ARIZZARA, GIACINTO

ARIZZARA, GIACINTO. — Dominican of the eighteenth century, professor of Sacred Scripture and Oriental languages at the University of Modena. As a Hebraist, he was not unworthy of his contemporary G. Bern. De Rossi; he published De hebraicorum characterum in s. bibliis origine et antiquitate, Modena 1782. Noteworthy is his introduction to biblical study: Elementa sacrae hermeneuticae, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana 1790, in which he treats soundly, with reference to the soundest criticism of his time, questions relating to inspiration, the canon, and the authority of the versions. He demands of the interpreter of Sacred Scripture philological (Hebrew and Greek) and historical knowledge, and rejects subjective exegesis. Unfortunately, this work, which appeared in a troubled age, remained without resonance among Catholics.