NOT one of all the Ancients, that we know of, whose Comments have been handed down to us, has written upon the whole Old and New Testament. Rabanus Maurus, and Venerable Bede, have explained the greatest part of the Bible; but there are Books of it, upon which they have not written. Fabricius has collected several Fragments of Hippolytus the Elder, and of Hippolytus the Younger, on the Old Testament. See the new Edition of Hippolytus printed at Hamburgh in 1716, and 1718, two Vols. in fol. under the care of John Fabricius. This is an accurate Collection of all that could be found of this Martyr’s; and the Editor has given a particular Account of it in his Bibliotheca Græca, tom. 5. p. 203, 213. F. le Long, in his Bibliotheca Sacra, tom. 2. p. 778. has furnished us with an Extract of what he wrote upon the Old Testament; and Fabricius, in his Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica, upon the 61st Chapter of St. Jerome’s Catalogue of Writers. As to the New Testament, tho’ it be very certain, according to Rabanus Maurus, that this first Greek Commentator wrote upon St. Matthew, no one hitherto has been able to discover what is become of his Performance.
St. Hippolytus was Disciple to St. Irenæus, and so early as in 228 was celebrated among the most learned Men of the Church. He was a Bishop, but of what Place no one can tell. It is certain that he poured forth his Blood for the Faith of Jesus Christ in 235. One who was a pious Confessor in the 7th Century calls him frequently a great and very holy Doctor, a faithful Witness to the Truth, by whose Mouth the Holy Spirit itself spoke.
St. Eucher, Bishop of Lyons, or rather one more modern of the same Name, has written very short Questions upon the whole Old and New Testament. They were printed with his other Works at Basil, 1531, in fol. separately, ibid. 1530, in 4to. and in the last Bibliotheca Patrum, tom. 6. p. 822. Cassiodorus, in his Institutiones Divinarum Lectionum, ch. 10. places one Eucherius in the number of those who have given Rules and general Lights for the better understanding of the Scripture, and whose Writings he had lodged in his famous Library. Now it is certain he did not speak of any new Eucherius, with whom he was unacquainted, and who lived after him. He must therefore have spoken of the Elder, and it is upon his Testimony that the Learned ground their Belief of his being the real Author of the Work here mentioned by us. This indeed is liable to some Objections; but M. Tillemont answers them very solidly, in his Life of this Saint, sect. 4. not. 3, and 4. p. 850. of the 15th Tome of his Ecclesiastical Memoirs. He likewise makes a fine Analysis of it, ibid. p. 129.
Salvianus Bishop of Marseilles, and a Friend to this Saint, said, that he could not sufficiently admire the heavenly Doctrine wherewith these two Books abounded; that neither he, nor any other, could extol them so much as they deserved. These two Books, says he, are small, if we consider only the Words contained in them; but if we regard the Truths which they include, they are large.
We have besides certain Formulæ under his Name, called Principles for the understanding Scripture; which we find in the Collection of his Works, and in the Bibliotheca Patrum, ibid. In these he speaks of the Festivals, Idols, Sacerdotal Habits, Weights and Measures of the Hebrews; which he treats succinctly enough; but what he says of them is not without its Use, altho’ he is sometimes mistaken.
Lastly, F. le Long, in his Bibliotheca Sacra, tom. 2. p. 716. makes no scruple of believing him to be the Author of the Letter to Faustinus the Priest, De situ Jerusalem & Judææ, which F. Labbé has printed in his Bibliotheque of Manuscripts, tom. 1. p. 665. under the Name of Bishop Eucherius; and M. Tillemont shews sufficiently that this Eucherius may be the ancient Bishop of Lyons; but, says he, the Faults in this Piece making it very obscure, and there being nothing very considerable in it, it is of little consequence to know who the Author of it was.
St. Eucherius was of Lyons, and made Bishop of this See about 441. He died, after having led an exemplary and truly Episcopal Life, in 449.
An ancient Author, cited under the Name of Justin Martyr, has likewise explained many Passages of Scripture, in 146 Questions, which he proposes to himself, and endeavours to resolve. They are to be met with in the Works of this Greek Father; but as to the real Author of them, Opinions are divided. M. Tillemont, in the Life of Justin Martyr, produces very strong Reasons to shew that they are not his, but some Writer’s of the 5th or 6th Century: Nay, some there are who pretend that he was called Justin of Sicily.
However, all agree that this Piece is of great Use, and worthy of a true Divine, by reason of the many Questions in Positive Divinity which are there solidly explained, and of the many Passages of Scripture which are illustrated in them. F. Noury makes a fine Analysis of them in his Apparatus, tom. 1. p. 460. Dodwel, who had read these Questions, says that the Author, whoever he was, was a Man of great Judgment, profound Erudition, and accomplished Wit.
