
Contents
16 The Medieval Four Senses of Scripture and Nicholas of Lyra’s Literal Interpretation of the Bible
Get accessLesley Smith is Professor of Medieval Intellectual History at the University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in Politics and Senior Tutor at Harris Manchester College. Her work focuses on the medieval Bible as both a physical and intellectual object. She is the author of The Ten Commandments: Interpreting the Bible in the Medieval World (2014) and Nicholas of Lyra: The Senses of Scripture, ed. with P. D. W. Krey (2000).
-
Published:19 November 2024
Cite
Abstract
This chapter seeks to show that many of the characteristics associated with Reformation biblical interpretation can already be found in the exegesis of the fourteenth-century Franciscan scholar Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349), said to be Martin Luther’s favorite exegete. Nicholas’s vast biblical commentary, Postilla litteralis super totam bibliam (1322–31), with its shorter companion, the Postilla moralis (1333–39), was enormously popular, surviving even today in hundreds of manuscripts. Commonly comparing Christian and Jewish understanding of the same text (including through a set of comparative exegetical drawings, especially for Exodus and Ezekiel), Nicholas almost always comes down on the side of the Jewish interpretation as being superior to the Christian. Nevertheless, this does not alter his view of the fundamental wrongness of the Jewish understanding of God’s word.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
November 2024 | 1 |
December 2024 | 16 |
January 2025 | 17 |
February 2025 | 4 |
March 2025 | 2 |
April 2025 | 11 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.