A. Skevington Wood on Nicholas of Lyra
The following article is now on-line in PDF:
A. Skevington Wood, “Nicholas of Lyra,” Evangelical Quarterly 33 (1961): 196-206.
Nicholas of Lyra was one of the most influencial exegetes of the Middle Ages because he mediated to the Church the fruits of medieval Jewish exegesis. His was the first every Bible commentary to appear in print. My own research on the history of the interpretation of Genesis indicates that he is the first known proponent of a form of the Framework Hypothesis for interpreting the Days of Genesis 1:
The idea that the first three days describe the acts of creation, separation and adornment has a much longer history. It is mentioned by Martin Luther in his Lectures on Genesis, but Luther disregarded it because in his opinion it did not appear to fit the facts. He referred those interested in such trivia to the work of Nicholas de Lyra (c. 1270-1349) on Genesis, to whom Luther himself was heavily indebted.