Author Archives: A.A.

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Go where no one else will go. Do what no one else will do.

Review: Song of Songs (Parker)

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 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

Augustine of Hippo (354–430). De Genesi ad Litteram.
—. De Genesi contra Manichaeos.
—. Questions on Genesis.
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.
Brenz, Johann.
Chrysostom, John (c.347–407). Homilies on Genesis.
Comestor, Petrus (c.1100–c.1179). Historia Scholastica. 1543.
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.
Cornelius a Lapide (1567–1637). Comentaria in scripturam sacram. Vol 1: Commentaria in Genesim. Paris: Apum Ludovicum Vives, Bibliupolam Editorem, [1616] 1891.
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.
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.
Musculus, Wolfgang.
Nicholas of Lyra (c.1270–1349). Biblia Sacra cum glossis, etc. vol. 1. 1545.
[GEN. 1–3?] Melanchthon, Philip (1497–1560). In obscuriora aliquot Geneseos Phil. Mel. Annotationes. 1523.
Oecolampadius, Johannes (1482–1531). In genesim Enarratio [An Exposition of Genesis]. 1536.
Pereira (Pererius), Benedict(us) (1536–1610). Commentatiorum et Disputationum en Genesim, Tomi Quatuor. 4vol. 1601.
Schrank, Franz von Paula (1747–1835). Commentarius literalis in Genesin. Sulzbach: Seideliana, 1835.
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!
Josephus. In English here.
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.
Ephraim the Syrian (c.306–373). In Genesim et in Exodum commentarii.
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.
Strigel, Victor (Victorinus) (1524-1569). Primus Liber Moysi, qui inscribitur Genesis. Vögelin, 1566.
Theodoret? Questions on the Octateuch?
Tostado, Alonso (c.1400–1455). Commentaria in Genesim: Mendis nunc sanè quam plurimis diligenter expurgata. Venetiis: Sessa, 1596.
Wigbold (8th c.). Quaestiones in Octateuchum. [See PL 96.1101ff]
Zwingli, Huldrych (Ulrich) (1484-1531). Farrago Annotationum in Genesim. Tiguri: Froschouer, 1527.

French

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).
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).
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).
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).
Saint-Rambert, Gabriel de (-c.1720). Nouveaux essais d’explication physique du premier chapitre de la Genèse.
Utrecht : Chèz Guillaume Broedelet, 1713

German

[GEN. 28] Andreae, Jakob (1528-1590). Ein christliche Predig von der Leiter Jacobs, Genesis 28. Darinnen Flarlich und einfeltig angezeigt (Tübingen, 1566).
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)
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).
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
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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]
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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

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 Haggai – Quick Links

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Minor Prophets

Haggai

Dods | Gryneus | Mitchell | Pilkington (Hag/Ob) | Rainolds (Hag/Ob)

Essays & dissertations

Bloomhardt

Sermons

Eyre (on 1:4) | Lang (on 2:9)

Non-English

Dutch: van Hoeke (Hag/Zech/Mal)

German: Köhler | Pressel | Reinke | Wolff

To Borrow

Unavailable

Baldwin [Balduini] Comm, in Haggeun, Zachariam et Malachiam, Vitemb., 1610
Draconitis Haggaus propheta, e lingua sancta Latine versus et explicatus, Lubece, 1549
Eckii Commentarius super Haggaum, Salingiaci, 1538
Merceri Scholia et Versio ad prophetam Haggai, Parisis, 1551
Neli Bretes Obsertationes in Comm. Rab. Davidis Kimchi in Aggeum,, Zachariam et Malachiam, Paris, 1557
Pfeffinger Note in Prophetam Haggai, Argentor., 1703
Reinbeckli Exercitaliones in prophetam Haggaum, Brunsv., 1692
Sheibel, Observationes critica et exegeticre ad vaticinia Haggei, V ratislav., 1822.
Wicelli Enarratio in Haggaum, Mogunt., 1541
Willi Prophete. Haggeus, Zacharias, Malachias Comment. illustrati, Breme, 1638
Wokenii Adnotationes exegetica in prophetiam Haggai, Lips. 1719

I've searched IA, GB, PRDL. PRDL lists many others that cover multiple prophets; I will add another section for commentaries that cover all the Minor Prophets.

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

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Minor Prophets

Malachi

Non-English

Dutch: van Hoeke (Hag/Zech/Mal)

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!

New Boreham Reprints

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After numerous delays, several Boreham titles are returning to print this month (May 2022), and they will all be for sale for $15 (shipping included) on eBay soon. These include:

Also, there are a number of other titles forthcoming:

The Home of the Echoes
Rubble and Roseleaves
The Crystal Pointers
The Nest of Spears
The Fiery Crags
A Temple of Topaz
The Ivory Spires
The Passing of John Broadbanks
A Faggot of Torches

The proofreading is complete for all of these books, but the delays have to do with issues with Amazon’s publishing platform. I am in the process of shifting my main store from Amazon to eBay. Amazon is taking a larger cut, so you will see prices rising on Amazon, but most or all will be available on eBay for only $15 (shipping included).

