Matthew Poole

1624-1679. Biblical commentator. Born at York and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he became rector of St. Michael-le-Querne in London. In 1658 he devised and set in motion a scheme for the training of young men for the Christian ministry, but this came to an abrupt halt at the Restoration. Of strong Presbyterian sympathies, he was ejected in 1662, but he did little Nonconformist preaching afterward. Rather, his energy was devoted to study and the production of the Synopsis, a Latin compendium of textual commentary and interpretation (Synopsis Criticorum aliorumque Sacrae Scripturae Interpretum, 5 folio vols., 1669-76). Later he wrote Annotations upon the Holy Bible in English, a work that was completed by his friends after his death in Holland.