¹ See Smalley, Beryl, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages (2nd ed. 1952; repr. Notre Dame, Ind. 1964) 293–94.Google Scholar

² Part One of this Commentary is available in an English translation by Weisheipl, J. A. and Larcher, F. R. (Albany 1980); it is based on the edition by Cai, R. (Turin 1952). See also Weisheipl, James A., ‘The Johannine Commentary of Friar Thomas,’ Church History 45 (1976) 185–95.Google Scholar

³ Smalley, , Study of the Bible 297. Later in her career, Smalley herself began to address the exegesis of scholastic theologians, including Bonaventure, Magnus, Albertus, and Aquinas, Thomas; see her book, The Gospels in the Schools c. 1100–c. 1280 (London 1985).Google Scholar

⁴ Eckhart, Meister, ‘Prologus generalis in Opus tripartitum,’ LW 1.149 n. 1; trans. Maurer, A. in Eckhart, Parisian Questions and Prologues (Toronto 1974) 80: ‘propositiones tenet mille et amplius.’ For ease of reading, Eckhart's works will be quoted in English translations, with the Latin and German texts in the notes. The critical edition of Eckhart, Meister, Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke (Stuttgart 1936—), will be cited as ‘LW’ for the Latin works, followed by the appropriate volume, page, and paragraph numbers, and ‘DW’ for the German works, with volume and page numbers.Google Scholar

⁵ Eckhart, , ‘Prologus generalis,’ LW 1.151 n. 6; trans. in Parisian Questions 82: ‘Adhuc autem opus expositionum subdividitur numero et ordine librorum veteris et novi testamenti, quorum auctoritates in ipso exponuntur.’Google Scholar

⁶ See Winkler, Eberhard, Exegetische Methoden bei Meister Eckhart (Tübingen 1965) 114–16.Google Scholar

⁷ Smalley, , Study of the Bible 359.Google Scholar

⁸ Smalley, , Study of the Bible 286 and 288.Google Scholar

⁹ Spicq, C., Esquisse d'une histoire de l'exégèse latine au moyen âge (Paris 1944) 333–34.Google Scholar

¹⁰ de Lubac, Henri, Exégèse médiévale 2.2 (Paris 1964) 489. De Lubac discusses Eckhart within the suggestive context of ‘la tradition spirituelle.’Google Scholar

¹¹ Winkler, , Exegetische Methoden; see also Winkler, , ‘Wort Gottes und Hermeneutik bei Meister Eckhart,’ in Freiheit und Gelassenheit: Meister Eckhart heute, ed. Kern, U. (Munich 1980) 169–82; Weiss, Konrad, ‘Meister Eckharts biblische Hermeneutik,’ in La mystique rhénane (Paris 1963) 96–108; and Tobin, Frank, Meister Eckhart: Thought and Language (Philadelphia 1986) 23–29.Google Scholar

¹² Fox, Matthew, Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart's Creation Spirituality in New Translation (Garden City, N.Y. 1980) 4–5. Although useful, Fox's commentary is marred by a recurring polemic against ‘Neoplatonism,’ especially that of Augustine. The attempt to deny Eckhart's Neoplatonism is seriously misleading, since it is basic to his thought. For more nuanced analyses of this issue, see Lossky, Vladimir, Théologie négative et connaissance de Dieu chez Maître Eckhart (Paris 1973) 60–64, 69–70, and 257–259; and McGinn, Bernard, ‘Theological Summary,’ in Meister Eckhart: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, and Defense, trans. Colledge, E. and McGinn, B. (New York 1981) esp. 30–41.Google Scholar