St. Paterius has composed a kind of Comment upon the whole Old Testament, and upon the greatest part of the New, taken from the Works of Gregory the Great. It is printed in the 4th Tome, Part 2. of the new Edition of St. Gregory, with a handsome Preface by our Fathers. They have added the Second Part, which is upon the New Testament, and had not till then been published; for that which we find in the Edition of Rome and Paris by Goussainville, is very different from what has been put out from Manuscripts of five or six hundred Years old. To this we should join Alulphus, since his Comment is inserted in the same Place, p. 594. Dom Mabillon had before published the Preface to it, in his Analecta, tom. 1. p. 312. with Remarks, ibid. 317. The Comment had been printed at Paris in 1516, in 4to. Oudin, in his New Ecclesiastical Library, tom. 1. ch. 17. of his Dissertation on the Works of Pope Gregory, pretends to prove that the Second Part published by our Fathers is not by Paterius, but by one Bruno, who lived in 1110 or 1112. He likewise there produces this Bruno’s Preface, which is in the Form of a Letter written to Werner.
These two Authors had the same Design in making Extracts of St. Gregory’s Works; they lived however in Times very remote; Paterius, at the End of the sixth Century, and Beginning of the seventh, having been a Disciple and intimate Friend of this great Pope’s; and Alulphus towards the End of the 11th Century; not of the 12th, as M. Dupin says, in his Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, and in his Tables, tom. 1.
Bede, a Benedictine of the Abby of Jarrow in England, commented the Pentateuch, the Books of Samuel and the Kings, Esdras, Nehemiah, Tobit, the Psalms, the Proverbs of Solomon, the Canticles, and the whole New Testament. All which is in the 4th Tome of his Works, of the Antwerp Edition, 1612, 8 Vols. in fol.
What he has written upon the Pentateuch is a real Comment. His Explanation of the two first Books of Kings, which is divided into four Books, is only Allegorical: The like Explanation he has made of the Books of Esdras and Tobit. What he has upon Proverbs is likewise a Comment, divided into three Books; and upon the Canticles a Comment, in seven. There is moreover in the same Volume a particular Allegory on Noah’s Ark. He wrote also a Comment upon Ecclesiastes, and St. Paul, which is lost: For that which is ascribed to him is spurious: The Exposition of Job attributed to him is also spurious, as M. Dupin says in his Tables.
As to the New Testament, we have nothing remaining besides his Comment on St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, the Acts, Canonical Epistles, and Revelations, whereof the fifth and sixth Tomes of his Works are composed. Cave, in his Historia Litteraria, p. 403, has given us his Preface to the Canonical Epistles.
Besides which he has composed Questions upon the whole Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the Books of Samuel and of Kings; and a Book entituled, Variarum Quæstionum, which are in the 6th Tome of his Works, and the other in the first. He has farther two Books concerning the six Days Creation, or the Hexaemeron; the first whereof is to be found in the Beginning of the 4th Volume of his Works, and the second at the 52d Page of the 8th Volume. The whole has been published not long since by D. Martin, in his Anecdotes, tom. 5. p. 115, 295, 317, 381. and before by Wharton at London, in 1693, in 4to. with his Book upon Habbakkuk’s Song.
He has composed likewise two Books on the Tabernacle, the Vessels belonging to it, and the Priestly Ornaments, in the 4th Vol. p. 837.
A Book on Solomon’s Temple, at the first Page of the 8th Tome.
Upon the Acts of the Apostles he has written a Comment, to be seen p. 625. of the 5th Volume; and a Treatise concerning the Names of Places to be met with in the Acts, p. 666. of the same Volume.
Moreover Retractationes in Actus Apostolorum, p. 1. tom. 6. See in F. le Long’s Bibliotheca Sacra, how he disposed of all these different Works, according to the different Editions. We shall speak of them more particularly hereafter.
Bede was an Englishman, born in 672, and was but seven Years old when his Parents offered him to the pious Abbot Benedict Bishop: He immediately took the Habit, was made Deacon at 19 Years of Age, and Priest at 30. He taught and wrote much, without omitting any thing of his Religious Exercises, and died in 735, in the 63d Year of his Age. As to his Comments, we shall say here only in the general, that he follows the Explanations of the Fathers: He uses even their Expressions; sets down their very Names, that so he might not assume to himself any thing of their Labours; but through the Negligence of Copists they are not to be found in the Manuscripts.
Rabanus Maurus has likewise composed Comments on the whole Pentateuch, upon Judges, Ruth, the two Books of Samuel and Kings, the Chronicles, Judith, and Esther; upon the Hymns recited in the Laudes for the Week; upon the Proverbs of Solomon, Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the two Books of Maccabees; upon St. Matthew, the fourteen Epistles of St. Paul, and divers Homilies. All this is in the second, third, fourth, and fifth Tomes of his Works, of Pamelius’s Edition, at Antwerp, 1620. See F. le Long’s Catalogue of them in his Bibliotheca.
