Michael Papazian: A Fragmentary Armenian Commentary on the Book of Job

A late medieval Armenian catena on the book of Job contains fragments from an otherwise lost commentary on Job attributed to the eighth century Armenian theologian Step‘anos of Siwnik‘. My paper discusses the theology and exegetical method used in the fragments, and argues for the plausibility of the attribution to Stepanos and also that the principal source used by the Armenian commentator was the Greek commentary of Olympiodorus of Alexandria. If the author is indeed Stepanos, my conclusion about his sources adds support to the thesis that Stepanos’ exegetical orientation was primarily Alexandrian.