Ceulemans, Reinhart ; Crostini, Barbara [red.]

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Receptions of the Bible in Byzantium

The twenty papers in this volume, fifteen in English and five in French, range from the fourth to the fifteenth century and are arranged in five sections according to a typology of reception of the Bible. The first section of the volume focuses on approaches to biblical exegesis often determined, as the authors argue, by worldly, practical aims pursued through commenting on the Bible. The second group of essays in the volume have in common a quotation approach to the text of the Bible: plucked from various books, key sentences were used in different contexts and to various ends. That the creativity of writers was actively engaged through their exposure to the Bible is further substantiated by the next group of essays, witnessing to a phenomenon whose dynamics are unpacked in scholarship on rewritten Bible. The next cluster of five papers takes illuminated manuscripts as the primary object, but without losing sight of the meaningful interaction between images and text. The essays in the final section of the volume require a special interest in textual criticism and manuscript transmission, and concern the work of scribes and compilers in assembling instruments through which the Bible is read. Even more specifically, these essays deal with how these instruments are made available in manuscript copies.