Jerome
Priest and Scholar
Jerome was one of the greatest biblical scholars of the early Latin Church. His translation of the Scriptures from the Hebrew and Greek texts into Latin, together with his commentaries and homilies on the books of the Bible, made him one of the most influential Christian scholars in the history of the Western Church. His Latin translation eventually became known as the Vulgate and would shape the reading and understanding of Scripture in Western Christianity for centuries.
Jerome was born around the year 347 at Stridon, in the Roman province of Dalmatia. As a young man, he went to Rome to study, and it was there that he was converted and baptized. During a later visit to Trier in the Rhineland, Jerome became increasingly drawn to the monastic life. He eventually attempted the life of a hermit in the Syrian desert, but the experience proved difficult and unhappy.
In Antioch, around 378, Jerome reluctantly consented to be ordained a priest. He continued his serious study of Hebrew and Greek, convinced that a proper understanding of the Scriptures required careful attention to the languages in which they had originally been written. The following year he traveled to Constantinople, where he studied under Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the great theologians of the early Church.
From 382 until 384, Jerome served in Rome as secretary to Pope Damasus I. Damasus entrusted him with the enormous task of revising and translating the Bible into the Latin commonly understood by the people. This work became known as the Vulgate, from the Latin vulgata, meaning that which was commonly used or made generally available. Jerome's work would eventually become the standard biblical text of the Western Church.
Following the death of Pope Damasus, Jerome left Rome and returned to the East. He eventually settled in Bethlehem, where he established a monastery and devoted the remainder of his life to prayer, study, writing, translation, and the teaching of Scripture. He died there on September 30th, 420. According to tradition, he was buried in a chapel beneath the Church of the Nativity, near the place long honored as the site of our Lord's birth.
Jerome was not always an easy man. He possessed a sharp temper, great confidence in his learning, and an intense commitment to the ascetic life. These qualities often drew him into bitter controversies over theological questions and the interpretation of Scripture. His words toward his opponents could be severe, and he was sometimes painfully aware of his own shortcomings.
Yet Jerome could also acknowledge his faults. He sought no great ecclesiastical office, remained a determined defender of the faith he believed had been handed down by the Church, and labored tirelessly throughout his life. His knowledge of Scripture and the biblical languages was extraordinary, and his gifts as a writer were equally remarkable.
Whatever his imperfections, Jerome gave his life to the study and proclamation of God's Word. His enduring legacy reminds us that the Scriptures deserve not only our devotion but also our careful study, our disciplined labor, and our willingness to spend a lifetime seeking to understand more fully the Word God has given to His people.