Unfortunately, Amazon’s Content Review has become very unpredictable, so that I won’t be adding any new Kindle editions, and the new Borehams going up will be distributed by Lulu.com, not Amazon. It is too much of a liability to create a wonderful ebook without knowing if Amazon will reject it.

Review: Genesis 1–11 (ACCS)

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The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture is a cross-denominational effort to compile the best passages from the first millennium of Christianity, organized canonically (verse by verse). The series was painstakingly created using digital databases of the Greek and Latin Fathers, as well as some sources in Syriac and other languages. The result is a very readable, accessible compendium of quotations from a variety of Church Fathers.

The first volume is necessarily weighted towards the creation and Paradise (Adam and Eve) narratives. In fact, half of the volume covers Genesis 1–3; the second half covers Genesis 4–11.

The Value of ACCS

I found this book extremely useful. Here is why:

Last year, I decided to read every commentary I could find on Genesis. It was easy to get around 100 in English, from after 1700. Luther was difficult to find in English; Melanchthon is out of print and only in Latin. But I could find almost nothing in English from Church Fathers before 1500. It is beyond doubt many times more difficult.

I knew (and know) very little about Church Fathers. I could not afford a seminary education. It has been very difficult to get started from scratch, as a Pentecostal—sometimes Pentecostals act like the church started at Azusa Street. The only Church Father I hear about with any frequency is Augustine.

Eventually, I found four relevant works by Augustine, three of them in Latin. I was so excited that I made it through quite a bit of his commentary. And I saw references online to Ambrose’ On Paradise, Chrysostom’s Homilies on Genesis, Basil the Great’s Hexaemeron, Gregory of Nyssa’ works on creation, Ephrem the Syrian’s commentary on Genesis, and others.

Any one of these was not available online in a citable form or a reputable translation. Altogether, I was looking at hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to collect these important works (only 10 or 12 of them!), whereas I had spent almost nothing collecting 100+ English commentaries. Ironically, the original works would be in the public domain; but translated volumes from Church Fathers are both expensive and copyrighted.

After much difficulty, I noticed the Glossia Ordinaria, from the 12th century, but it does not name its primary sources, and I did not find Nicholas of Lyra very enlightening (and the Latin was a little cumbersome!). I wanted to read what Lyra had read!

The ACCS volume on Genesis 1–11 has opened up a wealth to me. After reading the whole volume, I have a very clear direction about which Church Fathers are the most important, readable, and interesting to me.

Patristic Interpretations of Genesis 1–11

Some of the interpretations are pretty boilerplate. In quite a few places, they preserve wisdom from Jewish interpretations of Genesis. Others are fresh, Christological readings of the Old Testament that I have never heard before despite reading quite a bit on Genesis.

For instance, the story of Noah’s ark was consistently regarded as a type of Christ’s salvation, down to the smallest details of the narrative.

Other interpretations were mere speculation or tradition, but even these were still interesting as they preserve for us the Fathers’ ways of thinking. Perhaps they should be regarded as cultural imbalances more than hermeneutical failures; our own cultures have their own ideological imbalance.

I am very much looking forward to reading other volumes from the ACCS and slowly piecing together a library of favorite patristic readings of the Bible, from the best works I discover through ACCS.

The Lost Parables of F. W. Boreham

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As I have been editing the F. W. Boreham Signature Edition series, I have learned almost everything anyone could want to know about which books, articles, and magazines Boreham used in the formation of his esssays. I have meticulously searched up his original sources, whenever available, using the best digital archives online: Google Books, the Internet Archive, Early English Books Online, and other more specialised sites, like Project Canterbury.

This has been no small undertaking. Take for instance, Boreham’s essay on John Woolman in A Faggot of Torches, the latest Boreham volume slated for re-release. Boreham quotes repeatedly from John Woolman’s journal: from John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1871 introduction; from Alexander Smellie’s 1898 introduction; and from Amelia Mott Gummere’s notes included with a 1922 edition of John Woolman’s journal. Several of the quotations are paraphrased or updated to make them more readable; nonetheless, it appears that he quoted from two or three different editions of the same book.

The side-effect of all this sleuth-work has been a trail of un-footnoted material—the narratives where Boreham is not quoting or paraphrasing from anyone. Frequently, Boreham based entire essays on classic or contemporary novels. But sometimes he tells stories that simply have no references. He artfully presents these stories such that we accept them as history. But I know Boreham and his library well enough, that I believe these are his hidden contributions to the world of fiction. They are the lost parables of F. W. Boreham.

