Sophia Scriptura

Letters 7.1–13.4

Jerome · Letters · ca. 370–419 · Bethlehem · 27 passages

Latin text: Hilberg, CSEL 54–56 (Latin text: Isidor Hilberg (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 6 (1893).

Chapter 7

7.1CSEL 54:26–27

Non debet charta diuidere, quos amor mutuus copulauit, nec per singulos officia mei sunt partienda sermonis, cum sic inuicem uos ametis, ut non minus tres caritas iungat, quam duos natura sociauit. quin potius, si rei condicio pateretur, sub uno litterulae apice nomina indiuisa concluderem uestris quoque ita me litteris prouocantibus, ut et in uno tres et in tribus unum putarem. nam postquam sancto Euagrio transmittente in ea ad me heremi parte delatae sunt, quae inter Syros ac Sarracenos uastum limitem ducit, sic gauisus sum, ut illum diem Romanae felicitatis, quo primum Marcelli apud Nolam proelio post Cannensem pugnam superba Hannibalis agmina conciderunt, ego uicerim. et licet supra dictus frater saepe me uisitet atque ita ut sua in Christo uiscera foueat, tamen longo a me spatio seiunctus non minus mihi dereliquit abeundo desiderium, quam adtulerat ueniendo laetitiam.

Paper ought not to divide those whom mutual love has joined, nor should the services of my speech be parceled out to each of you separately, since you love one another so that love unites the three of you no less than nature has joined two. Indeed, if the nature of the thing allowed, I would enclose your undivided names under a single stroke of the pen; and your letter, too, so challenged me that I thought of one in three and three in one. For after it was brought to me, through holy Evagrius, in that part of the desert which draws a vast boundary between the Syrians and the Saracens, I rejoiced so much that I outdid that day of Roman happiness when, after the battle of Cannae, the proud columns of Hannibal first fell at Nola in the battle of Marcellus. And although the aforesaid brother often visits me and cherishes me as his own heart in Christ, yet, separated from me by a long distance, he left me by his going no less longing than he had brought me joy by his coming.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome greets Chromatius, Jovinus, and Eusebius together and describes his joy at receiving their letter in the desert.

  • Chromatius and Eusebius were brothers (the "two" joined by nature); Jovinus was their companion. Marcellus's success at Nola (216 BC) was the first Roman check to Hannibal after Cannae (Livy 23.16).

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 7.1 (CSEL 54:26–27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-7-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

7.2CSEL 54:27–28

Nunc cum uestris litteris fabulor, illas amplexor, illae mecum loquuntur, illae hic tantum Latine sciunt. hic enim aut barbarus seni sermo discendus est aut tacendum est. quotienscumque carissimos mihi uultus notae manus referunt inpressa uestigia, totiens aut ego hic non sum aut uos hic estis. credite amori uera dicenti: et cum has scriberem, uos uidebam. quibus hoc primum queror, cur tot interiacentibus spatiis maris atque terrarum tam paruam epistulam miseritis, nisi quod ita merui, qui uobis, ut scribitis, ante non scripsi. chartam defuisse non puto Aegypto ministrante commercia. et si aliqui Ptolomaeus maria clausisset, tamen rex Attalus membranas e Pergamo miserat, ut penuria chartae pellibus pensaretur; unde pergamenarum nomen ad hanc usque diem tradente sibi inuicem posteritate seruatum est. quid igitur? arbitrer baiulum festinasse? quamuis longae epistulae una nox sufficit. an uos aliqua occupatione detentos? nulla necessitas maior est caritate. restant duo, ut aut uos piguerit aut ego non meruerim. e quibus malo uos incessere tarditatis, quam me condemnare non meriti. facilius enim neglegentia emendari potest, quam amor nasci.