He has likewise written upon the Acts of the Apostles, there being a Manuscript of this Tract at Oxford, as is observed in the Catalogue of Manuscripts in England, p. 10. numb. 425. He has likewise a Glossary upon the whole Bible, which is in Manuscript in the Library of Vienna in Austria, according to Lambecius, tom. 2. p. 416. The Epistle Dedicatory upon Joshua, and the Preface to Judith and Esther are wanting in Pamelius’s Edition, and supplied by F. Mabillon, who has printed them in his Benedictine Acts, the 4th Century, and Second Part, p. 41; 42. We have forgot to take notice of his Allegories upon the whole Scripture, which are in the fifth Tome of his Works, p. 749. His Comment on the Acts, with a Latin Glossary of the whole Bible is in Manuscript at Oxford. F. Quesnel in his Church Discipline, tom. 1. p. 89. cites a Passage of this Comment. It is to be remarked that some of the Books which are attributed to Bede and Rabanus, are controverted; and it were to be wished that some learned Man would undertake to put out a new Edition of their Works, and distinguish accurately what is genuine from what is spurious. It may be proper also to consider, that the Comments of Rabanus, are, as we said of those by Bede, no more than Passages of the ancient Fathers, collected and put together. Rabanus Maurus, born at Mentz about the Year 776, was in his Infancy admitted into the Monastery of Fulda, the Schools whereof were afterwards governed by him. He was made Abbot of it in 832, and in 847 was elected Archbishop of Mentz. His Death happened in 856.
Walfridus Strabus, or Strabo, composed what is called Glossæ Ordinariæ, upon all the Holy Scriptures, which is likewise a kind of Catena of the Fathers who were before him. It has been often printed; and F. le Long, in his Bibliotheca Sacra, tom. 2. p. 1010. col. 2. mentions fourteen different Editions; but the best are those of Doway and Antwerp, in 1617, and that of 1634. to which are added Lyra’s Postils, his famous Treatise against the Jews, his Exposition of the Decalogue; the Scrutinium Scripturarum by Paul de Burgos, tom. 6. and the Replications of Matthias Thoringus; Analyses, Parallels, Geographical and Prosopographical Tables: So that this Edition is a kind of Thesaurus for Divines and Preachers. Fabricius, in the History of his Library, speaks very much at length of it, and describes all that it contains. And it may be said of Strabo’s Gloss, that it is, as it were, a Key which lets us into the Knowledge of the Literal, Historical, and Moral Sense of the Divine Writings. Strabo was a celebrated Monk of the Abbey of Fulda, and Abbot of Richenau in the Diocese of Constance. He died in 846, at forty-three Years of Age.
Anselm of Laon, Dean and Archdeacon of this City, who died about the Year 1117, composed a Gloss, or an interlineary Explanation of the whole Bible, added to Strabo’s Gloss, in the first Editions whereof we find it. Trithemius farther supposes him to be the Author of a Comment on the Psalter, which has not hitherto been published. Some believe him to be the Author of those printed under the Name of St. Anselm of Canterbury, in the Edition of his Works at Cologn, 1612, fol. There are likewise attributed to him Explanations on the Gospels, and a Comment on St. Matthew, printed at Antwerp, 1651, in 8vo. There are some Difficulties in this Matter, which had been clear’d by D. Gerberon, if he had had Time to publish the Archbishop of Canterbury’s genuine Comments.
Guibert calls him the Light of France, of the Schools and University. John, Canon of St. Victor, says that he deserved to be respected for the good Counsels which he gave, and for the Purity of his Manners.
Hugh of St. Cher, a Dominican Monk, and Cardinal, with Title of St. Sabinus, who died in 1262, composed Comments upon the whole Bible, which are well esteem’d. There are likewise Latin Concordances of the Bible said to be his, a Work of great use in the Study of the Scriptures. It is said that in preparing it he employed five hundred of his Brethren, who wrote under his Direction. Six. Sen. Biblioth. Sacr. l. 3. His Comments, or rather Postils, or Glosses, are in 8 Vols. fol. printed at Venice, 1600. The last Edition is of 1669, at Lyons. In these he keeps to the four different Senses of the Scripture. His Performance on the Psalms is the largest, and most elaborate, and may pass properly for a Comment. It was attributed to Alexander de Hales, but St. Antonine restored it to its genuine Father.
Hugh de St. Cher was made Cardinal by Innocent IV. in 1244. His Expression on his Death-Bed, that he had rather have spent his whole Life in the Cloyster than been a Cardinal, is much taken notice of.
Nicholas of Lyra, or Lyranus, left Postils, or short Comments upon the whole Bible, which are in the different Editions of Strabo’s Glossary, and are printed by F. de la Haye, in his largest Bible. He published likewise the Differences of the Old and New Testament, with an Explanation of the Hebrew Names, printed at Roan, in 8vo. an old Edition, the Date whereof is not known to us.
In these Postils he explains, as Serrarius thinks, what is most obscure in the Letter of the Scripture; and he may be said to be a better Commentator than many take him for. He has done great Service to the Church by studying the Rabbins, particularly Rabbi Solomon Jarchi, whom he often makes use of in his Comments, which are to be esteemed for their Perspicuity; wherein likewise there may be observed to be many Jewish Traditions. However, the Barbarism of the Age he lived in is very much to be perceived in his Style. Paul of Burgos, a converted Jew, made considerable Additions to Lyra’s Postils. He was of the Diocese of Evreux, born a Jew; but becoming a Convert, he took the Habit of the Minor Brothers, in the Convent of Verneuil, about the Year 1292. He died in 1340, as may be seen by his Epitaph, produced by Dom Mabillon, at the End of his Etudes Monastiques.
