Argula von Grumbach’s Letter to the University of Ingolstadt

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Argula von Grumbach wrote this letter (here translated from German and abridged) in 1523 when the University of Ingolstadt forced Arsacius Seehofer to recant his Protestant views. It became a sensation, going through 14 editions in two months, and launched Argula von Grumbach as the first female Protestant writer. I'm sharing it here on the occasion of International Woman's Day because it was difficult to come by the text.

The account of a Christian woman of the Bavarian nobility whose open letter, with arguments based on divine Scripture, criticizes the University of Ingolstadt for compelling a young follower of the gospel to contradict the word of God . . .

The Lord says, John 12, “I am the light that has come into the world, that none who believe in me should abide in darkness.” It is my heartfelt wish that this light should dwell in all of us and shine upon all callous and blinded hearts. Amen.

I find there is a text in Matthew 10 which runs: “Whoever confesses me before another, I too will confess before my heavenly Father.” And Luke 9: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, I too will be ashamed of when I come in my majesty,” etc. Words like these, coming from the very mouth of God, are always before my eyes. For they exclude neither woman nor man.

And this is why I am compelled as a Christian to write to you. For Ezekiel 33 says: “If you see your brother sin, reprove him, or I will require his blood at your hands.” In Matthew 12, the Lord says, “All sins will be forgiven; but the sin against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, neither here nor in eternity.” And in John 6, the Lord says: “My words are spirit and life…”

How in God’s name can you and your university expect to prevail, when you deploy such foolish violence against the word of God; when you force someone to hold the holy Gospel in their hands for the very purpose of denying it, as you did in the case of Arsacius Seehofer? When you confront him with an oath and declaration such as this, and use imprisonment and even the threat of the stake to force him to deny Christ and his word?

Yes, when I reflect on this, my heart and all my limbs tremble. What do Luther or Melanchthon teach you but the word of God? You condemn them without having refuted them. Did Christ teach you so, or his apostles, prophets, or evangelists? Show me where this is written! You lofty experts, nowhere in the Bible do I find that Christ, or his apostles, or his prophets put people in prison, burnt or murdered them, or sent them into exile…Don’t you know what the Lords says in Matthew 10? “Have no fear of him who can take your body but then his power is at an end. But fear him who has power to dispatch soul and body into the depths of hell.”

One knows very well the importance of one’s duty to obey the authorities. But where the word of God is concerned, neither Pope, Emperor, nor princes – as Acts 4 and 5 make so clear – have any jurisdiction. For my part, I have to confess, in the name of God and by my soul’s salvation, that if I were to deny Luther and Melanchthon’s writing, I would be denying God and his word, which may God forfend forever. Amen…

I beseech you. Trust in God. He will not desert us, for every hair on our heads is numbered and in his care, as Matthew 10 says. I had to listen for ages to your Decretal preacher crying out in the Church of Our Lady: Ketzer! Ketzer!, “Heretic, Heretic!” Poor Latin, that! I could say as much myself, no doubt, and I have never been to university. But if they are to prove their case, they’ll have to do better than that. I always meant to write to him, to ask him to show me which heretical articles the loyal worker for the Gospel, Martin Luther, is supposed to have taught.

However, I suppressed my inclinations; heavy of heart, I did nothing. Because Paul says in 1 Timothy 2: “The women should keep silence and should not speak in church.” But now that I cannot see any man who is up to it, who is either willing or able to speak, I am constrained by the saying, “Whoever confesses me,” as I said above. And I claim for myself Isaiah 3: “I will send children to be their princes; and women, or those who are womanish, shall rule over them . . .

My heart goes out to our princes, whom you have seduced and betrayed so deplorably. For I realize that they are ill informed about divine Scripture. If they could spare the time from other business, I believe they, too, would discover the truth that no one has a right to exercise sovereignty over the words of God. Yes, no human being, whoever he be, can rule over it. For the word of God alone – without which nothing was made – should and must rule…

What have our princes done to merit such conduct from you? Is this the reward for their frequent generosity, bestowing wealth on the poor among you? How do you make them look? Why do you make them and this university of yours, which they are rightly praised for founding, the laughingstock of the whole world? Ah, what loyalty you return for the good they have done you! What gratitude! How dare you?…

I am quite convinced that, if they knew the truth, they would not continue to act on your requests as they have now done with Seehofer and would not have given permission for him to be murdered, as indicated in his oath. May God be their reward eternally. I hope things will improve. Who knows why they gave such an instruction?

Have no doubt about this: God looks mercifully on Arsacius, or will do so in the future, just as he did on Peter, who denied the Lord three times. For each day the just person falls seven times and gets up on his feet again. God does not want the death of the sinner, but his conversion and life. Christ the Lord himself feared death; so much so that he sweated a bloody sweat. I trust that God will yet see much good from this young man. Just as Peter, too, did much good work later, after his denial of the Lord. And, unlike this man, he was still free, and did not suffer such lengthy imprisonment, or the threat of the stake . . .

Are you not ashamed that Seehofer had to deny all the writings of Martin, who put the New Testament into German, simply following the text? That means that the holy Gospel and the Epistles and the story of the Apostles and so on are all dismissed by you as heresy. It seems there is no hope of a proper discussion with you. And then there’s the five books of Moses, which are being printed too. Is that nothing? I hear nothing about any of you refuting a single article of Arsacius from Scripture…

I beseech you for the sake of God, and exhort you by God’s judgement and righteousness, to tell me in writing which of the articles written by Martin or Melanchthon you consider heretical. In German, not a single one seems heretical to me. And the fact is that a great deal has been published in German, and I’ve read it all. Spalatin sent me a list of all the titles. I have always wanted to find out the truth . . . My dear lord and father insisted on me reading [the Bible] when I was ten years old. Unfortunately, I did not obey him, being seduced by the afore-named clerics, especially the Observants who said that I would be led astray.

Ah, but what a joy it is when the spirit of God teaches us and gives us understanding, flitting from one text to the next – God be praised – so that I came to see the true, genuine light shining out. I don’t intend to bury my talent if the Lord gives me grace. “The gospel,” says Christ, Luke 7, “is preached to the poor, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me . . .”

I cry out with the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 22: “Earth, earth, earth! Hear the word of the Lord!” I beseech and request a reply from you if you consider that I am in error, though I am not aware of it. For Jerome was not ashamed of writing a great deal to women, to Blesilla, for example, to Paula, Eustochium, and so on. Yes, and Christ himself, he who is the only teacher of us all, was not ashamed to preach to Mary Magdalene, and to the young woman at the well.

I do not flinch from appearing before you, from listening to you, from discussing with you. For by the grace of God I, too, can ask questions, hear answers, and read in German. There are, of course, German Bibles which Martin has not translated. You yourselves have on which was printed forty-one years ago, when Luther’s was never even thought of.

If God had not ordained it, I might behave like the others, and write or say that he perverts Scripture; that is contrary to God’s will. Although I have yet to read anyone who is his equal in translating it into German. May God, who works all this in him, be his reward here in time and in eternity. And even if it came to pass – which God forfend – that Luther were to revoke his views, that would not worry me. I do not build on his, mine, or any person’s understanding, but on the true rock, Christ himself, which the builders have rejected. But he has been made the foundation stone and the head of the corner, as Paul says in I Corinthians 3: “No other base can be laid, than that which is laid, which is Christ . . .”

I have no Latin; but you have German, being born and brought up in this tongue. What I have written you is no woman’s chit-chat, but the word of God; and I wrote as a member of the Christian Church, against which the gates of Hell cannot prevail. Against the Roman, however, they do prevail. Just look at that church! How is it to prevail against the gates of Hell? God give us his grace, that we all may be saved, and may God rule us according to His will. Now may his grace carry the day. Amen.

Dietfurt. Sunday after the exaltation of the holy Cross. The year of the Lord One thousand five hundred and in the twenty-third year. My signature, Argula von Grumbach, von Stauff by birth.

To the reverent, honorable, well-born, most learned, noble and esteemed Rector and general council of the whole University of Ingolstadt.

Review: The Foreknowledge of God (Olson)

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Gordon C. Olson was a Bible teacher influential in the early years of Youth With a Mission (YWAM). He taught evangelism and theology and often explored issues around Calvinism and Arminianism (but he is not to be confused with C. Gordon Olson, who wrote on remarkably similar topics, and is of no relation).

The Foreknowledge of God (1941) is a theological inquiry into the relation between divine foreknowledge and human freedom. Today, it is classified as an “open theist” stance, but it predates that terminology, as do Samuel Fancourt and Lorenzo Dow McCabe. People with YWAM links may consider Olson’s work to be seminal in this area, whereas in mainstream evangelicalism, most people learned (or learn) of open theism through modern theologians like Greg Boyd, Terence Fretheim, and John Sanders.

Gordon Olson writes from the point of view of denial of “absolute divine foreknowledge”—in other words, God plans and causes much of the future (as written in prophecy) but does not plan and cause all of it. Olson was not a professor or an armchair theologian, but a mobilizer of evangelism. He quotes extensively from certain classic writers of the Reformed period and some Wesleyan theologians. Olson himself quotes extensively from Lorenzo Dow McCabe’s work on the topic in the 1880s. Because he predated the modern debate on open theism by some fifty years, he does not interact with any authors now well-known for open theism; and he remains practically unknown to many of them as well because he mainly operated in the parachurch crowd, not in academia. It is interesting, then, that the arguments that they present are more or less the same.

The introduction has a stunningly long compilation of quotations from theologians asserting the total incompatibility between absolute divine foreknowledge and free will. This incompatibility is noted by Calvinists and Arminians alike, including conservatives and liberals, across centuries of the Christian church. This stream of quotations was a striking way to open the book, and in my opinion is itself worth the price of the book, since it justifies Olson’s line of inquiry. My favorite quotation here was Martin Luther: “Divine foreknowledge is a thunderbolt to dash free will to atoms!”

For those who have not heard of open theism or have only heard secondhand, Olson offers a great introduction to the open point of view. His book is more accessible than McCabe or Fancourt.

Unlike Fancourt, Olson calls the open theist position “denying absolute foreknowledge” or for short, “denying foreknowledge”. This is, in my view, a weakness of Olson’s language. Fancourt stubbornly affirmed foreknowledge, but sought to redefine what was foreknowable on proto-Wesleyan terms. McCabe, a philosopher, spoke of “divine nescience of future contingencies”, which sounds too technical to be a heresy. Olson, Boyd, and most modern open theists, write and speak, in so many words, of “denying foreknowledge”, and this attracts the barbs of their opponents. But when they are describing theologically is justified from the same reasoning and the same Scriptures that led Fancourt and McCabe to their position.

I appreciate that Olson is able to lead us through the paradoxicality of the abstract “eternal now”, so foundational to many determinist viewpoints, as well as the more basic and practical problem of determinism: It makes us want to sit on our hindquarters and await the inevitable. All in all, Olson’s arguments may not sound particularly unique to those who are well-read on open theism; however, the time in which he made them, and the initial chapter which quotes many Calvinists, lend some interest to this book.

In a valuable appendix, Olson also gives an extensive table of Scriptures which support or deny “absolute divine foreknowedge”. Sola scriptura believers should grapple seriously with the many Scriptures that present seemingly contradictory views on foreknowledge. Reconciling foreknowledge with free will is a logical, theological, philosophical problem, yes, but for the Christian believer, it is also a biblical problem.