¹³ Koch, Josef, ‘Sinn und Struktur der Schriftauslegungen,’ in Meister Eckhart der Prediger, edd. Nix, U. M. and Ochslin, R. (Freiburg 1960) 73–103 at 87.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Jerome and Hugh of St. Victor deny Wisdom's canonicity, and all denominations but the Roman Catholic Church number it among the Apocrypha. See Jerome, , Praefatio in Salomonem, PL 28.1242a: ‘apud Hebraeos nusquam est, quia et ipse stylus Graecam eloquentiam redolet; et nonnulli scriptorum veterum hunc esse Judei Philonis affirmant.’ Hugh cites Jerome at Didascalicon 4.8, trans. Taylor, J. (New York 1961) 111, See also the Glossa ordinaria, ‘Prologus in librum Sapientiae,’ in Bibliorum Sacrorum cum Glossa ordinaria… tomus tertius (Lyon 1590) 1885–86 (PL 113.1167b). Eckhart mentions the problem of Wisdom's authenticity in his Expositio libri Sapientiae, LW 2.600–601 n. 271.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Maurus, Rhabanus, Commentariorum in librum Sapientiae libri tres, PL 109.671–762; and Bonaventure, , Commentarius in librum Sapientiae, in Opera Omnia 6 (Quaracchi 1893) 107–233. For a survey of medieval commentary on the sapiential books, see Beryl Smalley's series of articles: ‘Some Thirteenth Century Commentaries on the Sapiential Books,’ Dominican Studies 2 (1949) 318–55, and 3 (1950) 41–77, 236–74; and ‘Some Commentaries on the Sapiential Books of the Late Twelfth and Early Fourteenth Centuries,’ Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge 18 (1950) 103–28. In the last-cited article, Smalley notes Eckhart's work but omits discussion of it, deferring to Spicq, , Esquisse 331–34.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Glossa ordinaria III 1886 (PL 113.1167b): ‘Qui proinde Sapientiae nominatur, quia in eo Christi aduentus qui est sapientia patris, & passio ejus, euidenter exprimitur.’Google Scholar

¹⁷ Koch, , ‘Sinn und Struktur’ 99–100.Google Scholar

¹⁸ DW 2.251 n. 1.Google Scholar

¹⁹ See especially Expositio sancti Evangelii secundum Iohannem, LW 3.13–19 nn. 14–22, and 403–404 n. 471; hereafter cited as ‘In Ioh.’Google Scholar

²⁰ Expositio libri Sapientiae, LW 2.386 n. 59: ‘si inter prospera et adversa quaevis aequaliter se habet et firmus manet.’ Hereafter the Expositio will be cited as ‘In Sap.’ Translations from this work are my own; McGinn's, B. translation of selections from In Sap. appears in Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher (New York 1986).Google Scholar

²¹ In Sap., LW 2.386 n. 59: ‘si nusquam discrepat a voluntate dei, sed se toto adhaeret et inhaeret deo…. Deus autem, utpote iustissimus et ipsa iustitia, regula est omnium.’Google Scholar

²² In Sap., LW 2.387 n. 59: ‘si “tribuit unicuique quod suum est”; hoc enim “iustitia est.’” Eckhart is citing a classical definition of justice. See Justinian, , Institutiones 1.1, in Corpus iuris civilis 1 (Berlin 1954) 1: ‘Iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuens’; see also Ambrose, , De officiis ministrorum 1.24.115, PL 16.62; and Aquinas, Thomas, S. Th. 2.2.q.58.a.11.Google Scholar

²³ In Sap., LW 2.388 n. 60: ‘Item ipsi debetur indistinctio et intraneitas. Ipse enim indistinctus, utpote increatus et causa prima. Creaturae vero e converso debetur non amor, sed timor, utpote quae ex se non habet bonitatem…. Item ipsi creaturae debetur alienitas et extraneitas, ut stet forinsecus, utpote creata et sic distincta.’ See also In Sap., LW 2.481–494 nn. 144–157; Lossky, , Théologie négative 261–68; and McGinn, B., ‘Meister Eckhart on God as Absolute Unity,’ in Neoplatonism and Christian Thought, ed. O'Meara, D. J. (Albany, N.Y. 1982) 128–39.Google Scholar

²⁴ Transitions from the speculative to the moral are typical of Eckhart's commentaries, as when he specifies the ‘moral’ sense of ‘heaven and earth’ (Gen. 1.1) in both the Expositio libri Genesis, LW 1.198–204 nn. 15–24, and the Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.497 n. 27, and 504–507 nn. 37–40. For similar shifts, see In Sap., LW 2.500–501 n. 166; and In Ioh., LW 3.64–66 nn. 76–78; 100 n. 115; 256 n. 308; and 301–302 n. 356.Google Scholar

²⁵ In Sap., LW 2.389 n. 61: ‘deo debentur ea quae sunt meliora et perfectiora in quolibet, utpote qui causa est et fons unicus omnis perfectionis. Iustus ergo, qui deo dat et servit de his quae potiora sunt. Quod est contra multos qui deo serviunt de his quae viliora sunt…. Serviunt etiam deo secundum vires inferiores et operibus exterioribus… secundum illud Is. 29 et Matt. 15: “populus hic labiis me honorat, cor autem eorum longe est a me.” Isti faciunt capram de deo, pascunt eum cum foliis verborum. Item faciunt deum histrionem, dant sibi veteres et viles vestes suas.’Google Scholar