Boreham’s Historical Fiction

The Love of Brother Pacificus (The Ivory Spires, I, IV)

“The Love of Brother Pacificus” is a tragic tale of unrequited love between Brother Pacificus, a monk, and Mary Selwyn. We can surmise that the story takes place around a medieval double monastery, but beyond this the narrative is not historically grounded. Pacificus leaves the Monastery of St. Bede’s, ashamed of his love for Mary; at the same time, Mary, impressed by Pacificus’ piety, joins the Convent of St. Cecilia.

Neither the Monastery of St. Bede’s nor the Convent of St. Celicia refers to a real location. Probably Boreham’s intention is that the monastery was founded by Bede, and so this dates the story to the eighth century or the centuries that follow.

Again, “Selwyn” is the name of one of Boreham’s heroes, George Augustus Selwyn, whose biography Boreham wrote; and it is likely that he included this as Mary’s last name as a way of alluding to one of his heroes.

Enoch Stapleton (A Faggot of Torches, XII)

“Enoch Stapleton’s Text” tells the story of Enoch and Hannah Stapleton, who left Sussex to settle in Virginia in the eighteenth century. It is a chapter in A Faggot of Torches, which is slated to be reprinted this year. This book is in the Texts That Made History series, in which each essay recounts the impact of a single Scripture passage in someone’s life. Most of these are historical figures; only a few are characters from novels, such as Uncle Tom, Sim Paris, Hepsy Gipsy, and Robinson Crusoe—and in each of those, Boreham expressly tells us what novel he is drawing from. Enoch and Hannah Stapleton, then, are presented as historical figures.

In the story, the Stapletons travel on the Queen o’ the West and settle in a place called Newhampstead, on the Ohio River. A search will show that there were people by these names in colonial Virginia, but no record gives the level of detail that Boreham does. It appears that Boreham simply wrote this story himself.

Boreham couches the story of the Stapletons in true narratives found in colonial letters and in Bancroft’s History of the United States—but the main thrust of the story, as far as I know, is an original historical fiction.

Issachar and Ruth (In “Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Text,” A Faggot of Torches, XXII)

Woven into the story of Harriet Beecher Stowe—another installment from the Texts That Made History—is the story of Issachar and Ruth, first-century believers, a father and daughter. Boreham ties in a quotation from F. B. Meyer. But I have found no other record of these names used of first-century Christians in Rome.

Like the stories of the Stapletons (eighteenth-century Virginia) and Pacificus (medieval England), the story of Issachar and Ruth is framed around a specific time and place (first-century Rome), but is a creation of the author’s fertile imagination.

Boreham’s Modern Fiction

Blackadder Lane (The Blue Flame, II, IV)

For years, my favorite Boreham book has been The Blue Flame (1930). It has many stellar essays that draw heavily from literature:

“A Lovers’ Quarrel,” from Florence Barclay’s novel Mistress of Shenstone, 1910;
“The Raven,” from the famous poem by Edgar Allen Poe, 1845;
“The Treasure in Coward’s Castle,” drawing on A. E. W. Mason’s The Four Feathers, 1902;
“Leap Year,” drawing on Charles Lamb’s essay “Rejoicings upon the New Year’s Coming of Age” in The Last Essays of Elia, 1833.

Another essay, “Add! Add! Add!”, has an illustration about Handley Page’s plane being threatened by electrical failure. But in the true story, found in the Aerial Age Weekly for January 6, 1919, there is no mention of electrical failure. I am not sure if Boreham dramatised the story, or misread it, or it is just as likely that Boreham plucked the story from one of the many preaching magazines that he read. In any case, in the church, it has never been considered immoral to tell such parables with the intent of illustrating a spiritual truth.

But the story of “Blackadder Lane” is on another level—a full essay, grounded in late Victorian Lancashire, with first and last names, dialogue, and picturesque details. Boreham begins with an elaborate dramatic frame for how he heard the story of Blackadder Lane from a stranger on a railway journey in the late 1890s.

Blackadder Lane, she explained, was the darkest, dirtiest, and vilest quarter of the town. Decent people could only imagine what it was like, for decent people never went there.
F. W. Boreham, The Blue Flame

Blackadder Lane, of course, was transformed by a little girl named Dora Manning, who was a student at a boarding school at Preston (a city in Lancashire) and who was stirred by a revival at the Primitive Methodist Church. Knowing that “Blackadder Lane is a short cut from High Street to George Street,” she began to walk it nonchalantly with her friend, eventually resulting in a reversal of attitudes toward the decrepit neighbourhood.