Denis the Carthusian, called otherwise Rikel, because he was born in a little Town of this Name, in the Diocese of Liege, died about the Year 1471. He made Comments upon all the Holy Scriptures. There is not much Profane or Critical Learning to be seen in them; but his Piety and Devotion are conspicuous in all Parts of them.
There are Editions without number of Rikel’s, or Denis the Carthusian’s Comments, in several Volumes, fol. F. le Long takes notice of twelve, all different both as to the Year and the Place of their Publication. He has also made an Epitome, or Summary of the Oracles of both Testaments, printed at Cologn, 1532, in 8vo. The Monopanton, that is to say, omnia unum, taken from St. Paul’s Epistles, at Paris, 1631, in 16mo. It was afterwards translated into French, under the Title of Concorde de St. Paul avec les autris Apôtres, ibid. 1663. in 12mo.
This Work, small as it is, is much more valuable than all besides that he has written, as well on the account of its Usefulness, as its Singularity. It is a Collection of the finest Passages of St. Paul’s Works, disposed under certain Titles, chosen by the Author, as agreeing with his Design: So that as the Epistles of this Preacher of the Gentiles are one of the most precious Monuments of all the Sacred Books, it may be said likewise that this Collection is of infinite Value. The Author is one of those who have written most; which is surprizing in a Carthusian, great part of whose Time is employed in Psalmody. His Style is simple and easy, learned, but with Judgment. He never speaks of Mysteries, but with great Prudence and Reserve.
Commentaria in omnem fermè Scripturam ex D. Augustini libris, per Joan. Gastium, Basileæ, 1540, two Vols. in fol. Gastius is not the true Author of the Comment which goes under his Name, but the famous Bartholomeus Bishop of Urbino, before so well known for his Milleloquium of St. Ambrose and St. Austin. Gastius, who was a Calvinist, and Minister of Basil, only printed it in 1542, two Vols. fol. suppressing or disfiguring several Passages, according to Sixtus Senensis, who says, in his Bibliotheca Sancta, that he was so rash as to suppress the Author’s Name, and put his own to it, and even to have added Mistakes in great number. M. Dupin, in his Tables of Hereticks, says no more, than that he only copied this Comment. It was printed again at Venice, 1543, in 4to. 2 Vols.
Emmanuel Sa, a Jesuit, has written short Notes upon all the Old and New Testament, which have been often printed, and are very useful to Beginners, or to others who have not Leisure to examine Difficulties thoroughly. This Work is in the Bible printed at Antwerp, by Plantin, 1624, two Vols. in fol. with Mariana’s Notes; and in F. de la Haye’s great Bible, printed at Paris, 5 Vols. in fol. 1643; but not in his very large Bible printed at Paris in 1660. This Jesuit, who was a Portuguese, died in 1596.
Mariana’s Notes were printed separately at Paris, 1620, in fol. and in 1624 at Antwerp, with Sa’s. It is farther remarkable, that the Latter’s Scholia on the four Gospels are altogether different from those inserted by F. de la Haye in the fourth Tome of his great Bible, as may be observed by confronting them one with another. They were printed at Antwerp, 1596, in 4to. at Lyons, 1602. at Cologn in 1612. and, lastly, in 1624, together with those of Menochius, and the Text of the Bible. Mariana, who was a Spanish Jesuit, distinguished himself in his Society by the Knowledge of Languages and History. He died in 1624, being very old.
M. Simon, in his Critical History of the Old Testament, p. 416, and 426, of the New, p. 636, 637, speaks very differently of the Scholia written by these two Jesuits. The first he thinks too short, and that they are not Critical enough; the second seem to him the best. Matthew Pole, in his Preface, says, exigua, quidem mole, sed usu non contemnenda & cum judicio exarata.
John Menoch, a Jesuit likewise, has given us a short, but solid, Explanation of the literal Sense of the whole Scripture, printed often at Paris, and to be seen in both F. de la Haye’s Bibles. F. Tournemine procured it to be reprinted in 1719, with a Supplement of some considerable Treatises, for the better understanding of the Scripture. We take notice of them in their Place. Menoch, or Menochius, Son to the celebrated Lawyer of this Name, was born at Paris. He became a Jesuit at 17 Years of Age, and was 82 when he died at Rome, in 1655.
In the Judgment of Mess. Simon and Dupin, he is an excellent Scholiast of the Holy Scripture; and says more in few Words than others in their tedious Comments.
