SÁNCHEZ (Sanctius), GASPAR. - Spanish Jesuit exegete, b. in Ciempozuelos (Madrid) in 1553 to very devout parents (see the eulogy of his mother in Comm. in Tob., Lyon 1627, pp. 177-78), d. at Alcalá in 1628.
He taught grammar for 11 years before his theological studies, and for 20 years after his ordination to the priesthood. Only in 1608, it seems, was he promoted to professor of exegesis at Alcalá; in 1615, at the age of 62, he published his first volume of exegesis, of a perfection that makes him a classic exegete for the future. In him stands out the exegetical ideal of the time: « styli candor, eruditionis varietas, ingenii acumen, triumque linguarum peritia [Latin, Greek, and Hebrew], institutum sibi proprium de eruendo litterali sensu » (thus the censor of Isaiah). Moreover he neglected nothing of what the ancients and the moderns had written on the biblical books. He published a fine series of volumes, some between 1000 and 2000 pp., which generally bear the title Commentarii in... cum paraphrasi and came out at Lyon from H. Cardon. In them are acutely commented upon: Is. (1615); Cant. (1616, with Ps. 76); Zach. (1616); Act. (1616, with an appendix on the sojourn of St. James, St. Peter and St. Paul in Spain); Jer. (1618, with Ps. 136 and a poetic paraphrase and commentary on Lam.); the minor prophets and Bar. (1621); the 4 books of Kings and of Chronicles (1623; it is among the best commentaries: it even forestalls difficulties later raised by the rationalists); Job (1625); Ruth, Esd.-Neh., Jdt., Esth., I-II Macc. (1628, less prolix). He left in manuscript commentaries on Wis.; Sir. 1-24; Gen. 1-3.
Bibliography5 works
Pietro Nober