CALMET, AUGUSTIN. - One of the most famous among the commentators of the Bible and historians of the Church of the 18th century, b. at Ménil-la-Horgne (Lorraine) in 1672, d. 25 Oct. 1757; after his early studies at Breuil, at the age of sixteen he entered the Benedictine Order. He taught himself Greek and Hebrew. A priest in 1696, two years later he was teaching philosophy and theology at Moyen Moutier, beginning the prodigious activity that accompanied him throughout his life.
Between 1707 and 1716 he published in Paris La Sainte Bible en latin et en français, avec un Commentaire littéral et critique, in 23 vols., a work often reprinted and translated (into Latin by J. D. Mansi, 9 vols., Lucca 1730-38). Drawing on previous exegetes, he formed his own opinion, which he set out in clear form, unencumbered by the overload of humanistic erudition that burdened the exegetes of the 1600s-1700s, reducing moral and allegorical considerations to what was fitting without neglecting the critical and philological aspect (cf. e.g., Ec. 19, 10). He was one of the first exegetes to pay particular attention to the literal sense, and for this he faced the opposition of Guillemin and others, tenacious supporters of the spiritual interpretation. He treated the more important passages and introductory questions in added dissertations, which were later also published separately (1st ed., Paris 1720) and widely circulated throughout Europe. If the author could not avoid the defects of his age and left traces of haste in the immense work, the rare balance and historical insight deserve praise, which sometimes anticipates the modern positions of exegetes, e.g., in Dan. As a complement to the Commentary, C. subsequently published the Histoire Sainte de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament et des Juifs (2 vols., Paris 1718) and the Dictionnaire historique et critique etc. de la Bible (2 vols., ibid. 1722; Supplément, ibid. 1728), these too often published and translated.
Meanwhile the pious and learned monk was raised to the highest offices of the Order (from 1728 abbot at Senones in Lorraine); but his humility thwarted Benedict XIII's plan to make him a bishop. His attention turned ever more to historical studies; he published: Histoire universelle sacrée et profane depuis le commencement du monde jusqu'à nos jours (17 vols., Strasbourg, Senones, and Nancy 1735-71); Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Lorraine (4 vols., Nancy 1728; 7 vols., ibid. 1745-57), later enlarged and still appreciated today; various minor works, especially on chronology, the Commentaire... sur la Règle de st. Benoît (2 vols., Paris 1732).