Biblia Americana
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BIBLIA AMERICANA General Editor Reiner Smolinski (Atlanta) Executive Editor Jan Stievermann (Heidelberg) Volume 5 Editorial Committee for Cotton Mather’s Biblia Americana Reiner Smolinski, General Editor, Georgia State University Jan Stievermann, Executive Editor, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Robert E. Brown, James Madison University Mary Ava Chamberlain, Wright State University Rick Kennedy, Point Loma Nazarene University Harry Clark Maddux, Appalachian State University Kenneth P. Minkema, Yale University Paul Silas Peterson, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen Cotton Mather BIBLIA AMERICANA America’s First Bible Commentary A Synoptic Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Volume 5 PROVERBS – JEREMIAH Edited, with an Introduction and Annotations, by Jan Stievermann Associate Editors: Paul S. Peterson Michael Dopffel Editorial Assistants: Helen K. Gelinas Angelika Nemec Mohr Siebeck Jan Stievermann, born 1975, Ph.D in American Studies from the University of Tübingen (2005); since 2011 Professor for the History of Christianity in the USA at the University of Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-16-154266-4 Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National bibliographie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2015 by Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany. www.mohr.de This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to repro- ductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was typeset by Martin Fischer in Tübingen, printed by Gulde-Druck in Tübingen on non-aging paper and bound by Buchbinderei Spinner in Ottersweier. Printed in Germany. To my family Acknowledgments This volume has been one massive stone to push uphill. It took many years and a group of very dedicated people to finally get it to the top. First and foremost, credit is due to my associate editors, Paul S. Peterson and Michael Dopffel, and to my editorial assistants, Helen K. Gelinas and Angelika Nemec. Helen and Michael were fellow laborers in creating the transcripts from the microfilm images. I’m particularly grateful to Michael, who became amazingly skillful with deciphering Mather’s handwriting and was a trusted companion in the process of collating the transcriptions against the manuscript at the MHS. Paul took a central role in translating and annotating the Hebrew and Greek citations, as well as in tracking down many of the sources. I also benefitted much from his great theological expertise in composing the explanatory footnotes and the introduction. My thanks also go to Dennis Hannemann and Chris- toph Hammann who provided indispensable further help with rendering into comprehensible English the lengthy and often difficult Latin citations. (Dennis and Paul, I will always fondly remember the many evenings spent in the Schöne Aussichten debating the fine points in the translation of some obscure early modern Latin source!) Angelika Nemec deserves special praise for her endurance and accuracy in searching out titles, editions, and loci, as well as in preparing the bibliography. Finally, Ryan Hoselton deserves a big thank you for his work on the index. The introduction was much improved by Paul S. Peterson, Daniel Silliman, and Jennifer Adams-Massmann. I’m especially obliged to Jennifer’s careful reading. The edition of this volume truly has been a great team effort. But all remaining errors or oversights are, of course, mine. So much help would not have been possible without the extensive finan- cial support from different institutions. In support of this editorial project, I received two very generous research grants, first from the Landesstiftung Baden- Württemberg (2008–2010) and then from the German Research Foundation (2010–2013). My sincere gratitude is owed to these two institutions. Moreover, both my alma mater, the University of Tübingen, and my new academic home, Heidelberg University, have been very supportive throughout. I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to both of these wonderful centers of learning. I also want to acknowledge my deep appreciation for the many ways in which first the Abteilung für Amerikanistik in Tübingen and then the Theologische Fakultät in Heidelberg and the Heidelberg Center for American Studies have backed this VIII Acknowledgments project. I also wish to thank the staff of the MHS, in particular Peter Drummey, for their gracious hospitality. Over the years I have greatly profited from the insights of many individual colleagues and friends, too many to mention them all. Chief among these was Reiner Smolinski, the spiritus rector of the “Biblia” project, on whose profound knowledge of everything Mather I was always able to draw. The works of my fellow editors have also been sources of inspiration and of practical information for me on many occasions. Finally, I wish to thank my wife Juliane for patiently putting up with the specter of Mather in our house for so long. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ........................................ VII List of Illustrations ........................................ XVII List of Abbreviations ...................................... XIX Part 1: Editor’s Introduction Preface .................................................. 3 Section 1: Main Issues and Topics ............................. 9 Section 2: Composition and Main Sources ...................... 49 2.1 Composition and Sources of Mather’s Commentaries on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles .............................. 59 2.2 Composition and Sources of Mather’s Commentaries on Isaiah and Jeremiah ........................................ 86 Works Cited in Section 1–2 ................................ 101 Section 3: Notes on the Manuscript ........................... 125 Part 2: The Text The Book of Proverbs ...................................... 139 Proverbs. Chap. 1. ......................................... 143 Proverbs. Chap. 2. ......................................... 150 Proverbs. Chap. 3. ......................................... 156 Proverbs. Chap. 4. ......................................... 163 Proverbs. Chap. 5. ......................................... 168 Proverbs. Chap. 6. ......................................... 173 Proverbs. Chap. 7. ......................................... 179 Proverbs. Chap. 8. ......................................... 184 Proverbs. Chap. 9. ......................................... 200 Proverbs. Chap. 10. ........................................ 204 Proverbs. Chap. 11. ........................................ 214 Proverbs. Chap. 12. ........................................ 223 X Table of Contents Proverbs. Chap. 13. ........................................ 226 Proverbs. Chap. 14. ........................................ 234 Proverbs. Chap. 15. ........................................ 244 Proverbs. Chap. 16. ........................................ 250 Proverbs. Chap. 17. ........................................ 258 Proverbs. Chap. 18. ........................................ 264 Proverbs. Chap. 19. ........................................ 269 Proverbs. Chap. 20. ........................................ 275 Proverbs. Chap. 21. ........................................ 282 Proverbs. Chap. 22. ........................................ 289 Proverbs. Chap. 23. ........................................ 294 Proverbs. Chap. 24. ........................................ 299 Proverbs. Chap. 25. ........................................ 303 Proverbs. Chap. 26. ........................................ 314 Proverbs. Chap. 27. ........................................ 321 Proverbs. Chap. 28. ........................................ 327 Proverbs. Chap. 29. ........................................ 329 Proverbs. Chap. 30. ........................................ 333 Proverbs. Chap. 31. ........................................ 350 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 1. ....................................... 357 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 2. ....................................... 368 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 3. ....................................... 376 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 4. ....................................... 384 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 5. ....................................... 390 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 6. ....................................... 400 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 7. ....................................... 403 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 8. ....................................... 420 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 9. ....................................... 425 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 10. ...................................... 430 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 11. ...................................... 442 Ecclesiastes. Chap. 12. ...................................... 448 Canticles. ............................................... 461 Canticles. Chap. 1. ........................................ 468 Canticles. Chap. 2. ........................................ 475 Canticles. Chap. 3. ........................................ 482 Canticles. Chap. 4. ........................................ 487 Canticles. Chap. 5. ........................................ 497 Canticles. Chap. 6. ........................................ 506 Canticles. Chap. 7. ........................................ 510 Canticles. Chap. 8. ........................................ 520 Table of Contents XI The Canticles. ............................................ 523 Chap. I. ................................................. 524 Chap. II. ...............................................