’s Presence 139 4:9 Reed Sea or the End 140 4:10 Desperation, Seaweed, or Mountains 143 4:11 Description of Jonah’s Prayer 145 4:12 Forsaken Mercy 147 4:13 Jonah’s Sacrifice 149 4:14 Jonah’s Release 151 5:1 Jonah’s Second Message for Nineveh 155 5:2 Nineveh’s Greatness 157 5:3 The Speed of Jonah’s Preaching 158 5:4 Three Days or Forty Days 160 5:5 Nineveh’s Perception of Jonah 162 5:6 The Great and the Small 164 5:7 The Humility of the King 166 5:8 The Fast of the Animals 169 5:9 The Fast of the Ninevites 173 5:10 God’s Repentance 176 6:1 Jonah’s Grief and Death Wish 181 6:2 The Extent of Jonah’s Grief 184 vi 6:3 Correct Sequence of Events 187 6:4 Jonah’s Plant 189 6:5 The Appearance of the Worm 191 6:6 The Severity of the Wind and Jonah’s Second Death Wish 193 6:7 Jonah’s Anger 194 6:8 The Explanation of Right and Left 198 6:9 Identity of Flocks 199 6:10 Conclusion of Commentary 201 vii ABSTRACT This dissertation will translate and comment upon one of Theodoret’s previously untranslated works, Commentary on Jonah. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, a key player in the political and theological controversies between Alexandria and Antioch in the fifth-century CE, produced massive amounts of literature. Although his exegetical works are concise, they reflect a plethora of traditions. After providing a complete translation of Commentary on Jonah with critical notes, the subsequent portions of this dissertation will address how Theodoret works as a compiler of exegetical traditions. Each chapter will compare Theodoret’s understanding of Jonah with other Christian and Jewish exegetical works which contain traditions about Jonah, in the effort to isolate Theodoret’s original contributions and create a portfolio of his sources. The Christian authors who will be compared with Theodoret are Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cyril of Alexandria, Jerome, John Chrysostom, Ephrem the Syrian, and Hesychius of Jerusalem. The Jewish works for comparison with Theodoret include the Mishnah, the Jerusalem Talmud, the Babylonian Talmud, midrashim, Pseudo Philo’s Homily on Jonah, and Targum Jonathan. As the conclusion of this dissertation will show, Theodoret refers to two individuals as a source more than others, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria. This pattern of compilation is significant, especially when understood within the context of the Christological controversy. It appears that Theodoret may be using his exegetical works, such as Commentary on Jonah, to moderate the two opposing sides represented by Theodore and Cyril. By responding to the overly literal approach of Theodore and incorporating some of the style and vocabulary of Cyril, Theodoret rehabilitates his own image in the eyes of Alexandria. The conclusion of this dissertation will also present Theodoret’s original contributions to the understanding of Jonah which he weaves in with his source material. Although he has described himself as gnat, lowly in comparison to the apostolic bees which have written before him, Theodoret’s work deserves attention. His ability to assemble the materials of his predecessors into a clear and concise commentary, with the viii purpose of rehabilitating himself in the turmoil of ecclesiastical controversy, earns him a place among the apostolic bees he revered ix