I recently watched an excellent talk by Bishop Maximus of Pelagonia (GOC-K) called "Acquiring a Patristic Mindset". One of the topics he addressed at length was Patristic commentary on the Scriptures and the difference between the Antiochian (more literal) and Alexandrian (more allegorical) schools of interpretation. I found it fascinating. Video link:
Are there any Orthodox commentaries on the Old Testament that you'd recommend? I'm particularly interested in allegorical commentaries.
In the short term I'd especially like to read allegorical commentaries concerning Righteous Phineas son of Eleazar, who appears in Numbers 25, Judges 20, and Psalm 105 (LXX)/106. What I've found so far is that St Gregory of Nyssa mentions St Phineas in "On the Baptism of Christ", stating that it is the "javelin of baptism" that slays the old man.
Righteous Phineas is a lightning rod for modernist holier-than-Orthodox-Tradition commentary. One person who's "wrong on the internet" described Phineas as "the patron saint of hate crime". The assumption is that if we call Old Testament saints like Phineas righteous then we would also consider ourselves justified under the New Covenant in going about as vigilantes, slaying whomever we choose. (Rolls eyes)
As dumb as such an unfavorable attitude toward the Scriptures might be, I see clearly that I too am quite ignorant of the allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament. Would like to address that need. Phineas is my baptismal name -- not because I'm like him in any respect yet. But I do aspire to become more zealous according to knowledge.
