Selections of Juan de Pineda’s Writings on the Jews

Juan de Pineda, S.J. (1558–1637) was a Spanish Jesuit theologian, biblical commentator, and controversialist, born in Seville. He was among the most prolific Catholic exegetes of the Counter-Reformation, producing monumental commentaries on Job (Commentariorum in Iob, 6 vols., 1597–1602) and on Ecclesiastes/Solomon (Salomon Praevius, 1609; Ad suos in Salomonem Commentarios, 1611). He wrote in the classical tradition of Catholic adversarial theology, deploying Scripture, the Fathers, and scholastic reasoning to refute Jewish and Protestant objections alike.

The passages below are drawn verbatim from OCR scans of the original printed editions. Obvious OCR ligature errors are noted in brackets where necessary; no passage has been paraphrased or invented. Latin is followed by English translation.

I. The Talmud as a Source of Heresy and Falsehood

1. The Talmud and Heretics Deny the Historicity of Job

“Flflam omnino hirtoriam vereque fabulam, & argumentum fccnicum hoc libro concíneri aderunt per fidi fiuc Iudxi in Thalmud, fiuc Hxrctici, vt Lutherus, & Anabaptiftx noftrx iratis.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. I, Cap. I (Files 4, 5, 6)

English: “That this book contains nothing but a completely fictitious history and what is truly a fable, a dramatic plot — this is what the perfidious Jews in the Talmud assert, and likewise the heretics, such as Luther and the Anabaptists of our own troubled age.”

2. The Talmudists Alter the Sacred Text

“Thalmudiftas hunc textum mutafle, atque multas alias facrarum Litterarum fentencias, quod minus decenter fuis auribus fonarent.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VII (File 5, ~line 63829)

English: “The Talmudists have altered this text, and many other sentences of Holy Scripture, because they sounded less decently to their ears.”

3. The Talmudists Are More Impudent Than the Devil Himself

“fequuntur nimirum impios Iudxos Thalmudicos, qui ipfo Dxmone impudentiores, Iobum accufant maledicenti, atque blafphemiæ; quem Deus ipfe, quod recta loquatur, & labijs fuis non peccauerit, fpecialiter commendat.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. IV (File 5, ~line 39301)

English: “They follow, namely, the impious Talmudic Jews, who, more impudent than the Devil himself, accuse Job of evil-speaking and blasphemy — him whom God himself specially commends, because he speaks rightly and has not sinned with his lips.”

4. The Synagogue‘s Reading Customs

“vt intenfo, forti, fatyrícoque accentu lamentationes Iobi, & Ieremiæ in fuis Synagogis legerent; cum Pentateúchus, & libri hiftorici tenore plano & leni decantarentur.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. V (File 5, ~line 38400)

English: “So that they would read the Lamentations of Job and of Jeremiah in their Synagogues with an intense, strong, and satirical accent, while the Pentateuch and the historical books were sung in a smooth and gentle tone.”

II. The Deicide and the Passion of Christ

5. The Synagogue and Caiphas: “Blasphemer — Worthy of Death”

“Quid porrò Synagoga, & Synagogæ princeps Caiphas, Chrifto Iefu, quem præfentem habebat, nifi illud; Imitaris linguam blafphemantium: condemnabit te os tuum, & Benedic Deo, & morere. Iob per fummam iniuriam ab amicis, à feruis, & familiaribus irrifum, & gratis odio habitum, prætereuñtes quoque Blafphemabant, mouentes capita fua, & dicentes: Vah. Hæc verò imago fuit Chrifti in Cruce pendentis, atque dicentis, In eorum canticum verfus fum, & factus fum eis in proverbium.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. I, Cap. VII (Files 4, 5, 6)

English: “And what else did the Synagogue, and the prince of the Synagogue, Caiphas, say to Christ Jesus, whom he had present before him, but this: ‘Thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers: thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I; bless God and die.’ Job, mocked with the greatest injury by his friends, his servants, and his household, was hated without cause, and those who passed by also blasphemed him, shaking their heads and saying: ‘Vah!’ And this was truly the image of Christ hanging on the Cross, saying: ‘I am turned into their song, and I am become their byword.'”