Chapter 3 is where Olson presents most of his argument in favor of the “open” worldview. Because of the somewhat odd outline of the book, Chapter 3 takes up a large portion of the book and is divided into six sections. Olson gives six reasons to “deny [absolute divine] foreknowledge”:

  • To provide for the duration of time necessary for human experience and relationship
  • To provide for God’s free will
  • To provide for man’s free will
  • To provide a tenable theodicy
  • To restore the spiritual and volitional energies of the soul
  • To satisfy Scripture

He recapitulates these six points in Chapter 4, which summarises his arguments. I’ll conclude with these quotations; if they whet your appetite, you may want to download Olson’s book, which is freely available in PDF, and is now quite cheap in print.

  1. To provide for the duration of time necessary for human experience and relationship
    If God lives in the past, present, and future all at once, which is commonly stated as an “eternal now”and generally admitted by prescientists (those believing in absolute foreknowledge), then there can be no succession of thoughts or acts or experiences in God’s existence, or, the all important element of time is not an element of His being. He therefore ceases to have personal characteristics and becomes to us an impersonal force, with the result that there is no common basis of fellowship with Him and we cannot say that we can know or experience the life of God.
  2. To provide for God’s free will
    Because the absolute divine foreknowledge of all events or acts from all eternity must result in the conclusion that God never originated a single choice. If everything conceivable existed with God from all eternity the will of God is not free and has never exerted a free choice to originate anything.
  3. To provide for man’s free will
    If God foreknows all the moral choices of His free beings, everything that ever has or ever shall come to pass has from eternity been a fixed certainty in the divine mind. In order to have proper freedom of the human will, it must have the power to determine for itself between two or more possible choices in a given instance. This freedom would make the future uncertain or contingent. Since certainty and contingency are incompatible, the certain foreknowledge of God and the contingent actions of men are incompatible. The foreknowledge of God therefore denies to moral agents their proper freedom of will.
  4. To provide a tenable theodicy
    If God foreknew before all creation, with absolute certainty, all the terrible suffering in this life, and all those who would suffer unspeakably throughout the countless ages of eternity, and He brought them into existence anyway, then we are tempted to question the good character and wisdom of God.
  5. To restore the spiritual and volitional energies of the soul
    Foreknowledge is denied because this doctrine creates in the mind, realized or unrealized, the idea that the future is a fixity. The Christian says within himself, either in honest words or suppressed thoughts, that since God knows the future and has determined everything that He will do throughout eternity, volitional acts of the spiritual life, or prayer, cannot change anything. This doctrine therefore becomes an impediment to the Christian and an excuse to the unsaved.
  6. To satisfy Scripture
    And finally, the above mentioned formidable difficulties have been the occasion for the inquiry into the teachings of Scriptures on such a momentous doctrine, (which is indeed the foundation stone of many other doctrines which stand or fall with it). It is found that the Bible gives very many positive testimonies against the doctrine of absolute divine prescience.
This review was written in 2020 and published in 2023. I had read the book many years earlier and went back over it for this review. Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought about Olson's book!

Review: The Samaritan Woman’s Story

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Caryn A. Reeder is professor of New Testament at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Her books include The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond and Gendering War and Peace in the Gospel of Luke.

John 4 and … Sexual Abuse Scandals?

The Samaritan Woman’s Story: Reconsidering John 4 after #ChurchToo is a twofold response: firstly, to sexualised interpretations of the famous “woman at the well” story; secondly, to relatively recent confessions of widespread sexual abuse in Christian churches (popularised under the hashtag #ChurchToo). Reeder sees the two problems as linked by the marginalisation of women and their voices in our churches. That is to say, she believes biblical interpretations that demonise women (including the woman at the well) have the power to reinforce thought patterns that lead to sexual abuse. This link frames the book in the introduction and conclusion, with two major sections in the middle.

The first major section of the book explores the history of interpretation of John 4 through a series of case studies, from ancient to modern. The second section discusses historical social issues surrounding marriage and sexuality, culminating in a clearer understanding of the range of possible interpretations of the Samaritan woman’s story.

My biggest issue with this book was that it kept me hanging concerning what I see to be the core issue of the book: is the Samaritan woman immoral? Reeder’s presumptive answer is, No. If you are like me, this involves some serious suspension of disbelief. I felt that some bread crumbs of the argument could have been given in the introduction. Instead, Reeder introduced #ChurchToo and then launched into the history of interpretation of John 4, leading the reader under the presumption that there is some minority argument that the Samaritan woman is not necessarily immoral. Honestly, I was so unaware of how she could even make this argument, I had to skip to skimming Part Two before reading Part One so that I could engage with the book.

Perhaps this reversal was to keep the reader on their toes; perhaps I am not modern enough for the train of thought. Personally, I wanted more of a “thesis statement” at the beginning that would help me bridge the book’s many moving parts. In the interest of presenting the argument clearly, I’ve chosen to deal with the biblical “elephant in the room” first.

Is the Samaritan Woman a “Whore”?

In John 4:17–18, Jesus reveals the woman’s marital history:

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

John 4:16–18, NIV

First, it is odd that Jesus asks for her husband, ironically knowing she was unmarried. It seems like a “gotcha” moment to American readers. Having lived in the Middle East, I know that inquiring after male family members is polite in cross-gender interactions. It creates a boundary. Acknowledging a woman’s husband is meant to make her feel safe from abuse, which is an unmentioned link between John 4 and sexual abuse scandals. In my view, Jesus probably brings her husband to the conversation as a matter of politeness and safety.

At face value, in John 4, the woman is having extramarital sex (v.18) and is therefore an immoral fornicator. John Piper and Mark Driscoll have used the words “whore” and “prostitute” to describe the woman at the well, based on these verses. Let’s go over some of the key indicators that preachers have used to make her a sinner, and Reeder’s counterarguments:

1.Wasn’t she gathering water at noon because she was an outcast?

There’s no evidence that gathering water at noon meant she was a social outcast. This idea was promoted by D. L. Moody and has become a common preaching point, but it doesn’t have any basis in historical documents. Reeder routinely challenges people to produce any historical basis for this idea.

If the Samaritan woman was a social outcast, it’s also unlikely that her preaching would have been received so well, and this tension requires some maneuvering by interpreters. They overcome this by saying that the strange woman simply “roused their curiosity”; Calvin says she was like a “bell”. This downgrades the statement of John, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” (John 4:39).

2. Wasn’t it shameful for her to be outside the house, without a male chaperone?

Reeder offers specific examples from the first century of women operating in the public sphere, owning property, and speaking with men. She notes several times in the book that women’s seclusion in ancient times was “an ideal, not a reality”, something that is probably exaggerated in our efforts to differentiate our society from theirs. Having lived in the most gender-segregated societies on the planet, I agree with this assessment: women’s seclusion has many exceptions, especially when it comes to basic household chores like fetching water.

Later rabbinic traditions praised a women scholar named Beruriah for her intelligence, her ability as an interpreter, and her active participation in the community. According to one story, she used the words of Mishnah Avot 1.5 to tease a male rabbi for saying four more words to her than he needed to (Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 53b). Beruriah exemplifies women’s ability to engage despite the limitations imposed by men.

The Samaritan Woman’s Story, p. 167

3. Wasn’t it shameful to divorce many times?

Reeder points out that divorce was considered “common and casual” in the Roman Empire and could be unilateral from the man, or agreed upon by both. In Jewish sources, it could only be initiated by men, but Jews in the Roman Empire could also follow Roman custom. A Jewish midrash famously notes that the wife burning a meal is acceptable grounds for a divorce. So being divorced multiple times was not necessarily a poor reflection on a woman, and didn’t imply adultery. In fact, Reeder argues the opposite: men wouldn’t have kept marrying her if she was a known adulterer.

Adultery was one reason for divorce among Romans or Jews, but there is no reason to assume the Samaritan woman was divorced by her husbands for adultery. Rather, the fact of her remarriages suggests she was not suspected or convicted of adultery. Likewise, the evidence for divorce on account of infertility is slim (and again, the woman’s remarriages would argue against a reputation for infertility).

The Samaritan Woman’s Story, p.150

We also don’t know whether the Samaritan was ever divorced, or simply outlived all her husbands. In general life expectancy was much lower then than now; women married from around 12; and men were usually ten years older or more, and had a lower life expectancy; so it was common for women to outlive their spouses. So it is easily conceivable that a woman would have outlived more than one husband and/or been divorced by more than one husband. The Roman general Pompey outlived three spouses and divorced two others (p.149).

4. Wasn’t it shameful that she remarried so many times?

In a sermon on John 4, John Piper characterised serial marriage as a consequence of the Samaritan woman’s “cavernous thirst”—a phrase that has not aged well, by the way—and her tragically misplaced need for intimacy. If Reeder is correct, this way of understanding the story probably projects too much agency to an ancient woman, in addition to romanticising marriage.

Finances, housing, and children also constricted women’s ability to refuse a marriage, to divorce, or to remain unmarried following the end of a marriage.

The Samaritan Woman’s Story, p. 148

Ancient marriages were often arranged by family members, and even after one marriage ended, women sometimes reverted to living under their fathers’ authority. Marriage was both a social arrangement and an economic arrangement, and romantic and emotional bonds were thought to grow after cohabitation, not before. It is desperately anachronistic to characterise the woman as longing for intimacy, fleeing from one husband to another and divorcing them as she sees fit.

5. Finally, what about living with a man outside marriage?

This is really the lynchpin of Reeder’s argument, in my opinion. In a nutshell, throughout the Roman Empire, a type of “common law” marriage was in place, and probably had more standing than an American common law marriage, which is a frowned-upon legal technically. A mishnah says, “A wife is acquired by money, or by contract, or by sexual intercourse.”

Roman lawyers identified cohabitation as a form of marriage . . . This type of uncontracted marriage was just as legitimate as contracted marriage.

The Samaritan Woman’s Story, p.136–137

Cohabitation was an acceptable way of initiating a “marriage”, and there were many legal categories that couldn’t marry, like slaves and soldiers. The working classes couldn’t afford a great feast, and once the families had arranged a match for them, they would simply move in together and begin their life together. In some cases, this was a precursor to contractual marriage, and historical legal documents bear this out.

Romans, Jews, and likely therefore also Samaritans recognized a variety of noncontractual, permanent (or semi-permanent) relationships as acceptable alternatives to a formal, contracted marriage. The range of household situations reminds us that “marriage” is flexible. It is defined and practiced differently in different times, cultures, and spaces. In the first century, the lack of a contract did not make the marital relationship any less legitimate.

The Samaritan Woman’s Story, p.139

There’s one problem I see with this argument, which is the way it blurs too many categories that are integral to the interpretation of the story. She writes that cohabiting couples referred to each other as husband and wife (p.137), but this is expressly denied in the case of the Samaritan woman (John 4:17–18). In the same way, it’s a little confounding the way the book can alternately refer to the Samaritan woman as married and not married. Critics may consider Reeder to have merely muddied the water enough to make room for her pro-woman interpretation. In my view, her arguments are pretty strong, but this very last one, about cohabitation, is pretty difficult for me to swallow in view of my upbringing.

All in all, the second major section displays an impressive breadth of historical facts about ancient social life and family, substantiated by first-century sources, and this leads us to question the central role that sin usually plays in discussions of John 4. Sin is not mentioned in the story, and with power dynamics in place, it’s not at all clear whether Jesus’ words about her marital history were meant primarily to convict her of sin, or reveal the Messiah to her through supernatural knowledge.

