View source for Jerome

'''Jerome''' (/dʒəˈroʊm/; [[Latin]]: ''Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus''; [[Greek]]: Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; c. [[342 AD|342]]-[[347 AD|347]] – September 30, [[420 AD|420]]) also known as '''Jerome of Stridon'''; was a [[Christian]] leader and [[Christian apologetics|apologist]] best known for translating the Latin [[Vulgate]]. He is recognized by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] as a canonized [[saint]] and [[Doctor of the Church]], and his version of the Bible is still an important text in Catholicism. He is also recognized as a saint by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], where he is known as '''St Jerome of Stridonium''' or '''Blessed Jerome'''. 

In the Catholic Church, it has been usual to represent him (the patron of theological learning) anachronistically, as a [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]], by the side of [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Ambrose]], and [[Pope Gregory I]]. Even when he is depicted as a half-clad [[anchorite]], with cross, skull and Bible for the only furniture of his cell, the red hat or some other indication of his rank as cardinal is as a rule introduced somewhere in the picture. He is also often depicted with a [[lion]], due to a medieval story in which he removed a thorn from a lion's paw, and less often with an [[owl]], the symbol of wisdom and scholarship. [[Writing material]]s and the trumpet of [[final judgment]] are also part of his [[iconography]]. He is commemorated on 30 September with a memorial. 

==Life==
[[Image:Domenico Ghirlandaio - St Jerome in his study.jpg|thumb|left|Saint Jerome in his Study, by Domenico Ghirlandaio]]
Jerome was born at [[Stridon]], on the border between [[Pannonia]] and [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], close to [[Aquileia]], as mentioned in his ''De Viris Illustribus'' Chapter 135 (English translation below).

Jerome was possibly an Illyrian, born to Christian parents, but was not baptized until about 360 or 366, when he had gone to [[Rome]] with his friend [[Bonosus (bishop)|Bonosus]] (who may or may not have been the same Bonosus whom Jerome identifies as his friend who went to live as a hermit on an island in the Adriatic) to pursue [[rhetoric]]al and [[philosophy|philosophical]] studies. He studied under the grammarian [[Aelius Donatus]]. Jerome learned [[Greek language|Greek]], but yet had no thought of studying the Greek [[Fathers of the Church|Fathers]], or any Christian writings.

Payne offers a different account of his conversion. As a student in Rome, he engaged quite casually in the gay activities of students there yet suffered terrible bouts of repentance afterwards.
To appease his conscience, he would visit on Sundays the sepulchers of the martyrs and the apostles in the catacombs. This experience would remind him of the terrors of hell. 
"Often I would find myself entering those crypts, deep dug in the earth, with their walls on either side lined with the bodies of the dead, where everything was so dark that almost it seemed as though the Psalmist’s words were fulfilled, Let them go down quick into Hell. Here and there the light, not entering in through windows, but filtering down from above through shafts, relieved the horror of the darkness. But again, as soon as you found yourself cautiously moving forward, the black night closed around and there came to my mind the line of [[Vergil]], ''Horror ubique animo, simul ipsa silentia terrent''." (Jerome, Commentarius in Ezechielem, c. 40, v. 5)

Jerome initially used classical authors to describe Christian concepts, such as hell, that indicated both his classical education and his deep shame of their associated practices, such as male homosexuality. Although initially skeptical of Christianity, he finally converted.

After several years in Rome, he travelled with Bonosus to [[Gaul]] and settled in [[Trier]] "on the semi-barbarous banks of the [[Rhine]]" where he seems to have first taken up theological studies, and where he copied, for his friend [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus]], [[Hilary of Poitiers]]' commentary on the ''Psalms'' and the treatise ''De synodis''. Next came a stay of at least several months, or possibly years, with Rufinus at [[Aquileia]] where he made many Christian friends.

Some of these accompanied him when he set out about 373 on a journey through [[Thrace]] and [[Asia Minor]] into northern [[History of Syria|Syria]]. At [[Antioch]], where he stayed the longest, two of his companions died and he himself was seriously ill more than once. During one of these illnesses (about the winter of 373-374), he had a vision that led him to lay aside his secular studies and devote himself to the things of God. He seems to have abstained for a considerable time from the study of the classics and to have plunged deeply into that of the [[Bible]], under the impulse of [[Apollinaris of Laodicea]], then teaching in Antioch and not yet suspected of [[Christian heresy|heresy]].

