The French humanist Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples (ca. 1460–1536) enjoyed
in his lifetime a notoriety second only to Erasmus himself. His numerous
works of biblical scholarship, his commentaries and homilies, and his
translation of the Bible into French make him one of the most significant
forerunners of the Reformation in Europe. His scholarly achievements as
well as his profound piety deserve to be better known. While an in-depth
study of Lefèvre’s scholarly achievements and theology is obviously not
possible here, I propose to highlight his main contribution to biblical
scholarship and hermeneutics.