This study presents the imagery and symbols formed within the Armenian mediaeval tradition of Biblical exegesis while also identifying the original sources of such imagery. All the examples considered entail the anagogy of materials from the cruder to the more refined, shaped within the very moulds that gave rise to them. Examples are the ascent of the type to its archetype, the emergence of priceless gems from the deep soil, the milking of “the breast of meanings”, and “the mastication of spiritual sustenance”.

 Yovhannēs Erznkacʻi’s work constitutes an exceptional example of the application of various exegetical devices, embracing as it does a truly dazzling wealth of sources. From an Armenian viewpoint, it is also unique in its consistent deployment, in three of his homiletic exegeses, of the four modes of exegesis (historical, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical) developed within the Western tradition. The second part of this study presents a detailed analysis of one of the author’s homilies, devoted to Psalm 60 [Arm/LXX 59], dealing with the sacrament of the Cross.