[[Image:Giovanni Bellini St Jerome Reading in the Countryside.jpg|thumb|right|St. Jerome reading in the countryside, by [[Giovanni Bellini]]]]
Seized with a desire for a life of [[ascetic]] penance, he went for a time to the desert of [[Chalcis, Syria|Chalcis]], to the southwest of Antioch, known as the [[Syrian Thebaid]], from the number of hermits inhabiting it. During this period, he seems to have found time for study and writing. He made his first attempt to learn Hebrew under the guidance of a converted [[Jew]]; and he seems to have been in correspondence with Jewish Christians in Antioch, and perhaps as early as this to have interested himself in the [[Gospel of the Hebrews]], said by them to be the source of the canonical [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]].

Returning to Antioch in 378 or 379, he was ordained by Bishop [[Paulinus of Antioch|Paulinus]], apparently unwillingly and on condition that he continue his [[ascetic]] life. Soon afterward, he went to [[Constantinople]] to pursue a study of Scripture under [[Gregory Nazianzen]]. He seems to have spent two years there; the next three (382-385) he was in Rome again, attached to [[Pope Damasus I]] and the leading Roman Christians. Invited originally for the [[synod]] of 382, held to end the [[Schism (religion)|schism]] of Antioch, he made himself indispensable to the pope, and took a prominent place in his councils.

[[Image:St Jerome by Rubens dsc01653.jpg|left|thumb|250px|''St. Jerome'', by [[Peter Paul Rubens]], 1625&ndash;1630]]

Among his other duties, he undertook a revision of the ''[[Vetus Latina|Latin Bible]]'', to be based on the Greek [[New Testament]]. He also updated the Psalter then at use in Rome based on the Septuagint. Though he did not realize it yet at this point, translating much of what became the Latin [[Vulgate]] Bible would take many years, and be his most important achievement (see Writings- Translations section below). 

In Rome he was surrounded by a circle of well-born and well-educated women, including some from the noblest [[patrician]] families, such as the widows [[Saint Marcella|Marcella]] and [[Saint Paula|Paula]], with their daughters [[Blaesilla]] and Eustochium. The resulting inclination of these women to the monastic life, and his unsparing criticism of the secular clergy, brought a growing hostility against him amongst the clergy and their supporters. Soon after the death of his patron Damasus ([[December 10]], [[384]]), Jerome was forced to leave his position at Rome after an inquiry by the Roman clergy into allegations that he had improper relations with the widow Paula.

In August 385, he returned to Antioch, accompanied by his brother [[Paulinianus]] and several friends, and followed a little later by Paula and Eustochium, who had resolved to end their days in the [[Holy Land]]. In the winter of 385, Jerome acted as their spiritual adviser. The pilgrims, joined by Bishop Paulinus of Antioch, visited [[Jerusalem]], [[Bethlehem]], and the holy places of [[Galilee]], and then went to [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], the home of the great heroes of the ascetic life.

At the [[Catechetical School of Alexandria]], Jerome listened to the blind catechist [[Didymus the Blind]] expounding the prophet [[Hosea]] and telling his reminiscences of [[Anthony the Great]], who had died thirty years before; he spent some time in [[Nitrian desert|Nitria]], admiring the disciplined community life of the numerous inhabitants of that "city of the Lord", but detecting even there "concealed serpents", i.e., the influence of [[Origen of Alexandria]]. Late in the summer of 388 he was back in [[Palestine]], and spent the remainder of his life in a hermit's cell near Bethlehem, surrounded by a few friends, both men and women (including Paula and Eustochium), to whom he acted as priestly guide and teacher. [[Image:Colantonio.jpg|thumb|250px|Painting by [[Niccolò Antonio Colantonio]], showing St. Jerome's removal of a thorn from a lion's paw.]]

Amply provided by Paula with the means of livelihood and of increasing his collection of books, he led a life of incessant activity in literary production. To these last thirty-four years of his career belong the most important of his works -- his version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew text, the best of his scriptural commentaries, his catalogue of Christian authors, and the dialogue against the [[Pelagianism|Pelagians]], the literary perfection of which even an opponent recognized. To this period also belong most of his [[polemic]]s, which distinguished him among the orthodox Fathers, including the treatises against the Origenism of [[Bishop John II of Jerusalem]] and his early friend Rufinus. As a result of his writings against Pelagianism, a body of excited partisans broke into the monastic buildings, set them on fire, attacked the inmates and killed a [[deacon]], forcing Jerome to seek safety in a neighboring fortress (416).