The only problem is, there is no “Blackadder Lane” in Preston. English place names are remarkably well documented, and many of these records are digital; but a search for “Blackadder Lane” returns zero hits. It’s possible that Boreham dramatised a narrative he knew well; but I believe that it is simply a parable of his own creation. “High Street” and “George Street” are probably the most common street names in all of England—analogous to “Main Street” and “Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive” in the United States—and so including them also gives us nothing.

Let’s go to some fictional stories that relate to Boreham’s life and ministry down under.

Old Eternity (The Home of the Echoes, I, III)

One of my favorite essays in The Home of the Echoes (1921) is “Old Eternity.” The essay begins:

Old Eternity was a mystery—a fascinating but inscrutable mystery. What was his real name? Where did he come from? How did he live?
F. W. Boreham, The Home of the Echoes

Boreham recounts quite specifically meeting a hermit while on a hunting trip in Piripiki Gorge.

I extended my hand to take farewell of him.
‘But you haven’t told me your name!’ I said.
‘No,’ he replied, ‘I have no name; at least, I have no need of a name up here!’
‘Well,’ I replied, ‘if you don’t tell me a name, I shall have to give you one. I must have a name of some kind in my mind to associate with you!’
‘And what would you call me?’ he inquired.
‘I think,’ I said, remembering the observation which formed the climax of his philosophy, ‘I think I should call you Old Eternity!’
‘Capital!’ he replied, his eyes sparkling. ‘Call me Old Eternity! For eternity won’t seem long, you know; eternity won’t seem long!’
F. W. Boreham, The Home of the Echoes

The essay concludes with a hint as to the identity of the old hermit. Boreham says that John Broadbanks told him that Old Eternity had died. He states that some years later he found the following advertisement in a paper:

ANY PERSON possessing information as to the whereabout of Professor COURTNEY PENNINGTON, who lost his wife and children, and was himself badly injured in the great railway disaster at Taddington Junction, on March 3, 1871 …

There is a clue, here, though. March 3, 1871 is Boreham’s exact birthday; and Boreham himself was injured in a railway accident at the age of 15. He walked with difficulty for the rest of his life, but never wrote of the incident in his essays. Could it be that Old Eternity is a fantastic bundle of personal allusions? Could Boreham have done this in his other essays?

Crusty (The Crystal Pointers, I, IV)

Similar to Old Eternity, Crusty is a hermit of the extremely remote outback. Boreham goes far out of his way to describe how far he was from civilization when he met Crusty.

Crusty’s distinguishing characteristic is that he has refused all dealings with women due to an unrequited love, Mary Chambers. Mary had left Crusty high and dry and married another man, many years since. Crusty had only learned of her wedding a month later and a few towns over, when he read ut in a newspaper.

Like in “Old Eternity,” the story hinges on archival research! Boreham writes that the remains of Crusty’s love, Mary, had been discovered in a quarry; she had apparently died in a tragic accident, and all Crusty’s bitterness had been for nought. The “Mary Chambers” who married around that time had been an unrelated person. As Crusty learns the news, his heart slowly warms.

The story teaches us to avoid holding grudges, to think the best of people whenever possible, and that even the hardest heart can be healed. “Crusty” was such a beloved story, that it was even printed as a little board book.

A pattern is emerging here: lonely hermits, remote reaches down under, the tragedy of unrequited love, and unlikely reunions, reversals, and restorations. I can neither verify or deny the story of Crusty, but it smacks more of legend and parable than of a true story.

Conclusion

I have said nothing here about the many essays in which Boreham absolutely lets loose—talking paper, visits to distant planets, time travel, and paintings come to life. Those that come to mind are “The Congress of the Universe” (The Nest of Spears, II, VII) and “The Uttermost Star” (The Uttermost Star, I, I).

I have also had no time here to speak of the level-headed John Broadbanks, F. W. Boreham’s apparently-fictional best friend, who appears in perhaps dozens of essays. He is apparently a placeholder for fictional dialogues and adventures. If John Broadbanks is fictional, there is almost no telling which other characters are real and which are imaginary.

For my own part, I believe that Boreham was simply filling in parables as he thought necessary for good preaching and teaching. Boreham did not live in the Information Age. Jesus himself does not clarify whether the Parable of the Prodigal Son is a historical narrative or not; and truthfully, it matters nothing.

Other stories told by Boreham include far-fetched coincidences. This would be poor grounds for disbelieving them, unless they follow a pattern, like “Crusty” does. Take, for instance, “His Worship the Mayor” (The Uttermost Star, III, III), which hinges on a mayor being reunited with a long-lost son after decades. I can verify nothing about that story; but neither can I claim it is definitely false. To Boreham’s contemporaries, it may have clearly rang of fiction. I do not know. But it is almost immaterial for the genre in which Boreham dealt—if a parable teaches something true and real, it does not matter so much whether it is a fact-driven narrative couched in an airtight bibliography. I think Boreham’s generation understood that better than ours, and for that, I thank God.