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Document Details :

Title: A Prolegomenon to Exegesis
Subtitle: Junillus' Instituta
Author(s): TOOM, Tarmo
Journal: Augustiniana
Volume: 73    Issue: 1   Date: 2023   
Pages: 69-87
DOI: 10.2143/AUG.73.1.3292388

Abstract :
A relatively obscure treatise from the sixth century titled Instituta regularia divinae legis is composed of 'two very slender books (in duos brevissimos libellos)'. It is an introduction to Scripture which was drafted by a high official in the court of Emperor Justinian, Junillus, on the basis of the (lost) Regulae of Paul the Persian from the school of Nisibis. This paper focuses on the hermeneutical advice that can be found in Instituta. It contends that this treatise is about the ways of how Scripture is allegedly composed and communicates its message; about the modes of discourse and the modes of signification in Scripture. According to Junillus, to know how communication works is a prerequisite for understanding the very message. Junillus’ Instituta is a rare and original example of a broadly Antiochean exegetical tradition, and a unique ambassador of Syrian scholarship in West.

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