ECOLE BIBLIQUE. - The first Catholic centre for scientific biblical studies, founded by the Dominican M.-J. Lagrange in Jerusalem in 1890, at the suggestion of Leo XIII to Fr. M. Lecomte, who acquired the land and built the convent beside the ruins of the ancient basilica of St Stephen. Under the brilliant and tireless direction of Lagrange, courses in exegesis, introduction, and all subsidiary subjects (languages, history, geography, archaeology, history of religions, etc.) relating to the Bible and the ancient cultures connected with it began on 15 November 1890. Lagrange was assisted by selected brethren from the three French provinces of the Order. From the outset, conferences on Palestinian and Oriental studies accompanied the aforementioned courses; a large library rapidly enriched itself with the most precious ancient and modern works; an archaeological use gathered the fruits of important discoveries.
Students from all orders, priests and laypeople of every nation flocked to the École Biblique.
In 1892, the publication of the Revue Biblique began, for the dissemination of the research and studies of the professors of the École Biblique. Rigorously scientific, it embraces all the specialities of the biblical field (cf. Leo XIII’s letter to Fr. Lagrange: Hierosolymae in coenobio, of 17 September 1892, in Revue Biblique, 2 [1893], pp. 1-3). In 1902, the Études Bibliques series was launched, announced in Revue Biblique, 9 (1900), pp. 414-22: “We need Catholic commentaries based on a good translation of the originals from a carefully reconstructed critical text, with special application to literary criticism. It will be above all the explanation of the text...” (ibid., p. 422). This programme is also that of the École Biblique: “the exact knowledge of the text, the reverence for the literal sense, the search for the integral thought and nuances of the sacred authors” (Spicq), exploiting all the results and methods of scientific research (cf. the encyclicals Providentissimus Deus [1893] and Divino afflante Spiritu [1943]).
The École Biblique placed particular importance on archaeological explorations in Palestine and neighbouring regions, in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Its contribution in this field is notable, as recognised by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, which entrusted it in 1902 with the École française d’archéologie de Jérusalem. The fruit of so much work is evident chiefly in the training of excellent exegetes and specialists in various branches, in the indispensable importance of the Revue Biblique, in the grand works of the university and the Études Bibliques series (volumes by Frs. Lagrange, Dhorme, Abel, Allo, etc.), and in the archaeological studies of Frs. Vincent, Abel, Jaussen, and Sjöberg.
The École Biblique fully fulfilled its mission, acting as a driving force in the movement for scientific study of the Bible in the first half of our century.