History of Interpretation

The first half of the book goes over the history of interpretation. The range of interpretations is immediately impressive. Mark Driscoll calls the Samaritan woman “the leathery-faced town whore”; in contrast, Marie Dentière wrote the following:

What woman was a greater preacher than the Samaritan woman, who was not ashamed to preach Jesus and his word, confessing him openly before everyone, as soon as she heard Jesus say that we must adore God in spirit and truth?

Marie Dentière, Epistle to Marguerite de Navarre (1539)

I won’t recount this section in great detail here, but the interpreters covered include:

  • Tertullian
  • Origen
  • John Chrysostom
  • Marie Dentière
  • John Calvin
  • Clara Balfour
  • D. L. Moody
  • Liz Curtis Higgs
  • Barbara J. Essex
  • John Piper
  • Mary DeMuth

Some of these are included for their obvious historical weight; others are more or less illustrative of a minority viewpoint. Reeder is heavily engaged in social issues in her review of the modern authors. It was certainly interesting how she shows an interpretive gap between black women and white women, but I felt that race informed the discussion overmuch. Introducing a preacher in a book as a black or white person is a rather oddly loaded way to introduce someone, to my mind.

There are basically three modes: she is a harlot; she is a victim; and she is a disciple. Those that do not center the Samaritan woman’s story around her sexual sin are usually preoccupied with her as a victim of an unjust society. A few, though, see her primarily through her testimony. Many of the minority readings come from women, which shows how much the gender of the reader affects the interpretation. Men generally view her negatively; but some women throughout Reformed history at least have seen her as a tremendous witness in favor of women teaching.

The juxtaposition of Nicodemus (John 3) and the unnamed Samaritan woman (John 4) is an oft-referenced feature of the landscape of John’s Gospel. Nicodemus is honorable; comes at night; comes and goes without understanding. The Samaritan woman is nameless; speaks in broad daylight; takes in the revelation of Jesus and testifies to many.

Below is a short summary of some minority viewpoints from women:

We have reviewed similar interpretations from Marie Dentière and Virginia Broughton. This perspective is common among women writers: Christine de Pizan (writing in 1405), Argula von Grumbach (1523), Harriet Livermore (1824), Phoebe Palmer (1859), Elizabeth Baxter (1897). . . .

Marie Dentière wrote less than twenty years after Argula von Grumbach, but it is unlikely that she knew of Argula’s interpretation of the Samaritan woman, and neither woman would have known Christine de Pizan’s work. Margaret Fell would not have had access to these earlier interpreters. The women writing in the nineteenth century likely knew of each other, but not previous female interpreters. That these women independently found the same message in John 4:4-42 strengthens their challenge to the majority interpretation. (p.98)

The Samaritan Woman’s Story, p.98

Conclusion

The Samaritan woman’s story is a long, multifaceted two-way conversation with Jesus, and it is totally unique in many aspects. It is the only gospel ministry recorded among Samaritans, against Jesus’ general calling to the “lost sheep of Israel” (Matt. 15:25). It is the longest conversation that Jesus had anywhere in the Bible, let alone with a woman. The marital history is a single aspect of it that has probably been overinterpreted to become the lens for the whole narrative.

Reeder’s argument is extensively documented but accessibly written. Her book displays an impressive breadth of knowledge in several subfields, and she moves effortlessly between history, hermeneutics, and sociology. I especially enjoyed the weaving of biography and history of interpretation together. I love both biography and biblical studies, so I have been keeping an eye out for books that do this.

The Samaritan woman’s marriage history may conceivably be viewed as simply a “word of knowledge” (1 Cor. 12:8) that reveals the Messiah to her. The Pentecostal aspect of this story is generally overlooked by interpreters, the present author included.

If we see it as a Pentecostal revelation, this opens up another question about the text: was there something secret or unknowable about the woman’s marital history, or her present “relationship”? Is it possible that one of her past marriages involved an engagement and death that was not publicly recorded? Or that her ongoing relationship was kept under wraps because it was with someone whom it was impossible to marry for legal reasons, such as a soldier?

These proposals of mine are perhaps just as speculative as the going idea that she was “the town whore”. But Reeder’s review of the history and the history of interpretation of John 4 opens up these positive conceptions of the Samaritan woman and other possibilities, and certainly problematises the idea that she was an immoral outcast.

Review: Song of Songs (Parker)

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Joseph Parker was utterly consecrated to one question: What does the Bible narrative mean for us today? He treats all questions of criticism and systematics as secondary to dealing with the text before him. He cross-references abundantly and appropriately, not to bolster theological argument, but to multiply the effect on his listeners of the narrative before us.

It is difficult to find an appropriate treatment of Song of Songs. Some old-time preachers and Church Fathers made it purely allegory; post-modern preachers can be preoccupied with metaphors; but Joseph Parker starts with the story itself, how it fits into Scripture as a whole, and moves into its relevance for the Church today.

This was an enjoyable portion of The People’s Bible, and I look forward to more of Parker’s sermons on Old Testament Wisdom.

Free Commentaries on Isaiah (Ultimate List of Free Bible Commentaries)

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This list is a work in progress and is part of the Ultimate Guide to Free Bible Commentaries project. I am currently working on changing formats, at which point this post will be superseded by a searchable database, God willing.
  1. Alexander, J. A. Isaiah: Translated and Explained, Abridged, vols. 1 (1-35), 2 (36-66) 1851.
  2. [ISA. 24] Aspinwall, William. Thunder from Heaven Against the Backsliders & Apostates of the Times, in some meditations on the 24th Chapter of Isaiah (London, 1655)
  3. [ISA. 49] Baron, David. The Suffering Servant of Jehovah and the Fruits of his Mission 1907
  4. [ISA. 53] Baron, David. The Servant of Jehovah: the Sufferings of the Messiah and the Glory that should Follow; an Exposition of Isaiah 53. 1922.
  5. Bedingfield, Philip. A paraphrase on the book of Isaiah. 1726.
  6. Bertram, R. A. & Alfred Tucker. A homiletical commentary on the prophecies of Isaiah, vol. 1 [ISA. 1–39], vol. 2 [ISA. 40–66]. 1888.
  7. [ISA. 53] Bingham, Richard. The Gospel According to Isaiah, in a Course of Lectures on the Fifty-third Chapter of the Prophet: with Appropriate Applications, etc. London: 1870.
  8. Birks, T. R. Commentary on the Book of Isaiah, Critical, Historical, and Prophetical. 1st ed. 1871.
  9. [ISA. 53] Brown, John. The Sufferings and Glories of the Messiah, an Exposition of Isa. 52:13-53:12 1853
  10. [ISA. 55] Brown, William. The Joyful Sound: notes on the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & co., 1879.
  11. [ISA. 38] Bruce, Robert. Six Sermons on Hezekiah’s Sickness, Isa. 38 1617 115 pp., from The Way to True Peace and Rest, pp. 157-272
  12. [ISA. 53] Calvert, Thomas. Mel Caeli, Medulla Evangelii [The Honey of Heaven, the Marrow of the Gospel]; or, The Prophet Isaiah’s Crucifix. An Exposition of the 53rd Chapter of Isaiah. London: [1657] 1658.
  13. [ISA. 38] Calvin, John. Sermons of Iohn Calvin, upon the songe that Ezechias [Hezekiah] made after he had bene sicke and afflicted by the hand of God, conteyned in the 38[th] chapiter of Esay [Isaiah]. d. 1564.
  14. [ISA. 5] Carpenter, John – The Song of the Beloved, concerning his Vineyard, Modulated & Applied to move men to know and embrace that which belongs to their peace in this their time. London, 1599.
  15. [ISA. 18] Chamberlain, Walter. Isaiah’s call to England: being an exposition of Isaiah the eighteenth. London, 1860.
  16. Cheyne, T. K. The Prophecies of Isaiah, a New Translation with Commentary and Appendices, vol. 1, vol. 2. 1880.
  17. —. The Book of Isaiah Chronologically Arranged, an Amended Version, with Historical and Critical Introduction. 1870.
  18. T. Cooper
  19. Cowles, Henry. Isaiah: With Notes, Critical, Explanitory and Practical, designed for both pastors and people 1869
  20. Day, W. An exposition of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah by the endeavours of W. Day. London, 1654.
  21. De Burgh, William. The Messianic prophecies of Isaiah: the Donnellan lectures for 1862. Dublin: 1863.
  22. Delitzsch, Franz. Commentary on Isaiah.
  23. Douglas, George C. M. Isaiah One and his Book One: an Essay and an Exposition 1895?
  24. [ISA. 53] Durham, James. Christ crucified, or, the marrow of the gospel: evidently set forth in LXXII sermons on the whole 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Glasgow: [1682] 1792.
  25. [ISA. 1–33] Ewald, H. The Prophet Isaiah, chs. 1–33. 1869.
  26. Govett, R. Jr. Isaiah Unfulfilled, Exposition with New Version and Critical Notes. 1841.
  27. [ISA. 1–39] Gray, George Buchanan. A critical and exegetical commentary on the book of Isaiah, I-XXXIX [ICC series]
  28. Henderson, Ebenezer. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah. 2nd ed. 1857.
  29. Holden, Lawrence. A paraphrase on the Book of Isaiah. 2 vols. Chelmsford, 1776. [not yet digital?]
  30. Ibn Ezra (2 vol)
  31. Jenour, Alfred. The Book of Isaiah, translated with Notes and Practical Remarks, vols, 1 (1-35), 2 (36-66) 1830
  32. Keith, Alexander. Isaiah as it is: or, Judah and Jerusalem the subjects of Isaiah’s prophesying 1850
  33. Lowth, Robert – Isaiah, a New Translation with Notes, Critical, Philological and Explanatory 1836
  34. [ISA. 40–66] MacDuff, J. R. ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye’: or, The Harp taken from the Willows, God’s Words of Comfort addressed to his Church in the last 27 chapters of Isaiah 1872
  35. MacCulloch, Robert. Lectures on Isaiah, vol. 1 (1-12), vol. 2 (13-30), vol. 3 (31-50), vol. 4 (51-66), 1791–1805.
  36. Maclachlan, Helen. [“H. M. L.”] Notes on the Unfulfilled Prophecies of Isaiah. Addressed to “the Jew First, and Also to the Gentile.” 1868. Currently unavailable, not yet digital;.
  37. [ISA. 40–55] Meyer, F. B. Christ in Isaiah : expositons of Isaiah XL-LV. New York ; F.H. Revell, 1895.
  38. [ISA. 53] Margoliouth, Moses. An Exposition of the 53rd Chapter of Isaiah, being a course of Six Lectures 1846
  39. Noyes, George – A New Translation of Isaiah with Notes 1849
  40. [ISA. 40–66] Peake, Arthur S. [ICC series]
  41. Renwick (26:20)
  42. [ISA. 55] Stewart, James Haldane. Lectures upon the fifty-fifth chapter of the prophet Isaiah. London: J. Hatchard & Son, 1846.
  43. [ISA 52–53] Urwick, William. The servant of Jehovah. A commentary, grammatical and critical, upon Isaiah lii. 13-liii. 12. Edinburgh: T. & T. Black, 1877.
  44. Verney, Eliza – Practical Thoughts on the First Forty Chapters of the Book of Isaiah 1858
  45. Whish, J. C. A Paraphrase on the Book of Isaiah, with Notes. 1862
  46. White, Samuel. Commentary on Isaiah, wherein the Literal Sense is Briefly Explained 1709
  47. [ISA. 1–39] Whitehouse, Owen C. Isaiah I–XXXIX. [Century Bible] Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1905.

