Gaspar Sanchez (1554–1628) was a Spanish Jesuit exegete whose multi-volume commentaries on the Old and New Testament — covering Kings, Paralipomenon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Zechariah, Hosea, Habakkuk, Matthew, Acts, Ruth, Esther, and Maccabees — were standard references in Catholic biblical scholarship for generations. The passages below are drawn directly from those works and arranged by theme.
All Latin is quoted exactly as printed. Translations are provided below each passage.
I. On the Talmud and Rabbinic Tradition
From the Commentary on I Kings (In I Librum Regum), cap. XVII
“Hoc loco, vt alibi, miri funt Talmudiſtæ, qui in Chaldaica paraphrafi, quam habet Latinam Complutenfis bibliotheca, quædam hîc addunt omninò ridicula… Quis non rideat tam aniles nugas? Aut quis non doleat, tantum effe in his, qui ſapientes exiftimantur, amentiæ?”
Here, as elsewhere, the Talmudists are astonishing, who in the Chaldaic paraphrase, which the Complutensian library has in Latin, add here things that are altogether ridiculous… Who would not laugh at such old wives’ nonsense? Or who would not grieve that there is so much madness in those who are accounted wise?
From the Commentary on Zechariah (In Zachariam), cap. V
“Burgenfis volumen illud putat efle Talmud, quod volans dicitur, quia nullum habet dabile fundamentum; & maledictio, quia eius doctrina execrabilis eft. Et quia de templo, facraque doctrina egredi videtur, dicitur habere menfuram longitudinis, & latitudinis templi portæ. Defignat tamen domos, ad quas peruenit, quia extremam animabus, corporibufque cladem affert. Vide quæ ibi adducit Burgenfis de inuentione Talmud, & deuterofibus, feu traditionibus, & de lege bis data, femel in lapidibus, iterum voce tantum, quæ quafi per manus ad pofteros tradita fingitur. Quæ lex, feu legis fommata traditio, infinitas pene nugas, & deliramenta excogitandi genti cæcæ, & errandi cupidæ occafionem dedit, vel potius hinc gens illa vmbram quæfiuit, quam fuis erroribus prætenderet.”
Burgensis holds that that volume is the Talmud, which is called “the flying one” because it has no solid foundation; and a curse, because its doctrine is execrable. And because it seems to proceed from the Temple and from sacred doctrine, it is said to have the measure of the length and breadth of the Temple gate. Yet it designates the houses to which it comes, because it brings the utmost ruin upon souls and bodies. See what Burgensis adduces there on the invention of the Talmud, and the deuteroses, or traditions, and on the law given twice — once on tablets of stone, and again by voice alone, which is feigned to have been handed down through successive generations. Which law, or rather this dreamed-up tradition of the law, gave to a blind people, eager to err, an occasion of contriving almost infinite trifles and ravings — or rather, that people sought from it a cloak with which to cover their errors.
(The same passage appears verbatim in the Commentary on Zechariah in the edition printed separately; see file 7.)
From the Commentary on Ruth (In Librum Ruth), cap. I
“Plura de Orpha, & filio Goliath diximus ex Pfcudophilone in lib. I. Reg. cap. 17. in quibus ingens fe prodit Talmudiftarum ftupor; quæ hic iterum referre pudet.”
We have said more about Orpha and the son of Goliath from Pseudo-Philo in our commentary on I Kings, cap. 17, in which the enormous stupidity of the Talmudists reveals itself; it would be shameful to rehearse those things again here.
From the Commentary on I Kings (In I Librum Regum), cap. XXII
“Addunt Antiquitates Biblicæ, ex fcriptis, opinor, Talmud, eo tempore Doëg hoc durum accepiffe vaticinium. Ad Doëg Syrum hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce dies venient citò, & afcendet vermis igneus in linguam eius, & tabefcere faciet eum, & erit habitatio eius cum Iair in igne inextinguibili Semper.”
