Some Remarks on the Structure and Stylistic Features of Bible Commentaries from the First Half of the Seventeenth Century Prepared at the Vilnius Academy

This article presents an analysis of a synopsis of biblical lectures delivered at Vilnius University in the early seventeenth century and attributed to Konstantinas Sirvydas (Konstanty Szyrwid). Considering that we are dealing with a rare and previously unexplored work, the study provides the historical background of its creation and discusses its structure and stylistic features. Most attention is devoted to the analysis of the quotations in the manuscript, as they play a primary role in the text. The structure of the lectures is relatively uniform: each chapter opens with a biblical verse or its fragment and a brief summary of its various existing interpretations, followed by a detailed discussion of biblical concepts important for understanding the content of the verse. The structure of the quotations is diverse, as the synopsis contains various types of references to Holy Scripture, which are used to create multi-layer metaphors – they provide the text with imagery, serve as a source of arguments and justifications, and introduce an unquestionable moralising element. The author employs three types of interpretation of the Bible: historical, allegorical and spiritual.