Jerome, Letters 34.1
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/295
Context
Among the voluminous correspondence of St. Jerome is this letter, written
during the years when he served Pope Damasus I at Rome and attended the synod over the
Antiochene schism. In it he addresses an exegetical query from Marcella, a close associate
of Jerome’s and a wealthy matron at the center of the Christian community in the Imperial
capital. In response to her question about two metaphorical phrases in Psalm
127 (Vulgata 126), Jerome starts by discussing the history and condition of
the ecclesiastical Library at Caesarea, and the absence of Origen’s relevant work from the
collection.
Text
Beatus Pamphilus martyr, cuius vitam Eusebius Caesariensis episcopus tribus ferme voluminibus explicavit,
cum Demetrium Phalereum et Pisistratum in sacrae bibliothecae studio vellet aequare
imaginesque ingeniorum, quae vera sunt et aeterna monumenta, toto orbe perquireret, tunc
vel maxime Origenis libros inpensius persecutus Caesariensi ecclesiae dedicavit, [quam ex parte corruptam Acacius, dehinc Εuzoius, eiusdem ecclesiae
sacerdotes, in membranis instaurare conati sunt.] hic cum multa repperiret et inventorum
nobis indicem derelinqueret, centesimi vicesimi sexti psalmi commentarium et phe
litterae tractatum ex eo, quod non inscripsit, confessus est non repertum; non quοd
talis tantusque vir—Adamantium dicimus—aliquid praeterierit, sed quod neglegentia
posteriorum ad nostram usque memoriam non durarit. hoc ideo ut, quia mihi de eodem
psalmo proposuisti, qui esset “panis doloris” in eo, quod dicitur: “in vanum vobis est
ante lucem surgere, surgere, postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris,”
ostenderem me de Origenis commentariis, quid senserit, non habere.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Hilberg and Slovak 1996Translation
The blessed martyr
Pamphilus, whose life the bishop Eusebius of Caesarea composed mostly
in three volumes, when he wished to match Demetrius of Phalerum and Pisistratus in his zeal
for a sacred library and he thoroughly sought the pictures of their minds, true and eternal
memorials, across the whole world. Then he especially pursued the books of Origen at great
expense, and dedicated them to the Church at Caesarea. (After its
partial deterioration, Acacius and then Euzoius, priests of the same Church, tried to
restore the collection on parchment pages.) Although Pamphilus found many writings and left
behind for us an index of his discoveries, he acknowledged that the commentary on
Psalm 126 and its treatment of letter B, which he did not inscribe, were
not found. It is not because so great a man—we call him the Man of Steel—omitted anything,
but because, out of the negligence of those who came after him, nothing has survived up to
now in our memory. For this reason, since you have raised the question concerning the same
psalm what is “bread of sorrow” in the passage that reads “It is vain for you to rise up
before light, rise up after you have rested, you who eat the bread of sorrow,” I declare
that I do not know the meaning from the commentaries of Origen.
Translation Note
Trans. J. L. RifeDiscussion Note
In translation we use B for "bread of sorrow", but the text has p ("phe") for "panis doloris".Works Cited
- 1 Jerome, S. Eusebii Hieronymi Opera I.1: Epistulae I-LXX, ed. Isidor Hilberg and Conrad Slovak, 2nd ed., Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum 54 (Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996), ch: 34, section: 1.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 34.1,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/295.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 34.1.” 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/295.About this Entry
Entry Title: Jerome, Letters 34.1
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, Letters 34.1”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Jerome, Letters 34.1”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife