In the sixth century commentators like CRS sindorus (died c.530) and Procopius of Gaza (died 520) began to give a conspectus of earlier interpretations in so-called "chains' (cateme, (creipat), and Cosmas Indicopleustes (c.550) gave a summary of authorship, purpose, and contents of the. biblical books. The learned Isidore of Seville (died 636). Bede (072-735), and Aleuin (died SO4) largely epitomized Jerome. These excerpts from the fathers were much reduced in the Glossa Ordinaria of Walafrid Strabo (died 849), and by the learned Rabanus Maurits (died 856), who already seems to have given some at tention to Hebrew; also by llaymo of Hal berstadt (died 853) and Iternigins of Auxerre (died 890). \\ilk Johannes Scotus Erigcna (died c.891) the allegorical interpretation covered many views in advance of his age, 011 the crea tion, the fall of inan, the last things, and other subjects. Lan(ra (c.1005-89 ) emit limed A I cuin's labors for the purification of the Latin text. Anselm of Latin (died 1117), in his Glossa I terlinearia, Rupert of Deutz (died 1135), and Hugo of Saint Victor (died 1171) pursued the fourfold sense of Scripture, historical. allegorical, tropologieal, and anagogic; and even men like Thomas Aquinas (died 1274), Bonaventura ((lied 1274), and Albertus Magnus (died 1280) did not break with the prevailing method. But the teach ing of Abilard (died 11.12) and the Nominalists had a tendency to call the attention away from types and allegories, and Roger Bacon (died 1294) applied his method, not only in the study of natural objects, but also as a textual critic. In order to convert the Jel.vs and Aloslems, to dispute successfully with them, or even to ex purgate their books, it became necessary to learn the Hebrew and Arabic languages. Seminaries where Hebrew and Arabic were taught began to be founded in the thirteenth century, and the Council of Vienne (1311) ordained that chairs of Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic should be estab lished in Paris, Bologna, Oxford, and Salamanca. The results of this new impulse are seen in the Pagio Fidel, of Raymond Martini (died 1296) and the Postilla of Nicolas of Lyra (died 1340). Both of these authors were familiar with Tal mudic and Rabbinic writings, as well as with the Hebrew Bible, and especially the latter drew largely upon Solomon bell Isaac (Bashi).
The Renaissance brought an improved critical method, as well as increased knowledge of class ical antiquity. (If great importance was the criticism of sacred texts and traditions by Loren zo Valla (died 1457). Such Hebraists as Johann \Vessel (died 1439), Pico della Mirandola (died 1494), Conrad Pellicanus (Kiirschner, died 1550; his graminar appeared 1503), and Johann Bench lin (died 1522) facilitated the philological study of the Bible. The exegesis of Franz Vatablus (Vatb16, died 1547), Santes Pagninus (died 1541). Johannes Maldonatus (died 1533), and Gilbert GElni"ibrard (died 1597) was based on the Hebrew text as well as the Latin and Greek ver sions and sought to discover flu* literal sense. Even Titelmann (died 1530) and Cajctan (died 1534), who knew the original only through Latin translations, recognized its importance and dis carded allegorizing. The learned lawyer An dreas Masins (\laes) in 1574 published an im portant commentary on Joshua, in which he maintained that the Pentateuch had been com piled by Ezra from documents of different ages. Great services were rendered to textual criticism by Ximines through his editions of the Bible in the Complutensian polyglot (1514-17) ; Arias _Montanus, as editor of the Antwerp polyglot (1569-72) ; Pierre Morin and Antonio Caraffa, by editing the Sixtine edition of the Greek Bible (1587) ; and Robert Stephanns (Estienne) in preparing for the press the Latin Vulgate (1532).
