WE began this Part with Harmonies, because they contain the Text of Scripture; as we began the first with Prolegomena, and Bibles, for the same reason. We are now to speak of the Commentators, as well general as particular, upon the New Testament, as we have done in the preceding Part.
St. Theophilus of Antioch is the first, and perhaps the most ancient of the Greek Fathers, who composed an allegorical Comment upon the four Gospels, if that which we have under his Name be really his. It is in Latin only in the Bibliotheca Patrum, of the Lyons Edition, tom. 2. p. 165. Cave is of opinion that it was by a Latin Author; and St. Jerom, who had read this Father’s genuine Comment, does not think it so judiciously written as the other Works, which certainly are his, and printed at Hamburg, in Greek and Latin, in 4to. with Fabricius’s Notes. This Theophilus lived in the time of Marcus Aurelius, and his Son Commodus.
The same Saint Jerom speaks likewise of St. Hippolytus the Martyr, of Theodorus of Heraclea, of Apollinarius of Laodicea, Didymus of Alexandria, Victorinus, and Fortunatianus, whose Writings are not delivered down to us.
Among the Moderns, Bellarmin cites William of Paris, otherwise of Auvergne; but I do not find any Comment upon Scripture among his Works. There are only some Postills upon the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holidays thro’out the Year, in tom. 2. of the Edition of 1674, in fol. which are to be found likewise in the Edition of Venice. However, Oudin is of opinion that what he wrote in particular upon Saint Matthew, is in the old Editions of Anselm of Canterbury. We shall speak again of him in another Place.
Antony Birriet, a Cordelier of the 16th Century, wrote upon the four Gospels; at Paris, 1581.
Alphonsus Salmeron, a famous Jesuit, wrote sixteen Volumes in fol. upon the New Testament; the first whereof contains three and forty Prolegomena upon the whole Scripture, the second treats of the Word before the Incarnation, the third of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, the fourth of the History of the Gospel, the fifth of the Sermon upon the Mount, the sixth of the Miracles of Jesus Christ, the seventh of the Parables, the eighth of our Saviour’s Disputes with the Pharisees, the ninth of the Eucharist, the tenth of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, the eleventh of his Resurrection and Ascension, the twelfth upon the Acts, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, upon St. Paul’s Epistles, the sixteenth upon the canonical Epistles, and the Revelations: which we take notice of here, to avoid Repetitions elsewhere. This prodigious Comment was printed at Madrid, in 1597, 1602. and at Cologn, in 1604. The Author was a Spaniard of Toledo; and died in 1585.
We have already taken notice of what Barradius, and Jansenius Bishop of Ghent, have written on the four Gospels. We shall add, that they are not so much Commentators as Reconcilers of the Gospel: They discourse on Questions more at large than Commentators generally do. Salmeron has a particular Talent in applying Parables; Barradius excels in the moral Part, and Jansenius in the Solidity of his Explanations. This is Cornelius à Lapide’s Judgment of them.
Sylveira, in Evangelia Acta Apostolorum, & Apocalyps. Lugduni, in seven Volumes in fol. That we may distinguish well the Comments of this Author, we shall say that they are in ten Volumes in fol. upon almost the whole New Testament. The first is a Prelude, or Introduction to the holy Scripture; printed at Lyons, in 1676. the six following upon the Gospels, printed ibid. 1645, 1675. at Lisbon, and at Madrid; the eighth upon the Acts; the ninth and tenth upon the Revelations, at Lyons, 1663, 1669. Nicholas Antonio, in his new Bibliotheca Hispanica, tom. 1. p. 598. describes particularly what he has written upon the Gospels; and adds, that his Comments are of use for Preachers. He was a Portugueze of Lisbon, and a Carmelite.
