Introduction

"Do you know," he says reproachfully to his listeners in one conversation, "what kind of word is the Scriptures? Do you know what the Gospel is? Why four Evangelists?" (Chrysostom, Discourses on Acts, Discourse 19:5). And the Holy Father himself, in a series of his interpretive discourses on individual books of Holy Scripture, usually devotes the first discourse on each book to the exposition of general guided information about it. By the way, John Chrysostom has a whole discourse on the fact that one should not ignore the inscriptions or titles of the sacred books (Discourses on the Inscription of the Book of Acts). "For this reason," he says, "the reader of the Church, having ascended for the prescribed readings (the Parimia, the Epistles, the Gospel), proclaims beforehand whose book it is, which particular prophet or Apostle and Evangelist, and then pronounces his sayings, so that you may notice them better and know not only the content, but also the reason for what is written, and who said it" (Chrysostom, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Bes.8, 4). In the same way, all the other great Fathers and teachers of the Church took care that in their flocks there should be a proper knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and everything pertaining to them, for "heresies do not arise from any other fault, but from ignorance of the Holy Scriptures. Scriptures" (Chrysostom, Bes.3, On Lazarus).

For the sake of guilt and intended for the home use of Orthodox Christians, editions of holy books, both in the ancient Greek and in the Russian Orthodox Church, were often accompanied by preliminary patristic prefaces and guiding notes. Long before the printing of books, among the Old Slavonic manuscripts of sacred books for private use, copies of the biblical text with preliminary prefaces are more common than without them (see Description of the Slavic Manuscript of the Moscow Synod Libraries, Section I). Following their example, in the first printed editions of the entire Slavonic Bible, there were even quite large guiding prefaces, such as the Synopsis (Review) of the Holy Scriptures. Following the example of such previous domestic editions of the Bible, and now there are offered to your attention, Orthodox reader, those general guiding information about the Holy Scriptures. To which St. John Chrysostom pointed out to his flock. They were extracted not from anywhere, but from the works of the same John Chrysostom and other holy fathers and teachers of the Church.

Guidance on the Books of Holy Scripture in General

1. The book that you have in your hands, Orthodox reader, bears the general name of the Bible, which is very often used especially by St. John Chrysostom. This word is Greek and means: books, that is, books par excellence, books most worthy of this name. In another way, this book is called by the Fathers of the Church Scripture (as well as Matthew 22:29), i.e. the most important and pre-eminent scripture of all the writings that have ever been found and are now found in human storehouses, in other words, "Holy Scripture" or "Books of Holy Scripture."

2. The first thing that should be known about the Holy Scriptures. It is that it is not the product of the human mind, but the word of God and was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Spirit. For it is not by the will of a man to prophesy, but by the Holy Spirit they are enlightened, saying that men of God are holy (2 Peter 1:21). Therefore, the books of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures are called inspired and divine. "When Fr. writers need to show definitely that they are speaking from God, they use other expressions, for example: a vision of the prophet (name), or: the word of the Lord is to be (name). Some of the prophets themselves saw God speaking to them to see (Isaiah 6:1), as far as it was possible for them to see God. Sometimes the God-inspired broadcasts of the Holy Scriptures. the writer received from God by the secret prompting of the Spirit, and sometimes he heard God speaking to him in articulate words" (Chrysostom, on 1 Thessalonians 8:1). Therefore, the books of St. The Scriptures are books that are absolutely faithful and true. "Look into the Scriptures," says St. Clement of Rome, "these true words of the Holy Scriptures. And note that nothing unjust or wrong is written in them" (Clement of Rome, To Corinth, Epistle 1, Ch. 45). "We must be sure that the Scriptures are perfect, since they are spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 2, Ch.28, 2).

3. "All St. The inspired Scriptures are not infinite, but rather definite books" (Synopsis of Athanasius). "For before the law they are Divine men, not enlightened by writings and books, but pure by meaning, enlightened by the radiance of the Most Holy Spirit, and thus knowing God's will, conversing with Him Himself lip to mouth. Such were Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Moses. But since men were weary and unworthy, they were enlightened and learned from the Holy Spirit. The God of the Scriptures, the lover of mankind, may not remember Him of His will" (Chrysostom, on Matthew, Bes.1, translated by Theophylact Bulgarian). Thus, St. Scripture has its own definite history, its own beginning and end, its own definite composition, to which nothing should be added or subtracted.

4. The entire composition of the Holy Synod. Scriptures, or, in the words of Bl. Jerome, the "sacred divinely inspired library" is divided into two large parts: 1) the books of the Old Testament, which appeared before Christ and prepared the world for the reception of the Saviour, written in the language of the people (the Hebrew) who were called to serve as the guardians of Revelation, and then, before the coming of Christ, by the special dispensation of God, translated, for the information of the entire human race, into the universal language of the time - Greek, and 2) the books of the New Testament, depicting the coming of the Son of God into the world, His teaching and the foundation of the Christian Church by Him, also set forth in Greek, known at that time to the Jews.

