Silvia's Response to Intro to Manuscript

Chapter 11:
The Bible and Related Texts

It is no surprise that the
Bible was the most studied book in the Middle Ages. However, what is most impressive is what this chapter reveals about the world of Biblical scholarship during this
period. It reveals an extraordinary ingenuity in the organization and creative methods employed for the compilation of biblical passages into reference guides for the study of the Bible. It also reveals the vast learning of the medieval exegetes who created these study tools. The compilation methods and organization of passages reveal a complex and multifaceted world of Biblical scholarship whose methods paved the way for the later development and use of chapter divisions, table of contents, and indexes so commonly found in today’s books. The chapter gives a clear outline of the development and types of Biblical manuscripts and reference tools.

Lectio divina, that is, the reading of the Bible was understood to contain various levels of meaning comprising of the literal (historical) and spiritual senses: allegorical, tropological (moral) and anagogical (mystical or eschatological). This was further distinguished by its
extrinsic (historical/Jewish) meaning and its intrinsic (hidden/Christian)
meaning revealed by Christ and interpreted and explicated by Christian exegetes. A good example of an intrinsic exegetical approach is the typological reading and exposition found in the Speculum humanae salvationis (The mirror of human salvation); its page-spreads are divided into four sections in which the first depicts a New Testament scene followed by three images from the Old Testament that are understood to be a type or prefiguration of the New
Testament one. Many biblical scholars of the Middle Ages turned to Jewish rabbinic sources (though critically) to ascertain the literal (historical) meaning of the Old Testament texts while the Church Fathers were considered the primary source for understanding the spiritual
sense of Scripture.

Commentaries took various forms such as the Glossa ordinaria (a compilation of commentaries from earlier sources, including the Church Fathers which are penned on the margins (marginal
gloss) or under the lines (interlinear gloss). Postillae, commentaries that encompassed the whole of a biblical book, incorporated or contested earlier commentaries and often provided a new understanding of the text. Several other reference methods were also developed and employed to facilitate the study of Sacred Scripture. These included glossaries with an alphabetical
arrangement of Hebrew names and their etymologies, lists of incipits of the Biblical chapters, and list of the names of the patriarchs and generations stemming from Adam to Noah and to Christ. Other study aids included short summaries of Biblical history such as
the Historia scholastic of Peters of Comestor, the division of the Bible into numbered sections, and the use of Canon Tables to indicate the concordant and parallel passages of the Gospels; this led to other arrangements such as the four column Gospel harmony and later the handier verbal and subject concordances favored by the preaching mendicant orders.

The creative methods for referencing Bible texts – its organization, commentaries, and compilations - reflect the passion for learning and systematization in the Middle Ages. This chapter presents a brief but fascinating summary of their accomplishments.