John Maldonat, the Jesuit, is excellent upon the four Gospels; and the best Edition tion of his Works is that of Pont-à- Mousson, 1596, in fol. The reason of our preferring the Pont-à-Mousson Edition of Maldonat’s Comments, is the Changes, Additions, and Defalcations which have been made in those of Paris and Lyons; as Philip du Bois shews in his Preface to the Works of this learned Commentator. Altho all his Comments upon Scripture have their merit, yet in this he particularly excels, in Clearness and Elegancy. See what M. Simon says of it in his Critical History of the Old and New Testament, chap. 42. p. 618,633.
Didacus de Baeza, a Jesuit, has written three Volumes in fol. upon the History of the Gospel; at Paris, 1624. There are four Volumes of the Edition of 1628. ibid. The last is of 1684, at Cologn. He wrote seven besides, upon the Old Testament; all allegorical and moral Comments.
He was a Spaniard of Ponferrat in Galicia; turned Jesuit in 1600. being then but 18 years of age; and died in 1647.
Cornelius à Lapide, Jansenius Yprensis, and Erasmus, have made Comments on the four Gospels. The first wrote upon the New Testament. See what we have said upon the Old. We have likewise spoken of Jansenius’s Comment in the Article of Harmonies. Erasmus also commented the whole New Testament; but they are only Notes, or Paraphrases that he has published. There are many Editions of them, which we have had Opportunities of mentioning.
Adam Contzen’s Comment upon the four Gospels is in two Volumes in fol. printed at Cologn and Mentz, in 1626. In it he defends the true literal Meaning against Infidels and Atheists. He was a German of Juliers; turned Jesuit in 1595. and died in 1635. aged above 60.
The Comment of Lucas Brugensis, in four Volumes in folio. The two first contain what he has written upon the four Gospels, with the Itinerary of Jesus Christ prefixed to it; and, at the end, a Treatise upon the Chaldee Paraphrase. It is a kind of Apology for the Chaldee Paraphrast; wherein he shews the use of his Paraphrase, and explains several Places of the Scripture. These two Volumes were printed at Antwerp, in 1606. The third contains the Supplement to the Comment upon St. Luke, and St. John; ibid. 1612. The fourth, the rest of the Comment on St. John. We have already given the Character of this Author above, upon the Old Testament. See his Title.
Aloysius, or Lewis Novarinus, has written four Volumes in folio upon the New Testament; printed at Lyons, in 1642, and 1643. Had we all that he has written upon the Scripture, he would deserve a Place among the general Commentators. We must have recourse to the Catalogue of his Works; printed at Verona, 1648, in 8vo. and to F. le Long’s Bibliotheca Sacra. He was of Verona, a Theatin; understood Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac; and died in 1650.
In the sixth Tome of the Great Criticks, we find the select Notes of Erasmus, Laurentius Valla, and Henry Stephens. Of the first we have already spoken. Those of Laurentius Valla were printed separately at Amsterdam, in 1638. and in his Works, at Basil, 1643, in fol.
Henry Stephens, besides his Notes, has treated of the Style used by the Apostles in the New Testament. This is instead of a Preface to his New Testament in Greek; of which, and of himself, we have already taken notice. See his Title in the Index.
We say nothing here of those who have written upon the whole Scripture; but we must not omit F. Alexander’s learned Comment upon the four Gospels, which was printed at Paris, 1709, in fol. It is literal and moral. That by F. Picqigny, a Capuchin, is in Latin, in one Volume in fol. ibid. in 1726. and contains 706 Pages, without including the Table of Contents, which is very large. He was born at Roan, in 1639. where he studied, and turned Dominican in 1653. He went to Paris, and taught there for twelve Years; was admitted Doctor of the Divinity-Faculty at Paris, and died in 1724. after having written a great number of Books.
He follows the same Method in this as in his Exposition on Saint Paul, which had appeared long before. See upon Saint Paul. There are, besides, dogmatical, pious, moral, and ascetick Observations, as well as several christian Maxims, dispersed thro’ the whole Comment, and to be found collected at the end of every Chapter in a pious Corollary.