The Biblical Antiquities add — from the writings of the Talmud, I think — that at that time Doeg received this harsh prophecy. To Doeg the Syrian the Lord says these things: Behold, the days will come quickly, and a fiery worm will ascend into his tongue and will cause him to waste away, and his dwelling will be with Jair in the inextinguishable fire forever.
From the Commentary on Esther (In Librum Esther), cap. II
“Hebræorum doctores tradunt in Talmud (vt accepi a quodam illorum magiftro qui Synagogæ aliquando præfuit, neque enim ego legiffe potui, neque fi poffem legerem) non nupfiffe Eftherem incircuncifò Affuero, neque cum illo rem habuiffe coniugalem, fed diabolum accepiffe illius fpeciem, & fub ea imagine illufiffe Regi, & operam illi præftitiffe fuccubam. Sed de illius Rabbini fide dubito, & de Talmudico figmento multo magis.”
The doctors of the Hebrews hand down in the Talmud — as I received it from a certain teacher of theirs who at one time presided over a Synagogue, for I myself could not have read it, nor even if I could would I read it — that Esther did not marry the uncircumcised Ahasuerus, nor had conjugal relations with him, but that the devil took on his form, and under that guise deceived the king, and performed the office of a succubus for him. But I doubt the faith of that Rabbi, and of the Talmudic fiction far more.
II. On the Rejection and Crucifixion of Christ
From the Commentary on Zechariah (In Zachariam), cap. V
“Impleuerunt igitur Iudæi menfuram, cum Chriftum abiecerunt, egeruntque in crucem; & ideo Chriftus cum dixiffet ab ipforum parentibus occifos effe Prophetas, addidit: & vos implete menfuram patrum veftrorum. [Matth. 23.] Vbi allufiffe videtur ad hunc Zachariæ locum. Ac fi dicat: parentes veftri interfectis Prophetis non exiguum peccatorum aceruum in menfuram congefferunt; vos nunc interfecto Prophetarum Principe, imò Prophetarum fcopo, menfuram implete. Locus hic admodum illuftris eft, & vehemens contra obftinatam peccandi confuetudinem.”
The Jews therefore filled up the measure when they rejected Christ and drove Him to the Cross. And therefore when Christ had said that the Prophets had been slain by their forebears, He added: “And do you fill up the measure of your fathers” [Matt. 23], where He seems to have alluded to this passage of Zechariah. As if to say: your parents, by killing the Prophets, heaped no small pile of sins into the measure; you now, by killing the Prince of Prophets — indeed the very mark at which the Prophets aimed — fill up the measure. This passage is most illustrious, and powerful against the obstinate habit of sinning.
From the Commentary on Zechariah (In Zachariam), cap. V
“Quare Chriftus Matth. cap. 23. vt fignificaret cladem, aut difperfionem populi Iudaici futuram effe diuturnam, vbi meminit impletæ menfuræ, fubiecit: Ecce relinquetur vobis domus veftra deferta. Eft autem extremæ miferæ fymbolum iniquitas claufa, & quafi obfignata obftinatione.”
Wherefore Christ in Matt. 23, to signify that the ruin or dispersion of the Jewish people would be long-lasting, when He recalled the filling up of the measure, added: “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” And a closed iniquity, sealed as it were with obstinacy, is the symbol of extreme misery.
From the Commentary on Zechariah (In Zachariam), cap. XIII
“Paftores verò illi funt ex fententia Cyrilli, ac Theodoreti Principes Synagogæ, qui Chriftum morte damnauerunt.”
Those shepherds, according to the opinion of Cyril and Theodoret, are the Princes of the Synagogue, who condemned Christ to death.
From the Commentary on II Kings (In II Librum Regum), cap. XI
“Gregorius in Vria populum etiam intelligit Iudaicum, quem Deus cum literis mittit, quæ illum violatæ religionis, & proditæ fidei accufant, & damnat: Vrias, inquit, ad Ioab cum epiftolis, ex quibus occidi debeat, mittitur. Quia idem ipfe Iudaicus populus legem portat, qua conuincente moriatur. Dum enim mandata legis retinens implere renititur, ipfe nimirum defert iudicium, vnde damnetur. Quid ergo per factum iftud Dauid fceleſtius? Quid Vria mundius dici poteft? Sed rurſus per myſterium, quid Dauid fanctius, quid Vria infidelius inuenitur, quando et ille per vitæ culpam Prophetiæ fignat innocentiam, & ifte per vitæ innocentiam in Prophetia exprimit culpam?”
