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 COMMENTARIES

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COMMENTARIES

(1) Greek Catenists. — Procopius of Gaza (sixth cen- utry) was one of the first to write a catena. He was followed by St. Maxinius, Martyr (seventli), St. John Damascene (eighth), Oljanpiodonis (tenth), CEcunie- nius (tenth), Nicetas of Constantinople (eleventh), Theophylactus, Archbishop in Bulgaria (eleventh), Euthymius Zigabenus (twelfth), and the writers of anonymous eaten* edited by Cramer and Cardinal Mai.

(2) Latin Calenistf:, Scholiasts, etc. — The principal Latin commentators of this period were the Venerable Bede, Walafrid Strabo, Anselm of Laon, Hugh of Saint- Cher, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Nicholas de Lyra. The Venerable Bede (seventh to eighth centurj'), a good Greek and Hebrew scholar, wrote a useful com- mentary on most of the books of the Old and the New Testament. It is in reality a catena of passages from Greek and Latin Fathers judiciously selected and di- gested. Walafrid Strabo (ninth century), a Bene- thctine, wrote the "Glossa Ordinaria" on the entire Bible. It is a brief explanation of the literal and mystical sense, based on Rabanus Maurus and other Latin writers, and was one of the most popular works during the Middle Ages, being as well known as "The Sentences" of Peter Lombard. Anselm, Dean of Laon, and professor at Paris (twelfth century), wrote the "Glossa Interlinearis". so called because the ex- planation was inserted between the lines of the Vulgate. The Dominican cardinal, Hugh of Saint-Cher (Hugo de Sancto Caro, thirteenth century), besides his famous "Concordance", composed a short commentary on the whole of the Scriptures, explaining the literal, allegorical, analogical, and moral sense of the text. His work was called "Postillce", i. e. post ilia (j<erha textus), because the explanation followed the words of the text. St. Thomas Aquinas (thirteenth century) left commentaries on Job, Psalms, Epistles of St. Paul, and was the author of the well-known " Catena Aurea" on the Gospels. This consists of quotations from over eighty Greek and Latin Fathers. He throws much light on the literal sense and is most happy in illustrating difficult points by parallel pas- sages from other parts of the Bible. Nicholas de Lyra (thirteenth century), a converted Jew, joined the Franciscans in 1291, and brought to the service of the Church his great knowledge of Hebrew and rab- binical learning. He wrote short notes or " Postillse" on the entire Bible, and set forth the literal meaning with great ability, especially of the books written in Hebrew. This work was most popular, and in frequent use during the late Middle Ages, and Luther was indebted to it for his display of learning. A great impulse was given to exegetical studies by the Council of Vienne which decreed, in 1311, that chairs of Hebrew, Chaldean, and Arabic should be established at Paris, Oxford, Bologna, and Sala- manca.

Besides the great writers already mentioned the following are some of the principal exegetes, many of them Benedictines, from patristic times till the Coun- cil of Trent: Cassiodorus (sixth century); St. Isidore of Seville (seventh); St. Julian of Toledo (seventh); Alcuin (eighth) ; Rabanus Maurus (ninth); Druthmar (ninth); Remigius of Auxerre (ninth); St. Bruno of Wurzburg, a distinguished Greek and Hebrew scholar; St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusians (eleventh); Gilbert of Poiree; St. Rupert (twelfth); Alexander of Hales (thirteenth); Albertus Magnus (thirteenth); Paul of Burgos (fourteenth to fifteenth); Alphonsus Tostatus of Avila (fifteenth); Ludolph of Saxony; and Dionysivis the Carthusian, who wrote a pious commentary on the whole of the Bible; Jacobus Fab(!r Stapulensis (fifteenth to sixteenth); Gagnaeus (fifteenth to sixteenth). Erasmus and Cardinal Ca- jetan (sixteenth) wrote in a scientific spirit, but have been justly blamed for some rash opinions.