F. Mauduit, Priest of the Oratory, published an Analysis of the whole New Testament; printed at Paris, in 1691, and 1694. and the Years following, in several Volumes in 12mo. With it he join’d a great number of Dissertations upon the most difficult Points.
L’Anglet, who put out the New Testament in Latin according to the Vulgate, at Paris, in 1703, in two Volumes in 24. has added historical and critical Notes, taken from the grammatical Sense of the Text, and the Application that is made of such Verses in Scripture; as being clearer than those with which they are compared, serve consequently to explain them. By this method the Author has rendered many Passages intelligible, that were thought very difficult. He has Notes likewise, borrowed from Jewish Customs, and historical Facts, that are of use to illustrate the Text. The Author has, without scruple, produced Customs, whereof we find no Footsteps but in Paganism, whenever he has been of opinion that these would contribute at all to his Design. At the end of the second Tome there is a Chronology and Geography of Scripture, both very much abridged. The Notes are at the bottom of every Page; and there are Arguments before every Epistle. Moreover, a Preface concerning the manner of Studying this part of Scripture with advantage.
Madam de Monsa put out Elevations of the Heart to Jesus Christ upon the Text of the New Testament, and Christian Reflections extracted from it; printed first at Montpelier, in 1689. and at Paris, in 1706, in 24. the 2d Edition revised and augmented: The Work is in French. In these Elevations there are very lively Sallies with tender Reasonings intermix’d, which she addresses to Jesus Christ. The Reflections are of another Character. In these, this illustrious and learned Lady appears to be armed with true Zeal against Sin, and the World. Among others, there are just Invectives against those Mothers who force their Daughters to be Nuns. Madam de Monsa having been bred up in the Protestant Religion, forsook it to embrace the Catholick, as we are inform’d by the Author of the Advertisement which is before his Work. He tells us, likewise that this pious Viscountess had been a Woman of the World, and, both before and after her Marriage, had lived as the generality of the young Women of her Quality do, whether single or otherwise, who, notwithstanding they live in the midst of Diversions, and secular Practices, are called virtuous; but she became afterwards a true Example of Retreat, Reserve, and Modesty. Her Heart abounded with the Love of Jesus Christ, with whom she was united by Death in the Year 1687.
Joseph Lambert, Doctor of the Sorbonne in 1706, put out at Paris, in 12mo, the most it, first of all general Titles, which, for the generality, are divided into many Articles; at the beginning whereof the Author proposes, in few words, the Truth which he is going to discourse of. He afterwards inserts those Passages, in Latin and French, which prove or explain the Truth proposed. When there is any difficulty in the Passages, he is very careful to explain it by a Note. He concludes always with a short Reflection, which teaches the Benefit that may be gathered from the Passages which are cited.
F. Casrieres, Priest of the Oratory, put out a literal Comment of the New Testament, inserted in the French Translation, with the Text in the Margin; printed at Rheims, 1710, in five Volumes in 12mo.
F. Lattaignant, a Jesuit, put out the Spirit of the Holy Gospels, at Paris, in 1714, in 12mo. This is neither a Paraphrase nor a Comment upon the Gospels; nor is it even an accurate Analysis. But this Work may be in the place of a Comment, a Paraphrase, and an Analysis. It is more proper than any other to let the Reader into the true Meaning of the Gospels, because it explains better than any other the Aim which each Evangelist had in view. Cardinal Peter Oriol is the first who had any knowledge of this Design; and the Author is the first who has intirely discovered it, and set it in a good light.
We shall finish this Article, where we should almost have begun it, and that is with the Catena of the Greek Fathers upon the four Gospels, by Father Poussines; printed at Rome, in 1673, in Latin, in fol. at Hamburg, in 1712, in 12mo. This is a Spicilegium of seventy five Passages chosen by him out of the four Gospels, in order to explain several curious Things.
It may be necessary to see likewise Henry Stephens, de Stilo Novi Testamenti, & Vorstius de Hebraismis Novi Testamenti; at Amsterdam, 1665, in 4to.