ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that informed Antiochene exegesis of the Bible with its reaction against Origenist allegory. It is true that Aristotle and his successors regarded all areas of research as open to the philosopher, and literary criticism, linguistic analysis and rhetorical techniques were placed on the philosopher's agenda. Inevitably it is on the acquiring of such formal rhetorical techniques that most modern studies of Greek education have focused, because that is what Christian theologists have evidence for. The study of literature with the rhetor became even more pragmatic, as the great orators and prose-writers were used principally as models for rhetorical composition. What then were the methods of exegesis practised in the schools? The biggest problem is the dearth of direct evidence about what went on in the Grammaticus classroom, or indeed how the rhetor would comment on literature. If lexical approach is accepted, then it helps to explain some other puzzles about patristic exegesis.
