Seven Seals: Primasius of Hadrumetum’s Seven Modes of Scriptural Exegesis

In his discussion of Revelation 5:1, Primasius of Hadrumetum includes a long excursus giving a general theory of Scriptural interpretation. The verse describes a scroll “sealed with seven seals” and “written on inside and outside.” Primasius exposits the “seven seals” by outlining seven different modes of Scriptural communication and the writing on the “inside and outside” by distinguishing exoteric and esoteric meanings in the Bible. As examples, Primasius cites numerous interpretations of different Biblical passages, many of which are drawn from earlier authors, especially Augustine. While his interpretations are heavily dependent on patristic sources, the categories that Primasius assembles from them are not attested in earlier sources and this paper argues that they are his own invention, inspired by the text of Revelation. Thus in addition to an interpretation of Revelation, this passage represents an original sixth-century synthesis of patristic ideas of exegesis.