It is not Jerome’s work.
It is not Jerome’s work.
Most of the Papists attribute it to Jerome, but reasons not to be scorned keep us from claiming that it is by Jerome. In the first place, Jerome testifies (preface to the Psalter ad Sophronium, which is Epistle 133; in his preface to the Pentateuch; and in his preface to the Books of Kings) that he “translated the Holy Scriptures in such a way that his translation agrees exactly with the Hebrew truth.” Augustine in De civ. Dei, bk. 18, c. 43, and Isidore of Seville in Etymolog., bk. 6, c. 5, give this same testimony about Jerome. Yet that Latin Vulgate edition in many places departs from the Hebrew text and comes closer to the Greek Septuagint translation.
Second, Jerome translated many things differently and disapproved of much that is contained in that Vulgate edition, as is evident from his Quaestiones in Genesin, from his commentaries on the prophets, and from his book De optimo genere interpretandi. Thus when the Vulgate has “The Spirit of the Lord rushed [ferebatur] over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2), Jerome notes: “The word that we have in Hebrew means ‘brooded’ or ‘fostered,’ in the likeness of a bird giving life to her eggs with her warmth.” When the Vulgate has “And the Lord had regard for Abel and his gifts, but He had no regard for Cain” (Gen. 4:4), Jerome thinks that this should be translated the way Theodotion translated it: “And the Lord inflamed over Abel and his sacrifice.” When the Vulgate has “Let us go outside” (Gen. 4:8), Jerome notes that this is superfluous and was taken from the volume of the Samaritans in which it reads, “Let us go into the field.” When the Vulgate has “the whole flock of one color” (Gen. 30:32), Jerome teaches that it should be read: “not of one color,” which reason itself confirms. In Ps. 1:1, the Vulgate has “in the seat of pestilence”; Jerome has “in the seat of the scornful.” In Ps. 110:3, the Vulgate has “the beginning is with You”; Jerome has “Your willing people.” In Ps. 132:15, the Vulgate has “I shall bless his widow”; Jerome has “I shall bless his hunting.” In Isa. 1:12, the Vulgate has “that you may walk in My courts”; Jerome has “never again will you tread in My court.” In the same chapter, v. 30, the Vulgate has “for you have been like an oak”; Jerome has “for they will be like a terebinth.” In Gal. 1:16, the Vulgate has “I did not acquiesce to flesh and blood”; Jerome has “I did not confer with flesh and blood.” In Gal. 3:1, the Vulgate has “to not believe the truth”; Jerome omits these words. In Eph. 1:14, the Vulgate has “the pledge of the inheritance.” Jerome censures this and claims that it must be translated as “the earnest money.” In Eph. 4:19, the Vulgate has “they have despaired and have given up themselves.” Jerome has added: “In the Greek this reads differently; for the heathen do not despair nor sense their own destruction but are like beasts that live according to their flesh.” A comparison of the Vulgate version and that of Jerome shows many more things of this sort. Some make the exception: “In his commentaries, Jerome judged that some things had been translated incorrectly. Later, when he published that Latin version, he saw that they were translated correctly.” His commentaries on the prophets, however, in which he finds so many faults with the Vulgate version, are later than that version, as is evident from the end of his catalog.
