The Medieval World of Isidore of Seville: Truth from Words by John Henderson

Phoenix ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 63 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 423-424
Author(s):  
Robert Maltby
Keyword(s):  
Isidore Of Seville

Ælfric's use of etymologies

1988 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Hill
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Text ◽  
Intimate Connection ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
Catholic Homilies ◽  
Definition Of

Augustine, Jerome, Bede, Gregory, Smaragdus and Haymo, the exegetical authorities acknowledged by Ælfric in the Latin preface to the Catholic Homilies, frequently used etymologies as one of their techniques for penetrating the words of the biblical text in order to arrive at their spiritual essence. To the modern student of language their interpretations often seem arbitrary, even bizarre, but the idea that there was an intimate connection between the signifying name and the person, place or thing signified was well established within the scriptural canon and was extended and confirmed by the cumulative authority of the exegetes themselves. It was Isidore of Seville, in his Etymologies, who provided the most systematic definition of this tradition of etymologizing. As he explained it, it was a method for determining the true essence of the thing designated by the process of penetrating its appellation, since all things and all activities which were named ‘secundum naturam’ (as opposed to those arbitrarily named ‘secundum placitum’) were designated by those words which had etymologies enshrining the very quality or idea so designated. Given this definition, with its underlying philosophical and linguistic assumptions, it is easy to understand why etymologies were exploited in Christian exegesis and teaching. It was accepted that biblical names were in the category ‘secundum naturam’ since they were God-given or at least divinely sanctioned, and the rationale and method of their penetration had the advantage of harmonizing closely with the general interpretative process that was employed.

Two Hiberno-Latin Texts on the Gospels

Traditio ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 387-401
Author(s):  
Robert E. McNally
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Latin Literature ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Intellectual Activity ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
Clear Insight ◽  
Venerable Bede ◽  
Alcuin Of York ◽  
Insight Into

The two texts presented here as a contribution to Hiberno-Latin literature are only a fragment of the still unedited Bible commentaries which came forth from the Irish Bible Schools of the Early Middle Ages. These two pieces are valuable sources for the development of biblical exegesis in the pre-Carolingian age, which, except for the accomplishment of the Venerable Bede (d. 735), is distinguished neither for the richness nor the depth of its theological writing. The years between the death of St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636) and Alcuin of York (d. 804) were dominated by the intellectual activity of the Irish monks, whose reputation for learning was mainly founded on their Bible scholarship. But the fruit of this scholarship is not well known. Though the two texts edited below do not represent all the intellectual factors involved in the biblical exegesis of the ancient schools of Ireland, they do reflect the spirit and method of these schools; and they do afford a clear insight into the cultural problem of the development of medieval exegesis at its earliest stage.

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