Jerome died near [[Bethlehem]] on [[September 30]], [[420]]. The date of his death is given by the ''Chronicon'' of [[Prosper of Aquitaine]]. His remains, originally buried at Bethlehem, are said to have been later transferred to the basilica of [[Santa Maria Maggiore]] in Rome, though other places in the West claim some relics -- the cathedral at [[Nepi]] boasting possession of his head, which, according to another tradition, is in the [[Escorial]].

===Translations and commentaries===
[[Image:Caravaggio St Jerome.jpg|left|thumb|250x172px|''St Jerome'', by [[Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio]], 1607, at St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta]]
Jerome was a scholar at a time when that statement implied a fluency in Greek. He knew some Hebrew when he started his translation project, but moved to [[Jerusalem]] to strengthen his grip on Jewish scripture commentary. A wealthy Roman aristocrat, Paula, funded his stay in a monastery in Bethlehem and he completed his translation there. He began in 382 by correcting the existing Latin language version of the New Testament, commonly referred to as the [[Vetus Latina]]. By 390 he turned to the [[Hebrew Bible]], having previously translated portions from the [[Septuagint]]. He completed this work by 405. Prior to Jerome's Vulgate, all Latin translations of the Old Testament were based on the Septuagint. Jerome's decision to use a Hebrew text instead of the Septuagint went against the advice of most other Christians, including Augustine, who considered the Septuagint inspired. Modern scholarship, however, has cast doubts on the actual quality of Jerome's Hebrew knowledge; the Greek [[Hexapla]] is now considered as still the main source also for Jerome's "iuxta Hebraeos" translation of the Old Testament.

For the next fifteen years, until he died, Jerome produced a number of commentaries on Scripture, often explaining his translation choices. His [[patristics|patristic]] commentaries align closely with Jewish tradition, and he indulges in [[allegorical]] and [[mystical]] subtleties after the manner of [[Philo]] and the Alexandrian school. Unlike his contemporaries, he emphasizes the difference between the Hebrew Bible "apocrypha" and the ''Hebraica veritas'' of the [[protocanonical books]]. Evidence of this can be found in his introductions to the [[Solomon]]ic writings, the [[Book of Tobit]], and the [[Book of Judith]]. Most notable, however, is the statement from his introduction to the [[Books of Samuel]]:
<blockquote>This preface to the Scriptures may serve as a helmeted [i.e. defensive] introduction to all the books which we turn from Hebrew into Latin, so that we may be assured that what is outside of them must be placed aside among the Apocryphal writings.</blockquote>

Jerome's commentaries fall into three groups:

*His translations or recastings of Greek predecessors, including fourteen homilies on the [[Book of Jeremiah]] and the same number on the [[Book of Ezekiel]] by Origen (translated ca. 380 in Constantinople); two homilies of [[Origen of Alexandria]] on the Song of Solomon (in Rome, ca. 383); and thirty-nine on the [[Gospel of Luke]] (ca. 389, in Bethlehem). The nine homilies of Origen on the [[Book of Isaiah]] included among his works were not done by him. Here should be mentioned, as an important contribution to the topography of Palestine, his book ''De situ et nominibus locorum Hebraeorum,'' a translation with additions and some regrettable omissions of the ''Onomasticon'' of Eusebius. To the same period (ca. 390) belongs the ''Liber interpretationis nominum Hebraicorum'', based on a work supposed to go back to [[Philo]] and expanded by Origen. 
*Original commentaries on the Old Testament. To the period before his settlement at Bethlehem and the following five years belong a series of short Old Testament studies: ''De seraphim'', ''De voce Osanna'', ''De tribus quaestionibus veteris legis'' (usually included among the letters as 18, 20, and 36); ''Quaestiones hebraicae in Genesin''; ''Commentarius in Ecclesiasten''; ''Tractatus septem in Psalmos 10-16'' (lost); ''Explanationes in Michaeam'', ''Sophoniam'', ''Nahum'', ''Habacuc'', ''Aggaeum.'' About 395 he composed a series of longer commentaries, though in rather a desultory fashion: first on the remaining seven minor prophets, then on Isaiah (ca. 395-ca. 400), on the [[Book of Daniel]] (ca. 407), on Ezekiel (between 410 and 415), and on Jeremiah (after 415, left unfinished). 
*New Testament commentaries. These include only [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]], [[Epistle to Galatians|Galatians]], [[Ephesians]], and [[Epistle to Titus|Titus]] (hastily composed 387-388); [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] (dictated in a fortnight, 398); [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], selected passages in [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], [[Revelation]], and the prologue to the [[Gospel of John]]. Treating Revelation in his cursory fashion, he made use of an excerpt from the commentary of the [[North Africa]]n [[Tichonius]], which is preserved as a sort of argument at the beginning of the more extended work of the Spanish presbyter [[Beatus of Liébana]]. But before this he had already devoted to the Revelation another treatment, a rather arbitrary recasting of the commentary of [[Victorinus (scribe)|Saint Victorinus]], with whose [[Millenialism|chiliastic]] views he was not in accord, substituting for the chiliastic conclusion a spiritualizing exposition of his own, supplying an introduction, and making certain changes in the text.