²⁶ In Sap., LW 2.389–90 n. 61: ‘Tales enim non sunt iusti, non enim dant deo quae dei sunt, et caesari quae caesaris sunt’; citing Mt. 22.21, and Augustine, , De vera religione 33–34, PL 34.150. See also Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.666–67 n. 194; and Sermo 49, LW 4.421–28 nn. 505–12.Google Scholar

²⁷ In Sap., LW 2.390 n. 62: ‘iustus est… qui se toto amat omne quod iustum est, odit omne quod non iustum est.’Google Scholar

²⁸ In Sap., LW 2.391 n. 63: ‘Talis nihil sapit prorsus nec novit nec quidquam ipsum in aliquo afficit aut allicit extra ipsam iustitiam aut praeter iustitiam, adeo ut nec se ipsum, in quantum iustus, noscat aut amet prorsus nisi in ipsa iustitia, in qua, per quam et propter quam se ipsum amat et omne quod amat.’ See In Ioh., LW 3.146 n. 177; and Buch der göttlichen Tröstung, DW 5.12–13, trans. in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 211–12.Google Scholar

²⁹ In Sap., LW 2.391–92 nn. 63–64: ‘unicum est et idem est esse iustitiae et iusti, eodem sunt, eodem gaudent…. Notandum autem quod ait iusti sine additamento quolibet aut subiecto, homine scilicet aut huiusmodi, sed formaliter iusti.’Google Scholar

³⁰ In Sap., LW 2. 392 n. 64: ‘Est enim super hominem, sed etiam super omnem creaturam, divinum “soli deo” forma conformari et transformari in ipsum, secundum ipsum et ab ipso’; citing 1 Tm. 1.17.Google Scholar

³¹ In Sap., LW 2.392 n. 64: ‘iustus, in quantum huiusmodi, totum esse suum habet et accipit a sola iustitia et est proles et filius proprie genitus a iustitia, et ipsa iustitia et sola est parens sive pater generans iustum.’ See also In Sap., LW 2.364 n. 42; and In Ioh., LW 3.165 n. 196.Google Scholar

³² In Sap., LW 2.392–93 n. 64: ‘in quolibet actu iustitiae sive operatione est imago et expressio trinitatis. Est enim necessario iustitia ingenita, a qua et secundum quam formatur iustus et gignitur; est etiam necessario iustitia genita, sine qua non esset iustus genitus; est et tertio necessario amor gignentis ad genitum et geniti ad gignentem, procedens et emanans ab utroque tamquam ab uno.’ See In Ioh., LW 3.14–18 nn. 16–22.Google Scholar

³³ In Sap., LW 2.395 n. 67: ‘“felix” qui semper a deo nascitur; non enim dicam semel iustum ex deo natum, sed per singula virtutis opera semper ex deo nascitur.’ The citation is from Jerome, , Translatio homiliarum Origenis in Jeremiam 6, PL 25.637.Google Scholar

³⁴ In Sap., LW 2.396 n. 68: ‘“diliges dominum deum tuum ex toto corde” … “et proximum sicut te ipsum”’; citing Dt. 6.5 and Mt. 22.37–39.Google Scholar

³⁵ In Sap., LW 2.398 n. 70. See Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.641 n. 171.Google Scholar

³⁶ In Sap., LW 2.398 n. 70: ‘merces iustorum est quod sint filii dei, quia … filius, et hic solus, est apud dominum. Nemo ergo heres nisi filius, Gal.: “si filii, et heredes; heredes quidem dei, coheredes autem Christi” …. Secus de servo, de mercennario, cuius merces non est apud dominum, quia talis sibimet ponit finem aliquid citra deum et sub deo, non ipsum deum nec “apud deum”’; glossing Ga. 4.7, and Rm. 8.17.Google Scholar

³⁷ Predigt (Pr.) 6, DW 1.99–115, trans. Colledge, E. in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 185–95; citations will be to DW 1, followed by Colledge (‘C’). Pr. 39, DW 2.251–268, trans. in Fox, , Breakthrough 464–67; citations will be to DW 2, followed by Fox (‘F’).Google Scholar