Uncategorized: | Manton (53) | Latin: Sasbout | Ironside | The Gospel according to Isaiah, in a course of lectures on the 53rd chapter of the prophet ; with appropriate applications, etc. London, 1870.

This list was compiled from IA (partial). Even more commentaries are available over at PRDL, but none of them are in English.

Free Commentaries on Genesis (Ultimate List of Free Bible Commentaries) – Languages Other Than English

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This list is an appendix to this one which gives free commentaries on Genesis in English.

Latin

  1. Augustine of Hippo (354–430). De Genesi ad Litteram.
  2. —. De Genesi contra Manichaeos.
  3. —. Questions on Genesis.
  4. Bede the Venerable. BOOK TITLE? Ed. Michael Glerup. Series ed. Thomas C. Oden & Gerald L. Bray. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, [408] 2010, 23–94.
  5. Brenz, Johann.
  6. Chrysostom, John (c.347–407). Homilies on Genesis.
  7. Comestor, Petrus (c.1100–c.1179). Historia Scholastica. 1543.
  8. Didymus the Blind (c.313–398). Commentary on Genesis. Tr. Robert C. Hill. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Vol. 132. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2016.
  9. Cornelius a Lapide (1567–1637). Comentaria in scripturam sacram. Vol 1: Commentaria in Genesim. Paris: Apum Ludovicum Vives, Bibliupolam Editorem, [1616] 1891.
  10. Le Clerc, Jean (1657–1736). [= Ioannes Clericus.] Pentateuchus, sive Moses Prophetæ libri quinque. Ex translatione Joannis Clerici, cum ejusdem paraphrase perpetua, commentario philologico, variisque dissertationibus criticis, et tabulis chronologicis ac geographicis. [The Pentateuch, or, the five books of the prophet Moses. From the translation of Jean Le Clerc, with also a continuous paraphrase, linguistic commentary, and various critical dissertations and tables, chronological and geographical.] Amstelodami [Amsterdam]: Henricum Wtstenium, 1696.
  11. Maurer, Franc. Jos. Valent. Dominic. Commentarius grammaticus criticus in Vetus Testamentum in usum maxime gymnasiorum et academiarum. [Critical grammatical commentary on the Old Testament, embellished particularly for the use of schools and universities.] Vol. 1. Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Fridericus Volckmar, 1835.
  12. Musculus, Wolfgang.
  13. Nicholas of Lyra (c.1270–1349). Biblia Sacra cum glossis, etc. vol. 1. 1545.
  14. [GEN. 1–3?] Melanchthon, Philip (1497–1560). In obscuriora aliquot Geneseos Phil. Mel. Annotationes. 1523.
  15. Oecolampadius, Johannes (1482–1531). In genesim Enarratio [An Exposition of Genesis]. 1536.
  16. Pereira (Pererius), Benedict(us) (1536–1610). Commentatiorum et Disputationum en Genesim, Tomi Quatuor. 4vol. 1601.
  17. Schrank, Franz von Paula (1747–1835). Commentarius literalis in Genesin. Sulzbach: Seideliana, 1835.
  20. Philo of Alexandria (c.20 B.C.–c. 50 A.D.). Quaestiones in Genesim et in Exodum: fragmenta Graeca. In English here, though I cannot vouch for the translation!
  21. Josephus. In English here.
  22. Isidor of Seville (c.560–636). Enarrationes. 1530. Michael M. Gorman, who has spent decades on ancient and medieval commentaries on Genesis, has created a wonderful, free edition of Isidor’s commentary on Genesis, color-coded according to the source that Isidor was quoting or paraphrasing.
  23. Ephraim the Syrian (c.306–373). In Genesim et in Exodum commentarii.
  24. Statius, Martin (1589-1655). German. Martyrologium Archi-Patriarcharum, Das ist: Historische anmuhtige und auff mancherley hertzerquickenden trost gerichtete erzehlung deß vielfaltigen Creutzes der Ertzväter Adams Abels Nohe Abrahams Loths Isaacs Jacobs und Josephs : Darinn derselben mühselige walfahrt … eigentlich abgemahlet und ihnen gleichförmigen Creutzträgern zum kräfftigen trost … vorgehalten wird … Dantzigk: Andreas Hünefeld, 1622.
  25. Strigel, Victor (Victorinus) (1524-1569). Primus Liber Moysi, qui inscribitur Genesis. Vögelin, 1566.
  26. Theodoret? Questions on the Octateuch?
  27. Tostado, Alonso (c.1400–1455). Commentaria in Genesim: Mendis nunc sanè quam plurimis diligenter expurgata. Venetiis: Sessa, 1596.
  28. Wigbold (8th c.). Quaestiones in Octateuchum. [See PL 96.1101ff]
  29. Zwingli, Huldrych (Ulrich) (1484-1531). Farrago Annotationum in Genesim. Tiguri: Froschouer, 1527.

French

  1. Allix, Pierre (1641-1717). Réflexions sur les cinq livres de Moyse, pour établir la vérité de la religion chrétienne.: en deux tomes : suivant la copie imprimée de Londres (Amsterdam : B. Griffin, 1687).
  2. Astruc, Jean (1684-1766). Conjectures sur les mémoires originaux dont il paroit que Moyse s’est servi pour composer le livre de la Genèse… (Bruxelles : Fricx, 1753).
  3. Barin, Théodore (1634-1692). Le monde naissant, ou, La création du monde: démonstrée par de principes tres simples & tres conformes à l’histoire de Moyse, Genes. chap. I. & II. (Utrect : Compagnie des Libraires, 1686).
  4. Bochart, Samuel (1599-1667). Trois sermons préliminaires: a l’explication du livre de la Genese : avec un sermon sur ces paroles au commencement Dieu créa les Cieux & la Terre. Genese chap. I, vers. I (Amsterdam : Henry Desbordes, 1705).
  5. Saint-Rambert, Gabriel de (-c.1720). Nouveaux essais d’explication physique du premier chapitre de la Genèse.
    Utrecht : Chèz Guillaume Broedelet, 1713

German

  1. [GEN. 28] Andreae, Jakob (1528-1590). Ein christliche Predig von der Leiter Jacobs, Genesis 28. Darinnen Flarlich und einfeltig angezeigt (Tübingen, 1566).
  2. Balduin, Friedrich (1575-1627). Biblisch Betbüchlein : Welches eines jeden Capitels des Ersten und Andern Buchs Mosis Summ und Inhalt/ auch besten Gebrauch in einem kurtzen Gebetlein zeiget ; Dem gemeinen Manne zu gute/ unnd ubung der Gottesfurcht gestellet (Wittenberg : Helwig, 1617)
  3. Christliche Leichpredigt/ Von des H. Patriarchen Jacobs Kampff/ auß dem Ersten Buch Mosis Cap. 32. : Bey Volckreicher Leichbegengnus des … Herrn Friderici Taubmanni, Vornehmen Poëtae und Professoris bey der löblichen Universitet Wittenberg/ welcher am 24. Martii anni 1613 … entschlaffen/ unnd den folgenden/ 26. Martii … zur Erden ist bestattet worden ; Mit angehengter Oration, Intimation und Epicediis / Gehalten zu Wittenberg in der Pfarrkirchen Von Friderico Balduino der H. Schrifft Doctorn und Professorn/ auch Pfarrherrn und Superintendenten daselbsten (Wittenberg : Gorman, 1613).
  4. Burman, Frans (1628-1679). Gesetz und Zeugnüß Oder Außlegungen und Betrachtungen Der Geheimnüße wie auch fürnehmsten Sachen des Gesetzes oder der V. Bücher Mosis / Zu gründlicher Erklärung so wohl des Juden- alß Christenthums/ und Schrifftmäßiger Vergleichung der beyden (Franckfurt : Dreßer)

Uncategorised (in progress)

Vol. 1 (1693)
ULBH
Vol. 2 (1693) ULBH
Glass, Salomon (1593-1656). Selecta scripturae divinae Mosaicae : Süsser Kern und Außzug oder geistreiche und heylsame Betrachtung der vornehmsten … Geschichten, Dinge und Sprüche in den Büchern Mosis begriffen (Nürnberg : Endter, 1657)
BSB
Hafenreffer, Matthias (1561-1619). Fried Bott … : Neujahrstag-Predigt über Gen. 9,6

Tübingen : Werlin, 1613
Copies »
Fried Bott Das ist: Ernstliche Erinnerung auß Gottes Wort daß wir Christen und Kinder Gottes friedlich und einig miteinander leben … / Publicirt und gepredigt auff den Newen Jahrs Tag Anno 1613. in der Stifftskirch zu Tübingen. Durch Matthiam Hafenreffern … ; Neben beygefügten Edict Königlicher Maj. in Franckreich und Navarren [et]c. Den Hochschädlichen Unchristlichen Mißbrauch des Kämpffens und Balgens Mann gegen Mann betreffend : So bey dem Parlement zu Pariß den 27. Junij Annno 1609. eröffnet und publicirt worden (Stettin : Johann Christoph Landtrachtinger, 1615)
HAB
Herberger, Valerius (1562-1627) en de
[ Lutheran ]
De Jesu scripturae nucleo et medulla: Magnalia Dei : Die großen Thaten Gottes ; 1 – 4 Theil ; Das erste Buch Mose (Fricke, 1854)
GB
Magnalia Dei, De Jesu scripturae nucleo & medulla / Gefasset Durch fleissiges Gebet … Mund und Feder (Leipzig : Schürer)

Vol. 3 (1608) [Darinn die Geheimnis von Christo/ in dem 16. 17. 18. … 32. 33. 34. Capitel des ersten Buchs Mosis gewiesen werden]
ULBH
Vol. 2 (1611) [Darinnen die Geheimnis von Christo in dem 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. und 15. Capitel des ersten Buchs Mosis gewiesen werden] ULBH
Vol. 1 (1613) [Weiset die Geheimniß von Christo/ in den ersten drey Capiteln des Ersten Buchs Mose] ULBH
Linck, Wenceslaus (1483-1547). Annotation in die fünff bücher Mosi (Straßburg : Beck, 1543).
Luther, Martin (1483-1546).
Martin Luthers sowol in deutscher als lateinischer Sprache verfertigte und aus der letztern in die erstere übersetzte sämtliche Schriften, ed. Johann Georg Walch, vol. 1 (Gebauer, 1739)
Pfeiffer, August (1640-1698). Pansophia Mosaica e Genesi delineata, das ist: der Grund-Riß aller Weißheit … aus dem ersten Buch Mosis. (etc.) (Gleditsch, 1685)
GB

