Nicholas of Lyra on the Division of the Bible and the Old Testament Especially
Biblia Sacra Cum Glossa Ordinaria (Venice, 1603), col 1.
POSTILLA NICOLAE DE LYRA SUPER GENESIM
CAPUT PRIMUM
IN PRINCIPIO, etc. Tota sacra scriptura dividitur in duas partes, in vetus et novum testamentum. Nam licet tota sacra scriptura sit de Deo, tanquam de subiecto, tamen prima pars principaliter est de Deo, tanquam creatore et gubernatore: secunda vero de Deo, tanquam redemptore et glorificatore. Prima pars videlicet veteris testimenti, dividitur in quatuor partes, in libros Legales, Historiales, Sapientiales, et Prophetales. Et quia vetus testamentum et novum se habent sicut rota in medio rotae, ut habetur Ezech.I.c. Ideo novum Testamentum consimiliter dividitur, quia legi, in novo testament correspondet Evangelium, libris Sapientialibus correspondent epistolae Pauli, et aliorum Apostolorum. Libri historialibus correspondent Actus Apostolorum. Libris prophetarum correspondent Apocalypsis.
Circa primam partem veteris testimenti quae continet libros legales, videlicet quinque libros Moysi, considerandum quod lex non datur uni personae, sed communitati populi adunati, ideo primo describitur adunatio fidelis populi sub cultu unius Dei, quod fit in lib.Gen. Secundo describitur legislation populo adunato, et hoc fit in Exod. et duobus. libris sequentib. Tertio ponitur praedictae legis repetitio et explicatio, et hoc fit in Deuter. Prima in duas, quia primo Moyses ostendit naturae humanae productionem. Secundo ipsius propagationem 4.c. ut sic procedat ad electionem fidelis populi, et distinctionem eius ab infideli populo per successions generationum, ut patebit inf.
Circa primum considerandum, quod tota corporalis creatura facta est propter hominem.
COMMENTARY OF NICHOLAS OF LYRA ON GENESIS
CHAPTER ONE
IN THE BEGINNING, etc. The whole of sacred Scripture is divided into two parts, into the Old and New Testament. For though the whole of sacred Scripture is about God, as its subject, so the first part of Scripture is principally about God as creator and governor. But the second part is about God as redeemer and glorifier. Indeed, the first part of the Old Testament is divided into four parts, the books concerning Law, the Historical books, Wisdom books, and the Prophetic books. And because the Old and New Testament have themselves, as it were, a wheel within a wheel, as Ezekiel 1 puts it, therefore the New Testament is likewise divided since the Gospel in the New Testament corresponds to the law, the Epistles of Paul (and those of the other Apostles) to the wisdom books. The Acts of the Apostles correspond to the historical books. The book of Revelation corresponds to the prophetic books.
In the first part of the Old Testament, which contains the books of the law, that is, the five books of Moses, it should be noted that the law is not given to a single person, but to a community of united people. Therefore, the first part of the five books of Moses describes the uniting of a faithful people under the worship of the one God, which occurs in the book of Genesis. The second part describes the giving of the law to a united people, and this happens in Exodus and the next two books. The third part provides a restating and exposition of that previously given law, and this happens in Deuteronomy. The first part is further divided into two parts, so that in the first place, Moses reveals the birth of human nature. In the second place, Moses explains the propagation of that human nature (in chapter 4) so that he could proceed to the election of a faithful people, and their distinction from the unfaithful people through a succession of generations, as will be made clear in what follows. Under the first part, we should consider the fact that the whole physical creation was made for mankind.