Complete Works of Saint Jerome, Vol. IX

they kept the Hebrew volumes that he had transcribed or compared with the Greek interpreters, as well as the province of Palestine, which he traversed and traveled through for a fuller understanding of Hebrew names, having also taken on the most learned Jewish teachers as his companions. Let us follow each in its order. In epistle 125, he excuses his delay to St. Damasus, stating he did not immediately reply to his questions because he was detained by another work. He declared what that work was in the beginning of the same epistle: original: "Interim tamen et ego linguam, et ille articulum, movebamus, cum subito Hebræus intervenit, deferens non pauca volumina, quæ de Synagoga quasi lecturus acceperat. Et illico: Habes, inquit, quod postulaveras: meque dubium, et quid facerem nescientem, ita festinus exterruit, ut omnibus prætermissis, ad describendum transvolarem: quod quidem usque ad præsens facio." "Meanwhile, however, both he and I were practicing the language and the grammar, when suddenly a Hebrew arrived, bringing not a few volumes that he had received from the Synagogue to read. And immediately he said, 'You have what you asked for'; and he so startled me, hesitant and not knowing what to do, that I set everything aside and flew to transcribe it, which indeed I am doing to this day." Similarly detained by Hebrew letters and the strenuous study of books, he sent a shorter epistle, number 74, to Marcella: original: "Ut tam parvam, inquit, epistolam scriberem, causæ duplicis fuit, quod et tabellarius festinabat, et ego alio opere detentus, hoc quasi παρεργῳ, me occuparem. Quæris quidnam illud sit, tam grande, tam necessarium, quo epistolicæ confabulationis munus exclusum est." "The reason I wrote such a short letter was twofold: the courier was in a hurry, and I was detained by another work, occupying myself with this as a sort of parergon secondary task. You ask what that great and necessary thing is that precluded our customary epistolary chat." For a long time now, I have been comparing the edition of Aquila a 2nd-century Greek translator of the Hebrew Bible with the volumes of the Hebrews, so that the Synagogue might not have changed anything, perhaps out of hatred for Christ; and, to confess to a friendly mind, I find many things that pertain to the strengthening of our faith. Now, having meticulously reviewed the prophets, Solomon, the Psalter, and the books of Kings, I am holding the Exodus, which they call ELLESMOTH Exodus, and am about to pass on to Leviticus; you see, therefore, that no duty should be placed before this work. Occupied with these studies in Rome, the holy man also wished to contemplate Judea with his own eyes; for just as those who have seen Athens understand the histories of the Greeks better, so too will one behold Holy Scripture more clearly who has contemplated Judea with his own eyes, or has recognized the memories of ancient cities, the places, and the same names in his travels. Hence, it was a concern for Jerome to undertake this labor with the most learned of the Hebrews, so that they might travel around the province that all the Churches of Christ proclaim. He expressed this in his own words to Domnio and Rogatianus in the preface to the book of Chronicles, in which he also confessed that he never trusted his own strength with divine volumes, nor did he hold his own opinion as a master, but was accustomed to inquire even about things he thought he knew; how much more so about those regarding which he was uncertain? He confirms this with the following argument: original: "Denique, inquit, cum a me nuper litteris flagitassetis, ut vobis Paralipomenon Latino sermone transferrem; de Tiberiade legis quemdam doctorem, qui apud Hebræos admirationi habebatur, assumpsi et contuli cum eo a vertice, ut aiunt, usque ad extremum unguem: et sic confirmatus ausus sum facere quod jubebatis." "Finally, he said, 'When you recently demanded in letters that I translate the Chronicles for you into the Latin tongue, I took on a certain doctor of the law from Tiberias, who was held in admiration among the Hebrews, and I consulted with him from the top of the head, as they say, to the tip of the nail; and thus confirmed, I dared to do what you commanded.'" What more could be desired in a studious man, I certainly do not see. He spends all his labor on Hebrew matters, he does not spare expense, he undergoes laborious pilgrimages, he constantly converses with the most learned of the Jews, he transcribes books with his own hand, he contends with Greek and Hebrew. Finally, what does he not do to achieve an understanding of the holy language? Rightly, therefore, he said above: original: "Et gratias ago Domino, quod de amaro semine litterarum dulces fructus carpo; id est, scientiam divinarum Scripturarum, et sermonis Hebræi peritiam." "And I give thanks to the Lord, that from the bitter seed of letters I harvest sweet fruits; that is, the knowledge of the divine Scriptures and the skill of the Hebrew language."

IV. Jerome, therefore, distinguished by the knowledge of many languages and celebrated among all for his learning, began to be requested by many to translate the holy books from Hebrew sources into the Latin tongue. All the little prefaces to the Old Testament, of which we will provide examples in part, are witnesses to this matter. And it is superfluous to write otherwise than what is found to be said in them. Let us begin, therefore, with Genesis, the prologue of which is as follows: original: "Desiderii mei desideratus accepi epistolas, qui quodam præsagio futurorum cum Daniele sortitus est nomen (Dan. x, 11, 19), obsecrantis ut translatum in linguam Latinam de Hebræo sermone Pentateuchum nostrorum auribus traderem." "I have received the desired letters of my Desiderius, who by some omen of future events shared a name with Daniel, entreating that I might hand over to the ears of our people the Pentateuch translated from the Hebrew tongue into the Latin language." Perhaps this Desiderius was that holy priest in Gascony who, with Riparius, was the author of a brilliant work by Jerome regarding the holy relics of the martyrs against Vigilantius. "The authors of these Dictatiunculæ short dictated works of mine," says Jerome, "are the holy priests Riparius and Desiderius, who write that their parishes are stained by the vicinity of that man, and they sent books through brother Sisinius, etc." Unless we believe there was another Desiderius, an honest and eloquent man, to whom the holy Doctor wrote epistle 154, in which it also appears that the minor works of Jerome were vehemently requested by him, who along with Daniel...