30 September 420 A.D. Jerome—Education, Canon, Translation, Monastery, Letters


30 September 420 A.D. Jerome—Education, Canon, Translation, Monastery, Letters
 
Jerome’s full name was Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymous. He was born to Christian parents in northeastern Italy.  He went to Rome to study.  He was baptized at age 19.  He was devoted to the Lord. He was attracted to monasticism. He went to Gaul and Syria. He lived in a desert area near the ancient town of Chalcis, Syria. He began to master Hebrew and Greek. Next, he shifted to Constantinople and studied under Gregory of Nazianzus, a Cappadocian father who influenced him on the Trinity.
 
In 382, the bishop of Rome, Mr. Damascus, commissioned Jerome to produce a standardized Latin text.  Jerome claimed there were as many texts as there were manuscripts.
 
In 386, he moved to Bethlehem and was an overseer of a monastery there.  He wrote voluminously including letters, a bibliography of authors, and commentaries on nearly every Biblical book.
 
He produced and translated the Gospels, the whole NT, and then Acts-Revelation.  He produced 3 editions of the Psalms.  During 390-404, he produced an edition of the entire Old Testament.  He differentiated the canonical OT books as 39 saying, “Anything outside of these [39 OT books] must be place within the Apocrypha,” 14 volumes of doubtful inspiration. 
 
The Protestants—Reformed, Anglican and Lutheran—followed Jerome on the OT canon while the Council of Trent canonized the Apocrypha.
Sources:
 
Archer, Gleason L. A Survey of the Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody, 1964.
 
Budrele, J.N. “Vulgate, The.” NIDCSS. 1024.
 
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. Peabody, MA: Henrickson, 1999.
 
Metzger, Bruce M. The Early Versions of the New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon, 1977. 330-62.
 
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. 3: 205-14, 967-988.
 
Schnucker, Robert. “Jerome (Eusebius Hieronymus)(c. 345-c. 419).” NIDCC. 528.
 
Unger, Merrill F. Introductory Guide to the Old Testament. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1956. 82-114.

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