Psellos’ Commentary on the Jesus Prayer

Frederick Frederick

doi:10.24193/subbto.2021.1.05

Psellos’ Commentary on the Jesus Prayer

Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Theologia Orthodoxa ◽

10.24193/subbto.2021.1.05 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 117-134

Author(s):

Frederick Frederick

Keyword(s):

Eleventh Century ◽

Jesus Prayer

"The commentary on the Jesus Prayer published by Sinkiewicz in 1987 is a genuine work by Psellos. It is ascribed to him in a number of manuscripts and is not eccentric in relation to his interests. Indeed, he wrote a commentary on the ‘Kyrie Eleison’. Moreover, the theological points in the commentary echo those he described in Poem 4 Westerink. The commentary contains a previously unidentified verse which contains eleventh century expressions. Psellos’ commentary was used by Markos Eugenikos when he wrote his own commentary on the same prayer which was published in the Philocalia. Psellos’ commentary was transmitted in a number of manuscripts preserved today on Mt. Athos also under his name. Keywords: hesychasm, Jesus Prayer, Michael Psellos, Markos Eugenikos, Athos. "

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Encountering Ambiguity: Muʿtazilī and Twelver Shīʿī Approaches to the Qur'an's Ambiguous Verses

Journal of Qur anic Studies ◽

10.3366/jqs.2016.0251 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 91-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tehseen Thaver

Keyword(s):

Eleventh Century ◽

Arabic Language ◽

Conceptual Approach ◽

Islamic Jurisprudence ◽

Primary Determinant ◽

Linguistic Challenges ◽

Qur'anic Exegesis ◽

Exegetical Tradition ◽

Qur'an Commentaries ◽

Early Islamic

Within the broader discipline of Qur'anic exegesis, the sub-genre of the mutashābihāt al-Qurʾān (the ambiguous verses of the Qur'an) is comprised of works dedicated to the identification and explication of those verses that present theological or linguistic challenges. Yet, the approach, style, and objective of the scholars who have written commentaries on the ambiguous verses are far from monolithic. This essay brings into focus the internal diversity of this important exegetical tradition by focusing on the Qur'an commentaries of two major scholars in fourth/eleventh-century Baghdad, al-Sharīf al-Raḍī (d. 406/1016) and Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025). Al-Raḍī was a prominent Twelver Shīʿī theologian and poet while ʿAbd al-Jabbār was a leading Muʿtazilī theologian during this period; al-Raḍī was also ʿAbd al-Jabbār's student and disciple. Through a close reading of their respective commentaries on two Qur'anic verses, I explore possible interconnections and interactions between Shīʿī and Muʿtazilī traditions of exegesis, and demonstrate that while ʿAbd al-Jabbār mobilised the language of Islamic jurisprudence, al-Raḍī primarily relied on early Islamic poetry and the etymology of the Arabic language. Methodologically, I argue against a conceptual approach that valorises sectarian and theological identity as the primary determinant of hermeneutical desires and sensibilities.

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