The works of [[Hippolytus of Rome]] and [[Irenaeus]] greatly influenced Jerome's interpretation of prophecy. He noted the distinction between the original Septuagint and Theodotion's later substitution.

Jerome warned that those substituting false interpretations for the actual meaning of Scripture belonged to the “synagogue of the Antichrist”.  “He that is not of Christ is of Antichrist,” he wrote to [[Pope Damasus I]].  He believed that “the mystery of iniquity” written about by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 was already in action when “every one chatters about his views.”  To Jerome, the power restraining this mystery of iniquity was the Roman Empire, but as it fell this restraining force was removed. He warned a noble woman of [[Gaul]]: <blockquote>“He that letteth is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ “shall consume with the spirit of his mouth.” “Woe unto them,” he cries, “that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.”... Savage tribes in countless numbers have overrun run all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes of [[Quadi]], [[Vandals]], [[Sarmatians]], [[Alans]], [[Gepids]], Herules, [[Saxons]], [[Burgundians]], [[Allemanni]], and—alas! for the commonweal!-- even [[Pannonians]]. <ref>See Jerome’s [http://books.google.com/books?id=NQUNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA236 Letter to Ageruchia], p.236-7 in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church : St. Jerome: Letters and select works, 1893. Second Series By Philip Schaff,  Henry Wace. </ref></blockquote> 

His ''Commentary on Daniel'' was expressly written to offset the criticisms of [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]],<ref>Eremantle, note on Jerome's commentary on Daniel, in NPAF, 2d series, Vol. 6, p. 500.</ref> who taught that Daniel related entirely to the time of [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] and was written by an unknown individual living in the second century BC. Against Porphyry, Jerome identified Rome as the fourth kingdom of chapters two and seven, but his view of chapters eight and 11 was more complex. Jerome held that chapter eight describes the activity of Antiochus Epiphanes, who is understood as a "type" of a future antichrist; 11:24 onwards applies primarily to a future antichrist but was partially fulfilled by Antiochus. Instead, he advocated that the “little horn” was the Antichrist:
<blockquote>We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian Church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings... after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor.<ref>See Jerome’s [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Commentary on Daniel]</ref></blockquote>

In his Commentary on Daniel, he noted, “Let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and suppose him to be either the Devil or some demon, but rather, one of the human race, in whom Satan will wholly take up his residence in bodily form.” <ref>See Jerome’s [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Commentary on Daniel]</ref> Instead of rebuilding the Jewish Temple to reign from, Jerome  thought the Antichrist sat in God’s Temple inasmuch as he made “himself out to be like God.” <ref>See Jerome’s [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Commentary on Daniel] </ref>

Jerome identified the four prophetic kingdoms symbolized in Daniel 2 as the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], the  [[Persia#Achaemenid_Empire_.28550_BC.E2.80.93330_BC.29|Medes and Persians]], [[Macedon]], and Rome.<ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Jerome, ''Commentaria in Danelem'', chap. 2, verses 31-40]</ref> Jerome identified the stone cut out without hands as "namely, the Lord and Savior".<ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Jerome, ''Commentaria in Danieluem'', chap. 2, verse 40]</ref>

Jerome refuted Porphyry's application of the little horn  of chapter seven to Antiochus. He expected that at the end of the world, Rome would be destroyed, and partitioned among ten kingdoms before the little horn appeared.<ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Jerome, ''Commentario in Danielem'', chap. 7, verse 8]</ref>

Jerome believed that Cyrus of Persia is the higher of the two horns of the Medo-Persian ram of Daniel 8:3.<ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Jerome, ''Commentario in Danielem'']</ref> The he-goat is Greece smiting Persia.<ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm Jerome, ''Commentaria in Danielem'', chap. 8, verse 5]</ref> Alexander is the great horn, which is then succeeded by Alexander's half brother Philip and three of his generals.

