PINEDA, JUAN de. - Spanish exegete, b. in 1558 at Seville, d. there in 1637. A Jesuit from 1572, even before his priesthood he taught Aristotle at Granada and then at Seville.
As a priest, he expounded the Aquinate for two years at Seville, then became professor of exegesis in the colleges of Seville and Cordova and in the imperial college of Madrid. Of an erudition extraordinary for that time, he knew Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac well. He was employed by the Spanish Inquisition to compose, with others, the Index expurgatorius of prohibited books (in 1612, and again in 1632); in 1628 he was appointed deputy general reviser of all the libraries and bookshops of Spain. He died as rector of the college of Seville. He must not be confused with the theologian of the same name, not a Jesuit, who died at Medina del Campo in 1587. P. is one of the greatest luminaries of the golden age of Baroque exegesis. His commentaries, however widely circulated, possess merits admired by all, even by Protestants: he gathers with the utmost erudition the interpretations of previous exegesis, examines them with calm and a critical spirit; he then explains the text according to the rules of philology; he is inexhaustible in comparing the sacred text with what he knew of ancient customs and life; he sets out the theological and moral conclusions, especially in excursuses scattered throughout the commentary: nor does he neglect other questions, such as those of textual criticism.
His works, lucid in form and provided with copious indexes, enjoyed immense success. The best is Commentarii in librum Iob (2 vols., Madrid 1597-1601, etc.). Other works: Praelectio sacra in Cantica Canticorum (Seville 1602); Commentarii in Ecclesiasten (2 vols., ibid. 1612); Ad suos in Salomonem commentarios Salomon praevius, sive de rebus Salomonis regis (Lyons 1619); he also wrote sermons in Spanish, especially on the Immaculate Conception.
Bibliography6 works
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