³⁸ See Théry, Gabriel, ‘Edition critique des pièces relatives au procès d'Eckhart contenues dans le manuscript 33^b de la Bibliothèque de Soest,’ Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge 1 (1926–27) 176–78, 181, and 238–45.Google Scholar

³⁹ Pr. 39, p. 252/F.464: ‘daz ist ein gereht mensche, der in die gerehticheit îngebildet und übergebildet ist. Der gerehte lebet in gote und got in im.’Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Pr. 6, pp. 99–100/C.185: ‘”der ist gereht, der einem ieglîchen gibet, daz sîn ist”…. Gotes ist diu êre.’Google Scholar

⁴¹ Pr. 6, p. 103/C. 186: ‘got niht gereht waere, sie enahteten eine bône niht ûf got.’ Eckhart speaks of a bône or bean, an edible even less exotic than a fig in northern Europe. For similar overstatement, see Eckhart's Latin Sermon (S.) 34, LW 4.298 n. 343.Google Scholar

⁴² Pr. 6, p. 104/C.186: ‘Swer die gerehticheit minnet, der stât sô vaste dar ûf, swaz er minnet, daz ist sîn wesen.’Google Scholar

⁴³ Pr. 39, pp. 253–54/F.464: ‘Der gerehte ensuochet niht in sînen werken; wan die iht suochent in irn werken, die sint knehte und mietlinge, oder die umbe einic warumbe würkent. Dar umbe, wilt dû în- und übergebildet werden in die gerehticheit, sô enmeine niht in dînen werken und enbilde kein warumbe in dich.’ Concerning this theme, see Caputo, John D., The Mystical Element in Heidegger's Thought (rev. ed. New York 1986) 122–24; and Tobin, , Meister Eckhart 122–24.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Pr. 6, p. 105/C.186–87: ‘War umbe lebest dû? Umbe leben, und enweist dennoch niht, war umbe dû lebest…. Ir leben ist sô edel, daz ez sunder allez mitel vliuzet von gote in die sêle.’ On the unity of life and justice, see In Sap., LW 2.596 n. 265: ‘Iustitia vita est et vivere iusto et est iustitia ipsi esse.’Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Pr. 39, pp. 255–56/F.465: ‘sô muost dû allen dingen tôt sîn und ze nihte worden sîn.’Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Pr. 6, p. 106/C.187: “Waz ist leben? Gotes wesen ist mîn leben. Ist mîn leben gotes wesen, sô muoz daz gotes sîn mîn sîn und gotes isticheit mîn isticheit, noch minner noch mêr.’ See Théry, , ‘Pièces relatives au procès d'Eckhart’ 240; and Morad, Meinrad S., ‘Ist, istic, istikeit bei Meister Eckhart,’ Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie 3 (1956) 169–86.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Pr. 6, pp. 106–107/C. 187: ‘Dô got den menschen machete, dô machete er die vrouwen von des mannes sîten, dar umbe daz si im glîch waere…. Alsô sol diu gerehte sêle glîch bî gote sîn und bî neben gote, rehte glîch, noch unden noch oben…. Die sêlen, die alsô glîch sint, den gibet der vater glîch und enheltet in nihtes niht vor.’ See also Pr. 39, p. 257/F.465; In Ioh., LW 3.7 n. 5; and the long note at DW 1.107–109 regarding Eckhart's use of glîch and its Latin equivalents.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Pr. 6, p. 109/C.187: ‘Er gebirt mich sînen sun und den selben sun. Ich sprich mêr: er gebirt mich niht aleine sînen sun, mêr: er gebirt mich sich und sich mich und mich sîn wesen und sîn natûre. In den innersten quelle dâ quille ich üz in dem heiligen geiste, dâ ist éin leben und éin wesen und éin werk.’ See Pr. 39, pp. 258/F.465 and 263–65/F.466–67; and Théry, , ‘Pièces relatives au procès d'Eckhart’ 241. Eckhart's theme of the Word's birth in the soul has received much attention: see, inter alia, Ueda, Sizutera, Die Gottesgeburt in der Seele und die Durchbruch zur Gottheit (Gütersloh 1965); Kertz, Karl G., ‘Meister Eckhart's Teaching on the Birth of the Word in the Soul,’ Traditio 15 (1959) 327–63; and Tobin, , Meister Eckhart 94–115.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ Pr. 6, p. 110/C. 187–88: ‘Allez, waz got würket, daz ist ein; dar umbe gebirt er mich sînen sun âne allen underscheit.’ The theme of divine ‘work’ (würken, gewürke) clarifies Eckhart's understanding of the identity which the Word's birth effects in the soul. See Pr. 6, pp. 114–15/C.189: ‘Got und ich wir sint ein in diesem gewürke; er gewürket, und ich gewirde.’ See also Schürmann, Reiner, Meister Eckhart: Mystic and Philosopher (Bloomington 1978) 104–106.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Pr. 6, p. 115/C. 189: ‘“ir lôn ist bî gote” alsô glîch.’Google Scholar