James Tirin, a Jesuit, hath left a Comment upon the whole Bible, wherein he has collected and abridged what is best in other Commentators; particularly in Cornelius à Lapide. His Works are very common; they are printed separately at Antwerp, 1631, in 3 Vols. fol. with the Text; and last of all at Augsburg, in 1704. fol. His Chorography of the Holy Land is to be met with in Gordon’s Latin Bibles; his Prolegomena relating to the Weights and Measures of the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, in the Polyglot of England, and in F. de la Haye’s very large Bible, as his Comment is in de la Haye’s large Bible.
His great Care, in the opinion of Mess. Simon and Dupin, is, to translate the Sacred Text accurately and clearly. Tirinus was of Antwerp, born in 1580, became a Jesuit in 1600, and died in 1636, at 56 Years of age. Candidi vir ingenii multæque & accuratæ eruditionis, says Valerius Andreas, speaking of him.
James Gordon, a Jesuit, made a Comment almost like that of Tirin’s; but neither so short nor so dry as his, at Paris, 3 Vols. in fol. 1636. Hitherto there has been only this Edition of it: It is not much esteemed or used. He treats of Divinity, Controversy, and Chronology. The Author was a Scotsman: Coming to Paris he turned Jesuit, in 1572, of his Age 21, and died there in 1641, at 88 Years of age.
The only thing to be said of all those Commentators who are very short, as the four last mentioned by us, is, that they can give but a very slender Idea of Things, and cannot go to the Bottom of such Points as are difficult, nor inform us of the Reasons which the Authors had to determine for one Opinion rather than another; but they are a very great Help to abundance of Persons, who have neither Leisure nor Capacity to read large Works, nor Money wherewithal to buy them.
Among the General Commentators upon all the Scripture, we may place the Collections which we have already spoken of, viz. the Bible printed by Plantin in 1624, with the Notes of Sa and Mariana; F. de la Haye’s large Bible, wherein he includes Sa, Menoch, Gagneé, Estius, and Tirin; and lastly, the large Bible of all, wherein he has once more joined together Lyranus, Menoch, Estius, and Tirin. The Booksellers have put Gagneé likewise in the Title-Page, whose Piece upon the Revelations is there entire in tom. 17. F. le Long is mistaken when he says, that his Scholia on the whole New Testament are to be found there; this being true only of the Revelations.
All the use of F. de la Haye’s Great and Very Great Bible, consists in the judicious Choice which he has made of the best modern Commentators to insert them successively upon every Verse of Scripture. The Large Bible is generally preferr’d to that which is Larger, because in the former there are more Authors than in the latter, without any thing added of his own; whereas the second is troublesome on the score of the great number of Volumes which it contains, and all that he has thought fit to add out of his own Stock.
John de la Haye was born at Paris in 1593, went into Spain, where he turned Cordelier in 1611, and taught Divinity. Upon his Return to France, Anne of Austria chose him for her Confessor, in consideration of the great Probity of his Manners. He died in 1661.
Synopsis Criticorum, published by Matthew Pool, and printed at London in 1669, afterwards at Utrecht in 1684, in five Vols. fol. and again since that in Germany, in 4to. comprehends the Substance of a great many Commentators, for the most part Protestants, of whom every one indeed has not written upon the whole Bible; but the Collection of them makes a compleat Body of Interpretations upon all the Books of Scripture, excepting those however which the Protestants hold to be Apocryphal, as the Book of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Judith, the Additions to Esther, those to Daniel, and the two Books of Maccabees. These were printed in the Frankfort Edition of 1709, under the Title of a Supplement, which at present makes six Vols. in fol. Whereas there were but five in the Edition of 1681. That of Frankfort in 4to. 1694, is in five Vols. The Second Preface, which has been added to it is by John Henry May, well known by his other Works; and this is not one of the least of his Compositions, since herein he delivers his Judgment of all the Commentators, both Catholick and Protestant, which are cited in the Synopsis, which makes this Preface very useful. It were to be wished that the whole Synopsis were put into a little better Order: It is the Substance of all the Works contained in the Great Criticks of London, and is certainly very useful, and shortens the Way very much for those who have not large Libraries, nor a Knowledge of the Languages, whereby they might be enabled to search the Originals. If some Various Readings were to be omitted, and a great number of Opinions and Interpretations, whereby the Sense is not at all changed, the Length of this Work would be considerably lessened, and the Readers eased, who are embarassed and perplexed with such a confused Heap of Varieties.
Among these we may place the Great Criticks of England, called Critici Sacri, the Collection of which Work is in nine large Volumes in fol. or in ten, if Lewis Tena upon the Epistle to the Hebrews be comprized in it: These were printed at Amsterdam in 1698, to which two Volumes more, in fol. have been added, containing select Dissertations on the Old and New Testament, with this Title, Thesaurus Theologico-Philologicus --- ad selectiora & illustriora veteris & novi Testamenti loca, at Antwerp and Utrecht, in 1701.
To this Collection are added, in the way of Supplement, two Volumes in fol. printed at Frankfort upon the Mein, in 1700, wherein some things are inserted written by Sixtinus Amama, Cartwright, and John Drusius, &c. It is material to observe, that the Notes of Sixtinus Amama, John Drusius and Cartwright, are already in the 1st and 2d Vols. of the Great Criticks; and consequently that these two last Tomes are of no manner of use to those who have already the Great Criticks.
