A letter from Jerome (404 or later)

Translated letter:

Having finally finished the pentateuch of Moses we put our hand, as if freed from a great debt, to Jesus, son of Nave, whom the Hebrews call Joshua ben Nun [Heb. letters] that is, Joshua son of Nun, and to the book of Judges which they call Sophtim [Heb.], to Ruth [Heb.], and to Esther [Heb.] which have the same names. We warn the reader that the diligent scribe should preserve the forest of Hebrew names and distinctions divided in the parts, lest our labor and his/her zeal perish. And as I often testified in the first [books], let him/her know that I do not hammer out new things in censure of the old, as my friends accuse me, but to convey to men of my tongue (whom our things still please) our edition for the virile part as for the “exaplois” [Grk, explanations] of the Greeks, which need great labor. And wherever they doubt the reading in the ancient books, they can find what they seek by comparing with these, particularly since the Latins have as many versions as books. And each one according to his own judgment either adds or subtracts what seems [right] to him, only it cannot be true because it contradicts. Therefore let the scorpion [Rufinus] cease to rise against us to wound and stop picking at the holy work with poisonous tongue, accepting what pleases him, denigrating what does not. Let him remember those verses: Your mouth abounded with evil and your tongue sounded deception. Sitting, you spoke against your brother and slandered the son of your mother; you did this and I was silent. You thought, wickedly, that I was like you, but I charge you with them before your face [Ps.49:19-21]. For what use is it to the hearer or the reader if we sweat in labor and others labor to disparage us? if Jews grieve that the opportunity is gone to libel them and mock Christians, and men of the church despise or mutilate what racks their enemies? Because if only the old interpretation pleases them, which does not displease me, and they think nothing else should be accepted, why do they read and not ignore what is marked by asterisks and daggers, what is added or cut out? Why did the churches accept the translation of Daniel according to Theodotion? Why do they wonder at Origen and Eusebius Pamphilus, who similarly examine other editions? What foolishness was it, after they spoke truth, to offer falsehood? How could they prove the testimony in the new testament which was not in the old books? We say these things so we do not seem to be altogether silent before our slanderers. For the rest, after the death of holy Paula, whose life was a model of virtue, and these books which I could not deny to Eustochium, virgin of Christ, we determined, while breath governs our limbs, to give our attention to the exposition of the Prophets, and return home to the work long put aside; especially since that admirable and holy man Pammachius urges us to it in his letters and we, hastening to the fatherland, ought to pass by the deathbearing songs of the Sirens with a deaf ear.

Original letter:

Tandem finito Pentateucho Mosi, velut grandi fenore liberati, ad Jesum filium Nave manum mittimus, quem Hebraei JOSUE BEN NUN, id est, Josue filium Nun, vocant, et ad Judicum librum, quem SOPHTIM appellant, ad RUTH quoque et ESTHER, quos iisdem nominibus efferunt. Monemusque lectorem, ut silvam Hebraicorum nominum, et distinctiones per membra divisas diligens scriptor conservet, ne et noster labor et illius studium pereat. Et ut in primis, quod saepe testatus sum, sciat me non in reprehensionem veterum nova cudere, sicut amici mei criminantur; sed pro virili parte offerre linguae meae hominibus (quos tamen nostra delectant), ut pro Graecorum , quae et sumptu et labore maximo indigent, editionem nostram habeant. Et sicubi in antiquorum voluminum lectione dubitarint, haec illis conferentes, inveniant quod requirunt: maxime cum apud Latinos tot sint exemplaria, quot codices; et unusquisque pro arbitrio suo vel addiderit, vel subtraxerit quod ei visum est: et utique non possit verum esse quod dissonat. Unde cesset arcuato vulnere contra nos insurgere scorpius, et sanctum opus venenata carpere lingua desistat, vel suscipiens, si placet, vel contemnens, si displicet: memineritque illorum versuum (Ps. XXXIX, 19 seq.): Os tuum abundavit nequitia, et lingua tua concinnabat dolos. Sedens adversus fratrem tuum loquebaris, et adversus filium matris tuae ponebas scandalum: haec fecisti et tacui. Existimasti, inique, quod ero tui similis: arguam te, et statuam contra faciem tuam. Quae enim audientis vel legentis utilitas est, nos laborando sudare, et alios detrahendo laborare? dolere Judaeos quod calumniandi eis et irridendi Christianos sit ablata occasio, et Ecclesiae homines id despicere, immo lacerare, unde adversarii torqueantur? Quod si vetus eis tantum interpretatio placet, quae et mihi non displicet, et nihil extra recipiendum putant: cur ea quae sub asteriscis et obelis, vel addita sunt, vel amputata, legunt, et negligunt? Quare Danielem juxta Theodotionis translationem, Ecclesiae susceperunt? Cur Origenem mirantur, et Eusebium Pamphili, cunctas editiones similiter disserentes? Aut quae fuit stultitia, postquam vera dixerint, proferre quae falsa sunt? Unde autem in novo Testamento probare poterunt assumpta testimonia, quae in libris veteribus non habentur? Haec dicimus, ne omnino calumniantibus tacere videamur. Caeterum post sanctae Paulae dormitionem, cujus vita virtutis exemplum est, et hos libros, quos Eustochio virgini Christi negare non potui, decrevimus, dum spiritus hos regit artus, Prophetarum explanationi incumbere, et omissum jamdiu opus, quodam postliminio repetere: praesertim cum et admirabilis sanctusque vir Pammachius hoc idem litteris flagitet, et nos ad patriam festinantes, mortiferos Sirenarum cantus surda debeamus aure transire.

Historical context:

Jerome did not finish his translations of the bible from Hebrew before Paula died, but he continued to do the translations for Eustochium, of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Esther. This is the preface to the translation of Joshua; the translations of Judges and Ruth seem to have no separate prefaces while the preface to Esther was apparently written before Paula died because it is addressed to both Paula and Eustochium. As so often, Jerome uses the occasion to counterattack those who disparage his work.

Printed source:

Prefatio Hieronymi in Librum Josue Ben Nun, PL28 c.461-464.

Date:

404 or later