Editing Vulgate (section)

== Jerome's work of translation ==
[[File:Hieronymus presents Vulgata.jpg|thumb|302x302px|Jerome presents the Vulgate to Pope Damasus; miniature from the <abbr>c.</abbr> 1150 Gospel Book of [[Lund Cathedral]] (Cod. Ups. 83)]]
Jerome did not embark on the work with the intention of creating a new version of the whole Bible, but the changing nature of his program can be tracked in his voluminous correspondence. 

He had been commissioned by [[Damasus&nbsp;I]] in 382 to revise the ''Vetus Latina'' text of the [[four Gospels]] from the best Greek texts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Browning |first=W. R. F. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Dictionary_of_the_Bible/icXNCQAAQBAJ?hl=en |title=A Dictionary of the Bible |date=2009-10-08 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-158506-7 |edition=2nd |pages=373 |language=en |quote=The translation of the Bible from the original languages into Latin by Jerome (from 383 to 405 CE) undertaken at the request of Pope Damasus to bring order into the various existing versions. |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofbibl0000unse_g3e2/page/372/mode/2up |archive-date=2023-06-20 |url-status=live}}</ref> By the time of Damasus' death in&nbsp;384, Jerome had completed this task, together with a more cursory revision from the Greek Common Septuagint of the ''Vetus Latina'' text of the Psalms in the Roman Psalter, a version which he later disowned and is now lost.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Goins|first=Scott|contribution=Jerome's Psalters|editor-last=Brown|editor-first=William P.|title=Oxford Handbook to the Psalms|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2014|page=188}}</ref> How much of the rest of the New Testament he then revised is difficult to judge,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scherbenske|first=Eric W.|title=Canonizing Paul: Ancient Editorial Practice and the Corpus Paulinum|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|page=182}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Houghton|first=H. A. G.|title=The Latin New Testament; a Guide to its Early History, Texts and Manuscripts|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|page=31}}</ref> but none of his work survived in the Vulgate text of these books. 

The revised text of the New Testament outside the Gospels is deemed the work of other scholars. [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus of Aquileia]] has been suggested, as has [[Rufinus the Syrian]] (an associate of [[Pelagius]]) and Pelagius himself, though without specific evidence for any of them;<ref name="Scherbenske 2013 183">{{Cite book|last=Scherbenske|first=Eric W.|title=Canonizing Paul: Ancient Editorial Practice and the Corpus Paulinum|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|page=183}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Houghton|first=H. A. G.|title=The Latin New Testament; a Guide to its Early History, Texts and Manuscripts|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|page=36}}</ref> Pelagian groups have also been suggested as the revisers.<ref name=":02" /> This unknown reviser worked more thoroughly than Jerome had done, consistently using older Greek manuscript sources of [[Alexandrian text-type]]. They had published a complete revised New Testament text by 410 at the latest, when Pelagius quoted from it in his commentary on the letters of [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scherbenske|first=Eric W.|title=Canonizing Paul: Ancient Editorial Practice and the Corpus Paulinum|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|page=184}}</ref><ref name="Houghton 2016 41">{{Cite book|last=Houghton|first=H. A. G.|title=The Latin New Testament; a Guide to its Early History, Texts and Manuscripts|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|page=41}}</ref>

In Jerome's Vulgate, the Hebrew Book of [[Ezra–Nehemiah]] is translated as the single book of "Ezra". Jerome defends this in his Prologue to Ezra, although he had noted formerly in his Prologue to the Book of Kings that some Greeks and Latins had proposed that this book should be split in two. Jerome argues that the two books of Ezra found in the Septuagint and ''Vetus Latina'', [[1 Esdras|Esdras&nbsp;A]] and Esdras&nbsp;B, represented "variant examples" of a single Hebrew original. Hence, he does not translate Esdras&nbsp;A separately even though up until then it had been universally found in Greek and Vetus Latina Old Testaments, preceding Esdras&nbsp;B, the combined text of Ezra–Nehemiah.<ref>{{Cite journal|volume=1o5|pages=5–26|last=Bogaert|first=Pierre-Maurice|title=Les livres d'Esdras et leur numérotation dans l'histoire du canon de la Bible latin|journal=Revue Bénédictine|year=2000|issue=1–2|doi=10.1484/J.RB.5.100750}}</ref>