Now I talk with your letter, I embrace it, it speaks with me, it alone here knows Latin. For here an old man must either learn a barbarous language or be silent. Every time the familiar marks of your hands bring back the faces so dear to me, either I am not here or you are here. Believe love when it tells the truth: even while I was writing this, I was seeing you. And first I complain to you: why, with so many stretches of sea and land between us, did you send so short a letter? Unless it is what I deserved, since, as you write, I did not write to you before. I do not think paper ran short, with Egypt supplying the trade. And even if some Ptolemy had closed the seas, King Attalus still sent parchments from Pergamum, so that the lack of paper might be made up with skins; hence the name "parchment" has been kept to this day, handed down from generation to generation. What, then? Am I to think the carrier was in a hurry? One night is enough for even a long letter. Or that you were held back by some business? No necessity is greater than love. Two possibilities remain: either you could not be bothered, or I did not deserve it. Of these, I would rather accuse you of slowness than condemn myself as undeserving. For negligence can be corrected more easily than love can be born.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome treasures his friends' letter as the only Latin he hears, but playfully complains that it was so short.

  • The story of Attalus of Pergamum and the origin of parchment (pergamena) is told by Pliny, Natural History 13.70, citing Varro.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR n for ri): hoc pnmum queror → hoc primum queror.

Extrabiblical texts: Pliny the Elder, Pliny, Nat. 13.70 (Pliny the Elder, Natural History; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 7.2 (CSEL 54:27–28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-7-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

7.3CSEL 54:28–29

Bonosus, ut scribitis, quasi filius lyaco? aquosa petiit, nos pristina contagione sordentes quasi reguli et scorpiones arentia quaeque sectamur. ille iam calcat super colubri caput, nos serpenti terram ex diuina sententia comedenti adhuc cibo sumus. ille iam potest summum graduum psalmum scandere, nobis adhuc in primo ascensu flentibus nescio an dicere aliquando contingat: leuaui oculos meos in montes, unde ueniat auxilium mihi. ille inter minaces saeculi fluctus in tuto insulae, hoc est ecclesiae gremio, sedens ad exemplum Iohannis librum forte iam deuorat, ego in scelerum meorum sepulchro iacens et peccatorum uinculis. conligatus dominicum de euangelio expecto clamorem: Hieronyme, ueni foras. Bonosus, inquam, — quia secundum prophetam omnis diaboli uirtus in lumbo est — trans Euphraten tulit lumbare suum ibi illud in foramine petrae abscondens et postea scissum repperiens cecinit: domine, tu possedisti renes meos; Epistula nincnla mea; tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, me uerus Nabuchodonosor ad Babylonem, id est confusionem mentis meae, catenatum duxit; ibi mihi captiuitatis iugum inposuit, ibi ferri circulum innectens de canticis Sion cantare praecepit. cui ego dixi: dominus soluit conpeditos, dominus inluminat caecos; et, ut breuiter coeptam dissimilitudinem finiam; ego ueniam deprecor, ille expectat coronam.-

Bonosus, as you write, like a son of the fish, has made for watery places; we, still filthy with our former contagion, like basilisks and scorpions seek out all dry places. He already treads on the serpent's head; we are still food for the serpent that, by God's sentence, eats earth. He can already climb the highest of the psalms of ascent; we are still weeping at the first ascent, and I do not know whether it will ever be given us to say: "I lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from where my help will come." He, amid the threatening waves of the world, sits safe in an island, that is, in the bosom of the church, and like John is perhaps already devouring the book; I lie in the tomb of my crimes, bound in the chains of my sins, and wait for the Lord's cry from the gospel: "Jerome, come out." Bonosus, I say (since, according to the prophet, all the devil's strength is in the loins), has carried his loincloth across the Euphrates, hiding it there in a hole in the rock, and afterwards, finding it torn, sang: "Lord, you have possessed my reins; you have broken my bonds; to you I will offer the sacrifice of praise." Me the true Nebuchadnezzar has led in chains to Babylon, that is, to the confusion of my mind; there he has put on me the yoke of captivity, there, fastening an iron ring on me, he has ordered me to sing some of the songs of Zion. To him I said: "The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord gives light to the blind." And to finish briefly the contrast I began: I beg for pardon; he awaits a crown.

