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Jerome’s Sources in His Translation of the Hebrew Bible - cover image

Book Series

Copyright

Paul Rodrigue;

Published On

2025-08-20

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-637-0
Hardback978-1-80511-638-7
PDF978-1-80511-639-4

Language

  • English

Print Length

368 pages (xviii+350)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 20 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.79" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 22 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.87" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback524g (18.48oz)
Hardback701g (24.73oz)

THEMA

  • QRVC
  • QRMF12
  • QRMF
  • CFP

BISAC

  • REL006060
  • REL006630
  • REL006090
  • REL067080
  • REL033000
  • LAN023000

Keywords

  • Jerome
  • Hebrew Bible
  • Biblical Translation
  • Church Fathers
  • Textual Criticism
  • Patristics

Jerome’s Sources in His Translation of the Hebrew Bible

  • Paul Rodrigue (author)
At the close of the fourth century CE, Jerome of Stridon—renowned Latin scholar, theologian, and priest—undertook the monumental task of translating the Hebrew-Aramaic Bible into Latin. The result of this effort, now known as the Vulgate, has long been regarded as a foundational text of Western Christianity. In this volume, Paul Rodrigue investigates the sources that Jerome may have drawn upon in the process of translation.

Far from being just a rendering of the Hebrew-Aramaic Bible, the Vulgate emerges as a layered and multifaceted translation, shaped not only by the Hebrew-Aramaic text but also by a broad array of additional sources. Through a series of carefully chosen case studies, Rodrigue analyses a number of verses from the Joseph narrative in Genesis, as well as from Daniel and Esther. Each Vulgate passage is meticulously compared with its equivalents in the Hebrew-Aramaic Bible, the Septuagint, the Latin translations of the Septuagint, the Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and—where applicable—the Targumim and rabbinic writings.

This comparative approach reveals Jerome’s engagement with texts in four languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin—and highlights his responses to both Jewish and Christian exegetical traditions. Importantly, the selected translations span Jerome’s career as a translator of the Hebrew-Aramaic Bible: Daniel at its outset (392–393), Genesis mid-career (late 390s), and Esther at its close (404–405). As such, Rodrigue’s analysis offers a chronologically nuanced study of Jerome’s evolving translation method (sensus de sensu), providing invaluable insight for scholars of biblical studies, late antiquity, translation theory, and the transmission of sacred texts.

Contents

1. Introduction

(pp. 1–106)
  • Paul Rodrigue

2. The Translation of the Joseph Story (Gen 37–50)

(pp. 107–154)
  • Paul Rodrigue

3. The Translation of the Book of Daniel

(pp. 155–240)
  • Paul Rodrigue

4. The Translation of the Book of Esther

(pp. 241–308)
  • Paul Rodrigue

5. Conclusion

(pp. 309–314)
  • Paul Rodrigue

Contributors

Paul Rodrigue

(author)

Born in 1996 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paul Rodrigue completed his Baccalauréat before pursuing a passion for ancient languages. His interest in Latin and Greek literature led him to undertake undergraduate studies at Trinity College Dublin, in Ireland, where he honed his skills in classical translation and deepened his engagement with the classical world. Paul went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Semitic Philology at the University of Cambridge. His Master’s dissertation focused on the translation of the Book of Proverbs in the Septuagint, reflecting his growing interest in the intersections of ancient languages and textual traditions. In his doctoral thesis, Paul investigated Jerome’s sources in his Latin translations of the Joseph story and the Book of Daniel and that of Esther. His research is motivated by a deeper scholarly quest to uncover the linguistic and cultural junctures between Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Paul was awarded a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge in October 2024.