A letter from Algasia (late 4th or early 5th century?)

Translated letter:

1. Why does John send his disciples to the Lord to ask: “Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for someone else?” when he himself had spoken earlier about the same man: “Behold the lamb of God, who removes the sins of the world”? 2. What does what was written in Matthew mean: “He will not break the shaken reed and he will not extinguish the smoking wick”? 3. What is the meaning of this, which was written in Matthew the Evangelist: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he should deny himself”? What is denial of one’s self or how should the one who follows the Savior deny himself? 4. What does what was written in Matthew mean: “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing in those days” and “Pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on the sabbath”? 5. What does what is written in the Gospel according to Luke mean: “And they did not receive him, because his face was going to Jerusalem”? 6. Who is the steward of injustice who was praised by the voice of Lord? 7. In what sense should what we read in the letter to the Romans: “For rarely does someone die for the just man; but perhaps on behalf of a good person someone would dare to die” be understood? 8. What does what the apostle wrote to the Romans mean: “Sin, taking the opportunity through the commandment, produced every desire in me”? 9. When the Apostle Paul in the same letter to the Romans writes: “I myself desired to be cut off from Christ because of my brothers,” what does this and the rest mean? 10. When the same apostle writes to Colossians: “Let no one overcome you who is willing in humility of mind and in the worship of the angels,” what does this and the rest mean? 11. When the same Apostle writes: “Unless a revolt comes first and the man of sin is revealed,” what does this and the rest mean?1

Original letter:

1 Cur Iohannes discipulos suos mittit ad dominum, ut interrogent eum: tu es, qui venturus es, an alium expectamus? cum prius ipse de eodem dixerit: ecce agnus dei, ecce, qui tollit peccata mundi? 2 Quid significet, quod in Mattheo scriptum est: harundinem quassatam non confringet et linum fumigans non extinguet. 3. Quem sensum habeat, quod in euangelista Mattheo scriptum est: si quis uult post me uenire, abneget se ipsum. quae est sui abnegatio aut quomodo, qui sequitur saluatorem, se ipsum negat? 4. Quid uult significare, quod in eodem Mattheo scriptum est: uae praegnantibus et nutrientibus in illis diebus et: orate, ut non fiat fuga uestra hieme uel sabbato? 5. Quid sibi uelit, quod scriptum est in euangelio secundum Lucam: et non receperunt eum, quia facies eius erat uadens Hierusalem. 6. Quid sit uilicus iniquitatis, qui domini uoce laudatus est. 7. Quo sensu accipiendum sit, quod in epistula legimus ad Romanos: uix enim pro iusto quis moritur; nam pro bono forsitan quis audeat mori. 8. Quid sibi uelit, quod ad Romanos scribit apostolus: occasione accepta peccatum per mandatum operatum est in me omnem concupiscentiam. 9. Quare apostolus Paulus in eadem ad Romanos scribit epistula: optabam ego ipse anathema esse a Christo pro fratribus meis et reliqua? 10. Quid uelit intellegi, quod idem apostolus scribit ad Colosenses: nemo uos superet uolens in humilitate mentis et religione angelorum et reliqua. 11. Quid est, quod idem apostolus ad Thessalonicenses scribit: nisi discessio uenerit primum et reuelatus fuerit homo peccati et reliqua?

Historical context:

These questions were sent to Jerome by Algasia, carried by a man Jerome speaks of as "my son," presumably a disciple. He took them quite seriously and answered them at length, with references to other scholars and to Greek terms.

Scholarly notes:

1. Amy Oh provided the translation.

Printed source:

Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae, ed. Isidorus Hilberg, 3 v. (New York: Johnson, 1970, repr. CSEL, 1910-18), 3. 1-2, ep.121.

Date:

late 4th or early 5th century?