Strack, Johannes (1553-1612). Das Erste Buch des heiligen Propheten und Mannes Gottes Mosis Genesis genandt oder das Buch der Schöpffung : Darinnen ein jedes Capitel in gewisse Häuptstück verfasset und aus Gottes Wort und der Vätter Zeugnüß erkläret wird Beneben den Häuptstücken Christlicher Lehr … ; Sampt den Lehren Vermahnungen Trost und Warnung so bey einem jeden Stuck aus Gottes Wort den Patribus Orthodoxis, und Historien eingeführet und tractiret werden / Zum Trost den Gottseligen … in hundert und drey und siebentzig Predigten außgelegt und in Truck verfertiget Durch weiland Joohannem Strackium … (Cassel : Wilhelm Wessel, 1620).
Streuber, Peter (1560-1594). Zwo Christliche Leichpredigten. Eine Vber den Spruch Genesis am 9. Wer Menschen Blut vergeusset/ deß Blut sol auch durch Menschen vergossen werden. Die Ander/ Vber den Spruch S. Pauli Rom. 14. Leben wir/ so leben wir dem Herrn/ etc. Gehalten zu Soraw/ Durch Petrum Streuberum, der heiligen Schrifft Doctorem, vnnd der Herrschafften Sora vnd Triebel Superatt. (Leipzig : Zacharias Bärwald, 1591).
Abarbanel, Isaac (1437-1509).
‏פירוש התורה [Perush ha-torah] / Commentarius in Pentateuchum Mosis, 2nd ed., ed. Heinrich Jakob van Bashuysen (הענריך [Hanoviae] : יעקב מבאסהייזין [Henrikh Yaʻaḳov mi-Bashaizen], 1710).
Taylor, Francis (1589-1656). Tractatus de patribus: Rabbi Nathane Autore. In Linguam Latinam Translatus, Una cum notis marginalibus., ed. Francis Taylor (London : E. Cotes, 1654) [Rabbi Nathaniel].
Diodati, Giovanni (1576-1649). I commenti alla sacra bibbia con le introduzioni e i sommari ricavati dalla edizione ginevrina del MDCXLI, vol. 1 (Firenze : Tip. di G. Barbera, 1880).
Abarbanel, Isaac (1437-1509). Commentarius In Pentateuchum Mosis (Hanoviæ : Typographia Orientalis, 1710).
Alting, Jacob (1618-1679).
Opera omnia theologica

Amsterdam : excuditGerardus Borstius, 1687 [Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy 1-19; Psalms; Jeremiah] GB
Amsterdam : Gerardus Borstius
Vol. 2 (1687) BSB
Schilo: Seu De Vaticinio Patriarchae Jacobi, quod Genes. XLIX. vers. 10 exstat, libri quinque …

Franeker : Joh. Wellens, 1660 GB
Franeker : Joh. Wellens, 1662 GB
Amerpoel, Johannes (-1671). Cartesius Mosaizans seu Evidens & facilis conciliatio philosophiae Cartesii cum historia creationis primo capite Geneseos per Mosem tradita (Leovardiae : pro haeredibus Thomae Luyrtsma, 1669)
UU
Andreä, Samuel (1640-1699). Disputationum eis kosmopoiian hexaēmeron publicarum, II. exhibens quaestiones ad Gen. I. vers. 1. 2 (Heidelbergae : Walterus, 1657) / added author(s): Johann Heinrich Hottinger.
Epistola apologetica, ad virum eruditissimum & celeberrimum Henricum Morum, theologum & philosophum Anglum, in qua examen generale Cabbalae philosophiae ipsius in caput I. Geneseos vindicatur & ad scholia ejusdem modeste respondetur. (Marburgi Cattorum : Kürsner, 1684).
Aretius, Benedictus (1505-1574). In D. Mosis Pentateuchum, hoc est, priscam Dei legem, Benedicti Aretii theologi Bernensis commentarii breves ac dilucidi : qui iustae analyseōs seu diatheseōs vice esse possunt / [Hrsg.:] Stephanus Faber (Bernae Helvetiorum : Ioannes Le Preux, illustriss. DD. Bernensium Typographus, 1602).
Artopoeus, Peter (1491-1563). Christiana trivm lingvarum elementa. Praeterea De prima rerum origine uetustissimáq[ue] theologia, ex tribus primis capitibus Geneseos. Item in priorem Diui Pauli Epistolam ad Timotheum scholia (Basileae : Apud H. Petrum, 1546).
Aslakssøn, Cort (1564-1624). Physica et ethica mosaica ut antiquissima, ita vere christiana, duobus libris comprehensa quorum continetur libro prima Physica christiana… secundo. Ethica christiana ex capite Geneseos (Hanoviae : apud haeredes Joannis Aubrii, 1613).
Bois, Jacques du (1607-1661).
Dialogus Theologico-Astronomicus in quo ventilatur quaestio An Terra in centro universi quiescat, … an vero, sole quiescente, terra circa eam feratur (Leiden : Petrus Leffen, 1653).
Bompart, Jean (fl.1683-1689).
Parallela sacra et profana, sive notæ in Genesin (Amstelædami : ex officina Johannis Wolters, 1689) / added author(s): Herman Witsius [Appended: Herman Witsius, Exercitationes sacrae in symbolum quod Apostolorum dicitur et in orationem dominicam (1689)].
Borrhaus, Martin (1499-1564). In Mosem, diuinum legislatorem, paedagogum ad Messiam Seruatorem mundi, Commentarij : In Librum de Origine mundi, quem Genesim uocant. Exodum. Leuiticum. Numeros. Deuteronomium. Accessit locuples verum & verborum praecipue obseruandorum Index. (Basileae, 1555).
Brenz, Johannes (1499-1570). Operum reverendi et clarissimi theologi, D. Ioannis Brentii, praepositi Stutgardiani, vol. 1 (Tubingae : Gruppenbachius, 1576) [In Quo Continentur sequentes Commentarij. In Genesin Stutgardiae. Exodum Tubingae. Exodum Stutgardiae. Leviticum Halae Sueuorum. Numeros Stutgardiae. Deuteronomium Stutgardiae. elucubrati.]
Cajetan, Tommaso de Vio (1468-1534).
Commentarii illustres planeq[ue] insignes in quinque mosaicos libros, ed. Antonio Fonseca (apud Guillelmum de Bossozel, 1539).
Commentarii illustres planeq[ue] insignes in quinque Mosaicos libros, ed. Antonio Fonseca (apud Ioannem Boulle … : [Ioannem Parvum], 1539).
In Pentateuchum Mosis iuxta sensum quem dicunt literalem commentarii (apud Antonium Bladum, 1531).
Calvin, Jean (1509-1564). Mosis libri V : cum Iohannis Caluini commentariis ; Genesis seorsum, reliqui quatuor in formam harmoniae digesti (Geneva : Henr. Stephanus, 1563).
Mosis libri V, cum Johannis Calvini commentariis. Genesis seorsum : reliqui quatuor in formam harmoniæ digesti. Præter indices duos alphabeticos rerum quarundam in hisce Johannis Calvini commentariis notabilium, calci huius voluminis adjectos, unum in Genesin, alterum in reliquos quatuor libros in formam harmoniæ dispositos : habes et tertium, qui, singulorum capitum quilibet versus (variè alioqui, prout operis ratio postulavit, dispersi) quota pagina inveniri possint, protinus indicabit. (Genève : Henri II Estienne, 1563).
Opera omnia, vol. 1 (Amsterdam : J.J. Schipper, 1671) [Comment. in Pentateuchum et Josue.]
Opera omnia theologica in septem tomos digesta, vol. 1 (Genevae : apud Johannem Vignon, Petrum & Jacobum Chouët, 1617) [Commentarios in quinque libros Mosis complectens; Genesis seorsim : reliqui quatuor in formam Harmoniae sunt digesti; cum triplici indice : quorum primus Geneseos, alter, quatuor librorum in formam Harmoniae …]
Capito, Wolfgang (1478-1541). Hexemeron Dei opus … (Argentoratum, 1539).
Carrière, François, O.F.M. Conv. (-1665). Commentarius in universam S. Scripturam (N. Boissat et G. Remeus, 1663).
Cartwright, Christopher (1602-1658). Electa Thargumico-Rabbinica; Sive, Annotationes In Genesin: Ex triplici Thargum, seu Chaldaica Paraphrasi, nempe Onkeli, Hierosolymitana, & Jonathanis … (Thomson, 1648).
Chemnitz, Christian (1615-1666). Collegium theologicum in quo quaestiones in Genesin publicae ventilationi exponuntur: 10 disputationibus comprehensum : accesserunt … 5 programmata (Jenae : Wild, 1665).
Collegium Theologicum, in quo Quæstiones In Genesin Publicæ ventilationi exponuntur: Decem Disputationibus comprehensum; Et habitum In Alma Universitate Ienensi. Præside & Auctore Christiano Chemnitio, SS. Theol. Doctore, Eiusdemque Professore Publico, ut & Pastore ac Superintendente. Accesserunt Additamenti loco Quinque Programmata De quibusdam controversis locis Scripturæ (Lipsiae : Brandenburger, 1703).
Chytraeus, David (1530-1600). Dauidis Chitraei In Devteronomion Mosis Ivsta Enarratio. In Genesin, Exodvm, Leviticvm, Nvmeros, Brevioreslocorvm Doctrinae et Phrasivm Annotationes. Cum Indice Rerum ac verborum insignium. (Wittenberg : Johann d.J. Krafft, 1590).
In Genesin Enarratio (Crato, 1561).
In Genesin enarratio recens recognita. – Vitebergae, Johannes Crato 1568 (Johannes Crato, 1568).
In Genesin Enarratio, Recens Recognita a Davide Chytraeo. Wittenberg : Johann d.Ä. Krafft, 1568
Wittenberg : Johann d.Ä. Krafft, 1576
In Genesin enarratio, trad. Rostochii. – Vitebergae, Johannes Crato 1557, vol. 1 (Johannes Crato, 1557).
In Genesin Enarratio, Tradita Rostochii, Vt Ad lectionem Textus Bibliorum auditores inuitarentur. a Davide Chytraeo. (Wittenberg : Johann d.Ä. Krafft, 1557).
Costa, Gabriel a (fl.1634-). Commentaria quinque in totidem libros Veteris Testamenti

Lyon, 1641
Crégut, Antoine (fl.1650-1661).
גלי רזיא Hoc est Revelator arcanorum, vbi illustriora quæuis ac difficiliora scripturæ oracula noua methodo didacticè ac elencticè enucleantur, quæ in Pentateucho continentur. Accessit singularum exercitationum accuratissima analysis in cuiusque frontispicio. Cum indicibus necessariis (Genevae : sumptibus Samuelis Chouët, 1661).
DelRio, Martin Antoine, S.J. (1551-1608). Pharus sacrae sapientiae (Lugduni : Cardon, 1608).
Dieu, Lodewijk de (1590-1642). Animadversiones In Veteris Testamenti Libros Omnes: In Quibus Ex Chaldaeorum Targumim, & Syrorum, & Arabum & aliorum versionibus, ut & Hebraeorum Commentariis, & Recentiorum observationibus, difficiliora quaeq[ue] loca illustrantur, & diligenti collatione habita explicantur

Elzevir, 1648.
Drusius, Joannes (1550-1616). Ad loca difficiliora Pentateuchi, id est quinque librorum Mosis commentarius: opus posthumum. Franekerae Frisiorum, 1617.

Drusii ad loca difficiliora Pentateuchi id est quinque librorum Mosis commentarius (Heynsius, 1617).
Eitzen, Paul von (1521-1598). Commentarii in genesin: liber primus (Francofurti, 1560).
Elswich, Johann Hermann von (1684-1721). Observationes philologicae super clarissimi viri Bernh. Henningi Witteri commentatione in Genesin (1712).
Eucherius of Lyon (c.380-c.449). Divi Eucherii episcopi Lugdunensis commentarii in genesim, & in libros regum (Romae : apud Paulum Manutium, Aldi f., 1564).
Fabricius, Georg (1516-1571). Commentarius in genesin brevis (Lipsiae, 1584). In Primvm Librvm Mosis, Sive Genesin Commentarivs. Eivsdem In Eandem Genesin Hymni, & Precationes. Cvm Praefatione Iohannis. Pappi Doct.Theologi. (Straßburg : Bernhard Jobin, 1584).
Fagius, Paul (1504-1549). Commentaria in quatuor capita Geneseos (Isnae : [Fagius], 1542).

