Theophylact of Ohrid’s Commentary on Luke and Christian Performativity

The translation of the Explanation of the Holy Gospel According to Luke by Theophylact of Ohrid by Fr. Christopher Stade, published by Chrysostom Press in 2020 as part of a series envisaging the complete New Testament exegesis of the famous eleventh-century bishop, makes the long text available to a wider public than ever before. In this paper, I will give a brief account of the methodology of Theophylact’s interpretative work. I will then focus on two sections of this commentary: the explanation of the prologue of Luke and that of Chapter 4, especially the pericope containing the scene of Jesus reading in the synagogue. The key to my own reading of these passages lies in my perception of the eleventh century as a turning point for the debate between a scriptural and an oral-performative religious trend in Christianity, where the written word acquired increasing weight against the oral tradition of the faith. I also believe that Luke was particularly receptive to oral-performative traditions in the making of the Gospels. These questions appear especially transparently in the programmatic prologue that has given rise to much discussion and are also self-referentially performed in the liturgical act of Luke 4:15-31. This pericope was particularly significant in Byzantium because it was chosen to mark the beginning of the liturgical year. For this reason, it was also illustrated in manuscripts such as Basil II’s Menologion (Vat. gr. 1613) or lectionaries such as Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Palat. 244, both eleventh-century products. I will argue that by writing these commentaries Theophylact is preserving and “canonizing” in written form the oral-performative traditions of his see of Ohrid. By doing so, the bishop acts as a reconciler to these at times violently opposing trends in the contemporary church.