Gregory understands Uriah to signify also the Jewish people, whom God sends with letters that accuse and condemn him of violated religion and betrayed faith: Uriah, he says, is sent to Joab with letters by which he must be killed. Because that same Jewish people carries the Law, by the conviction of which it must die. For while it insists on retaining the commandments of the Law without fulfilling them, it itself, of course, carries the judgment by which it is condemned. What, then, by this deed of David, is more wicked? What more blameless than Uriah? But again, in the mystery, what is more holy than David, what more faithless than Uriah? — since the one through the guilt of his life signifies prophetic innocence, and the other through the innocence of his life expresses guilt in prophecy.
III. On the Blindness and Reprobation of the Jews
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. XXIX
“Siue ergo ad æternitatem referas, vt putat Hieronymus, & cum eo plures, fiue ad tempora, quibus durabit Euangelium reprobata Synagoga, facis modicum eft quidquid Iudaicæ religionis, atque, vt ita loquar, filiationis fpari fupererit.”
Whether therefore you refer this to eternity, as Hieronymus thinks, and many with him, or to the times during which the Gospel will endure with the Synagogue reprobated, quite little indeed is whatever will remain of the Jewish religion, and, so to speak, of their scattered lineage.
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. XXIX
“Nunc verò oftendit, facta rerum admiranda commutatione, orituram effe lucem cæcis antea Gentilibus, & eos, qui ad illud vfque fæculum furdi fuerunt, poft apertas, & dociles aures habituros, ad diuinas voces, ad quas illufores Iudæi prius obfurducrant. Quod Chriftus ipfe docuit Ioan. 9. In iudicium veni in hunc mundum, vt qui non vident, videant, & qui vident, cæci fiant.”
Now He shows that, a wonderful change of affairs having taken place, light would arise for the Gentiles who had been blind before, and that those who had been deaf up to that age would thereafter have open and docile ears to the divine voices — to which the mocking Jews had previously become deaf. Which Christ Himself taught in John 9: “I came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. XXIX
“Dum verò Iudæus hoc loco dicitur illufor, ficut paulo ante iterum, oftenditur caufa, cur a Deo tanquam alienus tractandus fit: quia videlicet ipfius verba cum fibilo excipiebat, atque conuitio.”
And while the Jew is here called a mocker — as again a little earlier — the reason is shown why he is to be treated by God as an outsider: namely, because he received His words with hissing and with insult.
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. IX (on Romans 9)
“Dicitur autem Deus confummationem facturus, quia reprobata maxima Iudæorum parte, electorum ex eo genere fic erit numerus exiguus, vt penè totum genus videatur effe confumptum, aut, quod abbreuiationis nomen importat, ad paucos redactum… in terra a Iudæis habitata paucos fore faluandos.”
God is said to be about to make a consummation because, with the greater part of the Jews reprobated, the number of the elect from that nation will be so small that nearly the whole race will seem to have been consumed, or — which the name “abbreviation” implies — reduced to a few… in the land inhabited by the Jews few will be saved.
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. LIX
“In Iudæos, qui Euangelicam lucem repulerunt, belle ista conueniunt, qui in meridie, id eft, fulgentiffimo vndecumque circumfufi lumine, quod ab Scripturis emicat, & a miraculorum magnitudine, quibus Chriftus diuinitatis fuæ maieftatem oftendit, ipfi tamen in meridie excutiuntur, neque magis ab hoc illuftrantur lumine, quam a Solis radiis qui in fepulcris putrefcunt.”
These things aptly apply to the Jews, who rejected the Evangelical light — who, at noonday, that is, surrounded on all sides by the most brilliant light that shines from the Scriptures, and from the greatness of the miracles by which Christ displayed the majesty of His divinity, yet are shaken at midday and are illuminated by this light no more than those who rot in sepulchres are illuminated by the rays of the sun.