Fernandez, Benito, S.J. (1563-1630)
[ Roman Catholic ]
Commentariorum atque obseruationum moralium in Genesim (Lugduni : sumptibus Horatii Cardon)

Vol. 2 (1621)
GB
Vol. 2 (1625)
Vol. 3 (1627)
Fröreisen, Johann Leonhard (1694-1761). Disp. theol. de poenitentia Dei, ad Gen. VI, 6. – 7. Jonae III. 10. … (Argentorati, 1714) / added author(s): Daniel Pfeffinger
Gesner, Salomon (1559-1605). Commentarius in Genesin (Viteberg., 1613).
Genesis Sive Primus Liber Moysis, Disputationibus XXXVIII. breviter comprehensus inter se Patrum sententiis, orthodoxe explicatus, ut praecipuae quaestiones distincte sint tractatae & declaratae (Witebergae : Schürerus, 1604)
SBB
Glass, Salomon (1593-1656). Christologias Mosaicae, Qua Verba, dicta, & typi, quibus Jesus Christus, Filius Dei, in Pentateucho Mosis proponitur, exegetice, elenctice & practice, pio studio expenduntur, Dissertationum Pentas, Ex primis Geneseos capitibus, quibus antediluviana historia describitur, In illustri Academia Salana, ad publicas … proposita, Anno 1640. (Ienae : Steinmann, 1640)
SLUB
Grapius, Zacharias, Jr (1671-1713). Diss. theol. exhibens controversiam recentiorem de tentatione Evae et Christi a diabolo in assumto corpore facta : ad loca Genes. III, I. seqq. et Matth. IV, I. seqq. contra Balth. Bekkerum & Zach. Webberum

Rostochium, 1709
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BSB
Diss. theol. exhibens controversiam recentiorem de tentatione Evae et Christi a diabolo in assumto corpore facta: ad loca Genes. III, I. seqq. et Matth. IV, I. seqq. contra Balth. Bekkerum & Zach. Webberum

1709
Copies »
GB
Graverol, Jean (1647-1718). Moses vindicatus; sive asserta historiæ creationis mundi aliarumque, quales à Mose narruntur, veritas. Adversus cl. v. t. Burnetii S.T.D. Archaeologias philosophicas. (Amstelodami : Apud Georgium Gallet, 1694).
Haitsma, Aggaeus (1722-1784). Commentarius ad Genesin (Harlingae, 1766).
Curæ philologico-exegeticæ in Genesin. Sive Explicationes difficiliorum per omnia fere capita locorum (Franequerae : exc. J. Brouwer, 1753).
Hammer, Wilhelm, O.P. (-1564).
Commentationes in Genesim doctae, vtiles et lectv ivcvndae, plvrimis clarissimorvm hebræeæ, græcæ et latinæ lingvæ avthorvm sacrorvm et profanorum sententijs adeò ornatæ : vt ab æquo candidoq́ue lectore sine magno fructu & voluptate legi non possint

Dilingae : apud Sebaldum Mayer, 1564
Honert, Taco Hajo van den (1666-1740). Dissertationes historicae: addita est Dissertatio de necessaria ad recte interpretandam Scripturam sacram antiquitatum hebraïcarum cognitione (Leiden : Abraham Kallewier, 1739).
Hottinger, Johann Heinrich, I (1620-1667). Ktisis Exa-emeros: id est Historiae Creationis examen Theologico-Philologicum: ita institutum ut Opera sex dierum, ex primo Geneseos capite, strictim enarrentur, singulae pene voces, obscuriores cumprimis et emphaticae quaestionibus 164. elucidentur, et ad varios usus … (Heidelbergae : Ex Typographeio Samuelis Broun, 1659).
Iken, Conrad (1689-1753). Thesaurus Novus Theologico-Philologicus, Sive Sylloge Dissertationum Exegeticarum Ad Selectiora Atque Insigniora Veteris Et Novi Instrumenti Loca: A Theologis Protestantibus Maximam partem in Germania diversis temporibus separatim editarum, nunc vero secundum seriem librorum, capitum … (Lugduni Batavorum : Haak) / added author(s): Theodor Hase

Vol. 1 (1732)
Jansen, Cornelius (1585-1638). Pentatechus, sive commentarius in quinque libros Moysis (apud viduam Ioannis Du Puis, 1677)
Pentateuchus siue Commentarius in quinque libros Moysis (Beaujollin, 1677)
Pentateuchus sive Commentarius in quinque libros Moysis … (Jacobus Dalin, 1660)
Pentateuchus: sive Commentarius in 5 libros Moysis (1677)
Pentateuchus: sive commentarius in quinque libros Moysis (1641)
Pentateuchus: sive Commentarius in quinque libros Moysis

1677 GB
1685 GB
Pentateuchus: sive commentarius in quinque libros Moysis ; Analecta in proverbia (J. d’Alin, 1661.
Junius, Franciscus (1545-1602). Libri Geneseos analysis

[Genève] : in Officina Sanctandreana, 1594 [missing title page]
Copies »
e-rara
Protoktisia, Seu Creationis A Deo Factae, Et In Ea Prioris Adami Ex Creatione Integri & ex lapsu corrupti, Historia: Cui adiecta chorographica tabula Babyloniae, & in ea Hedenis circumscriptio … In Tria Prima Capita Geneseos Praelectiones Francisci Ivnii. Item Confvtatio Argumentorum XXII … ([Heidelberg], 1589).
Kipping, Heinrich (1623-1678). Exercitationes Sacrae De Creationis Operibus Et Statu Primi Hominis : In quibus Duo priora Capita Geneseos perspicue exponuntur, prolatis insimul ac decisis quaestionibus utilissimis e Philologia & Philosophia meliore petitis, uti Series earum indicat
Francofurdi : Berger, 1664
Lippoman, Aloisius (c.1500-1559). Catena in Genesim ex authoribus ecclesiasticis plus minus sexaginta, iisque partim graecis, partim latinis, connexa / authore Aloisio Lippomano Metonensi… (Parisiis : ex officina Carolae Guillard, 1546)
UGR
Luther, Martin (1483-1546). In Genesin Enarrationvm Reverendi Patris, Domini Doctoris Martini Lvtheri … collectarum, per Hieronymum Besoldum Noribergensem, Tomvs Qvartvs Continens Historiam Sanctissimi Patriarchae Ioseph. Nunc primum in lucem editus. … (Nürnberg : Ulrich VomBerg, Johann und Neuber, 1560).
In Genesin, Mosi Librvm Sanctissimvm, D. Martini Lutheri Declamationes. Praeterea Index, paucis opusculi totius summam continens. (Hagenau : Johann Setzer, 1527).
In primum librum Mose enarrationes Reuerendi Patris D.D. Martini Lutheri : plenae salutaris & Christianae eruditionis, bona fide & diligenter collectae. (Noribergae : Montanus & Neuberus, 1555)
In Primvm Librvm Mose Enarrationes Reuerendi Patris D.D. Martini Lutheri : plenae salutaris & Christian[a]e eruditionis, Bona fide & diligenter collectae (VVitenbergae : Seitz, 1544).
Lyra, Nicolaus de (c.1270-1349) en
Biblia Sacra cum glossis, interlineari & Ordinaria, Nicolai Lyrani Postilla & Moralitatibus, Burgensis Additionibus & Thoringi Replicis (Lyon)

