Epiphanius of Salamis and the Antiquarian’s Bible

Compared to more philosophical biblical interpreters such as Origen, Epiphanius of Salamis often appears to modern scholars as plodding, literalist, reactionary, meandering, and unsophisticated. In this article I argue that Epiphanius’s eclectic and seemingly disorganized treatment of the Bible actually draws on a common, imperial style of antiquarianism. Through an examination of four major treatises of Epiphanius—his Panarion and Ancoratus, as well as his lesser-studied biblical treatises, On Weights and Measures and On Gems—I trace this antiquarian style and suggest that perhaps Epiphanius’s antiquarian Bible might have resonated more broadly than the high-flown intellectual Bible of thinkers like Origen.