The books of both the Old and New Testaments are very diverse in their content, as are the spiritual gifts of people, which required the guidance of God. In particular, the books of the Old Testament, in addition to teaching, embrace the history of God's chosen people, the keeper of the Covenant. Nevertheless, the books of the Old and New Testaments have the closest connection and unity with each other. "By means of successive Testaments, Old and New, the human race was gradually to attain salvation, for salvation is one, just as God is one, but there are many steps leading to God" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 4, Ch.9, 3). "In all the history of mankind there have been two famous changes of life, which are called the two Testaments, the two shaking of the earth: one change from idols to law, the other from law to gospel. In relation to theology, the Old Testament clearly preached the Father, less clearly the Son; The New Testament revealed the Son and showed the triumph of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit" (Gregory of Nazianzen, Five Homilies on Theology, Homily 5). "If anyone attentively reads the Scriptures of the Old Testament, he will find in them a speech about Christ and a foreshadowing of a new calling. For the Scriptures are a treasure hidden in the world, and the treasure hidden in the Scriptures is Christ, who was then depicted by means of images and parables, for what pertains to His humanity could not be understood before the fulfillment of prophecies. For this reason the prophet Jeremiah said, "In the last days ye shall understand his counsel" (Jeremiah 23:20)." One Testament without the other is incomprehensible. "When the unbelieving Jews read the law at the present time, it is like a fable, for they have no explanation of everything pertaining to the coming of the Son of God as a man"... "Against the heretics, especially against the followers of Marcion and the like, who say that the (Old Testament) prophets are from another God, not from Him Who was revealed in the new testament, I say: read more attentively the Gospel given to us by the Apostles, read more attentively the prophets, and you will find that all the activity, all the teaching, and all the suffering of our Lord are foretold by them" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 4, 26, 1 and 34, 1). "Therefore let no one separate the Old Testament from the New, let no one say that there is one spirit there, and another here, for there is one God, the Lord of the Old and New Testaments" (Cyril Jerusalem, Catechure, 16:3-4). "In every book of the Old Farm. The Scriptures foretell about the Savior (Whose appearance is represented in the New Testament); this is a common object, one general agreement of the Spirit" (Athanasius, Epistle to Markelin, On the Psalms. "Against Julian". Book 8,9; "On Worship in Spirit and Truth"; "Glaphyrs or Higher Explanations of the Law"). In the rite of Orthodox worship, the prayers and hymns of Vespers and Matins depict the Old Testament canopy, with the stars shining among it, the preimages of Christ, while the rite of the Liturgy depicts the Sun of Righteousness that has already risen. And so, Orthodox reader, on the basis of the impression that you experience during the hours of the evening service, in preparation for the Liturgy, judge the religious feeling of an Old Testament believer.

5. In particular, both the books of the Old and New Testaments can be divided into three sections in terms of their content: 1) historical books depicting the history of human salvation in different periods; 2) teaching books containing the teaching of faith and piety for those who wish to inherit salvation; 3) prophetic books containing prophecies or predictions about the future, belonging to the Old Testament part of the Bible proper, but not alien to the New Testament (Orthodox Catechism). "However, these three types of content of the sacred books are not strictly separated from one another. For prophecy can be found in historical stories, and many historical stories can be heard from prophets, just as a moralizing and exhortatory form can be found in prophecies and in history. All this has in mind the conversion of man, and from the narration of the past, and from moralizing and exhortation, we are equally directed to the proper" (Chrysostom, Synopsis of the Books of the Old Testament).

6. Even more particularly, these sections of the Old and New Testaments are divided into groups of books and separate books bearing special names. Namely: 1) The historical books of the Old Testament are divided into three octopuses: the first historical octopus (according to the Synopsis of John Chrysostom) or the first group of historical books is this: the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the book of Joshua, the book of Judges of Israel, the book of Ruth. The second historical octopus or the second historical group of the Old Testament books: the four books of Kings, the two books of Chronicles, the book of Ezra, the book of Nehemiah. The third historical octopus, or the third group of historical books: the second book of Ezra, the book of Tobit, Judith and Esther, the three books of Maccabees, and the third book of Ezra. 2) The teaching books of the Old Testament are these: the book of Job, the Psalms, the Proverbs of Solomon, the book of Ecclesiastes, the book of the Song of Songs, the book of the Wisdom of Solomon, the book of the Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach. 3) the prophetic books of the Old Testament: the book of the prophet Isaiah, the book of the prophet Jeremiah, the Book of Lamentations, the book of the prophet Baruch, the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the book of the prophet Daniel, the books of the Twelve prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. There are 49 books of the Old Testament in total. The books of the New Testament: 1) Historical: the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the book of the Acts of the Apostles. 2) Didactic: seven conciliar epistles - one to Jude and fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul: one to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, one to the Galatians, one to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, one to Titus, one to Philemon, and one to the Hebrews. 3) The Prophetic Book of the New Testament: The Apocalypse of John the Theologian. All the books of the New Testament are 27. And all the books of the Old and New Testaments of our Bible are 76.