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. LIX
“Quidam in vrfo, qui præferoci natura eft, & prouocatus impotenter fæuit, Iudæorum genus intelligunt. Qui cum fe fuaque cadere ab antiquo loco, & exiftimatione fenferint, & propter Chrifti cædem ab hofte Romano male mulctati, fuunt in Chriftianam familiam, non fecus atque vrfus in eum, a quo laccffitus eft, aut ferro violatus. In columba verò, quæ ftolida eft, neque cor habuit, adumbrari Iudæorum garrulitatem, qui cum Scripturæ verum fenfum ignorent, tamen fcire fe putant, garriuntque, & puerili in modum facra monumenta, atque oracula canrillant. Dicunt ergo dolituros die Iudæos propter miferam, & in fingulos dies deteriorem fortunam, & furore ex odio ac defperatione concepto in Chriftianum nomen fæuituros atrociter. In hanc ferè fententiam Hieronymus, & Cyrillus.”
Some understand the bear — which is of a fierce nature, and when provoked rages uncontrollably — to signify the race of Jews. Who, when they perceived themselves and their things falling from their ancient place and esteem, and after having been grievously punished by the Roman enemy on account of the killing of Christ, rage against the Christian household, just as a bear against the one who provoked it or wounded it with iron. In the dove, however, which is foolish and without sense, they understand the loquacity of the Jews, who, though they are ignorant of the true meaning of Scripture, yet think they know it, and babble, and chant the sacred monuments and oracles in a childish manner. They say therefore that the Jews will grieve daily over their wretched and daily worsening fortune, and will rage atrociously against the Christian name out of hatred and desperation. This is roughly the opinion of Hieronymus and Cyrillus.
IV. On the Synagogue Superseded by the Church
From the Commentary on II Kings (In II Librum Regum), cap. XI
“Hieronymus in epift. 131. ad Rufinum, vbi ait, duas filias Loth, & duas vxores Ofeæ fignificare vtrumque Teftamentum: & Loth, & Ofeam in eo etiam actu, in quo vxores, & filiæ figuræ fuere Synagogæ, Chrifti fuiffe typum. Idem putat Auguftinus l. 22. contra Fauftum Manichæum.”
Hieronymus in Epistle 131 to Rufinus says that the two daughters of Lot and the two wives of Hosea signify both Testaments: and that Lot and Hosea, even in that act in which wives and daughters were figures of the Synagogue, were a type of Christ. Augustine holds the same opinion in book 22 against Faustus the Manichean.
From the Commentary on Hosea (In Oseas), cap. II
“Vix dum pactum inierat coniugale gens Ifraelitis. Synagoga plane infidelis, ingrata, & nunquam non inftabilis, in his maxime rebus, quæ ad veram religionem pertinerent, cum a fide fponfo Deo data ad amatores alios, ad impias nimirum idolorum aras, quafi ad nefarium adulterorum thalamum transfugit.”
Scarcely had the Israelite nation entered into the marriage covenant. The Synagogue, plainly faithless, ungrateful, and always and in every way unstable — especially in those matters which pertained to true religion — fled from the faith pledged to God her spouse to other lovers, to the impious altars of idols, as it were to the abominable chamber of adulterers.
From the Commentary on Hosea (In Oseas), cap. II
“Grandis fane ftupor Ifraelitidis Synagogæ, quam hic Dominus fornicariam appellat: quæ quod a Deo profectum eft beneficium, id Gentium idolis acceptum refert.”
Truly great is the stupidity of the Israelite Synagogue, which the Lord here calls a harlot: for what benefit proceeds from God, she attributes to the idols of the nations.