But now the Collection of the Great Criticks differs from the Synopsis, not only in that this large Work includes a good number of those Authors which are not in the Synopsis, but likewise gives us those entire whereof we have Extracts only and Abridgments in the Synopsis. All the Merit of this sort of Collections depends upon the Order that is observed in them, and the Choice of those Writers that are received into them. In this of the Sacred Criticks, the generality of the Authors to be met with in it are valued for the literal Interpretation which they give of Scripture; and there are some in it which are not easily to be met with elsewhere.
The Persons employed in this great Work were John and Richard Pearson, Anthony Scattergood, and Francis Goodman. See their Titles in the Index.
As to the Thesaurus Theologico-Philologicus, the Dissertations which compose it are not well chosen; some of them indeed are good, but generally they are very mean; being for the most part the Compositions or Speeches of young People, at the time of taking their Degrees, or at their Ordination in the Protestant Churches. In these they shew, with vain Ostentation, their Knowledge of Languages, but in the main there is very little true Learning and Solidity in their Discourses.
Isidorus Clarius, a Benedictine, Bishop of Fuligno in Umbria, has published Notes upon the whole Old and New Testament, printed in fol. at Venice in 1542. 1557. ibid. the second Edition, wherein we do not find his Scholia on the Revelations; there is only the Text in it; of this Book the third Edition, of 1564, was new model’d according to the Intention of the Roman Censors. His Notes upon the Old Testament are the same with Munster’s, but corrected, shorten’d, and reform’d. Clarius’s Preface and Prolegomena were put into the Index. His Scholia have been since dispersed through the Body of the Great Criticks, according to the Order wherein the several Books stand in the Bible; but there is nothing of his upon the Revelations; which has made some conjecture that he would not run the risque of publishing any thing upon so mysterious a Book; or that he had not Time to finish all that he had projected on the Scripture.
F. le Long speaks of 106 Discourses, printed at Venice in the Year 1567. in two Vols. in 4to. wherein he explains a great number of difficult Passages in both Testaments: These Crovæus calls Orationes extraordinariæ.
M. Huet, de Claris Interpretibus, c. 16. judges more advantageously of his Scholia than Melchior Canus in his de locis Theologicis, and Simon in his Critical History of the Old and New Testament.
He was a Benedictine Monk, made Bishop of Fuligno in Umbria, and was present at the Council of Trent, where he made an eloquent Discourse in behalf of the Vulgate. According to Thuanus’s Account of him he understood the three Languages, was of an unexceptionable Life, and desired nothing more ardently than Union, Peace, and Charity in the Church. He died in 1555.
Francis Vatablus, Royal Professor of Hebrew in the University of Paris, never writ Notes upon the Scripture; but one of his Scholars, called Bertin le Compte, having collected all the Explanations of this learned Man, first added a Mixture of Calvinism to them, and then gave them to Robert Stephens, who published them in 1545. Vatablus complained of this, and brought an Action against the Printer; but he died in 1547, before the Cause was brought to an Issue. That so excellent a Work might not continue useless to the Catholicks, the Doctors of Salamanca purged it in 1584, and published an Edition of it at Salamanca, which has been since very frequently reprinted.
It is proper to have the two Editions of Vatablus’s Bible, that we may the better know what dangerous Passages Bertin had stole into into it, and what the Salamanca Doctors have corrected in it. It is convenient likewise to read the Censures of the Sorbonne Doctors, printed in French and Latin by R. Stephens, at Paris, 1552, in 8vo. With these prudent Precautions the Work may be very useful.
The most suspected Edition is that of 1557, because at that time R. Stephens had openly professed Calvinism; whereas in 1545, which is the Year wherein the former Edition was published, he had no Thoughts of forsaking the Catholick Religion, and Calvin as yet had put out nothing upon Scripture.
It is likewise necessary to be known, that the Version of the Apocryphal Books, as Protestants term them, is by Claudius Badwel; the New Testament, with the Annotations to it, is entirely Theodore Beza’s. The Notes which go under Vatablus’s Name are found partly in the Great Criticks, tom. 2. upon the Historical Books; tom. 3. upon the Libri Sapientiales; tom. 4. upon the Prophets. His Performances upon the Pentateuch and Psalms are printed separately.
Vatablus was of Picardy, was the first Professor of the Hebrew Tongue at Paris, in 1539, and an accurate Interpreter of the Holy Scriptures. M. Huet, De claris Interpretibus, lib. 2. p. 156. says that he was sometimes a little obscure. He understood Hebrew so well that the Jews went to his Lectures, and heard him with Admiration. He died in 1547.
Biblia Latina Theologorum Lovaniensium, Antwerp. Plantini, 1580, -82, -83, - 84, -87, 1590. This Bible was printed with Various Readings, and good Notes, written by Luke de Bruges, Molan, Hunnæus, Cornelius Reiner, and John Harlem.