⁵¹ See In Sap., LW 2.616 n. 284, where Eckhart cites the liturgical variant, ‘dum medium silentium tenerent omnia.’ This variant forms the basis for Sermon 57 in the modern German edition of Eckhart's, Deutsche Predigten und Traktate, ed. Quint, Josef (1963; repr. ed. Munich 1979) 414–24, hereafter cited as ‘Quint’; the English translation in Fox, , Breakthrough 292–301, will be used and cited as ‘F’ following references to Quint.Google Scholar

⁵² Quint, , p. 415/F.293: ‘die ewige Geburt, die Gott der Vater vollzogen hat und ohne Unterlass in Ewigkeit vollzieht, dass diese selbe Geburt sich nun in der Zeit, in menschlicher Natur vollzogen hat. … Nun wollen wir von dieser Geburt reden, wie sie in uns geschehe und in der guten Seele vollbracht werde.’Google Scholar

⁵³ In Sap., LW 2.613 n. 281: ‘quies et silentium contineat omnia ad hoc, ut deus verbum in mentem veniat per gratiam et filius nascatur in anima.’ See Quint, pp. 416–17/F.294–95; Pr. 19, DW 1.312; and concerning Eckhart's dialectic of word and silence, Duclow, Donald, ‘Hermeneutics and Meister Eckhart,’ Philosophy Today 28 (1984) 36–43.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ In Sap., LW 2.612–13 n. 280; citing Augustine, , Confessiones 4.11.16, CSEL 33.77–78, and 9.10.24–25, CSEL 33.217. See also In Ioh., LW 3.68–69 n. 80; and Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.618 n. 149.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ In Sap., LW 2.613 n.281: ‘li omnia importat numerum sive multitudinem. Haec enim sunt casus ab uno.’ See Expositio libri Genesis, LW 1.246 n. 88.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ In Sap., LW 2.613 n. 281: ‘“Deus autem unus est.” Silet autem et quiescit omnis numerus et multitudo in unitate et uno.’ Ga. 3.20 and the theme of unity are basic for Eckhart. See S. 29, LW 4.263–70 nn. 295–305; In Sap., LW 2.481–94 nn. 144–58; In Ioh., LW 3.477–93 nn. 546–64; Lossky, , Théologie négative 60–69 and 165–71; and McGinn, , ‘Meister Eckhart on God as Absolute Unity.’Google Scholar

⁵⁷ In Sap., LW 2.614 n. 282.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ In Sap., LW 2.614 n. 282: ‘ipse deus non est hoc aut hoc, sed super omnia’; citing Avicenna, , Metaphysica, in Opera (1508; repr. ed. Frankfurt 1961) 99^vb lines 44–52.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ In Sap., LW 2.614–15 n. 282: ‘Deus autem indistinctus est, et anima amat indistingui, id est unum esse et fieri cum deo…. Quarto, quia anima naturaliter fertur in bonum simpliciter et absolute. Nihil autem hoc et hoc est bonum simpliciter et absolute’; with references to Augustine, , De Trinitate 3.4, PL 42.949, and Confessiones 1.1, CSEL 33.1.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ In Sap., LW 2.615 n. 283: ‘ut deus filius in nobis nascatur, in mentem veniens, oportet quietum silentium continere omnia. Filius enim imago est patris, et anima ad imaginem dei.’Google Scholar

⁶¹ In Sap., LW 2.615–16 n. 283: ‘Imago… est formalis quaedam productio in silentio causae efficientis et finalis, quae proprie creaturam extra respiciunt et significant ebullitionem. Imago autem, utpote formalis emanatio, sapit proprie bullitionem.’ For this important theme, see also In Ioh., LW 3.20 n. 25; Expositio libri Exodi, LW 2.21–22 n. 16; two Latin sermons, S. 25, LW 4.236 n. 258 and 239 n. 263, and S. 49, LW 4.425–26 n. 511; and McGinn, Bernard, ‘The God beyond God: Theology and Mysticism in the Thought of Meister Eckhart,’ Journal of Religion 61 (1981) 14–15.Google Scholar