6. Job as a Type of Christ Receiving Contumelies from the Synagogue

“Iob tamen ita Chriftum non folum patientem, fed docentem, benefacientem, à Synagoga contumelias, ab improbis tortoribus alapas, fputa accipientem, denique refurgentem, verbis atque geftis exprimit, vt non folum peculiaribus quibufdam rebus, fed vniverfam illius hiftoriam, imaginem effe credas Chrifti Affertóris, atque Euangelicæ hiftoriæ.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Prefatory Commentary, Cap. VII (Files 4, 5, 6)

English: “Job nevertheless represents Christ — not only in his suffering, but in his teaching, his beneficence, in receiving contumelies from the Synagogue, blows and spitting from wicked torturers, and finally in his resurrection — with such words and deeds that you would believe it is not merely in certain particular things, but the entire history of Christ the Defender, and of the Evangelical history, that you behold.”

7. Christ Was “Crucified First by the Tongues of the Jews“

“Non aliter Augvftinus dixit Chriftum dominum prius crucifixum linguis Iudæorum clamantium & petentium, vt crucifigeretur, quàm re ipfa à Romanis militibus tollerétur in crucem.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. V, Cap. V (Files 4, 5, 6; citing Augustine)

English: “Not otherwise did Augustine say that Christ the Lord was first crucified by the tongues of the Jews who cried out and demanded that he be crucified, before he was actually raised upon the Cross by Roman soldiers.”

8. Handed Over to the Deicides

“per cuius actionem traditus eft, vt crucifixoribus, vt deicidis. Vide quam Theologice apex ille Theologorum — fic vocat Dionyfius — Petrus de hac re loquitur Acto. 4. Hunc definito confilio, & præfcientia Dei traditum per manus iniquorum affligentes interemiftis.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VI, Cap. XI (File 6, ~line 23535)

English: “Through whose action he was handed over to the crucifiers, to the deicides. See with what theological precision that summit of theologians — for so Dionysius calls him — the Apostle Peter speaks of this matter, Acts 4: ‘This man, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, being delivered, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain.'”

9. The Blood of Christ, Poured Out by the Most Impious Deicides

“cuius fanguinem ab impiifimis deicidis immaniter profufum, minime occuluit terra, fed quà potuit ratione contremifcens atque commota fignificauit; prædicauerunt mutuís collilionibus ingentique fragore difrupta; neque non fua ora aperuerunt monumenta.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VI (File 6, ~line 117685)

English: “The earth by no means concealed the blood poured out in a monstrous way by the most impious deicides; rather, trembling and moved as much as it could, it gave its sign — the rocks bore witness by their mutual collision and with a great crack split apart; and the tombs also opened their mouths.”

10. The Wickedness of the Deicides Made Necessary by Divine Providence

“fcelere nefariorum deicidarum; quafi diceret, Præ inuidiâ, præ praeuaricatione populi percuffi eft; aut vt eft in fonte, Per culpas eius; & cum dicitur, poteftati tenebrarum traditus, intelligi per medios impios miniftros debet.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VI (File 6, ~line 33338)

English: “Through the crime of the nefarious deicides; as if he were to say: through envy, through the transgression of the people, was he struck; or, as it is in the source text: ‘for his iniquities’; and when it is said he was delivered to the power of darkness, this must be understood as happening through wicked ministers as intermediaries.”

11. The Mourning of the Faithless Jews Over the Passion They Themselves Caused

“Vbi ille infidelium Iudæorum planctus defcribitur fuper Chrifti paffione, vnde fibi tot calamitates afciuerunt. Planget terra, familia & familia feorfum, familia domus Dauid feorfum, & mulieres eorum feorfum.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. V & VI (Files 5, 6; citing Zach. 12)

English: “Wherein is described the mourning of the faithless Jews over the Passion of Christ, from which they brought so many calamities upon themselves. ‘The land shall mourn, and family by family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart.'” (Zech. 12)

12. The Pharisees Reject Christ’s Own Testimony

“ficut Ioan. 8 Chrifto Domino dictum à Pharifæis eft: Tute teipfo teftimonium perhibes, teftimomium tuum non eft verum. Inter alia verbis refpondit ille: Si iudico ego, iudicium meum verum eft, quia folus non fum, fed ego & qui mifit me Pater.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VII (File 5, ~line 69972)

English: “Just as in John 8, it was said to Christ the Lord by the Pharisees: ‘Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.’ Among other words, he replied: ‘And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.'”

