Cornelius A Lapide

1567-1637. Flemish biblical exegete. Born Cornelis Cornelissen van den Steen at Bolcholt, near Liège, he was educated at the Jesuit colleges of Maastricht and Cologne, and at the age of twenty-five entered the Jesuit order. Four years later he became professor of exegesis at Louvain, and in 1616 was translated to Rome, to lecture in the same subject. There also he completed his commentary on all the canonical books except for Job and Psalms. His works had an enduring quality and were especially attractive to preachers because of their clarity and deep spirituality, backed by an erudition enabling the writer to draw on the works of the Fathers and the medieval theologians. The list of his writings is impressive, including a number of posthumously published works.