IV. MoDKRN Catholic CoMMENXAniES. — The in-

flux ot Greek scholars into Italy on the fall of Con- stantinople, the Christian and anti-Christian Renais- sance, the invention of printing, the controversial ex- citement cau.sed by the rise of Protestantism, and the [lublication of polyglot Bibles by Cardinal Ximenes and others, gave renewed interest to the study of the Bible among Catholic scholars. Controversy showed them the necessity of devoting more attention to the literal meaning of the text, according to the wise prin- ciple laid down by St. Thomas in the beginning of his "Summa Theologica".

It was then that the sons of St. Ignatius, who founded his order in 15.34, stepped into the front rank to repel the attacks on the Church. The Ratio Studi- orum of the Jesuits made it incumbent on their pro- fessors of Scripture to acquire a mastery of Greek, Hebrew, and other Oriental languages. Salmeron, one of the first companions of St. Ignatius, and the pope's theologian at the Council of Trent, was a dis- tinguished Hebrew scholar and voluminous commen- tator. Bellarmine, one of the first Christians to write a Hebrew grammar, composed a valuable com- mentary on the Psalms, giving an exposition of the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Vulgate texts. It was pub- lished as part of Cornelius a Lapide's conmientary on the whole Bible. Cornelius a Lapide, S. J. (b. 1566), was a native of the Low Countries, and was well versed in Greek and Hebrew. During forty years he devoted himself to teaching and to the composition of his great work, which has been highly praised by Protestants as well as Catholics. Maldonatus, a Spanish Jesuit, born 1534, wrote commentaries on Isaias, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, Psalms, Proverbs, Canticles (Song of Solomon), and Ecclesiastes. His best work, however, is his Latin commentary on the Four Gospels, which is generally acknowledged to be one of the best ever written. AVhen Maldonatus was teaching at the University of Paris the hall was filled with eager students before the lecture began, and he had frecjuently to speak in the open air. Great as was the merit of the work of Maldonatus, it was equalled by the commentary on the Epistles by Estius (b. at Ciorcum, Holland, 1542), a secular priest, and superior of the College at Douai. These two works are still of the greatest help to the student. Many other Jesuits were the authors of valuable exegetical works, e. g. : Francis Ribera of Castile (b. 1514); Cardinal Toletus of Cordova (b. 1532); Manuel Sa (d. 1596); Bon- frere of Dinant (b. 1573); Mariana of Talavera (b. 1537); Alcazar of Seville (b. 1554); Barradius "the Apostle of Portugal"; Sdnchez of Alcali (d. 1628); Serarius of Lorraine (d. 1609); Lorinus of Avignon (b. 1559); Tirinus of Antwerp (b. 1580); Menochius of Pavia; Pereira of Valencia (d. 1610); and Pineda of Seville.

The Jesuits were rivalled by Arias Montanus (d. 1598), the editor of the Antwerp Polyglot Bible; Six- tus of Siena, O. P. (d. 1569); John Wild (Ferus), O. S. F.; Dominic Soto, O. P. (d. 1560); Masius (d. 1573); Jansen of Ghent (d. 1576); Genebrard of Cluny (d. 1597); Agellius (d. 1608"); Luke of Bruges (d. 1619); Calasius, O. S. F. (d. 1620); Malvenda, O. P. (d. 1628); Jansen of Ypres; Simeon de Muis (d. 1644); Jean Morin, Oratorian (d. 1659); Isaac Le Maistre (de Sacy) ; John Sylveira, Carmelite (d. 1687) ; Bossuet (d. 1704); Richard Simon, Oratorian (d. 1712); Calmet, Oratorian, who WTOte a valuable dictionary of the Bible, of which there is an English translation, and a highly esteemed commentary on all the books of Scripture (d. 1757); Louis de Carrieres, Oratorian (d. 1717); Piconio, Capuchin (d. 1709); Lamy, Oratorian (d. 1715); Guarin, O. S.B. (d. 1729) ; Houbigant, Ora- torian (d. 1783); Smits, Recollect (1770); Le Long, Oratorian (d. 1721); Brentano (d. 1797). During the nineteenth century the following were a few of the Catholic writers on the Bible: Scholz, Hug, Jahn, Le Hir, AUioli, Mayer, van Essen, Glaire, Beelin, Hane-