Third, in his writings Jerome uses grammatically pure speech, for he is a Latin writer above disdain. The Vulgate translation, on the other hand, is in many places barbarous and filled with solecisms. Gen. 13:11: “They were separated, both from his brother.” Gen. 21:26: “I have not heard beside today.” Gen. 24:32: “He uncovered the camels,” instead of “He took off the packsaddles.” Gen. 42:13: “Another is not above.” Ps. 68:19: “Blessed be the Lord today daily.” Ps. 126:1: “When the Lord was bringing back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who are comforted.” Matt. 6:26: “Are you not many more than these?” Matt. 17:19: “Why could we not cast him out?” Matt. 20:28: “The Son of Man did not come to be ministered.” Matt. 22:30: “They will neither marry nor be married.” Matt. 24:6: “opinions of wars,” instead of “rumors of wars.” Luke 7:32: “We lamented to you.” Luke 19:48: “All the people, suspended, listened to Him,” instead of “were hanging on His words.” Luke 21:38: “All the people rose in the morning to Him.” John 15:2: “that it may bear fruit more.” Acts 3:19: “Repent yourselves.” Acts 12:8: “Shod yourself your sandals,” instead of “Put on your sandals.” Acts 18:15: “He threatened them from the tribunal,” instead of “drove.” (Confer the epistle that the erudite theologian drew up to demonstrate thereby the barbarisms and solecisms of the Vulgate translation. That is extant in Dr. Hunnius, Examen controversiae primae generalis de verbo Dei, bk. 2, c. 14.) Albericus Gentilis wanted to defend the Latinity of the Vulgate version. But it must be noted that whatever can be proved by the authority of Pacuvius, Naevius, Ennius, or even Vitruvius, Petronius, Apuleius, and others similar to these cannot be considered Ciceronian or sufficiently Latin. If someone today were to write poetry in the style of Ennius, he would reveal himself to be ridiculous because usage, which has the judgment and is the power and norm of speaking, has removed that kind of poetizing. Augustine considers that it is inexperienced ignorance to want to affect unusual things against the common usage of speaking. Also, one cannot prove to sensible people that he wanted to hand down a sacred matter destined for the use of all by means of obsolete and obscure archaisms.
Fourth, the most learned Papists acknowledge that Jerome is not the author of that version: Sanctes Pagninus (preface to his own translation), Lindanus (De optim. gener. interp., bk. 3, where he suspects that “some Greek” was its author), and Stapulensis (preface to Comm. in epist. Paul. in Apolog., where he says: “All who have the capability of unimpaired judgment deny that Jerome is the author of this edition. After all, Jerome contradicts it, condemns it, often rails at its author, and accuses him of stupidity. Thus he names the work as someone else’s; thus he contradicts its author as someone else. Therefore whoever has claimed otherwise is hardheaded.”). Also Paulus Burgensis, Johannes Reuchlin, Laurentius Valla, Driedo (De catal. Scrip., bk. 2, c. 1), Sixtus Senensis (Bibliothec., bk. 8), Paulus Forosempronius (De die pass. Dom., bk. 2, c. 1). Erasmus (Annot. on Matthew 1, p. 10):
This passage—”Therefore a virgin will conceive”—presents the argument that Jerome neither used nor corrected this version that we use commonly. Had he used it, he would have read here “has.” Had he corrected it, we would have what he approves and follows. For in his commentary on this passage, Jerome says: “Because the prophet is foretelling the future, he signifies what is going to be and writes ‘will receive.’ Because the evangelist is narrating an account not of the future but of the past, he changed ‘will receive’ and put down ‘has.’ For whoever has is by no means going to receive.” In his commentary on Galatians, bk. 3, the same Jerome rebukes the translator for translating a passage in 1 Corinthians 5 incorrectly and quotes it in this way: “A little leaven leavens all the dough.”
Consequently, Erasmus draws the same conclusion in his Annot. on 1 Corinthians 5, p. 314: “If we had the New Testament that Jerome restored, as some assert, why does he censure what we read here?” Bellarmine admits (De verbo Dei, bk. 2, c. 9): “The Psalms are not considered to be from Jerome’s translation but merely from his correction.” And in the same book, c. 11, he writes: “The Vulgate edition is not the work of one author. Some consider it to be by Jerome, some by Lucian, some by Theodotion, some by another unnamed translator.”
These reasons move us not to claim that Jerome is its author. However, we grant hypothetically that it is Jerome’s. Nevertheless it will not, for that reason, be authentic, because Jerome was not distinguished by the spirit of prophecy and because he himself writes in his preface to the Pentateuch: “It is one thing to be a prophet, another to be a translator.”