The Notes by these Doctors are not in the Body of the Bible, but at the End, after the Revelations, as we find in the Edition of 1583, fol. They were afterwards printed in the Great Criticks, tom 9. p. 3129, 3437, which has not been observed by F. le Long.
Dr. Mill thinks these Notes very learned and elaborate: Simon, in his Critical History of the Old Testament, p. 135. and Fabricius, in the History of his Library, tom 1. p.290. commend them very highly. It will not, perhaps, be unseasonable to say something here of those Doctors who were concerned in these Notes. Molan, born at Lisle in Flanders, 1533, went through his Studies at Louvain, where he was made Doctor of Divinity. Every thing that he has written is, in Dupin’s opinion, worthy the curiosity of the Readers. Baronius, in his Martyrology, says that he did great Services to the Church and Truth. He died in 1585. Hunnæus, who was born at Malines in the Year 1521, excelled in the Knowledge of the Oriental Languages. Valerius Andreas speaks very advantageously of him, in his Bibliotheque, p. 94. He died in 1578. John of Harlem, a Jesuit, was very knowing in the Languages. He explained Holy Scripture at the College belonging to the Society in Louvain, and died there at forty Years of age in 1578. We shall speak of Luke of Bruges a little lower.
Biblia Sacra, cum Expositionibus priscorum Patrum litteralibus & mysticis, ipsorum verbis fideliter prolatis, collectore & Scholiaste Franc. Haræo Ultrajectino, Antwerp. 1630. Haræus was Canon of St. James’s of Louvain, and died in 1632.
Biblia Latina, cum Selectissimis Notis Joannis Baptistæ Dubamel, Paris. 1706. This Edition abounds with false Printings, and in the Notes there is nothing extraordinary. It is in fol. and all that can recommend it, is, the Chronological Tables added by F. Tournemine the Jesuit. Dubamel was of Vire, a small Town in the Diocese of Bayeux. At nineteen Years of age he entered among the Fathers of the Oratory: With them he continued ten Years, and left them to beCurate of Neuilly upon the Marne. He died in 1706, at above 80 Years of age. He had great Qualities, and was the Man so rarely to be found, whose Picture is drawn by the Prince of Orators, Quem si videris bonum virum Facile crederes.
William Estius has given us Explanations on the difficult Passages of the Old and New Testament, many whereof he has omitted, and not meddled with; and those he has, do not always answer the great Reputation which he has acquired by his other Works. That which we are at present speaking of is Posthumous. We have already observed, that it is printd in the Biblia Magna, and in the Biblia Maxima. It was printed separately at Antwerp, in 1621, for the first time, and a fifth time at Paris, 1683, in fol. We shall speak of Estius upon St. Paul.
John Maldonat has published a Work almost like that of Estius, In præcipuos utriusque Testamenti locos, Paris. 1643. in fol. His Scholia are only upon the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles, printed in fol. together with his Comment on the Four Great Prophets and Psalm cix. When we are upon the Gospels we shall say more of him.
Cornelius à Lapide has left ten Vols. in fol. of Comments upon Scripture, printed several times at Lyons, Antwerp, and elsewhere. The Antwerp Edition is of 1681. There is a new one, printed at Venice, 1710, sixteen Volumes in fol. by Albrizi. This is the most uniform of all, the others being of different Places, and of different Years. When we were speaking of Lorinus, we observed that he had abridged Cornelius’s Comments; it is more credible however that he enlarged Lorinus’s Comment, since he lived after him, and is more diffuse. Notwithstanding his having made so many Volumes, he has not written on the Psalms and Job. His Interpretation is not only Literal, Historical, and Grammatical, but likewise Allegorical, Moral, and Anagogical; and his Work has sometimes a Mixture of Controversy, History, and Criticism. He understood the Hebrew and Greek Lan guages, and had read the best Commentators who had written before him. His Style is plain and unpolished: He cites some Books, and receives them as genuine, which at present are thought spurious by the best Criticks; for example, Lucius Dexter’s Chronicle, Annius of Viterbo’s Antiquities, the spurious Methodius, and many others. He quotes several Works too, under the Name of Fathers whom they do not belong to. But at that time the Works of the Fathers had not been critically examined, and no good Editions of them had been published; which Remark may serve likewise to excuse other Commentators who wrote near the same time. Cornelius à Lapide’s Works are very well known, and have been often printed, which proves the great Advantage which the Publick has received from them.
Simon, in his Critical History of the New Testament, esteems particularly what he wrote upon St. Paul; and Fabricius, in the History of his Library, tom. 1. p. 262. is very circumstantial in his Account of all the different Treatises which are at the Beginning of every Comment. Notwithstanding that he published nothing upon Job and the Psalms, it were to be wished that what he wrote on these two Books, how imperfect soever, had been inserted in the last Edition, to compleat the Comment.
Cornelius à Lapide was a Fleming, but originally of an ancient Family in Germany, became a Jesuit in 1592, and died in 1637, at 71 Years of Age. He had a little Body, but it included a great Genius. He spent his Days and Nights in reading and meditating on the Holy Scriptures.
