The Bible and its exegesis in Aphra Behn’s “An essay on translated prose” (1688)

By assessing Aphra Behn’s preface to Bernard de Fontenelle’s Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes, which was published as “An Essay on Translated Prose” (1688), this article marks a subtle but profound shift in the understanding of how Behn engaged with the Bible. Firstly, it establishes that Behn drew on material that fused scientific theory and Bible analysis, specifically John Wilkins’s A Discourse Concerning a New Planet (1640). Secondly, it explores how Behn deployed biblical quotation, and paratext, and explains the significance of the edition that she consulted. Thirdly, it proposes that Behn accessed Bible Commentaries and “annotations” that were published widely throughout the seventeenth century as scholarly guides to scripture’s meaning. This article thereby situates Behn in relation to the resources and thinkers that facilitated her as she produced biblical exegesis.