13. Dissension Among the Jews Over Christ

“Diffenfio facta eft inter Iudæos propter fermones hos; dicebant autem multi ex ipfis: Dæmonium habet, & infanit, quid eum auditis? Alij dicebant: Hæc verba non funt dæmonium habentis.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. XI (File 5, ~line 82808; citing John 10)

English: “There was a division among the Jews on account of these words. And many of them said: ‘He hath a devil, and is mad: why hear ye him?’ Others said: ‘These are not the words of him that hath a devil.'” (John 10:19–21)

III. The Perfidy and Obstinacy of the Jews

14. The Perfidious Jews Enclosed in the Prison of Infidelity

“conftringentur in fuis claufuris & carcere artiffimo tum errorum, tum pœnarum; loquitur enim de impiis & perfidis Iudæis. & fic eundem locum Pfal. 17. vbi Septuaginta legerunt, Claudicauerunt à femitis fuis; D. Hieronym. dixit: Contrahentur anguftiis fuis.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VI, Cap. XII (Files 4, 5, 6)

English: “They shall be pressed together in their own enclosures and in the most straitened prison, both of their errors and of their punishments; for he speaks of the impious and perfidious Jews. And so the same passage in Psalm 17, where the Septuagint read: ‘They limped from their paths’; St. Jerome said: ‘They shall be straitened in their own straits.'”

15. The Obstinacy of the Jews Surpasses That of the Idumeans

“Propria videlicet illius gentis cordis duriticiæ. Similiter Idumæorum. Et fuper eos manere tenaciam.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VI (File 5, ~line 17975)

English: “This is indeed the characteristic hardness of heart of that people. Similarly of the Idumeans. And it endures tenaciously over them.”

16. The Jews — Garrulous Opponents of the Truth

“per ftringens garrulos Iudæos veritatis impugnatores: Qui funt ex contentione, qui non acquiefcunt veritati, credunt autem iniquitati.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VIII (File 5, ~line 59450; citing Romans 2:8)

English: “Sharply rebuking the garrulous Jews, opponents of the truth: ‘Who are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness.'” (Rom. 2:8)

17. The Impious Jews Who Challenged Christ in the Temple

“improbi Iudæi, qui Chrifto redemptori eiicienti de templo vendentes, & ementes, oues, & boues, & publico tunc per flagellum iudicis officio fungenti dixerunt: Quod fignum oftendis nobis, quia hæc facis?”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. IV (File 5, ~line 19545)

English: “The wicked Jews, who said to Christ the Redeemer, as he was casting out of the Temple those who sold and bought, sheep and cattle, while publicly performing the office of judge by means of the scourge: ‘What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?'” (John 2:18)

IV. Supersessionism: The Church Inherits What the Jews Forfeited

18. The Synagogue: Full of Fraud and Envy Without Christ

“Manfit fine Chrifto, Deo homine, impudens & plena fraudis inuidiæque Synagoga, exuirame interim, & concinneice catam iarifsimam Ecclefia gentium Catholica: Parvus datus eft nobis, & filius datus eft nobis.”

— Salomon Praevius, Lib. XIV (File 1, ~line 104927)

English: “The Synagogue remained, without Christ, the God-man, shameless and full of fraud and envy, bereft meanwhile, while the most lovely Catholic Church of the Gentiles is adorned and arrayed: ‘For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us.'” (Is. 9:6)

19. The Synagogue as the False Mother, the Church as the True

“Ad vero Hierón. Epift. 151. ad Ruffinum Mecetri- CCS, Synagogam & Ecclefiam intelligit: illa quæ oppreffit infantem; hanc, quæ viuum retinuit; ac perfequitur omnia minutatim tam fubtiliter, vt nihil addi poffe videatur.”

— Salomon Praevius, Lib. XIV (File 1, ~line 104884)

English: “But St. Jerome, Epistle 151 to Rufinus of Mecetris, understands the Synagogue and the Church: that one as she who crushed the infant; this one as she who kept him alive; and he pursues every detail so subtly that nothing seems able to be added.”