Thomas de Vio, Cardinal, better known by the Name of Cajetan, has written upon all the Bible, excepting Ecclesiastes, Canticles, the Great and Small Prophets, those Books in the Old Testament which are in Greek only, and the Revelations. The whole was printed in 5 Vols. fol. at Lyons, 1539, and in other Places separately. F. le Long takes notice of a Comment by him upon Ecclesiastes, printed at Lyons, 1552, in fol. and upon the three first Chapters of Isaiah, at Rome, 1542, in fol.
We have observed already, that he understood neither Greek nor Hebrew, but made use of a Jew and a Christian, who were Masters of these Languages, and explained to him the Force and Signification of the Terms, which he immediately put down in Latin, in order to the forming his Translation, from which he made his Literal Comments; and these indeed are very good for one, who had no other Helps for understanding the Sense of the Original Texts, and who besides believed the Hebrew Tongue to be very ambiguous. Cardinal Cajetan died in 1534, at the Age of 65.
He himself, in his Preface on the Psalms, sets forth the Method which he followed in his Comments; and it is very much esteemed both by Catholicks and Protestants: Chamier among the Former extols it mightily; of the Latter, Cardinal Sadolet looked upon his Comments as the Productions of a great Wit. Simon undertakes his Defence, against Catharinus and Gretserus.
Thomas de Vio, surnamed Cajetan, because he was of Cajetta, a City in the Kingdom of Naples, where he was born in the Year 1469, turned Dominican when he was yet very young. He was chosen General of his Order at 39 Years of Age only, and created Cardinal by Leo X. in 1517. Cardinal Sadolet commends his Constancy in Friendship, which he demonstrated both in good and bad Fortune. He enjoyed as much Tranquility, and was as intent upon his Books, amidst the Noise of Arms, while Charles V. laid Siege to Rome, as in the happy Days of Peace. He died in 1634, in the 66th Year of his Age.
Luke of Bruges, Dean of St. Omers, has published Annotations upon all the Books of Scripture: They are in the last Volume of his Works printed at Antwerp in 1712. Besides these he has given us likewise Comments on the Four Gospels, the Roman Corrections and Various Readings, taken out of several old Manuscripts. He is a wise, learned, and judicious Author. His Works, which before were very scarce, are become very common since the new Impression of 1712, just now mentioned.
Luke of Bruges was a Fleming: He understood Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Greek. He was a modest and judicious Critick. He did not trust to bare Conjectures, but weighed all things; and, as Simon says, in his Critical History of the Old Testament, set nothing down upon Paper till he had well thought of it. He was Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Omer. His Death happened in 1619.
M. de Sacy’s Bible, and French Comments, are known by all the World. The Literal, and the Moral or Spiritual Meaning of the Text are both taken in by him; but the Spiritual is principally insisted on: and altho’ the Literal Sense of Scripture is well enough explained by him, yet he has not examined the Difficulties of it to the bottom, nor concern’d himself with any Critical Enquiries into the Original Texts, or the Opinions of Commentators. Abridgments and Abstracts of his Work have been printed, whereof we have given some Account in the Beginning of this Catalogue. He is not the only one however who was employed in this large Comment. Thomas du Fossé furnished that upon Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, the Maccabees and Four Gospels. The Sequel of the New Testament is by a third Person, who made use of the Memoirs drawn up as a rough Draught by M. de Sacy. We shall join together these two learned Commentators, since they were so closely united in the same Employments.
M. de Sacy, born at Paris in 1613, embraced the Ecclesiastical State, and died at the Castle of Pompone, in 1684, being 71 Years of age.
Du Fossé was of Roan, and died at Paris 1698. He was a great lover of Solitude, wherein he spent almost his whole Life.
The Literal Comment published by us, in 26 Vols in 4to. and printed for Peter Emery the Father, begun in the Year 1707, and ended in 1717, and afterwards reprinted for Emery the Son, Saugrain the Elder, and Peter Martin, 1719, nine Vols. in fol. includes the Latin Text, the French Version, and a Literal, Historical, and Critical Comment in French, upon the Historical Books of Scripture, with a Literal and Moral one upon the Moral Books. Before the Historical and Prophetical Books there are Prefaces, Dissertations, Geographical Maps, Plans, and Chronological Tables, for the Conveniency of the Readers. Before the Moral Books there are likewise Prefaces and Dissertations, for the Illustration of difficult and obscure Places. In short, it was designed so to order things, that any one who had this Comment only, might do very well without any others. It is not decent for us to say more of it. The Judgment which the Learned have pronounced upon it is too much to our Advantage for us to make use of it. We shall speak elsewhere of the new Collection of our Prefaces and Dissertations, in the way of Prolegomena. See in the Index the Title D. Calmet.
D. Peter Guillemin, a Benedictine Monk of the Congregation of St. Vanne, has undertaken to put out a Literal Comment, more concise than the above mentioned, in several Vols. in 8vo. Three Tomes have been already printed, containing the Pentateuch, at Paris, 1721.