Andrew Of Caesarea

▪ bishop and author

flourished 7th century

      bishop of Caesarea, and the author of possibly the most significant Greek commentary on the book of Revelation (Revelation to John) (Apocalypse) from the era of the Church Fathers. His annotations seem to have influenced the Greek version of that biblical text.

      Andrew's exposition of the book of Revelation is marked by a specific Christian interpretation of history which views that biblical text as expressing the actual divine government of the world. He asserted that the biblical text's figurative and symbolic senses are not to be taken as simply imaginative. Rather, these “mystical” forms are to be seen as expressions of realities and experiences that transcend the capacity of human language. In his glosses on the book of Revelation, Andrew often presents the interpretations of various early Christian writers. These and quotations from his own writings often provide the only surviving fragments of the works cited.

      Critical scholarship has suggested that Andrew's glosses frequently became part of the book of Revelation's text, resulting in some of its enigmatic passages. Andrew's commentary, in more than 70 manuscripts that have been used as sources by subsequent commentators, is contained in the series by J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologia Graeca, vol. 106 (1866).

* * *