Euthymius Zigabenus

Who is Euthymius Zigabenus?

Euthymius Zigabenus or Zigadenus or Zygadenus was a 12th-century monk and commentator on the Bible. He was a friend of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, for whom he wrote a lengthy work on heresies, Panoplia Dogmatica or Panoply of Doctrine. This began in the apostolic era and continued down to the Bogomils, some of whom he personally examined. The entry on the Bogomils is our main source of information about them. Nothing is known about his life.

He was a monk and lived in the monastery of the Virgin Mary near Constantinople. He was favoured by both the emperor and his daughter Anna Comnena, who extols his learning and piety in her Alexiad.

He also wrote a commentary on the Psalms, one on the four gospels, and one on the letters of St. Paul. These are based mainly on patristic sources.

Spurious works under his name include "The Exposition of the Nicene-Constantinople Creed" and "Dialogue with a Muslim".