7. These books, which are part of our Slavonic Bible, have another division - into books "correct", "approved", "canonical" and "standing outside the correct books", books "unapproved" or "non-canonical". "Be diligent in testing from the Church which books are divinely inspired," taught St. Cyril of Jerusalem, meaning by divinely inspired books recognized in this meaning by the whole Church, or, in other words, canonical books (Cyril Jerusalem, Vocal Instruction 4:33). In relation to the Old Testament, the patristic canon teaches to recognize as canonical or "correct" those books which the Christian Church has received as divinely inspired from the God-chosen people of the Old Testament. "All the Divine books of the Old Testament were written in the Hebrew language in the beginning, in this, of course, everyone will agree with us" (Chrysostom, Discourses on the Book of Genesis, Bes. 4, 4). "And Ezra, a priest from the tribe of Levi, was inspired by God to determine all the sayings of the former prophets, and to restore to the people (forgotten during the captivity) the law of Moses" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Ch.21, 2). Thus, the canonical books of the Old Testament are those that were accepted by Ezra and which existed in the Jewish canon. In this connection we find the following testimony of St. Meliton, Bishop of Sardis (in Lydia), from the 2nd century A.D.: "Going to the East and being at the very place where everything was preached and done, I recognized the books of the Old Testament with certainty, and having made a list of them, I send it to you. Here are their names: the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), Joshua, the Judges, Ruth, the four books of Kings, the two Chronicles, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon or Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the books of the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, 12 prophets in one book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra" (Eusebius, Church History, Book 4, Ch.26). To this testimony it must be added that (1) the book of Ezra was one with the book of Nehemiah among the Jews; consequently, the latter is of course here; 2) the book of Esther is not mentioned here, although it is in the Jewish canon, and therefore should be called canonical. Meliton's silence in the latter case is explained by the fact that in the book of Esther, in addition to the canonical part, there are significant additions that do not exist in the Hebrew text, and therefore are non-canonical; In the Slavonic text, such parts of the book are distinguished by the fact that they do not show the counting of verses. The rest of the books that are part of our Bible, which are not named by Meliton among the Old Testament books, namely the entire third octopus of the historical books, the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, the Book of the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, and the Book of Baruch, are non-canonical books, i.e. "although they are used and useful, they are not included among the recognized by all, and were not in the ark" (Epiphanius, On Weights and Measures, Ch. 4). In the words of the Synopsis of Athanasius, they represent the reading as "catechumens," and therefore stand as it were at the transition from the pagan writings to the sacred divinely inspired books, and relate to the latter in the same way as the first introductory part of the Liturgy, at which the catechumens were also present, relates to the second part, or the Liturgy of the Faithful. This enumeration of the canonical books of the Old Testament is confirmed by Origen (Eusebius, Church History, Book 6, Ch.25), St. Athanasius the Great (Paschal Epistle), and St. Cyril of Jerusalem. (Ogl. Pouch. 4. 35), St. Gregory the Theologian (On the Books of the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures), St. Epiphanius of Cyprus (On Measures Ch. 4), the Council of Laodicea in 360 (Rule 60), bl. As for the New Testament, all 27 books of its composition are canonical and recognized by the whole Church, although there were lengthy discussions and investigations about some of them regarding their canonical dignity (especially about the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse), until finally their apostolic origin was explained with all clarity.

8. "Now the same books should be examined in detail, i.e. in the proposed order to take each separately under its special title, and in separate chapters to review by whom each book was written, where did it get its name, and what does it contain?" (Synopsis of Athanasius). In a similar way, St. John Chrysostom, in the particular question of each individual book of St. John Chrysostom. Scriptures, teaches to pay attention to the following points: by whom was the book written, through what fault and what does it contain? (Chrysostom, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Discourse 8:4). It should be noted that none of the Church Fathers who wrote commentaries on the holy books embraces the entire composition of the canon, and therefore on various questions concerning the individual books of the Holy Scriptures. It is necessary to turn to the works of various fathers and teachers of the Church. The most frequent subject of patristic interpretations from the books of the Old Testament were the books of Moses, especially the first book, the book of Psalms, the book of Isaiah, from the books of the New Testament of the Gospel and the Epistle of St. Paul. Paul. There are few patristic interpretations of non-canonical books, and none at all for some of them, although individual testimonies from non-canonical books, as moral and useful books, are often found in the writings of the Fathers. But, in addition to extensive commentaries on the text of the Holy Books, in the works of the Fathers there are more general reviews of the Holy Scriptures. books (Synopses), among which the above-mentioned Synopsis of St. Athanasius of Alexander and St. John Chrysostom are especially important. The latter, unfortunately, has not come down to us in its full form and is partially supplemented from the synopsis of Athanasius, which, therefore, turns out to be the most complete, as embracing all the books of the Old and New Testaments, and in its exposition the most convenient to serve as a general introduction or preface to the edition of the Holy Scriptures. Hagiographa. That is why he was elected by the Holy Synod when publishing the printed Slavonic Bible from 1751 onwards.