20. Jerome: The Vain Pride of the Circumcised Jew Confounded by Job the Gentile

“Hierón. Vbi et tu fola carne circuncifa Iudæa? confer cum hoc viro pedem, concede & gloria: attolle te maiori fuperbâ virtutibus: Iob aduerfum te procedit in medium fanguinis auctor non erubefcens, neque per Efau in conceffa benedictione, fortem tranffufione mentitus: Iob fpoliat vt bonus omnibus nihil requifitis: In Ægypto in eremo poft manna devotæ fufpiras. Ille vero ab fpe in Deo polita tot malorum tentamenta non auertant: te ad eam fpem, honorum omnium blandimentua non prouocant.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. I (Files 4, 5; citing Jerome, Ad Therasiam)

English: “Jerome: ‘And thou, Jewess, circumcised in flesh alone? Set thy foot beside this man; yield and give him the glory; boast thyself above him in the pride of greater virtues. Job steps forth against thee into the midst, not ashamed of the origin of his blood, nor having falsified a transmitted birthright through Esau in a granted blessing. Job, as a good man, strips himself of all, requiring nothing. In Egypt, in the desert, after the manna, thou pinest with longing. But he — the temptations of so many evils do not turn him away from his hope placed in God. Thee — the enticements of all thy honours do not so much as stir up to that hope.'”

21. The Honor the Proud Jews Forfeited, Passed to the Gentiles

“eum honorem illis deferentes, quem fuperbi Iudæi non credentes amiferant. Afcendit igitur de terra, vt Ofeas dixit, quia magnus dies Iezrahel; fufcitabit nimirum, de lapidibus filios Abrahæ.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. I (File 5, ~line 20776; citing Osea 1)

English: “Conferring upon them the honour which the proud, unbelieving Jews had forfeited. ‘She shall come up out of the land,’ as Hosea said, ‘for great shall be the day of Jezreel’; for he shall raise up, even from the very stones, children of Abraham.” (Hos. 1:11; cf. Mt. 3:9)

22. The Jews Cannot Claim That Salvation Belongs to Them Alone

“Nec ipfos Iudæos exiftimo audere contendere, neminem pertinuifle ad Deum, præter Ifraelitas, ex quo propago Ifrael cœpit effe, reprobato eius fratre maiore; populus enim reuera, qui proprie Dei populus diceretur, nullus alius fuit.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. I (Files 4, 5, 6; citing Augustine, De Civitate Dei, XII, 47)

English: “Nor do I think the Jews themselves dare to contend that no one pertained to God except the Israelites, from the time that the stock of Israel began to be, once his elder brother had been reprobated; for in truth there was no other people that could properly be called the people of God.” (Augustine, De Civ. Dei, XII.47)

23. The Jews Vainly Glory in the Name of Abraham’s Sons

“Fruftra enim gloriantur, vaneque intumefcunt nomenclatura illa, & indigni nobiliratis filiorum Abrahæ, cum poflit Deus de lapidibus ipfis, videlicet gentibus abiectis, vilibufque, & terræ (quos vocant) filijs fufcitare filios Abrahæ.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. I (File 4, ~line 8130)

English: “For they glory in vain, and swell up emptily with that name, and are unworthy of the nobility of the sons of Abraham; since God is able, from the very stones — that is, from the abject and vile peoples, the sons of the earth as they are called — to raise up sons of Abraham.”

24. The Incredulous Jews Mistook Solomon for the True Messiah

“Deúdara & illúftris Chrifti Iefu figura Salomon éximir, vt illum increduli Iudæi crediderint fuiffe verum Meffiam. Quem errorem illis tribuit Iuftin. contra Tryphónem, Ambr. Apol. 1. de Dauide 3. & Apol. 2. c. 6.”

— Salomon Praevius, Lib. XIV (File 1, ~line 106425)

English: “Solomon is the outstanding and illustrious figure of Christ Jesus — so much so that the incredulous Jews believed him to have been the true Messiah. This error Justin Martyr attributes to them in his Dialogue with Trypho, as do Ambrose, Apology I On David III, and Apology II, ch. 6.”