  • Vol. 1 (1545) [Genesis – Deuteronomy]
  • Copies »
  • GB
  • Vol. 2 (1545) [Joshua – Esther] GB
  • Marlorat, Augustin (1506-1560). Genesis cum catholica expositione ecclesiastica, id est ex universis probatis theologis (quos Dominus diversis suis Ecclesiis dedit) excerpta, a quodam Verbi Dei ministro, diu multumque in theologia versato. Sive Bibliotheca expositionum Geneseos, id est expositio ex probatis theologis (quotquot in Genesin aliquid scripserunt) collecta et in unum corpus singulari artificio conflata : quae instar bibliothecae multis expositorum libris refertae esse possit. ([Genève] : Henri II Estienne, typographe d’Ulrich Fugger, 1562).
  • Martinius, Matthaeus (1572-1630). De creatione mundi commentariolus (Bremae : Apud Johannem Wesselium, 1613).
  • Meiderlin, Peter (1582-1651). Progymnasma alterum, sive exercitatio philosophico-theologica ex cap. II. geneseos Mosaicae (Augusta Vindelicorum : Schönig, 1634).
  • Tyrocinium physico-theologicum ex capite I. Bereschit seu Geneseos: quo utiles quaedam quaestiones partim physicae, partim theologicae ventilandae proponuntur (Augusta Vindelicorum, 1634).
  • Mercier, Jean (c.1510-1570). In Genesin, primum Mosis librum, sic a Graecis appellatum, commentarius, ed. Théodore de Bèze ([Genevae] : Ex typographia Matthaei Berjon, 1598) [Preface by Theodore de Bèze].
  • Momma, Wilhelm (1642-1677). Praelectiones Theologicae: De Adventu Schiloh: Ad Genes. XLIX. 10. Et De Variis Theologiae Capitibus. Opus Posthumum (Amsterdam : a Someren, 1683).
  • Musculus, Wolfgang (1497-1563). In Genesim Mosis Commentarij plenissimi: In quibus veterum et recentiorum sententiae diligenter expenduntur. Avthore Vvolfgango Mvscvlo Dvsano: Nvnc a` multis mendis repurgati, Indiceqve duplici: … (Basel : Sebastian Henricpetri, 1600)
  • In Mosis Genesim plenissimi Commentarii (Basileae, 1565)
  • In Mosis genesim plenissimi Commentarii, in quibus veterum et recentiorum sententiae diligenter expenduntur
  • Basel : Hervagias, 1554 GB
  • Basel : Hervagias, 1565 HAB
  • Neubauer, Ernst Friedrich (1705-1748)
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis De Vera Origine Phrasium Sacrarum Videre Et Gustare Mortem Ex Lapsus Historia Gen. II.16.17. III.6.7. Derivata Et A Diversis Obiectionibus Vindicata: Ad Varia Novi Test. Loca Explicanda Matth. XVI.28. Mare. IX.1. Luc. II.26. IX.27. Io. VIII.51.52. Ebr. II.9. XI.5. coll … (Lammers, 1745)
  • Neumann, Johann Georg (1661-1709)
  • Disputatio Theologica, De Mensura Peccatorum Impleta, Gen. Xv, 16. Matth. Xxiii, 32. / Qvam Præside Pro-Rectore Magnifico Dn. Jo. Georg. Neumanno, S.S. Theol. D. Et P.P. Alvmn. Elect. Ephoro, Et Acad. Bibliothecario. Domino, Patrono, Praeceptore Svo, Per Omne Vitae Spatium Sancte Observando, Publicæ Disqvisitioni exponit M. Just. Christian. Uthenius, Clinga-Schvvarzburgicus. Ad D. XXX. Decembr. Anno Academiae Seculari (Vitembergae : Meyer, 1720)
  • Oleaster, Hieronymus, O.P. (-1563). Cõmentaria in Mósi Pentateuchum, iuxta Sanctis Pagnini …: interpretationem: quibus Hebraica veritas exactissime explicatur; & quae ad morum compositionẽ aptari possunt: ex ipsius literae penetralibus seorsum annectuntur. Opus sane, & doctis & indoctis vsui futurum…. (Apud J. Barrerium, 1556)
  • Commentaria in Pentateuchum Mosi, hoc est, in quinque primos Bibliorum libros: quibus iuxta M. Sanctis Pagnini Lucensis … interpretationem, Hebraica veritas cum ad genuinum literae sensum, tum ad mores informandos, ad unguem enucleatur (Lugduni : Landry, 1589).
  • Origen (c.185-254). Homiliae in Genesim: Exodum, Leviticum, Numeros Jesum Nave et librum Judicum, D. Hieronymo interprete (Aldus, 1503).
  • Osiander, Johann Adam, Sr (1622-1697). Commentarius In Pentateuchum : Exhibens Sacrum cum Exegesi Textum, Lectionum Et Versionum Varietatem, Conciliatas Antilogias, Chronologiam, utilium Quaestionum Solutiones, Obiectiones cum Vindiciis, Observationes Philologicas, & Locos Communes Doctrinales … / adornatus Studio & Opera Johannis Adami Osiandri … (Stutgard : Zubrodt ; Tubingae : Reisius, 1676).
  • Palladius, Peder (1503-1560). Librorum Moisi, qui sunt fons doctrinæ ecclesiæ, explicatio brevis & ad usum piorum accommodata
    Vitebergae : Iohannes Crato, 1559
  • Pareus, David (1548-1622). In Genesin Mosis Commentarius […] cum Indice gemino: uno Quaetionum et Dubiorum : altero Verborum et rerum locupletissimo (Jonas Rhodius, 1609).
  • Pelargus, Christoph (1565-1633). In Prophetarum omnium Oceanum, sive Genesin Sacram Mosaicam Ex antiquitate puriore magna parte erutus Commentarius Christophori Pelargi, Doctoris Ac Professoris Academiae Francofurtanae … ([Magdeburg] : Francus, 1612).
  • Pellikan, Konrad (1478-1556). Commentaria Biblioru[m], id est XXIIII. Canonicorum veteris testamenti librorum, & illa brevia quidem & catholica, vol. 1 (Tiguri : Froschouerus, 1536) [In Quo Continentur V. Libri Mosis].
  • Pepin, Guillaume, O.P. (c.1465-1533). Expositio in Genesim juxta quadrupiicem sacre scripture sensum, literalem scilicet, moralem allegoricum, et anagogicum (Joan. Parous, 1528).
  • Pezel, Christoph (1539-1604). In primum librum Mosis, qui inscribitur Genesis commentarius (Neostadii, 1599).
  • Piscator, Johann (1546-1625). Commentarii in omnes libros Veteris Testamenti: antehac aliquoties separatim editi, nunc vero in unum volumen collecti, vol. 1 (Herbornae Nassoviorum, 1646) [includes vol. 2].
  • Rivet, André (1572-1651). Theologicae et scholasticae exercitationes centum nonaginta in Genesin, ex publicis ejus praelectionibus in Batavorum academia (1633).
  • Runge, David (1564-1604). Praelectiones in Genesin Mosaicam : Quibus, Praeter Textus Perspicuam & dilucidam enarrationem, praecipui Christianae religionis articuli & capita, tam didaktikōs quam elenchtikōs, tractantur: rerum maximarum acta commemorantur: Chronologia simul & certa atq[ue] continua temporum series ab exordio mundi accurate annotatur: typi partim Prophetici, partim dogmatici illustres explicantur: omnis denique generis virtutum exempla, ad fidem & pietatem facientia, proponuntur ; Cum Indice Perquam Utili, praecipuos doctrinae Christianae Locos continente (Witebergae : Gorman Schürerus, Typis Craton., 1608).
  • Praelectiones in Genesin Mosaicam : Quibus, Praeter Textus perspicuam & dilucidam enarrationem, praecipui Christianae religionis articuli & capita, tam didaktikōs quam elenchtikōs, tractantur: rerum maximarum acta commemorantur: Chronologiae simul & certa atque continua temporum series ab exordio mundi accurate annotatur: typi partim Prophetici, partim dogmatici illustres explicantur: omnis denique generis virtutum exempla, ad fidem & pietatem facientia, proponuntur ; Cum Indice Perquam Utili, praecipuos doctrinae Christianae Locos continente (Wittebergae : Mullerus Schurerus, 1614).
  • Salchli, Johann Jakob (1694-1774). Exercitationes Lausannenses. De cura animarum pastorali particulari: Cum adjectis observationibus critico-theologicis ad quaedam Genes. cap. I. loca controversa (Bernae : ex officina Typogr. illustrissimae Reipublicae Bernensis, 1762).
  • Salomon ben Isaac (1040-1105). Commentarius Hebraicus In Pentateuchum Mosis (Gothae, 1710).
  • Scherzer, Johann Adam (1628-1683). Operae pretium orientale: exhibens commentariorum Rabbinicorum Isaaci Abarbenelis et Salomonis Jarchii in Geneseos sectionem I, nec non R. Mosis Majemon. Theologiae … cui accessit Specimen theologiae mythicae Ebraeorum … (Lipsiae : Impensis Friderici Christiani Coelii, 1685) / added author(s): Isaac Abarbanel, Salomon ben Isaac, Maimonides [Appended: הנחתן וחליצתן של תפילן : usus phylacterior judaicor quem benivolo superiorum indultu in iluustri salana publicae ventilationi exponent / praes. Matthias Beck (Jena, 1684)]
  • Selecta rabbinico-philologica : quae comprehendunt I. Commentar Rasche in Parsch. Breschith, sive in Cap. I. usque ad VI. Gen., II. Commentar R. Abarbanel. in Haggaeum, III. R. Mos. Maimon. Mercaba, sive, Doctrinam de Deo & angelis quae quondam cum versionibus & annotationibus studio Jo. Adami Scherzeri sub nomine Trifolii Orientalis, nec non operae pretii edita, jam vero revisa & aucta sunt. IV. Commentar. Rasche in Parsch. Noach, sive in cap. VI. usque ad XI. Gen., V. Commentar R. Aben Esrae in Haggaeum quae cum versionibus, annotationibus Talmudicis, rabbinicis & philologicis, nec non indicibus … adjecta sunt à Jo. Georg. Abicht. (Lipsiae : apud viduam Johannis Heinichii, 1705).
  • Selecta Rabbinico-philologica: quae comprehendunt I. Commentar. Rasche in Parsch. Breschith … II. Commentar. R. Abarbanel. in Haggaeum, III. R. Mos. Maimon. Mercaba …

apud viduam Johannis Heinichii, 1705 GB

Heinich, 1705 GB

Trifolium orientale : continens Commentarios R. Abarbenelis in Haggaeum, R. Sal. Jarchi in Parsch. I. Geneseos, et R. mos. Majemonidae theologiam, cum versione, notis philologico-philosophicis, et appendice ; speciminis theologiae mythicae ebraeorum, junctis autoritatum S.S. scripturae, rerum ac verborum indicibus necessariis. (Lipsiae : Typis Johannis Baueri, 1663).

Schmidt, Sebastian (1617-1696). Collegium Biblicum …: In Quo Dicta Scripturae Veteris Testamenti Sexaginta Sex, iuxta Seriem Locorum Communionum Theologicorum disposita, dilucide explicantur, vol. 1 (Argentorati : Tidemannus, 1670)

Super Mosis Librum Primum, Genesis Dictum, Annotationes (Argentorati : Spoor, 1697)

Schnabel, Hieronymus Wilhelm (1656-1702)

[ Reformed ]

Exercitatio Secunda Theologiae Typicae De Abele Typo Jesu Christi: Anaskeuastikōs kai kataskeuastikōs, Ex imis omnino fundaminibus labefactatur ac destruitur (Bremae, 1700)

UBH

Selnecker, Nikolaus (1532-1592) de

[ Lutheran ]

In Genesin … commentarius

1569 GB
Lipsia, 1569 BSB
In Genesin, Primum Librum Moysi, Commentarius : Ita Scriptvs, Vt Docentibvs Et Discentibvs Coelestem Doctrinam Magno Vsvi Esse Possit …. Addita est Chronologia ab initio mundi usq[ue] ad exitum populi Israelitici ex Aegypto (Lipsiae : Rhambau, 1569)
BSB
Soeiro, Manoel Dias (1604-1657). Conciliator, sive de convenientia locorum S. Scripturae, quae pugnare inter se videntur. Opus ex vetustis & recentioribus omnibus Rabbinis, Magna industria, ac fide congestum (Amstelodami : Auctor, 1633).
Spangenberg, Cyriacus (1528-1604). In sacri Mosis Pentateuchum, sive quinque Libros, Genesim, Exodum, Leviticum, Numeros, Deuteronomium, tabulae CCVI : nuncque primum in lucem editae : De quarum usu & ratione, quaedam in Praefatione, & ad Lectorem Epistola, reperies (Basileae : [Jacob Parcus für Johannes Oporin], 1563).

Varenius, August, Sr (1620-1684). Decades Mosaicae : In duos priores Libros Pentateuchi Genesin & Exodum, Quorum Loca difficiliora, & illustriora sub XXXIV. magnis Classibus ex Consilio Fontium explicantur, & a Corruptelis Interpretum & Adversariorum vindicantur (Rostochi[i] : Richelius, 1659)
SBB
Vermigli, Peter Martyr (1499-1562). dIn primum librum Mosis, qui vulgo Genesis dicitur, commentarii doctissimi D. Petri Martyris Vermilii Florentini, professoris divinarum literarum in schola Tigurina, nunc primum in lucem editi : addita est initio operis Vita eiusdem a Iosia Simlero Tigurino descripta accesserunt praeterea in hac editione, octo postrema capita in huius libri, Ludovico Lavatero interprete (Tiguri : Christophorus Froschouerus, 1579) / added author(s): Josias Simmler, Ludwig Lavater
e-rara
Zanchi, Girolamo (1516-1590). De operibus Dei intra spatium sex dierum (Neustadt an der Haardt : Nicolaus Schrammius, 1602).

More English commentaries (not free)

https://www.bestcommentaries.com/genesis/

F. B. Meyer?

Watson, G. D. (1845–1924). God’s First Words.

? https://archive.org/details/worldsbirthdayt00gausgoog/page/n6/mode/2up

? Didymus https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Didymus%2C+the+Blind%2C+approximately+313-approximately+398%22

? StudyLight https://www.studylight.org/

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008917806

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009778927

Review: First and Second Timothy and Titus (Interpretation)

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Thomas C. Oden (1931–2016) is a renowned Methodist theologian. He wrote numerous theology books and was editor of the monumental Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.

The Interpretation Series

The Interpretation series of Bible commentaries was created with the purpose of assisting “preachers and teachers”, focusing on the homiletical applications of the biblical text. It is a very useful series both for personal use and for teaching. I recommend this series it highly. The series includes many prominent theologians among whom I’ll mention: Thomas C. Oden (this volume), Terence Fretheim (Exodus), Walter Brueggemann (Genesis & 1 & 2 Samuel), and Richard B. Hays (1 Corinthians).

Oden’s Method

Oden’s method in this commentary is primarily to synthesize his own applications from Church Fathers and classical Protestantism. Among Church Fathers, he quotes most widely from Chrysostom and Augustine. Among Protestant authors, he quotes most from Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley.