===Historical writings===
* One of Jerome's earliest attempts in the department of history was his ''Chronicle'' (or ''[[Chronicon (Jerome)|Chronicon]]'' or ''Temporum liber''), composed ca. 380 in Constantinople; this is a translation into Latin of the chronological tables which compose the second part of the ''[[Chronicon (Eusebius)|Chronicon]]'' of [[Eusebius]], with a supplement covering the period from 325 to 379. Despite numerous errors taken over from Eusebius, and some of his own, Jerome produced a valuable work, if only for the impulse which it gave to such later chroniclers as [[Prosper]], [[Cassiodorus]], and [[Victor of Tunnuna]] to continue his annals. 

* Three other works of a [[hagiography|hagiological]] nature are:
** the ''[[Vita Pauli monachi]],'' written during his first sojourn at [[Antioch]] (ca. 376), the legendary material of which is derived from Egyptian monastic tradition; 
** the ''Vitae Patrum (Vita Pauli primi eremitae),'' a biography of [[Saint Paul of Thebes]];
** the ''[[Vita Malchi monachi captivi]]'' (ca. 391), probably based on an earlier work, although it purports to be derived from the oral communications of the aged [[ascetic]] [[Malchus]] originally made to him in the desert of Chalcis; 
** the ''[[Vita Hilarionis]],'' of the same date, containing more trustworthy historical matter than the other two, and based partly on the biography of [[Epiphanius]] and partly on [[oral tradition]]. 

* The so-called ''[[Martyrologium Hieronymianum]]'' is spurious; it was apparently composed by a western monk toward the end of the [[sixth century|sixth]] or beginning of the seventh century, with reference to an expression of Jerome's in the opening chapter of the ''Vita Malchi,'' where he speaks of intending to write a history of the saints and martyrs from the [[apostolic times]]. 
* But the most important of Jerome's historical works is the book ''[[De Viris Illustribus (Jerome)|De viris illustribus]]'', written at [[Bethlehem]] in 392, the title and arrangement of which are borrowed from [[Lives of the Twelve Caesars|Suetonius]]. It contains short biographical and literary notes on 135 Christian authors, from [[Saint Peter]] down to Jerome himself. For the first seventy-eight authors Eusebius (''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Historia ecclesiastica]]'') is the main source; in the second section, beginning with [[Arnobius]] and [[Lactantius]], he includes a good deal of independent information, especially as to western writers.

===Letters===
Jerome's letters or [[epistle]]s, both by the great variety of their subjects and by their qualities of style, form the most interesting portion of his literary remains. Whether he is discussing problems of scholarship, or reasoning on cases of conscience, comforting the afflicted, or saying pleasant things to his friends, scourging the vices and corruptions of the time, exhorting to the ascetic life and renunciation of the world, or breaking a lance with his theological opponents, he gives a vivid picture not only of his own mind, but of the age and its peculiar characteristics.

The letters most frequently reprinted or referred to are of a hortatory nature, such as ''Ep. 14'', ''Ad Heliodorum de laude vitae solitariae''; ''Ep. 22'', ''Ad Eustochium de custodia virginitatis''; ''Ep. 52'', ''Ad Nepotianum de vita clericorum et monachorum,'' a sort of epitome of [[pastoral theology]] from the ascetic standpoint; ''Ep. 53'', ''Ad Paulinum de studio scripturarum''; ''Ep. 57'', to the same, ''De institutione monachi''; ''Ep. 70'', ''Ad Magnum de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis''; and ''Ep. 107'', ''Ad Laetam de institutione filiae.''

