medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Another method (on the assumption that a single satisfactory overview of medieval understandings of 'Leviathan' may not be available):
1) Use a Bible concordance or online look-up to identify passages in which 'Leviathan' appears.
2) Identify medieval commentary on the Bible books in question.
3) Look these up individually to see what (if anything) the commentators have to say about Leviathan.
In some cases, an English-language translation of a commentary will be available and the student can find the passaage and read the commentator on her/his own.
Example 1: St. John Chrysostom on Job. There's an English-language translation: Robert Charles Hill, tr., _St. John Chrysostom, Commentary on Job_ (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2006; = _St. John Chrysostom: Commentaries on the Sages_, v. 1).
Example 2: Gregory the Great on Job. An English-language version of G.'s comm. on Job 3. 8 is on the Web here:
http://www.lectionarycentral.com/GregoryMoralia/Book04.html
Example 3: Rashi on the Psalms. An English-language translation exists in Mayer Gruber, ed., _Rashi’s commentary on Psalms_ (Leiden: Brill, 2004) and the student can see what he has to say on Ps. 74. 14 and Ps. 104. 26.
4) When that's not possible, try surveys of pertinent medieval commentary on the books in question, e.g. Robert Eisen, _The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Your student may have to do the best s/he can according to her linguistic abilities and the degree of assistance that you're able to provide. But working on this question should provide a good introduction to the amount of biblical commentary available medievally in different, sometimes interconnecting traditions (as well as to the importance of having some capacity in languages other than the one or two in which one happens to have been raised).
Best,
John Dillon
****
On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, at 3:41 pm, Meg Cormack wrote:
> Greetings all,
> I'm wondering if anyone knows of any studies of Leviathan and how it
> was interpreted in the Middle Ages?
> I have an interested student (who wants to compare it to the
> midgard-serpent!) and we're not sure where
> to start.
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|