My intention is to provide a modern commentary on the Pastorals grounded in the classical, consensual tradition of interpretation of these texts. (p. 2)

The author does cite modern commentaries in many cases, but he quotes the classics much more extensively. This lends an enduring interest to Oden’s commentary. Perspectives from the Fathers are often stunningly fresh, coming as voices from outside our culture and our zeitgeist. His focus on speaking from “consensual tradition” means he tends to dwell outside modern polemical arguments.

Arrangement of the Book

Oden’s volume on First and Second Timothy and Titus (1989) is unique in its arrangement. Passages are grouped thematically, rather than in canonical order, so that the book is less repetitive when read cover-to-cover. The Pastorals can be studied in canonical order using the index. For example, all three Bible books are introduced together, but the section that follows covers 2 Timothy 3:14–17 and 2 Timothy 1:3–7, grouped under “The Authority and Traditioning of Scripture”.

As the Pastoral Epistles are read and studied, Oden’s arrangement becomes more intuitive; but it takes some getting used to.

I think in such a commentary, although it is not long, it would be unproductive to try to cover the entire outline, so I will just point out some of the major contributions that I thought were insightful.

Who Wrote the Pastoral Epistles?

Historical evidence for Pauline authorship is a little weaker for the Pastoral Epistles than for the General Epistles. None of the Pastoral Epistles is mentioned in Marcion’s canon, the earliest New Testament canon. Oden argues, though, that the Church Fathers were unanimous in attributing these letters to Paul and ascribing apostolic authority to them. The historical sequence is also messy, comparing Acts to the Pastorals. But for Oden (p. 8), it is simplest to believe that the events related to these epistles occurred after Luke’s authoring of Acts, than to argue that the Pastorals are inauthentic, merely because we don’t have enough data to fit them together into a neat timeline. The Pastorals also differ thematically from other epistles because they differ in audience. Paul is addressing “long-term associates who did not need to be instructed on elementary teachings” (p. 13).

I do not put much stock in studies that seek to identify the author of a text based on vocabulary. Shakespeare, for instance, wrote much more than Paul, in language much closer to ours, and debates still rage about whether he could have written all the plays attributed to him. But, ultimately, they circle back to the man himself, because it takes very hard proof for speculation to oust tradition.

Do Not Rebuke a Mocker

At many points in the book, Oden helpfully points out how Paul dismisses false teachings rather than attacking them. This comes up repeatedly in the Pastorals. Timothy is to “give no heed” to conspiracy theories (1 Tim. 1:4); “spurn” old wives’ tales (1 Tim. 4:7); “flee” fake preachers who profit from the gospel (1 Tim. 6:11); “avoid godless chatter” (2 Tim. 2:16); Titus is to “give no heed” to Jewish fables (Titus 1:14); “avoid foolish questions” (Titus 3:9). Oden argues that even in our dealings with heretics, we should “refuse further dealings”:

This is not the same as excommunication. It is far more passive than that. If you enter into dialogue, you will inadvertently lend legitimacy to the false teacher by granting that his premise is tenable.

Oden, p. 86

Women in Ministry

Many readers will be interested in Oden’s comments on women in leadership in relation to 1 Timothy 2:11–15. On 1 Timothy 2:12, Oden quotes Chrysostom, arguing that women are called to “quietness” (ἡσυχίᾳ) rather than “silence” (σιγὴ), and that this “quietness” is a virtue enjoined upon both men and women. Other New Testament uses justify this: Acts 22:2, 1 Thess. 4:11, 2 Thess 3:12, 1 Peter 3:4. The cognate term in 1 Timothy 2:2 is usually translated “peaceable”. Oden’s conclusion: “It is not that women in general cannot teach but that a woman cannot teach in such a way as to usurp authority over teachers already duly designated.” (p. 97) The juxtaposition is not between “holding authority” (αὐθεντεῖν) and “being in silence” (εἶναι ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ), which are not very good antonyms; rather, the juxtaposition is between “usurping authority” (perhaps, “domineering”) and “quietness” (or something like “being at peace”).

In his comments on 1 Timothy 2:12, Martin Luther wrote that he believed this verse to pertain to “wives”, not “women”—the two senses are expressed by the same word in Greek, as also in Arabic and many other languages. For Luther, a “wife” (not “a woman”) should not usurp authority over her “husband” (not “a man”). The same lexical problem comes up in treatments of 1 Corinthians 11:3 (see here) and 1 Corinthians 14:34 (see here and here).

Bring the Parchments

Oden writes that Paul’s request, “bring the parchments”, is the most interesting passage in the Pastoral Epistles, and I tend to agree. It certainly sparks the imagination.

Bishops, Presbyters, Elders, Pastors, Deacons … ?

I had planned to write a little about Oden’s ecclesiology and church leadership, which is a major theme in the Pastoral Epistles. He delves at some length into questions such as the distinction between “elders” and “pastors” (hint: for him, there is none). I disagreed with some of Oden’s ideas here and the arguments got a little tricky for me to follow. Many have pointed out that Titus 1:5 and 1:7 seem to collocate “elders” and “bishop” as synonyms, and 1 Timothy 3 only outlines “bishops” and “deacons”, probably because elders were not a third category, but a synonym for “bishops”. This is a frequent argument used in documents that defend congregationalist ecclesiology, which has a flatter hierarchy than most Methodist denominations, in that it has no bishoprics presiding over multiple churches.

Conclusion

I’ve finished three volumes from this series and all have been very good. My main problem with getting through Oden’s book was how it was organized. It is a difficult task writing a commentary that covers portions of scripture that are somewhat repetitive, and yet maintaining readable prose. But his use of classical commentators, in my opinion, made up for this defect. And in spite of his self-proclaimed “fogey”-ness, his style is mostly quite accessible. This book is a refreshing mix of old and new.

Free Commentaries on Song of Songs – Quick Links (Work in Progress)

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This page is a work in progress for the Ultimate List of Free Bible Commentaries. I've gone ahead and shared this, with its many imperfections, as a starting point, both for myself and others.

PRDL: Ainsworth | Harmer

Archive: Anonymous | Adeney | Burrowes | Clay | Cotton | Cowles | W. Davidson | Doudney? | Dunn | Durell (Job, Prov, Ps, Eccl, SoS) | Durham | Erskine | Fleming | Fry | Ginsburg | Finch?/Gouge | Guild | Guyon | Harper | Haupt | thing | Irons | McClure | McSwiney | Merrill | A. Miller | Nee | Newton?? | Newton 2? | Noyes | Reville | Robinson | Robotham | Romaine | Schmidt | Stuart | Weiss | C. Wordsworth | Wright | thing | talmid? | Taylor | Zöckler |

John Brayne’s Exposition?

G D Watson Divine Love Song? unavailable

Thomas Beverley’s Exposition?

Hanserd Knollys’ Exposition? unavailable

Cora Harris MacIlravy? unavailable

keil? Ibn Ezra? Anne francis? Hodgson 1785? Williams 1801 (listed by Kitto)? Bishop Percy’s song of solomon? Dowe 1631 Commentary?

Origen, Theodoret, Cassiodorus, Epiphanius

Sermons & Lectures

Beza | Sibbes

Essays & Dissertations

Houghton |

Metrical Translations

?

This list was compiled using PRDL and IA. Kitto also has an astounding bibliography here.

A Sunday Morning at the City Temple (1896)

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I am sharing this magazine article from the height of Joseph Parker's fame. It includes a great description of his imposing personality and preaching style, as well as some great aphorisms.

Among London churches of more than denominational fame, the City Temple takes one of the foremost places, and now that Liddon and Spurgeon have passed into “the great silence,” there is no preacher left to us equal in force and originality to its minister, the Rev. Joseph Parker, D.D.

The personality of Dr. Parker is doubtless the strongest attraction for the crowd of strangers who mingle with the regular congregation at every service, but to many, and notably to the thousands of Americans— descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers—who yearly visit our shores, the church is historically interesting as the oldest Independent or Congregational church in London.

The Church was founded in 1640 by the celebrated Dr. Thomas Goodwin, chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, in Anchor Lane, Thames Street. …

Not until he rises to read the first lesson do we get a clear view of the preacher. In old Scots, Dr. Parker would be called “ken-speckle.” In a crowd he would be conspicuous. In figure he is big and burly. His leonine head is crowned with long grizzled locks, well brushed back from a lofty brow which age has begun to furrow. Dr. Parker is now sixty-five, and his ministry covers a period of forty-three years. Small, deep-set, peering eyes, that flash at will into piercingnness, and a mouth that closes with a vice-like grip, give a stern character to a clean-shaven face of rugged outline and massive strength. In his bearing there is an air singularly defiant and combative; but in prayer the sympathetic and tenderer qualities shine out. Dr. Parker wears a gown in the pulpit, but otherwise does not affect conventional clerical garb. He habits himself in a mode suggestive of a bygone generation of Independents.

It is difficult to convey a mental picture of Dr. Parker’s manner in the pulpit. It may be strange, but it is his own ; it may be eccentric, but it is magnetic. And we would not wish it otherwise. …

No pen can describe the deep bass tones of his voice, or visualise the striking gestures with which he illustrates and emphasises his message. At times, the rapidity of his speech is irresistible, and again de-lib-er-ate-ness can alone style it. Sententious he always is. In aphoristic strength no other preacher comes near him. With one pregnant sentence or striking paradox he grips the attention of his hearers, and the hold is never slackened. He speaks in flashes:

“Who can keep down the fool?”

“There are no trivialities in the Bible.”

“We are called to high considerations.”

“‘Son of Man, can these bones live?’”

“God gives us insoluble problems. I know Ezekiel was a great and a wise man by his answer: “O Lord God, Thou knowest.”

“I believe in the impossible—the im- possible to man—because I believe in Thee. I live in God’s Hereafter.”

“We are in the valley to-day. Can these shattered lives be pieced together; can these evil passions be quenched? O Lord, Thou knowest. That is peace, that is faith.”

‘Do not hold the farthing candle to the sun.”

“I thank God that from my mother’s breast I drank in a love for my Bible. To me it is the word of God. The all-time book.”

“Don’t be so clever to finish what God began.”

“Can the body rise again from the dead? O Lord, Thou knowest. I am no creed maker, no theology inventor. On my ‘not know’ I set my faith.”

“Go home to bed and learn the first prayer—to hold your tongue.”

Source: A Sunday Morning at the City Temple, George T. Moore. The Sunday Magazine, vol. 25, February 1896, p. 103–107.

Free Commentaries on Malachi – Quick Links (Ultimate List of Free Bible Commentaries)

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Minor Prophets

Adams | Banks | Bellett | B. Douglass | Douglas (Ob-Zeph) Elzas | Farrar | Henderson | Orchard | Newcome | Pusey (vol. 2) | G. A. Smith | White | Wolfendale

Malachi

Dods (Hag/Zech/Mal) | Lowe (“Ellicott’s”) | |Morgan | Moore (Hag/Zech/Mal) | Packard | Pococke (Hos/Joel/Mic/Mal) | Randolph (Hos/Hag/Zech/Mal) | Robinson | Sanders & Kent | Sclater | Stock | Torshell | Watson (3:16–18)

Non-English

French: van Hoonacker

German: Reinke | Schegg (Hos-Mic) | Schegg (Nah-Mal)

Latin: van Til

To Borrow

Hailey | Luther | Moore | Verhoef

This list was collated from a number of lists and databases, including PRDL, IA, and Freecommentaries.
Is something missing? Comment and let us know!