The Vulgate is usually credited as being the first translation of the Old Testament into Latin directly from the Hebrew [[Tanakh]] rather than from the Greek Septuagint. Jerome's extensive use of [[exegesis|exegetical]] material written in Greek, as well as his use of the [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquiline]] and Theodotiontic columns of the Hexapla, along with the somewhat [[paraphrase|paraphrastic style]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Worth|first1=Roland H. Jr.|title=Bible Translations: A History Through Source Documents|pages=29–30}}</ref> in which he translated, makes it difficult to determine exactly how direct the conversion of Hebrew to Latin was.{{Efn|Some, following P. Nautin (1986) and perhaps E. Burstein (1971), suggest that Jerome may have been almost wholly dependent on Greek material for his interpretation of the Hebrew. A. Kamesar (1993), on the other hand, sees evidence that in some cases Jerome's knowledge of Hebrew exceeds that of his exegetes, implying a direct understanding of the Hebrew text.}}<ref>Pierre Nautin, article "Hieronymus", in: ''Theologische Realenzyklopädie'', Vol. 15, [[Walter de Gruyter]], Berlin – New York 1986, pp. 304–315, [309–310].</ref><ref>Adam Kamesar. ''Jerome, Greek Scholarship, and the Hebrew Bible: A Study of the Quaestiones Hebraicae in Genesim''. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993. {{ISBN|978-0198147275}}. p. 97. This work cites E. Burstein, ''La compétence en hébreu de saint Jérôme'' (Diss.), Poitiers 1971.</ref> 

[[Augustine of Hippo]], a contemporary of Jerome, states in Book&nbsp;XVII ch.&nbsp;43 of his ''[[The City of God]]'' that "in our own day the priest Jerome, a great scholar and master of all three tongues, has made a translation into Latin, not from Greek but directly from the original Hebrew."<ref>''City of God'' edited and abridged by Vernon J. Bourke 1958</ref> Nevertheless, Augustine still maintained that the Septuagint, alongside the Hebrew, witnessed the inspired text of Scripture. He reminded Jerome of the need for the Latin church to be in sync with the Greek church, and practical difficulty in finding any Hebrew-reading Christian scholar who could check Jerome's translation from the Hebrew.<ref>{{cite web |title=CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 71 (Augustine) or 104 (Jerome) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102071.htm |website=newadvent.org}}</ref> He consequently pressed Jerome for complete copies of his Hexaplar Latin translation of the Old Testament, a request that Jerome ducked with the excuses that scribe were in short supply and the originals had been lost "through someone's dishonesty".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102172.htm|title=Church Fathers: Letter 172 (Augustine) or 134 (Jerome)|website=newadvent.org|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

He used a novel layout technique ''per cola et commata'' which put each major clause on  new line.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lexicon - Per cola et commata |url=https://hmmlschool.org/lexicon/14667/ |website=hmmlschool.org |language=en}}</ref>
=== Prologues ===
<!-- This section is linked from [[Deuterocanonical books]] -->
Prologues written by Jerome to some of his translations of parts of the Bible are to the [[Pentateuch]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Genesis – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=214|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605171531/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=214|archive-date=5 June 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> to [[Joshua]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Joshua – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=217|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110113021/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=217|archive-date=10 November 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> and to [[Books of the Kingdoms|Kings]] (1–2 Kings and 1–2 Samuel) which is also called the ''[[Galeatum principium]]''.<ref name="bombaxo.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=218|title=Jerome's "Helmeted Introduction" to Kings – biblicalia|website=bombaxo.com|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Following these are prologues to Chronicles,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Chronicles – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=220|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803043705/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=220|archive-date=3 August 2014|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Ezra,<ref name="Jerome's Prologue to Ezra – biblica">{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Ezra – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=222|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605194417/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=222|archive-date=5 June 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Tobit,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Tobias – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=223|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605202531/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=223|archive-date=5 June 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Judith,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Judith – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=224|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208131926/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=224|archive-date=8 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Esther,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Esther – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=225|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204113212/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=225|archive-date=4 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Job,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Job – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=228|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208003644/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=228|archive-date=8 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> the [[Gallican Psalms]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Psalms (LXX) – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=229|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204000922/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=229|archive-date=4 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Song of Songs,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to the Books of Solomon – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=231|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203235652/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=231|archive-date=3 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Isaiah,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Isaiah – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=232|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208000012/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=232|archive-date=8 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Jeremiah,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Jeremiah – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=233|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231002043/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=233|archive-date=31 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Ezekiel,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Ezekiel – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=234|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231092906/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=234|archive-date=31 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> Daniel,<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Daniel – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=235|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101063508/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=235|archive-date=1 January 2014|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> the minor prophets,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to the Twelve Prophets – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=236|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605173410/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=236|archive-date=5 June 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> the gospels.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to the Gospels – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=237|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110154542/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=237|archive-date=10 November 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> The final prologue is to the [[Pauline epistles]] and is better known as {{lang|la|Primum quaeritur}}; this prologue is considered not to have been written by Jerome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=238|title=Vulgate Prologue to Paul's Letters – biblicalia|website=bombaxo.com|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="Scherbenske 2013 183" /> Related to these are Jerome's ''Notes on the Rest of Esther''<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Notes to the Additions to Esther – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=226|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203014942/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=226|archive-date=3 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref> and his ''Prologue to the [[Latin Psalters#Versio juxta Hebraicum|Hebrew Psalms]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jerome's Prologue to Psalms (Hebrew) – biblicalia|url=http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=230|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001713/http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=230|archive-date=3 December 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|website=bombaxo.com}}</ref>

