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JEROME'S

HELMETED PREFACE.

Decorative drop cap 'V' at the start of the first paragraph, featuring ornate floral and scrollwork patterns within a square frame.

That there are twenty-two letters among the Hebrews is also testified by the language of the Syrians and Chaldeans, which is largely related to Hebrew; for they also have twenty-two elements with the same sound, but different characters. The Samaritans also write the Pentateuch The first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. of Moses with the same number of letters, differing only in the shapes and flourishes of the characters. And it is certain that Ezra the scribe and teacher of the law, after the capture of Jerusalem and the restoration of the temple under Zerubbabel, found other letters which we now use; whereas until that time, the characters of the Samaritans and Hebrews were the same. In the book of Numbers, this same calculation is shown mystically under the census of the Levites and priests. And the name of the Lord, the tetragrammaton The sacred four-letter name of God in Hebrew, YHWH., we find expressed even today in certain Greek volumes in the ancient letters. Furthermore, the thirty-sixth, one hundred and tenth, one hundred and eleventh, one hundred and eighteenth, and one hundred and forty-fourth psalms—although written in different meters—are nevertheless woven with an alphabet of the same number Jerome is referring to "acrostic" psalms, where each verse or section begins with a successive letter of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet.. Also, the Lamentations of Jeremiah and his prayer, as well as the Proverbs of Solomon at the end—from the place where he says: Who shall find a valiant woman?—are calculated with these same alphabets or divisions. Furthermore, there are five double letters among the Hebrews: Caph, Mem, Nun, Pe, Tsade; for they are written one way at the beginning or middle of words, and another way at the end. Because of this, five books are also considered double by most: Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Jeremiah with Cinoth, that is, his Lamentations. Therefore, just as there are twenty-two elements by which we write in Hebrew everything we speak, and the human voice is contained within their beginnings: so twenty-two volumes are counted, by which, as if by letters and beginnings, the tender and nursing infancy of the righteous man is instructed in the doctrine of God.

The first book among them is called בראשית Beresith original: "Beresith", meaning "In the beginning".: which we call Genesis.
The second, ואלה שמות Veelle semoth original: "Veelle semoth", meaning "And these are the names".: which is called Exodus.
The third, ויקרא Vaiicra original: "Vaiicra", meaning "And He called"., that is, Leviticus.
The fourth, וידבר Vajedaboer original: "Vajedaboer", meaning "And He spoke"., which we call Numbers.
The fifth, אלה הדברים Elle haddebarim original: "Elle haddebarim", meaning "These are the words"., which is titled Deuteronomy.
These are the five books of Moses, which they properly call תורה Thora, that is, the Law.

The second group they make is the order of the Prophets: and they begin from Joshua the son of Nun, who among them is called יהושע בן נון Josue ben Nun.
Next, they join שפטים Sophetim, that is, the book of Judges. And in the same volume they com-

-pile Ruth, because her history is told as having happened in the days of the Judges.
The third follows, שמואל Samuel, which we call the first and second of Kings In modern Bibles, these are 1 and 2 Samuel..
The fourth is מלכים Melachim, that is, Kings, which is contained in the third and fourth volumes of Kings In modern Bibles, these are 1 and 2 Kings..
And it is much better to say מלכים Melachim, that is, Kings, than ממלכות Mamlachot, that is, Kingdoms. For it does not describe the kingdoms of many nations, but of the one Israelite people, which is contained in twelve tribes.
The fifth is ישעיה Isaias.
The sixth, ירמיה Jeremias.
The seventh, יחזקאל Ezechiel.
The eighth, the book of the twelve Prophets, which among them is called תרי עשר There asar.

The third order contains the Hagiographa A Greek term meaning "Holy Writings," corresponding to the Hebrew Ketuvim..
And the first book begins with איוב Job.
The second with דוד David: which they comprise in one volume of psalms with five divisions.
The third is שלמה Solomon, having three books: Proverbs, which they call משלי Misle, that is, Parables.
The fourth, Ecclesiastes, that is, קהלת Coheleth.
The fifth, the Song of Songs, which they title שיר השירים Sir hassirim.
The sixth is דניאל Daniel.
The seventh, דברי הימים Dibre hajamim, that is, the Words of the Days: which we can more significantly call the Chronicle of the whole divine history; this book is inscribed among us as the first and second of Chronicles original: "Paralipomenon"..
The eighth, עזרא Esdras: which itself is likewise divided into two books among the Greeks and Latins These are Ezra and Nehemiah..
The ninth, אסתר Esther.

And so there are twenty-two books of the Old Law: that is, five of Moses, eight of the Prophets, and nine of the Hagiographa. Although some frequently write Ruth and Cinoth Lamentations among the Hagiographa, and think these books should be counted in their own number, and through this, there would be twenty-four books of the ancient law. These are the twenty-four elders whom the Apocalypse of John introduces adoring the Lamb and offering their crowns with prostrate faces, while standing before the four living creatures, with eyes before and behind—that is, looking into the past and into the future—and crying with untiring voice: Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. This preface, as if a "helmeted" beginning to the Scriptures, can apply to all the books which we translate from Hebrew into Latin: so that we may be able to know that whatever is outside of these must be placed among the apocrypha. Therefore, Wisdom, which is commonly inscribed as Solomon’s, and Je-