⁶² In Sap., LW 2.616 n. 284: ‘in adventu filii in mentem oportet quod omne medium sileat. Natura enim medii repugnat unioni, quam anima appetit cum deo et in deo.’Google Scholar

⁶³ Sermon 57, in Quint 414–24, is one of three (nos. 57–59) whose authenticity Quint affirms in his notes (p. 525) but which he did not include in DW. In style and content, these sermons are definitely ‘Eckhartian,’ and Sermon 57 is especially close to works of assured authenticity, in particular In Sap. on Ws. 18.14–15.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Quint, , p.416/F.295: ‘Die Sehkraft wirkt nur durch die Augen.’Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Quint, , p. 417–18/F.295–96: ‘die Kräfte, mit denen sie wirkt, die fliessen (zwar) aus dem Grunde des Seins…. Denn du musst wissen, dass sie innen frei und ledig ist von allen Vermittlungen und von allen Bildern.’ See Pr. 2, DW 1.25–26.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Quint, , p. 417/F.295: ‘Gott geht hier in die Seele ein mit seiner Ganzheit, nicht mit einem Teile; Gott geht hier ein in den Grund der Seele.’Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Quint, , p. 418/F.296: ‘Vielmehr ganz in der Weise, wie er in der Ewigkeit gebiert, nicht minder und nicht mehr.’Google Scholar

⁶⁸ Quint, , pp. 419–20/F.297: ‘es das allerbeste und alleredelste, wozu man in diesem Leben kommen kann, ist, wenn du schweigst und Gott wirken und sprechen lasst. Wo alle Kräfte allen ihren Werken und Bildern entzogen sind, da wird dieses Wort gesprochen.’ See In Ioh., LW 3.68–69 n. 80, and 420–21 n. 488.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ Quint, pp. 420–21/F.298–99: ‘dann spricht er sein Wort und sich selbst in der Seele’; citing 2 Cor. 12.13; Anselm, , Meditatio 21, PL 158.814d; and Pseudo-Dionysius, , De mystica theologia 1, PG 3.997.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ Quint, , p. 421/F.299: ‘Inmitten der Nacht, als alle Dinge in Stille schwiegen, da ward zu mir gesprochen ein verborgenes Wort; das kam in Diebesweise, verstohlen.’ In this passage the Vulgate presents an ‘omnipotent Word’ and ‘harsh conqueror’ who, rather than coming intimately ‘to me,’ leaps ‘into the middle of a doomed land,’ and kills the first-born of Egypt. Eckhart's version may derive from a different Bible or a lectionary, and the latter seems more likely in view of his concern with the Christmas liturgy in both In Sap. and this sermon.Google Scholar

⁷¹ Quint, , pp. 421–22/F.299: ‘Des Wortes Natur ist es (doch), dass es offenbart, was verborgen ist ?’Google Scholar

⁷² Quint, , p. 421/F.298: ‘in die verborgene stille Finsternis, auf dass du kommest in ein Erkennen des unerkannten übergotten Gottes’; citing Pseudo-Dionysius, , De mystica theologia 1, PG 3.997.Google Scholar

⁷³ Quint, , p. 422/F.299: ‘Es glänzte und war (doch) verborgen: das zielt darauf ab, dass wir nach ihm verlangen und seufzen.’Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Quint, , p.422/F.300: ‘Ich werde etwas in mir gewahr, das strahlt und glänzt vor meiner Seele…. Es verbirgt sich und bekundet sich doch; es kommt aber in Diebesweise und strebt danach, der Seele alle Dinge wegzunehmen und zu stehlen.’ Although Quint cites no source for this passage in Augustine, the reference to light appearing before the soul echoes Confessiones 7.10, CSEL 33.157; the reference to its coming as a thief may well be Eckhart's addition, based on his text of Ws. 18.15.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ Quint, , p. 424/F.301: ‘Wer nicht alle Äusserlichkeit der Kreaturen lässt, der kann in diese göttliche Geburt weder empfangen noch geboren werden. Dass du vielmehr dich deiner selbst beraubst und alles dessen, was äusserlich ist, das (nur) verleiht dir's wahrhaft.’Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Quint, , p.424/F.301: ‘der Mensche, der hierin recht stünde, nimmer von Gott geschieden werden kann, durch nichts auf irgendeine Weise.’Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Quint, , p. 424/F. 301: ‘Dass wir schwache Menschen in ihm auf göttliche Weise geboren werden, dazu helfe er uns ewiglich.’Google Scholar

