Jerome, Illustrious Men 54.32-51

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/289

Context

Among his many works, St. Jerome wrote a catalog of renowned thinkers of the Roman world during the first years after his move from Rome to Bethlehem. In mostly brief sketches he describes the intellectual achievements, particularly writings, of 135 men, many leaders in the early Church. In his life of Origen, he portrays Origen’s scholarship and teaching, including his critical edition of the Hebrew Bible (the Hexapla with its supplements), produced at the ecclesiastical library in Caesarea.

Text

Quis autem ignorat, quod tantum habuerit in scripturis sanctis studii, ut etiam Hebream linguam contra aetatis gentisque suae naturam edisceret et exceptis Septuaginta interpraetibus alias quoque editiones in unum congregaret? Aquilae scilicet Pontici proselyti et Theodotionis Hebionei et Symmachi eiusdem dogmatis, qui in evangelium quoque cata Mattheum scripsit commentarios, de quo et suum dogma confirmare conatur. Praeterea quintam et sextam et septimam editionem, quas etiam nos de eius bibliotheca habemus, miro labore repperit et cum ceteris editionibus conparavit. Et quia indicem operum eius, in voluminibus epistularum quas ad Paulam scripsimus in quadam epistula, contra Varronis opera conferens posui, nunc omitto, illud de inmortali ingenio eius non tacens, quod dialecticam quoque et geometriam et arithmeticam, musicam, grammaticam et rhetoricam omniumque philosophorum sectas ita didicit, ut studiosos quoque saecularium litterarum sectatores haberet et interpraetaretur eis cottidie, concursusque ad eum miri fierent. Quos ille propterea recipiebat, ut sub occasione saecularis litteraturae in fide eos Christi institueret. 1

Textual Note

Ed. Bernoulli 1895

Corrigenda Note

Minor corr.

Translation

Who does not also know that he was so assiduous in the study of the Holy Scriptures that, contrary to the spirit of his era and his people, he learned the Hebrew language, and, after he had collected the Septuagint translations, he gathered into a single work the other translations also? I am referring to those by Aquila, the proselyte of Pontus, by Theodotion the Ebionite, and by Symmachus, an adherent of the same teaching who also wrote Commentaries on the Gospel according to Matthew, from which he tried to establish his doctrine. Besides these, with astonishing effort he discovered a fifth, sixth, and seventh translation, which we also have from his library, and he compared (them) with the other translations. And since I have given a list of his works in the collection of letters I wrote to Paula, in a letter where I drew a comparison with the works of Varro, I leave it out now. I will not, however, leave this out about his immortal genius: that he taught dialectics and geometry, arithmetic, music, grammar, rhetoric, and all schools of philosophy so well that he had also had diligent students of secular literature, he gave instruction daily, and incredible crowds flocked to him. These he received with the goal that, under the pretext of an opportunity (to learn) about secular literature, he might establish them in the faith of Christ. 2

Translation Note

Adapted from Schaff 1892 and Halton 1999

Works Cited

1 Jerome, De Viris Inlustribus: Machine Readable Text, ed. Carl Albrecht Bernoulli (Madison, WI: Google; University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2009), p: 33-34, line: 32-51.
2 Jerome, Saint Jerome: On Illustrious Men, trans. Thomas P. Halton, The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1999), p: 78-79, ch: 54.6-8.

How to Cite This Entry

Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Illustrious Men 54.32-51,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/289.

Bibliography:

Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Illustrious Men 54.32-51.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/289.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Jerome, Illustrious Men 54.32-51

Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Jerome, Illustrious Men 54.32-51”
Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Jerome, Illustrious Men 54.32-51”

Additional Credit:

TEI encoding by William L. Potter
Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife

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