"The Reasons for holy-days": Medieval Armenian Collections of Exegetical Gems

It is widely known that the exegetical genre was of great significance in Christian ecclesiastical literature. Since the translation of the Bible in 5th century AD, Armenians have translated a number of patristic exegetical works, in particular, the works of Greek and Syriac writers. In parallel, the authentic exegetical compositions have been created, mainly, after the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD). Since 7th century AD, unique medieval Armenian exegetical collections bearing the title “Reasons for holy-days” were shaped, which contain explanations of Church Holydays in the Armenian Christian Calendar and commentaries on the readings of the day from the Old and New Testaments. For exegetical purpose the authors and editors of the collections borrowed the original texts from foreign and local authors of the previous period inserting them as excerpts or placing the whole text along with some authentic additions.

This presentation concerns the historical period and the motives for the emergence of “Reasons for holy-days” as well as the purpose and practical use of these collections, which provides an opportunity to deduce theological nuances relating to disputative Christological and disciplinary issues from the “holy-day” interpretations. By examination of the hierarchy of multi-layer texts and exegetical “tools” used in the collections, such as the symbolism of numbers and colours, this presentation will attempt to escort into the peculiarities of Armenian theological thought of the 12-13th centuries.