Martin Luther (died 1546) broke in principle with the allegorical method, though his exegesis still shows its lingering fascination and is at times unduly influenced by dogmatic considera tions. While he recognized the importance of the Greek and Latin versions, he leaned somewhat too confidently cn the Massoretic text as the 'veritas Hebraica.' He opposed the authority of the Bible to that of the Church, yet in de termining the canonicity and relative value of the books he depended largely upon his own sub jective judgment. His German version is an admirable achievement and exercised a great influence on the interpretation of the Bible among Protestants. Philip Melanchthon (died 1560) and Johannes Brentius (Brenz, died 1570) possessed a good equipment for exegetical work. Ulrich Zwingli (died 1531) and Johannes
CEcolampadius (Hausschein, died 1531) were also sober and capable exegetes. But easily the foremost interpreter of the Bible in the six teenth century was John Calvin (died 1564). His knowledge of Hebrew may have been less than Luther's, but his exegesis is freer from ir relevant digressions, observes more keenly the connection of thought, and attempts to explain what needs explanation. Philologically the com mentaries of Johannes Mereerus (Mercier, died 1570) are of great value. Less important are those of Theodore Beza (died 1605). Among the more radical interpreters of the time Andreas Bodenstein Carlstadt ( died 1541). Johannes Denck (died 1529), Sebastian Castalio (Chateil lon, died 1563), and Michael Servetus(died 1553) deserve to be mentioned. Carlstadt wrote dis criminatingly on the canon, and his remarkably keen literary criticism led him to reject the Mosaic authorship of parts of the Pentateuch. Denck interpreted the Bible as an expression of the spirit that enlightens every man, and instead of Church or Bible, made the Christian conscious ness the ultimate judge of truth. His transla tion of the prophets was valued and used both by Luther and in the Zurich Bible. Chateillon recognized the true character of Canticles and urged its exclusion from the canon. In editing Sautes l'agninus's Latin translation, Servetus expressed in notes some very advanced ideas.
During the seventeenth century marked con tributions to biblical interpretation were made by Catholic scholars, especially by members of the Society of Jesus and the Oratorians. Among the former, Bento Pereira. in 1600, and Jacques lionfrere, in 1625, called attention to post Mosaic material in the Pentateuch. Athanasius Kircher (died 1680) laid the foundations of our knowledge of Coptic and began to use it for the elucidation of the Bible. Cornelius a Lapide (van den Steen, 'lied 1637) prepared a learned commentary on the whole Bible. Two fathers of the Oratory, Jean Morin (died 1659) and Richa rd Simon ( 1638-1712), rendered d ist in gu shod services to biblical science, the former chiefly by his Samaritan studies and his recog nition of the late date of the vowel-points, the latter by his excellent critical history of the Old Testament (1678), in which he set forth the evi dences against the Mosaic authorship of the Pettit( t mili. of int port a nee was also the publica tion by Miehael le Jay of the Paris polyglot in 1629-45. Th(, Cl/1111110d S of Catholic interpreters such as Emmanuel de Sa ((lied 1596), Wilhelm ((lied 1613), and Tirin (died 1636) were gathered together by .lean de In Hoye in his Millis, Ilaana (l0i3) and Itiblia .11a.rima (1660). Atnontt the Protestants, Drusius (van den Driesche, died 1616) ; Johannes Piscator (Fischer, died 1626) ; Joseph Scaliger (died 1609), who first brought Israel's history into connection with the history of Semitic antiquity; Hugo Grotius (de Groot, died 1645), whose sober exegesis eliminated a mass of supposed Messianic prophecies; Louis de Dieu (died 1612) ; Johann Heinrich Hottinger (died 1667); Samuel Bochart (died 1669) ; Sebastian Schmidt (died 1696) ; and August Pfeiffer (died 1698) by their works contributed to the understanding of the Bible. The most learned Hebraists of the time were Johann Buxtorf (died 1629) and his son, Johann Buxtorf (died 1664). Their con tention for the high age of the vowel-points in fluenced deeply theological thought. It is the chief merit of Louis Cappel (died 1658) that he upheld the truth, now universally recognized, against their error. ln England Bryan Walton (died 1661), the editor of the London polyglot; the eminent Orientalists Edmund Castle (died 1685) and Edward Pocock (died 1691) ; John Pearson (died 1686), one of the editors of the great compilation Critiei Suer) (1660) ; Matthew Poole (died 1679), editor of the Synopsis Criti conon (1669-76) ; John Selden (died 1654) ; John Lightfoot (died 1675), the student of rab binic lore; John Spencer (died 1693), who first viewed Hebrew ritual in the light of the customs of other nations; Thomas Hobbes (died 1679), whose Leviathan (1651) paved the way for a more fruitful literary criticism ; and Charles Blount (died 1693), who showed the disparity between the account of creation in Genesis and the facts discovered by science—all rendered service in biblical interpretation.