John Trapp
1601–1669
Commentator on the whole Bible; the Puritan epigrammatist.
Biography
Of Christ Church Oxford, then Weston-on-Avon (Warwickshire) and (later) Welford-on-Avon. Schoolmaster at Stratford-upon-Avon for some years, where local tradition makes him a kind of successor to Shakespeare's old grammar-school master. Trapp was the Assembly's most prolific Bible commentator — A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the New and Old Testament (5 folio volumes, 1646-62) is famous for its concision and aphoristic style. C.H. Spurgeon called him 'rich, racy, and rare' and recommended that any preacher who could afford his commentaries should buy them. A quietly conformist Presbyterian at the Assembly. He survived the Restoration in his parish, conformed in 1662, and died at Weston in 1669.
Principal works
- A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the New and Old Testament (5 vols, 1646–62)
- Gods Love-Tokens (1637)
English Presbyterian divine
The great majority of the sitting members were English parish ministers of Presbyterian conviction. They formed the drafting core of the Assembly, manning its three standing committees and supplying most of the text of the Confession, the two Catechisms, and the Directory for Public Worship.