Jerome
c. 347 – 420 · Stridon
Also known as Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus · Hieronymus
Feast: 30 September (Catholic) · 15 June (Orthodox)
Translator of the Latin Vulgate Bible; biblical scholar and prolific letter-writer. Settled in Bethlehem from 386.
Jerome translated the Bible into Latin and gave the Western church a single text to argue about for the next thousand years. The Vulgate is his — and 'translating' undersells it. He learned Hebrew at a time when no Christian did, went to Bethlehem, and worked from the original texts rather than the Septuagint. He was prickly, vicious in argument, and impossible to live with. But every time the West read scripture from 400 to 1500, they were reading Jerome.
Notable works
- ·Letters · 405
- ·On Illustrious Men (De Viris Illustribus) · 393
- ·Vulgate (Latin Bible translation) · 405
- ·Commentary on Daniel · 407
- ·Apology Against Rufinus · 402
Primary sources
- ·Jerome, Epistulae
- ·Jerome, De Viris Illustribus 135
- ·Augustine, Epistulae 28, 71, 75
Book of the day
Ecclesiastical History
Eusebius of CaesareaA reading pick tied to today's figure, quote, era, or event. The ancient source behind a huge amount of what we know about bishops, martyrs, succession lists, and early controversies.
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