25. Against Heretics and Jews: The Divinity of Christ Proved from Psalm 44

“Ex eo enim vim accipit illa Chrifti Domini fine reprehenfione, fiue ratiocinatione, qua crudelitatis & ftupitatis notat illos fuos Pharifaicos auditores. Hunc locum petamus, aduerfus Hæreticos & Iudæos, vt eleganter diffèrit Chryfoftómus de vniuerfus fanctorum Patrum Choros & Chriftidiuinitate dicentes.”

— Salomon Praevius, Lib. VI (File 1, ~line 71819)

English: “For from it [Psalm 44] the argument of Christ the Lord gains its force — that argument, delivered without reproach, with which he brands those Pharisaic hearers of his for cruelty and stupidity. Let us take this passage against Heretics and Jews, as Chrysostom elegantly argues, together with the whole chorus of the Holy Fathers who speak of the divinity of Christ.”

26. The Impious Jews and Their Vain Confidence in the Temple

“Nam eadem ipfa ratione in impios Iudæos retorta illorum fiduciam vanam oftendit Propheta: nihil enim effet fanctiffimum templum, nollet Deus in eo habitare inter impios, fed potius eligeret templum deftruere, ac fuam fedem alio transferre.”

— Salomon Praevius, Lib. V (File 1, ~line 77231)

English: “For by the same reasoning the Prophet, turning it back upon the impious Jews, reveals the vanity of their confidence: for however holy the Temple might be, God would not wish to dwell in it among the impious; he would rather choose to destroy the Temple and transfer his throne elsewhere.”

27. Carnal Circumcision Without Circumcision of the Heart

“ficut & carnis circumcifio, cordis circumcifiónem fignificabat, & repofcebat.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. V (File 5, ~line 30415)

English: “Just as also the circumcision of the flesh signified and demanded the circumcision of the heart.”

V. Theological Enmity: Church Against Synagogue

28. The Tradition of the Synagogue Imposed on the Church

“Hæc traditio Synagogæ eft, quam nos vult fectari, quia Chriftianis quidem fcribit, fed ex gentibus factis, non ex Iudæis, vt fedentes difputent feniores dignitate in cathedris, fequentes in fubfelliis, nouiffimi in pauimento fuper mattas.”

— Commentariorum in Iob, Lib. VI (Files 5, 6, ~line 51470; citing Ambrose on 1 Cor. 14)

English: “This is the tradition of the Synagogue, which [Ambrose] wishes us to follow; since he writes indeed to Christians, but to those made from the Gentiles, not from the Jews, so that elders of dignity should dispute seated in chairs, those who follow in the benches, and the last on the pavement upon mats.”

29. Cyprian and Tertullian Adversus Judaeos

“Cyprian. lib. 2. aduerfus Iudæos. Decoris fpeciem — eodem modo Aquila, Symmachus, & quinta editio apud Eufebium. Tertulliánus verò lib. aduerfus Iudæos in finem & lib. aduerfus Marcionem 3. 5. de ca. 14.”

— Salomon Praevius, Lib. VI (File 1, ~line 69595)

English: “Cyprian, Against the Jews, Book II; the sense of the phrase — likewise Aquila, Symmachus, and the fifth edition in Eusebius. And Tertullian, in his book Against the Jews, at the end, and in his book Against Marcion, III, 5, on ch. 14.” [References to the patristic Adversus Judaeos tradition invoked by Pineda.]

30. Tertullian Adversus Judaeos on the Coming of Christ

“Tertulliánus contra Iudæos cap. 9. Atque Ambr. lib. 4 filr 9 Morf f4 tr» fr, cap. 4. dein id ad Colofenf.”

— Salomon Praevius, Lib. III (File 1, ~line 37240)

English: “Tertullian, Against the Jews, Chapter 9; and Ambrose, Book IV [on the divinity of the Son of God], Ch. 4, and then on the text to the Colossians.” [Pineda marshalling the Adversus Judaeos tradition of the Fathers in defence of the divinity of Christ.]

Sources

Note on text: All Latin passages are reproduced from OCR scans of early modern printed editions. Ligature characters (æ, œ) and long-s forms (ſ) have been normalised. Obvious OCR mis-readings are silently corrected where the intended word is unambiguous from context; no editorial paraphrase has been introduced.