Jerome

Jerome of Stridon (c. 342–420) was the foremost biblical scholar of the early Church and the translator of the Vulgate, the Latin Bible that served as the standard text of Western Christianity for over a thousand years. His fluency in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic made him uniquely suited to the task of producing a Latin translation faithful to the original languages. Born in Stridon, near the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, Jerome studied grammar and rhetoric in Rome under the grammarian Donatus. After his baptism he traveled through Gaul, Asia Minor, and Syria. During a severe illness in Antioch he experienced a vision in which Christ rebuked him for being more devoted to Cicero than to Scripture. Shaken, he retreated to the Syrian desert (c. 374–379) for years of rigorous fasting and the study of Hebrew with a Jewish convert — an unusual undertaking that drew suspicion from some fellow Christians. Around 382, Pope Damasus I summoned Jerome to Rome and commissioned him to revise the existing Latin Bible translations. Previous versions, collectively called the Vetus Latina, were based on the Greek Septuagint. Jerome insisted on returning to the Hebrew text for the Old Testament — a principle he called 'Hebraica veritas' (Hebrew truth). This was controversial: many Christians regarded the Septuagint as divinely inspired, and Jerome's choice seemed to depart from hallowed tradition. His scholarly rigor ultimately prevailed. The Council of Trent declared the Vulgate the Church's official Latin text in 1546, and it remained so into the twentieth century. Beyond translation, Jerome was a prolific letter-writer, polemicist, and biblical commentator. He maintained close relationships with several prominent Roman noblewomen — including Paula and her daughter Eustochium — who funded his scholarly work and followed him to Bethlehem. He wrote extensively on the ascetic life, particularly for women dedicated to virginity and prayer. After Damasus died in 384, Jerome left Rome amid controversy and eventually settled in Bethlehem in 386. There he founded monasteries for men and women and spent over three decades producing commentaries on nearly every book of the Bible. He died in Bethlehem on 30 September 420, near the cave venerated as the site of Christ's birth. He is one of the four original Doctors of the Latin Church, alongside Ambrose, Augustine, and Gregory the Great.