Bernard Orchard - A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture

A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture

editorial committee

Dom Bernard Orchard M.A. (Cantab.)

General Editor and New Testament Editor

Rev. Edmund F. Sutcliffe S.J., M.A. (Oxon.), L.S.S.

Old Testament Editor

Rev. Reginald C. Fuller D.D., L.S.S.

Secretary of the Catholic Biblical Association

Dom Ralph Russell D.D., M.A. (Oxon.)

Hon. Secretary and Treasurer

WITH A FOREWORD BY

THE CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER

The word of our God endureth for ever

Isaias 40:8

Thomas Nelson & Sons

toronto NEW YORK edinburgh

Copyright 1953 by Thomas Nelson & Sons

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 53-9447

of the copy of the Catholic Commentary presented to Pope Pius XII

segreteria di stato di sua santita

No. 308185

Dal Vaticano, li

January 29, 1954

Dear Dom Orchard

I have the honour to acknowledge, at the august direction of the Holy Father, the copy of A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture which you in the name of the Editorial Committee presented to Him in the Audience of August 26th last, and also the specially bound copy of the same volume which was subsequently received by His Holiness.

The Sovereign Pontiff would have me convey to you and to all those associated with you in the preparation and publication of this volume, His sentiments of paternal gratification. In the accomplishment of the difficult task of editing a scientific commentary, in small compass, on the entire Bible, you have succeeded in producing a most useful work for all English-speaking countries. It is to be presumed that scholarly research and the zeal for accuracy of the Editorial Committee will further enhance this usefulness by the incorporation of necessary or opportune improvements in the future editions of so valuable a publication.

With the prayer that this Commentary may serve through its diffusion among English-speaking Catholics as an aid towards an increased knowledge and love of the Sacred Scriptures, the Sovereign Pontiff imparts to you, to the members of the Editorial Committee, and to all your associates, His special Apostolic Blessing.

With sentiments of esteem, I remain,

Devotedly yours in Christ,

J. B. Montini

Prosecr.

The Reverend

Dom Bernard Orchard, O.S.B.

Ealing Priory

London W. 5

W HEN shortly after my appointment as Archbishop of Westminster at the end of 1943 I learned that some members of the Catholic Biblical Association were contemplating the preparation in one volume of a Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, I readily gave this ambitious venture my full approval and blessing. I was well aware of the need of such a work, and I was confident that those who proposed setting about this task were encouraged to do so largely by what our Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, had written earlier that year in his encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu . After dealing with the improved conditions for biblical study, His Holiness had written: Now, therefore, that textual criticism has attained such a high level of perfection, biblical scholars have the honourable though not always easy duty of using every endeavour to procure that, as soon as it is possible and opportune, editions of the Sacred Books and the ancient versions shall be prepared by Catholics in conformity with these critical standards; editions, that is, in which a scrupulous observance of all the laws of criticism shall be combined with the deepest reverence for the sacred text.

The editorial committee have laboured hard for nine years to produce this commentary. They have realized that their efforts will not produce a popular work, but all serious readers of the Bible will appreciate the immense value of this commentary. With new translations of Holy Scripture and with the improved presentation of texts which have come about by the devoted interest of publishers, more and more people are reading the Scriptures. There is a need for guidance in this matter and the appearance of this work is most opportune.

In his encyclical the Holy Father referred particularly to the serious obligation incumbent on the faithful to make use of the Scriptures and of the distilled wisdom of those who have endeavoured with great labour to interpret Holy Writ, for, writes the Pope, God did not grant the Sacred Books to men to satisfy their curiosity or to provide them with an object of study and research; these divine oracles were bestowed as the Apostle tells us in order that they might instruct to salvation by the Faith which is in Christ Jesus and that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work .

There is no dearth of Catholic scriptural scholars and the committee has been fortunate in having so wide a field from which to select its commentators. Indeed, they are drawn from throughout the English-speaking world, from the secular clergy and the religious orders alike. I am confident that for many years the value of this commentary will be deeply appreciated by all English-speaking Catholics. I thank the Catholic Biblical Association and, in particular, the editorial committee for all they have done in so worthy a cause. Their work has borne great fruit, and I am confident that in welcoming the appearance of this commentary I am speaking for thousands who will appreciate its immense value and scholarship.

Bernard Cardinal Griffin

Archbishop of Westminster

30 April 1952

A CATHOLIC COMMENTARY ON HOLY SCRIPTURE is the result of nine years work by a group of scholars, who believe that biblical learning must be integrated with traditional Christianity if it is to bear any spiritual message or fruit for modern society. Their endeavour has been to sum up the results of international scholarship during the last fifty years, and put them at the disposal not only of Catholics but also of all those who respect and would be glad to know more of the Catholic Churchs teaching on Scripture and of the way in which her members interpret it.

The Commentary thus fills a gap in English theological literature by providing a critical survey of modern biblical knowledge from the standpoint of all those, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, who accept the full doctrine of biblical inspiration. Those who deny in greater or lesser degree the objective truthfulness and the divine inspiration of the Bible have had ample opportunities for stating their views. It is desirable, bearing in mind the recent advances in biblical science, that there should be a more widespread knowledge and appreciation of the viewpoint of the religious body which gave us the Bible and claims it for her very own. Thus we venture to hope that the Commentary will help to restore the Bible to its true place in the culture and worship of the English-speaking nations.

The idea of a one-volume Commentary on Holy Scripture was first put forward at the 1942 meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association at Cambridge. Later on, in December 1943, a small group discussed the project in detail and decided to accept responsibility for it as the Editorial Committee. Archbishop (now Cardinal) Griffin gave his full approval. By a happy coincidence, when the scheme was taking shape, His Holiness Pope Pius XII published (30 September 1943) his encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu , in which he gave further encouragement to undertakings of this kind. The Committee was fortunate in securing the collaboration of Catholic scholars from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Eire, Malta and the United States of America, as well as two from Austria and Germany.

The work is based on the full acceptance (1) of the divine Inspiration of Holy Scripture and of the teaching and discipline of the Catholic Church as a divine institution owing its origin to Christ himself, and (2) of the assured findings of modern research, in the conviction that there can be no clash between the Word of God and scientific truth. We claim that orthodoxy and freedom of spirit can and ought to go hand in hand to produce a satisfying synthesis. It should be added that this attempt to assess the present state of biblical knowledge from the Catholic standpoint is quite unofficial; the official teaching of the Church on Holy Scripture is found in the decrees of the various Councils, and in the declarations made from time to time by the Holy See. There is no official view on any but a minute handful of biblical texts, and there is ample room for diversity of interpretation within the bounds of orthodoxy.