Deut 8:15 (allusion, low confidence) · Gen 3:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 121:1 (120:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 10:10 (allusion, high confidence) · John 11:43 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 40:16 (40:11 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 13:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 139:13 (138:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 116:16 (115:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 116:17 (115:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 137:3 (136:3 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 146:7 (145:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 146:8 (145:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome contrasts Bonosus's triumphant solitude with his own sense of being still captive to sin.

  • "Son of the fish": the digital text is garbled here (lyaco?); Hilberg's text apparently has a Greek word for fish, a play on the Christian ΙΧΘΥΣ symbol and on baptism. Allusions: basilisks and scorpions of the dry places (Deut 8:15; Ps 91:13); the serpent's head and its food of earth (Gen 3:14-15); the psalms of ascent (Pss 120-134), quoting Ps 121:1 (LXX 120:1); John devouring the book (Rev 10:9-10); Lazarus (John 11:43); strength in the loins (Job 40:16, LXX 40:11, of Behemoth, read of the devil); the loincloth hidden by the Euphrates (Jer 13:1-7); Ps 139:13 (LXX 138:13); Ps 116:16-17 (LXX 115:16-17; the words "you have broken" are garbled in the digital text); Ps 137:3 (LXX 136:3); Ps 146:7-8 (LXX 145:7-8).

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 7.3 (CSEL 54:28–29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-7-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

7.4CSEL 54:29

Soror mea sancti Iuliani in Christo fructus est: ille plantauit, uos rigate, dominus incrementum dabit. hanc mihi Iesus pro eo uulnere, quod diabolus inflixerat, praestitit uiuam reddendo pro mortua. huic ego, ut ait gentilis poeta, omnia etiam tuta timeo. scitis ipsi lubricum adulescentiae iter, in quo et ego lapsus sunt et uos non sine timore transistis. hoc illa cum maxime ingrediens omnium fulcienda praeceptis, omnium est sustentanda solaciis, id est crebris uestrae sanctitudinis epistulis roboranda. et quia caritas omnia sustinet, obsecro ut etiam a papa Valeriano ad eam confortandam litteras exigatis. nostis puellares animos his rebus plerumque solidari, si se intellegant curae esse maioribus.

My sister is the fruit of holy Julian in Christ: he planted, you must water, the Lord will give the increase. Jesus has granted her to me in return for the wound that the devil inflicted, giving her back alive in place of the dead. For her, as the pagan poet says, I fear everything, even what is safe. You yourselves know the slippery path of youth, on which I too fell and which you did not cross without fear. She is just now setting out on it, and must be supported by everyone's precepts and upheld by everyone's comfort, that is, strengthened by frequent letters from your holiness. And since love bears all things, I beg you also to obtain from Pope Valerian a letter to encourage her. You know that girls' minds are generally made firm by this, if they understand that their elders care about them.

1 Cor 3:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:7 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome commends his sister, restored through Julian's care, to his friends and asks for letters, including one from Bishop Valerian, to strengthen her.

  • 1 Cor 3:6; 1 Cor 13:7. The pagan poet is Virgil, Aeneid 4.298 (omnia tuta timens). Valerian was bishop of Aquileia; papa was then a title of honor for any bishop.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR n for u): pro eo nulnere → pro eo uulnere.

Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 4.298 (Virgil; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 7.4 (CSEL 54:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-7-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

7.5CSEL 54:29–30

In mea enim patria rusticitatis uernacula deus uenter est et de die uiuitur: sanctior est ille, qui ditior est. accessit huic patellae iuxta tritum populi sermone prouerbium dignum operculum, Lupicinus sacerdos — secundum illud quoque, de quo semel in uita Crassum ait risisse Lucilius: similem habent labra lactucam asino cardus comedente —, uidelicet ut perforatam nauem debilis gubernator regat et caecus caecos ducat in foueam talisque sit rector, quales illi qui reguntur.