⁷⁸ Koch, , ‘Sinn und Struktur’ 87.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ In Sap., LW 2.339–62 nn. 19–40.Google Scholar

⁸⁰ In Sap., LW 2.481–94 nn. 144–57.Google Scholar

⁸¹ In Sap., LW 2.502–35 nn. 167–200.Google Scholar

⁸² In Sap., LW 2.331–33 nn. 11–12.Google Scholar

⁸³ In Sap., LW 2.333–34 n. 13: ‘omnis creatura est quodammodo homo.’ See Glossa ordinaria III 1888 (PL 113.1167d–1168b).Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Pr. 47, DW 2.394–409; trans, in Fox, , Breakthrough 114–17.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ Meister Eckhart: A Modern Translation, trans. Blakney, R. (New York 1941) 286, my emphasis; Théry, , ‘Pièces relatives au procès d'Eckhart’ 217: ‘Sciendum enim quod scriptura, sicut et predicator, frequenter utitur et convenienter tali modo loquendi emphatico, secundum quod cor loquentis suggerit, et magis excitantur auditores ad amorem virtutum et ipsius dei.’Google Scholar

⁸⁶ Southern, Richard W., Medieval Humanism (New York 1970) 22.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ Pope John XXII, ‘In agro dominico,’ ed. Laurent, M.-H., ‘Autour du procès de Maître Eckhart: Les documents des Archives Vaticanes,’ Divus Thomas, ser. 3, 13 (1936) 436 and 443; trans, in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 77 and 80: ‘que docuit quammaxime coram vulgo simplici in suis praedicationibus’; ‘ne articuli huiusmodi seu contenta in eis corda simplicium, apud quos praedicati fuerunt, ultra inficere valeant.’ See also McGinn, Bernard, ‘Eckhart's Condemnation Reconsidered,’ Thomist 44 (1980) 390–414.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.447 n. 1; trans. in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 92: ‘ut peritiores provocentur, ut… meliora et uberius inquirant quantum ad divina, naturalia et moralia, latentia sub figura et superficie sensus litteralis.’ Here the parabolical senses are ‘divina, naturalia et moralia’; a related scheme occurs in the Expositio libri Exodi, LW 2.178 n. 211: ‘Scriptura sacra plerumque sic narrat historiam, quod etiam tenet et innuit mysteria, docet etiam rerum naturas, mores instruit et componit.’ See Koch, , ‘Sinn und Struktur’ 78–81; and Winkler, , Exegetische Methoden 32–34.Google Scholar

⁸⁹ Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.448 n. 1; trans. in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 92: ‘sicut malum aureum opertum reti, in quo sunt caelaturae argenti.’Google Scholar

⁹⁰ Breaking the shell describes both interpretation and the mystical breakthrough to the Godhead. See Pr. 51, DW 2.473; and Duclow, , ‘Hermeneutics and Meister Eckhart’ 40–41.Google Scholar

⁹¹ Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.449 n. 2; trans. in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 93; ‘Cum ergo sit “sensus” etiam “litteralis, quem auctor scripturae intendit, deus autem sit auctor sacrae scripturae”’; citing Aquinas, Thomas, S. Th. 1.q.1.a.10.Google Scholar

⁹² Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.449 n. 2; trans. in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 93: ‘omnis sensus qui verus est sensus litteralis est.’ See Augustine, , Confessiones 12.31.42, CSEL 33.343; and Tobin, , Meister Eckhart 28.Google Scholar

⁹³ Liber parabolarum Genesis, LW 1.450 n. 2; trans. in Eckhart: Essential Sermons 93: ‘“Deus … omne” quod verum est “simul suo intellectu comprehendit,” inspirat et intendit’; citing Aquinas, Thomas, S. Th. 1.q.1.a.10.Google Scholar

⁹⁴ Spicq, , Esquisse 333.Google Scholar

⁹⁵ Winkler, , Exegetische Methoden 114–16.Google Scholar

⁹⁶ Reseach for this article was supported by an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, Department of Religous Studies. An early version of the paper was presented at the Medieval Studies Colloquium of the Lilly-Pennsylvania Program in March 1982.Google Scholar