===Theological writings===
Practically all of Jerome's productions in the field of [[dogma]] have a more or less vehemently [[polemic]]al character, and are directed against assailants of the orthodox doctrines. Even the translation of the treatise of [[Didymus the Blind]] on the [[Holy Spirit]] into Latin (begun in Rome 384, completed at Bethlehem) shows an [[apologetic]] tendency against the [[Arianism|Arians]] and [[Pneumatomachoi]]. The same is true of his version of Origen's ''De principiis'' (ca. 399), intended to supersede the inaccurate translation by Rufinus. The more strictly polemical writings cover every period of his life. During the sojourns at Antioch and Constantinople he was mainly occupied with the Arian controversy, and especially with the schisms centering around [[Meletius of Antioch]] and [[Lucifer Calaritanus]]. Two letters to Pope Damasus (15 and 16) complain of the conduct of both parties at Antioch, the Meletians and Paulinians, who had tried to draw him into their controversy over the application of the terms ''ousia'' and ''hypostasis'' to the [[Trinity]]. At the same time or a little later (379) he composed his ''Liber Contra Luciferianos'', in which he cleverly uses the dialogue form to combat the tenets of that faction, particularly their rejection of [[baptism]] by heretics.

In Rome (ca. 383) he wrote a passionate counterblast against the teaching of [[Helvidius]], in defense of the doctrine of [[The perpetual virginity of Mary]] and of the superiority of the single over the married state. An opponent of a somewhat similar nature was [[Jovinianus]], with whom he came into conflict in 392 (''Adversus Jovinianum'', [[Against Jovinianus]]) and the defense of this work addressed to his friend [[Pammachius]], numbered 48 in the letters). Once more he defended the ordinary Catholic practices of [[piety]] and his own [[ascetic]] [[ethics]] in 406 against the Spanish [[presbyter]] [[Vigilantius]], who opposed the ''[[cult]]us'' of martyrs and relics, the vow of poverty, and clerical celibacy. Meanwhile the controversy with John II of Jerusalem and Rufinus concerning the orthodoxy of Origen occurred. To this period belong some of his most passionate and most comprehensive polemical works: the ''Contra Joannem Hierosolymitanum'' (398 or 399); the two closely-connected ''Apologiae contra Rufinum'' (402); and the "last word" written a few months later, the ''Liber tertius seu ultima responsio adversus scripta Rufini.'' The last of his polemical works is the skilfully-composed ''Dialogus contra Pelagianos'' (415).

==Jerome's reception by later Christianity==

Jerome is the second most voluminous writer (after St. Augustine) in ancient Latin Christianity. In the [[Roman Catholic Church]], he is recognized as the [[patron saint]] of [[translator]]s, [[librarian]]s and [[encyclopedist]]s. 

He acquired a knowledge of Hebrew by studying with a Jew who converted to Christianity, and took the unusual position (for that time) that the Hebrew, and not the Septuagint, was the inspired text of the Old Testament. The traditional view is that he used this knowledge to translate what became known as the Vulgate, and his translation was slowly but eventually accepted in the Catholic church.<ref>Stefan Rebenich, Jerome (New York: Routlage, 2002), pp. 52-59</ref> Obviously, the later resurgence of Hebrew studies within Christianity owes much to him. On the other hand, recent scholarship argues that Jerome knew barely a word of Hebrew, and that his "translation" was in fact based on the Greek of Origen's [[Hexapla]].<ref name="fraud">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1584340?seq=1&Search=yes&term=Seneca&term=Pythagoras&term=Jerome&term=ac&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DJerome%2BPythagoras%2Bac%2BSeneca%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26wc%3Don&item=3&ttl=107&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle|title=Jerome: The "Vir Trilinguis" and the "Hebraica Veritas"|accessdate=2008-12-17}}</ref> 

Jerome sometimes seemed arrogant, and occasionally despised or belittled his literary rivals, especially [[Ambrose]]. But Jerome himself came under attack, especially from Rufinus, for falsely claiming to have read many authors whose works he had in fact never laid eyes upon. One notorious example<ref name=fraud></ref> was when he claimed to have read the works of [[Pythagoras]]. When Rufinus pointed out that Pythagoras had not in fact written anything, Jerome replied that he was speaking "de dogmatibus eorum, non de libris , quae potui in Bruto discere" ("not about his books, but his teachings, which I learnt about in [the philosopher] [[Brutus]]"). The writings of Brutus, however, had been lost for centuries.

He showed more zeal and interest in the ascetic ideal than in abstract speculation. It was this strict asceticism that made [[Martin Luther]] judge him so severely. In fact, [[Protestant]] readers are not generally inclined to accept his writings as authoritative. The tendency to recognize a superior comes out in his correspondence with [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] (cf. Jerome's letters numbered 56, 67, 102-105, 110-112, 115-116; and 28, 39, 40, 67-68, 71-75, 81-82 in Augustine's).

