The Book of Jeremiah transl. and ed. by Joy A. Schroeder (review)

Joy A. Schroeder, professor of church history at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, has assembled a wonderful collection of medieval texts dealing with the book of Jeremiah. These selections from the ninth through the fifteenth century fill a notable gap in exegetical and interpretive material available in English from that period. Commentators include Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Nicholas of Lyra. A chapter is devoted to each of the seven writers. Within each chapter, selected commentary is arranged according to the chapter and verse of Jeremiah being treated. The chapters are arranged to form a roughly comprehensive commentary on Jeremiah. Since the material does not overlap, no implied or explicit preference for any commentator's views is expressed.

An important contribution is the detailed introduction, which provides excellent information on patristic and medieval methods of biblical interpretation, antecedent readings of the book of Jeremiah, and each commentator. Laudably, this book, both in its introductory material and the selections from the commentators, moves beyond the stereotypical denigration of medieval biblical interpretation as boring or unoriginal. While it is true that many commentators lacked access to the original Hebrew texts of Jeremiah—and some worked heavily with earlier interpreters of the prophet—even a cursory analysis renders such caricatures problematic. A clear interest in the meaning and contemporary application of the text is manifest in each of the writers.

Readers of this journal may question some of the interpretive habits of medieval commentators. While these writers are frequently criticized for abstract and arcane forms of allegorical exegesis, those included here often evince a laudable concern for the sensus literalis(plain sense) of the biblical text. They also frequently seek to anchor the allegorical readings they offer in a strongly Christological framework. Even so, some significant theological differences are readily detectable. Mariological interest is evident in some and might prove striking to modern Protestant readers. An anti-Jewish bias is present in many texts, directed especially at the medieval Jewish contemporaries of these writers. Many will be pleased to see Nicholas of Lyra represented here, not only because he was exceptional in his time for his knowledge of Hebrew, but also because of Martin Luther's frequent engagement with Lyra in Luther's own exegetical work.

Some readers might be left curious about interpretations of Jeremiah outside of Western Christendom during this time. Even so, this commendable resource will be of interest, primarily to historians but also to theologians and biblical scholars with an interest in premodern, theological interpretation of scripture. It might also be helpful for pastors preaching on Jeremiah, although the assemblage is clearly oriented by academic, rather than strictly homiletical, concerns.