The patristic tradition of the exegesis of Lamech weeping and the victims of his murder (Gen. 4: 23-24) in the great penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete

The article touches upon the influence of the previous patristic tradition on the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. Since it contains troparia interpreting different events and characters of the Sacred History, it seems methodologically correct that this approach can be described as “a comparative analysis of prisoners in the hymns of the Great Canon of exegetical thoughts with the thoughts of the pre-Saint Andrew church tradition.” This approach is illustrated by an example of troparia about Lamech’s crying and his sacrifices (Gen. 4: 23-24): 34th and 35th Troparion of the 2nd song of the canon following the Thursday morning of the 5th week of Lent. With the help of the interdisciplinary (exegesis and Patrology) approach, the result was reached: the interpretation of the victims of the murder of Lamech (the husband is a symbol of flesh or soul and the youth of the mind) offered by the Reverend Andrey follows, and the understanding of Lamech’s song as a repentant speech follows the church tradition, possibly ascending to Saint Basil the Great. Thus, such a conclusion makes one look at the sources of the great work of the holy Cretan more broadly, not limited only to ascetic literature. This makes it possible to outline an approximate range of patristic literature, with which Saint Andrew was familiar, for a better understanding of the place of the canon in the Tradition of the Church.