Despite the criticisms already mentioned, Jerome has retained a rank among the western Fathers. This would be his due, if for nothing else, on account of the great influence exercised by his Latin version of the Bible upon the subsequent [[ecclesiastical]] and [[theological]] development.

==Quotes==
:''I praise wedlock, I praise marriage, but it is because they give me virgins. [...] to command virginity would have been to abrogate wedlock. It would have been a hard enactment to compel opposition to nature and to extort from men the angelic life; and not only so, it would have been to condemn what is a divine ordinance. '' (Jerome's Letter 22, to Eustochium, section 20 [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/jerome-marriage.html on-line])

:''Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.'' (Letter 125, to the priest Innocent)

:''Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.'' (Jerome's Prologue to the “Commentary on Isaiah”: PL 24,17)

==See also==
{{wikisource author|Jerome}}
* [[Church Fathers]]
* [[Bible translations]]
* [[Hieronymites|Order of St. Jerome]]
* [[Genesius of Arles]]

==Notes==

==External links==
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08341a.htm "St. Jerome" by Louis Saltet, in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1910)]
*[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=239&letter=J&search=Jerome Jewish Encyclopedia: Jerome]
*[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=10 St. Jerome - Catholic Online]
*[http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0930.htm The Story of St. Jerome and the Lion]
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101732 St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium] Orthodox [[synaxarion]]

===Latin Texts:===
{{Wikisourcelang|la|Biblia Sacra}}
*[http://www.fourthcentury.com/index.php/jerome-chart Chronological list of Jerome's Works with modern editions and translations cited]
*[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_40_0347-0420-_Hieronymus,_Sanctus.html ''Opera Omnia'' (Complete Works) from Migne edition (''Patrologia Latina'', 1844-1855) with analytical indexes, almost complete online edition]
====Google Books' Facsimiles:====
*[http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC12663742&id=o0MGQ5XJihYC&pg=PP347&lpg=PP347#PPA11,M1 Migne volume 23 part 1 (1883 edition)]
*[http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC12663742&id=o0MGQ5XJihYC&pg=PP347&lpg=PP347#PRA7-PA805,M1 Migne volume 23 part 2 (1883 edition)]
*[http://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN37001712&id=XXwMAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA1&lpg=RA2-PA1#PPA13,M1 Migne volume 24 (1845 edition)]
*[http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC12663742&id=Fv4c9kz9L_cC&pg=RA6-PA815&lpg=RA6-PA815&#PPP13,M1 Migne volume 25 part 1 (1884 edition)]
*[http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC12663742&id=Fv4c9kz9L_cC&pg=RA6-PA815&lpg=RA6-PA815#PRA6-PA805,M1 Migne volume 25 part 2 (1884 edition)]
*[http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01289722&id=Qc98ulXGPNUC&pg=PP17&lpg=PP17&#PPA11,M1 Migne volume 28 (1890 edition?)]
*[http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01289722&id=DBVvAAWbqbAC&pg=PP13&lpg=PP13&#PPA11,M1 Migne volume 30 (1865 edition)]

===English Translations:===
*[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ English translations of Biblical Prefaces, Commentary on Daniel, Chronicle, and Letter 120 (tertullian.org)]
*[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_preface_gospels.htm Jerome's Letter to Pope Damasus]: Preface to the Gospels
*[http://www.istrianet.org/istria/illustri/jerome/works/viris-illustribus.htm English translation of Jerome's De Viris Illustribus]
*[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3007.htm The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary]
*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf203.v.iii.i.html Lives of Famous Men (CCEL)]
*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf203.vi.xii.i.i.html Apology Against Rufinus (CCEL)]
*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.toc.html Letters], The Life of Paulus the First Hermit, The Life of S. Hilarion, The Life of Malchus, the Captive Monk, The Dialogue Against the Luciferians, The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, Against Jovinianus, Against Vigilantius, To Pammachius against John of Jerusalem, Against the Pelagians, Prefaces (CCEL)

==Bibliography==
{{commonscat|Saint Jerome}}
*J.N.D. Kelly, "Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies" (Peabody, MA 1998)
*S. Rebenich, "Jerome" (London and New York, 2002)

==References==
*"Biblia Sacra Vulgata," Stuttgart, 1994. ISBN 3-438-05303-9
*''This article uses material from Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion.''
* birth/death dates from {{cite book |last=Cameron |first=A |title=The Later Roman Empire |year=1993 |publisher=Fontana Press |location=London |isbn=0-00-686172-5 |pages=203 }}

{{Donate}}