Douay-Rheims Commentary, Volume 1

Volume 1 of a four-volume series takes the Gospels in the order Mark, Matthew, John. Every verse is worked from the Greek, with grammar and etymology carried into the exegesis, the Vulgate's Latin consulted where the Latin bears on the sense, and the Douay-Rheims English set beside many other translations for comparison. Where the manuscripts disagree, the textual-critical evidence is put on the page rather than settled out of sight.

The method is stated in the front matter. Interpretation follows the rules laid down in Leo XIII's encyclical Providentissimus Deus of 1893 and the Catechism's teaching that the literal sense comes first, which means each verse is read from its own grammar and context before anything else is asked of it. Readings are supported from the Fathers and medievals, the catechisms, papal statements and conciliar decrees, with answers to the standard objections of the anti-Catholic denominations where the text invites them. Each verse carries a string of cross-references to related passages and to the Old Testament sources quoted in the New, and more than 250 paintings and images run alongside the 760 pages of text.