EXAMINERS. — Among the various advisory bodies established by canon law in every episcopal curia to assist the Ordinary in the exercise of his functions, the synodal examiners occupy a prominent place. They form a college of ecclesiastics elected, on the bishop’s proposal, in the diocesan synod. Those occasionally appointed by the bishop outside the synod are called proximate examiners.
Their principal duty is to examine and judge the suitability of candidates for parochial benefices, whether through competition or otherwise, and to assist the Ordinary, in the capacity of assessors, in administrative proceedings for the removal or transfer of parish priests and for the application of disciplinary measures envisaged in the Code of Canon Law against clerics who, in certain cases, have failed in their priestly duties (canons 2147–85). The bishop may also avail himself of their services, though not obliged to do so, in examinations for sacred ordinations and for the granting of preaching and confession faculties, as well as in the annual examinations prescribed for newly ordained priests in the years following ordination (canons 389 §1, 2; canon 130).
In every diocese, examiners must be elected in the diocesan synod through the bishop’s proposal and the assembly’s approval, in a number varying at the Ordinary’s discretion from a minimum of four to a maximum of twelve (canon 385). Should the synod not be convened within the prescribed time, or if any position becomes vacant before the term expires, the bishop, after consulting the cathedral chapter, directly appoints new examiners or fills the vacancies (canon 386). They hold office for ten years, unless a new synod is convened before the expiration of this term. In the case of extra-synodal appointments, their tenure is limited to the remaining term of the person replaced. They are, however, always eligible for re-election (canon 387). The bishop may not remove them from office except for grave cause and after obtaining the opinion of the cathedral chapter (canon 388).
The office of synodal examiner is not incompatible with that of parish consultor, which is closely related. Nevertheless, the same person holding both offices may not exercise them cumulatively in the same case (canon 390).
Historically, synodal examiners trace their origin to the Council of Trent, which prescribed their establishment in every diocesan curia after making the examination for competitions to parochial benefices obligatory (session XXIV, chapter 18 *de ref.*). The decree *Maxima cura* of 20 August issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory, which introduced the modern law now embodied in the Code of Canon Law, extended their role to include administrative proceedings for the removal of parish priests.
Zaccaria da Sant’Anna
**ESAPLE — EXARCHATE OF ITALY**
The *Esaple* (Hexapla) was a monumental work intended to fill fifty large volumes of atlas format; however, it also included partial versions of two kinds: 1) a single book (e.g., the Psalter, as in the Cairo fragments of the Ambrosian Library) was copied in full, with all columns laid out at length, at least the Greek ones; 2) only the fifth column (the Septuagint) was transcribed in its entirety, while a selection of variant readings from the other columns—namely, those of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion—was placed alongside. From such copies stem the numerous citations of Hexaplaric readings preserved in the commentaries of Greek Fathers (e.g., St. John Chrysostom and Theodore on the Psalms) and in the margins of Septuagint manuscripts. Subsequently, around the years 675–775, a Syriac version of the Hexapla was made, known as the *Siro-Esaplare*. About half of this survives in a palimpsest codex of the Ambrosian Library (the other half had been in the possession of the Belgian Andreas Masius, but after his death in 1573, that codex disappeared), with additional fragments preserved in manuscripts in Paris and London.
Closely related to, and indeed scarcely distinguishable from, the *Esaple* are the *Heptaple* and *Octaple*, mentioned in some manuscripts and by certain writers. Origen, in his search for biblical manuscripts, found, in addition to the three complete versions of the Old Testament already mentioned, three other partial versions—namely, of certain books only (Job, Psalms, Minor Prophets)—and these were anonymous. He incorporated these into his *Esaple* as well, bringing the number of columns in those books to seven or eight.
A distinct work, however, is the *Tetraple*, derived from the *Esaple* by omitting the two Hebrew columns, though not without some variant readings or improvements introduced into the Septuagint column. A few special readings of this kind survive in manuscripts and patristic writings; the original, like the *Esaple*, was lost in the upheavals and Arab domination.
Brux.: Tasso: A. M. Ceriani, *Codex Syro-Hexaplaris Ambrosianus photolithographice editus*, Milano 1874; F. Field, *Origenis Hexaplorum quae supersunt*, Oxford 1875 (v. also PG 15, 6); C. Taylor, *Hebrew-Greek Cairo Geniza palimpsests*, Cambridge 1900; G. Mercati, *D’un palimpseste ambrosien contenant les Psaumes hexaplaires*, in *Atti dell’Accademia delle scienze di Torino*, 31 (1895), pp. 635–663; an important phototypic edition of this palimpsest was in preparation (1896) under the direction of the same Cardinal Mercati. — Studies: H. B. Swete, *An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek*, 2nd ed., Cambridge 1914, pp. 59–86; J. Van-dervorst, *Introduction aux textes hébreux et grecs de l’Ancien Testament*, Malines 1935, pp. 93–103; F. G. Kenyon, *The Text of the Greek Bible*, London 1937, pp. 33–35; H. W. Robinson, *The Bible and its Ancient and English Versions*, Oxford 1940, pp. 53–54.