Christoph Markschies: "Pagan" Methods of Exegesis in Eusebius of Caesarea's Commentary on the Psalms

At the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Greek Christian Writers) a new edition of the Commentary on the Psalms of Eusebius of Caesarea is prepared by a group of editors. This new edition, which includes previously unidentified and unpublished portions of the commentary, provides an opportunity to discuss a question which has often been raised with regard to Origen (e.g., by Neuschaefer): How did "pagan" techniques of commenting on "canonical" texts influence the structure and content of Eusebius' exegesis of the Psalms? The learned bishop of Caesarea is presented here not as a simple imitator of Origen, but as part of a contemporary discourse on commentaries and exegesis in the so-called Alexandrine tradition. The paper offers a dense description of exemplary passages of Eusebius compared with examples taken from contemporary commentaries on "classical" medical and philosophical texts. Such comparative characterizations of Eusebius will in the future help to identify anonymously transmitted material of his commentary and to add it to the future Berlin edition.