A theme of the [[Old Testament]] prologues is Jerome's preference for the ''Hebraica veritas'' (i.e., Hebrew truth) over the Septuagint, a preference which he defended from his detractors. After Jerome had translated some parts of the Septuagint into Latin, he came to consider the text of the Septuagint as being faulty in itself, i.e. Jerome thought mistakes in the Septuagint text were not all mistakes made by [[copyists]], but that some mistakes were part of the original text itself as it was produced by the [[Septuagint#Jewish legend|Seventy translators]]. Jerome believed that the Hebrew text more clearly prefigured [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] than the Greek of the Septuagint, since he believed some quotes of the Old Testament in the New Testament were not present in the Septuagint, but existed in the Hebrew version; Jerome gave some of those quotes in his prologue to the Pentateuch.<ref name=":0">Canellis (2017), ch. "Introduction: Revision...", pp. 99–109.</ref> In the ''Galeatum principium'' (a.k.a. {{lang|la|Prologus Galeatus}}), Jerome described an Old Testament canon of 22&nbsp;books, which he found represented in the 22-letter [[Hebrew Language|Hebrew]] alphabet. Alternatively, he numbered the books as&nbsp;24, which he identifies with the 24&nbsp;elders in the Book of Revelation casting their crowns before the [[Lamb of God|Lamb]].<ref name="bombaxo.com" /> In the prologue to Ezra, he sets the "twenty-four elders" of the Hebrew Bible against the "Seventy interpreters" of the Septuagint.<ref name="Jerome's Prologue to Ezra – biblica" />

In addition, many medieval Vulgate manuscripts included [[Jerome's first epistle to Paulinus|Jerome's epistle number&nbsp;53, to Paulinus bishop of Nola]], as a general prologue to the whole Bible. Notably, this letter was printed at the head of the [[Gutenberg Bible]]. Jerome's letter promotes the study of each of the books of the Old and New Testaments listed by name (and excluding any mention of the [[deuterocanonical books]]); and its dissemination had the effect of propagating the belief that the whole Vulgate text was Jerome's work.

The prologue to the Pauline Epistles in the Vulgate defends the Pauline authorship of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]], directly contrary to Jerome's own views—a key argument in demonstrating that Jerome did not write it. The author of the {{lang|la|Primum quaeritur}} is unknown, but it is first quoted by Pelagius in his commentary on the Pauline letters written before&nbsp;410. As this work also quotes from the Vulgate revision of these letters, it has been proposed that Pelagius or one of his associates may have been responsible for the revision of the Vulgate New Testament outside the Gospels. At any rate, it is reasonable to identify the author of the preface with the unknown reviser of the New Testament outside the gospels.<ref name="Scherbenske 2013 183" />

Some manuscripts of the Pauline epistles contain short [[Marcionite]] prologues to each of the epistles indicating where they were written, with notes about where the recipients dwelt. [[Adolf von Harnack]], citing De Bruyne, argued that these notes were written by [[Marcion of Sinope]] or one of his followers.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/harnack/origin_nt.v.i.html ''Origin of the New Testament - APPENDIX I (to § 2 of Part I, pp. 59 f.) The Marcionite Prologues to the Pauline Epistles''], Adolf von Harnack, 1914. Moreover, Harnack noted: "We have indeed long known that [[Marcionite]] readings found their way into the ecclesiastical text of the Pauline epistles, but now for seven years we have known that Churches actually accepted the Marcionite prefaces to the Pauline epistles! De Bruyne has made one of the finest discoveries of later days in proving that those prefaces, which we read first in [[Codex Fuldensis]] and then in numbers of later manuscripts, are Marcionite, and that the Churches had not noticed the cloven hoof."</ref> Many early Vulgate manuscripts contain a set of [[Monarchian Prologues|Priscillianist prologues to the gospels]].