A letter from Jerome (384?)

Translated letter:

l.Recently, while we were together, not by letter as you usually do, but in person you asked why we do not express certain words in Latin and why they are not translated from Hebrew to Latin, that is, *alleluia,*(1) *amen,* *maran atha,* *ephod,* etc., which you remembered appeared in scripture. 2. To which we, compelled by the constraints of dictating, will respond briefly that either the seventy translators or the apostles took care, since the first church was gathered from Jews, that they not change anything that would disrupt believers. They transmitted [things] just as they had imbibed [them] from youth. Afterwards, when the discourse of the gospel spread to all peoples, they could not change what was known, and in their books, which he calls "exegetikous" [Gk], Origen asserts that because of the native idiom of any tongue, some things can not be said, so it is much better not to translate them than to give a weak translation. 3. Therefore *alleluia* is "praise the lord"; *ia* among Hebrews is one of the ten names of god. And in that psalm in which we read, "praise the lord for the psalm is good," [it is good to sing] in Hebrew it is *alleluia chi tob zammer.* 4. *Amen* Aquila expresses as "pepistomenos," which we can say is "faithfully," taking the adverb from the word faith, *amuna,* in the Septuagint "genoito," that is "fiat"[so be it]. Whence at the end of the books, indeed the psalter is divided into five volumes among the Hebrews, they translate "fiat, fiat" for the Hebrew *amen, amen,* confirming the true words that have been said before. Whence Paul asserted that one could not answer *amen,* that is confirm, what has been preached unless he understood it. *maran atha* is more Syrian than Hebrew, though from the connection between the two languages it means something in Hebrew and is translated "our lord has come," so the sense of "who does not love the lord Jesus Christ is cursed," and the following "our lord has come" is that it would be pointless to want to fight against him with stubborn hatred when it is known that he has already come. 5. I would like to write you something about the diapsalmate,(2) that is *sela* among the Hebrews, and about *ephod* and what is in the title of that psalm for *aieleth,* and certain other things of this kind, except that I would exceed the epistolary mode and for your eagerness the questions should be more spread out. It is a common proverb that voluntary favors stink. Whence we are silent about what should be said diligently so that you wish to hear more eagerly what has not been said.

Original letter:

1. Nuper, cum pariter essemus, non per epistulam, ut ante consueveras, sed praesens ipsa quaesisti, quid ea verba, quae ex Hebraeo in Latinum non habemus expressa, apud suos sonarent curque sine interpretatione sint posita, ut est illud: alleluia, amen, maran atha, ephod et cetera, quae in scripturis conspersa memorasti. 2. Ad quod nos, quia dictandi angustia coartamur, breviter respondemus sive septuaginta interpretes sive apostolos id curasse, ut, quoniam prima ecclesia ex Iudaeis fuerat congregata, nihil ob credentium scandalum innovarent, sed ita, ut a parvo inbiberant, traderent, postea vero quam in universas gestes evangelii dilatatus est sermo, non potuisse semel suscepta mutari, licet et illud in libris suis, quos [Greek letters] vocat, Origenes adserat, propter vernaculum linguae uniuscuiusque idioma non posse ita apud alios sonare, ut apud suos dicta sunt, et multo esse melius ininterpretata ponere, quam vim interpretatione tenuare. 3. Igitur alleluia exprimitur 'laudate dominum'; ia quippe apud Hebraeos unum de decem dei nominibus est. et in illo psalmo, in quo legimus: laudate dominum, quoniam bonus est psalmus, apud Hebraeos legitur: 'alleluia chi tob zammer'. 4. Amen vero Aquila [Greek letters] exprimit, quod nos 'fideliter' possumus dicere, ductum adverbium ex nomine fidei amuna, Septuaginta [Greek], id est 'fiat'. unde et in fine librorum, in quinque siquidem volumina psalterium apud Hebraeos divisum est, 'fiat, fiat' transtulerunt, quod in Hebraeo legitur 'amen, amen', quo scilicet ea vere dicta, quae supra dicta sunt, confirmentur. unde et Paulus adserit non posse aliquem respondere amen, id est confirmare, quae praedicta sunt, nisi intellexerit praedicationem. maran atha magis Syrum est quam Hebraeum, tametsi ex confinio utrarumque linguarum aliquid et Hebraeum sonet, et interpretatur: 'dominus noster venit', ut sit sensus: si quis non amat dominum Iesum Christum, anathema, et illo conpleto deinceps inferatur: dominus noster venit', quod superfluum sit adversus eum odiis pertinacibus velle contendere, quem venisse iam constet. 5. Vellem tibi aliquid et de diapsalmate scribere, quod apud Hebraeos dicitur sela, et de ephod et de eo, quod in cuiusdam psalmi titulo habetur pro 'aieleth', et ceteris istius modi, nisi et modum epistolici characteris excederem et tibi aviditatem magis dilatae deberent facere quaestiones. tritum est quippe proverbium ultroneas putere merces. unde et nos de industria dicenda reticemus, ut avidius velis audire, quae tacita sunt.

Historical context:

In answer to a question Marcella had raised, Jerome explains why certain Hebrew words, like alleluia and amen, were not translated or explained.

Scholarly notes:

(1) Hebrew words are enclosed by stars (*). (2) A Greek word for pause in music, metrics. Jerome takes up the subject in ep.28, below, and defines it according to Aquila as "always," rather than a pause.

Printed source:

Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae, ed. Isidorus Hilberg, 3 v. (New York: Johnson, 1970, repr. CSEL, 1910-18), ep.26

Date:

384?