From the Commentary on Lamentations (In Ieremiam / Threnos), cap. I
“Hebræorum populus, fiue Synagoga, gaudebat olim fponfo Deo, a quo munera acceperat fplendida, verè nuptialia, in cuius complexu feftiuos agebat, & geniales dies. Hæc tamen, poftquam fidem prodidit coniugalem, & genialem thorum ftrauit adulteris, deferta fuit, & ignominiam experta talem, qualem minatus ante Dominus fuerat, verbis fanè grauiffimis apud Ezechielem capite 16. vbi zelotypus fponfus ingratæ, atque infideli Synagogæ, tanquam adulteræ fic minatur: Iudicabo te iudiciis adulterarum, & effundentium fanguinem, &c. & denudabunt te veftimentis tuis, & auferent vafa decoris tui, & derelinquent te nudam plenámque ignominia: & adducent fuper te multitudinem, & lapidabunt te lapidibus: & trucidabunt te gladiis fuis, & comburent domos tuas igni… idem plane contigit viduatæ Synagogæ ab fponfo Deo: cum enim hoftes cernerent, a Deo iam fuiffe, ac videri defertam…”
The people of the Hebrews, or the Synagogue, once rejoiced in God as a spouse, from whom she had received splendid and truly nuptial gifts, in whose embrace she passed festive and joyful days. Yet after she betrayed her conjugal faith and spread her marriage bed for adulterers, she was forsaken, and experienced such ignominy as the Lord had before threatened in the gravest words in Ezechiel chapter 16, where the jealous spouse thus threatens the ungrateful and faithless Synagogue as an adulteress: “I will judge you with the judgments of adulteresses and of those who shed blood, etc. And they shall strip you of your garments, and shall take away the vessels of your beauty, and shall leave you naked and full of ignominy: and they shall bring a multitude against you, and they shall stone you with stones: and they shall kill you with their swords, and shall burn your houses with fire”… The same has plainly befallen the Synagogue widowed of God her spouse: for when enemies perceived that she had been, and was seen to be, forsaken by God…
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. L
“Hanc caufam remonet Deus, dum ait, nunquam a fe dimiffam aut repudiatam matrem Iudæorum, id eft, rempublicam aut Gentem, quæ apud Babylonios tenebatur captiua.”
(Marginal heading: “Synagoga quomodo non repudiata”)
God removes this obstacle when He says that He has never dismissed or repudiated the mother of the Jews — that is, the commonwealth or Nation, which was held captive among the Babylonians.
From the Commentary on Jeremiah (In Ieremiam), cap. XXXI
“Dicitur autem nouum, quia multa ex eo accepit Ecclefia, quæ non agnouit antiqua Synagoga.”
It is called “new” because the Church received from it many things that the ancient Synagogue did not acknowledge.
V. On the Curse and Dispersion of the Jews as Divine Punishment
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. IX
“Non fic autem populus Iudaicus, quem triturauic Dominus per Syriæ, atque Samariæ vires: Deinde per Affyrios, ad extremum per Chaldæos, non vt contereret, ac perderet, fed vt purgaret, ac conderet in horreum.”
Not so, however, the Jewish people, whom the Lord threshed through the forces of Syria and Samaria, then through the Assyrians, and finally through the Chaldeans — not to crush and destroy them, but to purge them and store them in the granary.
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. LX
“Superba Iudæorum hypocrifis contemnebat… Gentiles, quos Iudæi ita præ fe viles habuerunt, vt etiam conuictu, atque congreffù indignos cenfuerint: vfque adeo, vt exiftimauerint nifi circumcifos prius ad Ecclefiam accedere non oportere. Act. cap. 15.”
The proud hypocrisy of the Jews despised… the Gentiles, whom the Jews held in such low esteem that they judged them unworthy even of table fellowship and association: to such a degree that they thought the uncircumcised ought not approach the Church. Acts 15.
From the Commentary on Zechariah (In Zachariam), cap. XIV
“Neque minus Iudæi in varias mundi plagas difperfi fuerunt a Chaldæis, quam leues ftipulæ, & aridæ frondes a turbine rotatæ.”
No less were the Jews dispersed into the various regions of the world by the Chaldeans, than light stubble and dry leaves whirled by a whirlwind.
