The Apostles as Exegetes and Interpreters of the Word

One of the skills necessary for a good teacher, especially one of scripture, is the ability to interpret the text in helpful and enlightening ways. As Christ interpreted the word of God, so too were the apostles expected to interpret Christ’s teachings.1 Identifying himself as primarily a teacher by way of Biblical exegesis, Bede necessarily latches on to this aspect of the apostolic office.2 Consequently, we may speak of the apostles as the first Christian commentators on scripture, setting a standard after which Bede himself strove. In his commentary on Mark, Bede explicitly states that it was common practice for the apostles (and the evangelists) to interpret Old Testament events in light of their typological or Christological significances:

Nam et familiare constat esse euangelistis atque apostolis cum de ueteri testamento testimonia assumunt magis sensum propheticum ponere curare quam uerba.3

For it is agreed to be common practice for the evangelists and apostles, when they take up the testimony from the Old Testament, that they are at pains to bring forth the prophetic sense rather than the words.

Bede gives us an example in his Expositio Actuum Apostolorum of Peter exercising his ability to interpret Old Testament prophesy when the apostle recites from the Psalms in Acts 1:20, stating:

scriptum est enim in libro Psalmorum fiat commoratio eius deserta et non sit qui inhabitet in ea et episcopatum eius accipiat alius (“For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let his residence be deserted and let there be none to inhabit it; and let another take his bishopric”). Bede comments:

Plani quidem sunt isti uersiculi et palam beato Indeed these verses are clear and plainly set forth

1 _{G. R. Scharf, “Were the Apostles Expository Preachers? Old Testament Exposition in the Book of Acts,” Trinity}

Journal 31.1 (2010): 65-93.

2 _{On Bede’s skill and self-identification as exegete, cf. C. Jenkins, “Bede as Exegete and Theologian,” in Bede: His}

Life, Times, and Writings; Essays in Commemoration of the Twelfth Centenary of his Death, ed. A. Hamilton Thompson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1935), pp. 152-200; B. Robinson, “The Venerable Bede as Exegete,” The Downside Review 112 (1994), pp. 201-26; S. DeGregorio, “Bede and the Old Testament,” in The Cambridge Companion to Bede, ed. S. DeGregorio, Cambridge Companions to Literature (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 127-41; A. G. Holder, “Bede and the New Testament,” in idem, pp. 141-55.

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Petro interpretante expositi, quia et Iudas meritam praeuaricationis suae poenam excepit, abiensque in locum suum, gehennam uidelicet infernalem, communem humanae conuersationis habitationem immatura et impia morte deseruit, et nihilominus, accipiente sancto Mathia locum ministerii illius et apostolatus, sacratissima perfectionis apostolicae summa restaurata est.4

by the blessed Peter’s interpretation. On the one hand Judas received a deserved penalty for his double-dealing, and as he went to his own proper place (namely, infernal hell), by his untimely and impious death he forsook the common dwelling place of the human way of life. On the other hand, however, by St Matthias’ acceptance of the place of his [Judas’] ministry and apostolate, the most sacred fullness of apostolic perfection was restored.5

Thus, Bede demonstrates how Peter interpreted the Psalms typologically, showing how the Old Testament foretold the betrayal of Christ by Judas and the election of Matthias to replace the fallen apostle among the Twelve. Bede goes on to note how Peter has combined passages from Ps. 68:26 (69:26) and Ps. 108:8 (109:8), itself an act of erudite interpretation.6 The Northumbrian exegete later gives another example of Peter’s ability to interpret the Psalms in Acts 2:34-35, this time Ps. 109:1 (110:1), where David foretells of an invitation to sit at the right hand of the Lord:7

Sicut enim, inquit, haec quae notissima sunt beatus Dauid non de sua sed de domini sui ascensione praedixit, qui emittendus ex Sion, id est de regia eiusdem Dauid stirpe, uenturus et dominaturus esset in medio inimicorum suorum, sic et illa quae praemisi non ad Dauid sed ad Christi mortem et resurrectionem pertinere

He [i.e. Peter] says, for just as the blessed David made these [prophesies], which are most familiar, not about his own [ascension], but about the Lord’s ascension, who was sent forth from Sion, that is, from the royal lineage of that same David, and who was to come and to rule in the midst of his enemies, so too should you recognize that

4 _{Bede, Exp. Act., Ch. 1, ll. 211 ff.}

5 _{Martin (1989), p. 19.}

6 _{Ps. 68:26 (69:26): fiat habitatio eorum deserta et in tabernaculis eorum non sit qui inhabitet (“Let their habitation}

be made desolate; and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles”); Ps. 108:8 (109:8) ... et episcopatum eius accipiat alter (“and his bishopric let another take”). For Bede’s identification of the different passages, cf. Bede,

Exp. Act., Ch. 1, ll. 218 ff.

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Acts 2:34-35: non enim David ascendit in caelos dicit autem ipse dixit Dominus Domino meo sede a dextris meis donec ponam inimicos tuos scabillum pedum tuorum (“For David ascended not into heaven, but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool”). Cp. Ps. 109:1 (110:1):

dixit Dominus Domino meo sede a dextris meis donec ponam inimicos tuos scabillum pedum tuorum (“The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool”). Peter’s originality in this interpretation is less clear as Matthew uses the same passage to refer to Christ’s ascension: Mt. 22:44. Note also that Bede demonstrates Paul’s ability to interpret typologically, describing how the lanterns in Acts 20:7-8 represent the apostle’s aptitude for shedding light on scriptural enigmas “with the lamp of plain explanation” (lampade planae expositionis). Cf. Bede, Exp. Act., Ch. 20, ll. 13 ff. Martin has noted where the first part of the passage echoes Arator’s epic poem on the acts of the apostles. Cf. Martin (1989), p. 159.

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cognoscite.8 those things which I mentioned before do not

pertain to David, but to the death and resurrection of Christ.

Once again, Bede depicts Peter operating in the role of a prototypical exegete, deftly deducing Christological readings from Davidic prophesy. As a commentator himself constantly seeking out new figural and typological interpretations linking the Old and New Testaments, it is not hard to imagine how Bede would have looked up to Peter and his fellow apostles as spiritual progenitors of his beloved discipline.

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