From the Commentary on Zechariah (In Zachariam), cap. XIII
“Neque ideo impletum non eft quod Chriftus dixerat, ita excifum iri Ierofolymam, vt remanfurus non fit lapis fuper lapidem: nam quod reliquum fuit ab excidio Titi, deleuit poftea Hadrianus.”
Nor is that unfulfilled which Christ had said — that Jerusalem would be so utterly cut off that no stone would remain upon a stone — for what remained after the destruction by Titus was afterwards demolished by Hadrian.
VI. On Jewish Enmity toward Christ and Christians
From the Commentary on Isaiah (In Isaiam), cap. XLIX
“Abominabilis præterea iudicatus eft a Iudæis, cum dicebant illum non effe a Deo: & in Beelzebub eiicere dæmonia, & fimilla. Et vt hic notauit Hieronymus, & docet Epiphanius in Hærefi Nazarenorum, etiam nunc Iudæi Chrifto fub nomine Nazarei maledicunt in Synagogis. Seruus præterea dicitur dominorum: quia non aliter a Synagogæ principibus, & præfide Pilato tractatus eft, quam vile mancipium a clariffimo ac potentiffimo domino.”
Furthermore He was judged abominable by the Jews, when they said that He was not from God, and that He cast out demons by Beelzebub, and the like. And as Hieronymus noted here, and Epiphanius teaches in the Heresy of the Nazarenes, even now the Jews curse Christ in their Synagogues under the name of the Nazarene. He is furthermore called the servant of lords: because He was treated by the princes of the Synagogue and by the governor Pilate no differently than a vile slave by the most eminent and powerful lord.
From the Commentary on Hosea (In Oseas), cap. II (Zechariah V)
“Maledictio in Scriptura condemnatio eft, fiue fententia contra impios lata… foli funt Iudæi, qui in Dei nomine iurant, quia hi folum Deum norunt.”
A curse in Scripture is a condemnation, or a sentence passed against the wicked… the Jews alone are those who swear in the name of God, because they alone know God [by name].
From the Commentary on Malachi / Zechariah (In Zachariam), cap. V
“Quia ibi proponitur & peccatorum multitudo, quæ latitudo eft: & longitudo, quæ fuit in peccando diuturnitas, & obftinatio. Et fimiliter in eodem volumine maledictiones fcriptæ funt in eadem menfura: quia fupplicia grauiffima funt, & eorum æterna duratio.”
Because therein is set forth the multitude of sins, which is the breadth; and the length, which was the long duration and obstinacy of sinning. And similarly in that same volume the curses are written in the same measure: because the punishments are most grave, and their duration is eternal.
From the Commentary on Hosea (In Oseas), cap. IV
“Plurima huius generis recentiores Hebræi congefferunt in fuum Talmud, quibus decepta Iudæorum infelix, & copiofa turba mille fubit quotidie cafus, & incommoda.”
The more recent Hebrews have heaped up very many things of this kind into their Talmud, by which the unhappy and numerous crowd of Jews, deceived, daily undergoes a thousand mishaps and misfortunes.
Sources
The passages above are drawn from the following volumes of Gaspar Sanchez’s collected works, available at the links below:
- In quatuor libros Regum duos Paralipomenon (Kings and Chronicles commentary) https://books.google.com/books/about/In_quatuor_libros_Regum_duos_Paralipomen.html?id=uU6OeYdZjK8C
- Commentarii in Actus Apostolorum https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_WPtm6wWJ8jcC
- Commentarii in Isaiam, Vol. I https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_AMwS5j9ZQNYC
- Commentarii in Isaiam, Vol. II https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_VskqlG6tbU8C
- Commentarii in Danielem et in alios Prophetas Minores https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_WkuC0Ru_DNUC
- Commentarii in Zachariam https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_mMkVrcRyBBcC
- Commentarii in Oseas et in alios Prophetas Minores https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_cZFBVtGwvl0C
- Commentarii in Matthaeum https://archive.org/details/MN40377ucmf_1
- Commentarii in Ieremiam, Threnos, et Baruch https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_hoJQBvjX8GAC
- Commentarii in Ruth, Esther, Esdram, et Machabaeorum libros https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_R1c6hlp9ZFkC