For in my homeland, where boorishness is native, the belly is god and people live for the day; the richer a man is, the holier he is. To this dish, as the proverb worn by popular use has it, a worthy lid has been added, Lupicinus the priest (like the saying at which, Lucilius says, Crassus laughed once in his life: "the lips have lettuce like themselves when the ass eats thistles"), so that, of course, a feeble pilot steers a ship full of holes, and the blind lead the blind into the pit, and the ruler is such as those he rules.

Phil 3:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 15:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome complains of the worldliness of his home town and its unworthy bishop, Lupicinus.

  • Phil 3:19; Matt 15:14 (Luke 6:39). The Crassus anecdote, from Lucilius, is also told by Cicero, De finibus 5.92. "Sacerdos" here means bishop.

Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)

Topics: Church office

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 7.5 (CSEL 54:29–30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-7-5).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

7.6CSEL 54:30–31

Matrem communem, quae, cum uobis sanctitate societur, in eo uos praeuenit, quia tales genuit, cuius uere uenter aureus potest dici, eo salutamus honore, quo nostis; una quoque suspiciendas cunctis sorores, quae sexum uicere cum saeculo, quae oleo ad lampadas largiter praeparato sponsi opperiuntur aduentum. o beata domus, in qua morantur Anna uidua, uirgines prophetissae, geminus Samuhel nutritus in templo! o tecta felicia, in quibus cernimus Macchabaeorum martyrum coronis cinctam martyrem matrem! nam licet cotidie Christum confiteamini, dum eius praecepta seruatis, tamen ad priuatam gloriam publica haec accessit uobis et aperta confessio, quod per uos ab urbe uestra Arriani quondam dogmatis uirus exclusum est. et miremini forsitan, quod in fine iam epistulae rursus exorsus sim. quid faciam? uocem pectori negare non ualeo. epistulae breuitas conpellit tacere, desiderium uestri cogit loqui. praeproperus sermo; confusa turbatur oratio; amor ordinem nescit.

Your common mother, who, while she is your partner in holiness, surpasses you in this, that she bore such sons, and whose womb can truly be called golden, we greet with the honor you know; and together with her your sisters, who deserve everyone's admiration, who have conquered their sex together with the world, and who, with oil generously prepared for their lamps, await the coming of the Bridegroom. O blessed house, in which dwell Anna the widow, virgin prophetesses, and a twin Samuel brought up in the temple! O happy roof, under which we see a martyr mother crowned with the crowns of the Maccabean martyrs! For although you confess Christ daily by keeping his commandments, yet to this private glory has been added this public and open confession, that through you the poison of the Arian doctrine was once driven out of your city. And you may be surprised that at the very end of my letter I have begun again. What can I do? I cannot deny my heart its voice. The brevity of a letter compels me to be silent; longing for you forces me to speak. My words are hurried; my speech is confused and disordered; love knows no order.

Matt 25:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 21:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 2:18 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome greets the mother and sisters of his friends, praising their household for its holiness and for having driven Arianism from Aquileia.

  • Allusions: the wise virgins (Matt 25:4); Anna the widow (Luke 2:36-37); the virgin daughters of Philip who prophesied (Acts 21:9); Samuel in the temple (1 Sam 2-3); the mother of the seven Maccabean martyrs (2 Macc 7). The "twin Samuel" is the two brothers Chromatius and Eusebius. The Arian (Homoian) teaching was opposed at Aquileia in the 370s.

Extrabiblical texts: 2 Macc 7:1 (2 Maccabees [in RC, EO canons]; allusion)

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 7.6 (CSEL 54:30–31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-7-6).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

Chapter 8

8.1CSEL 54:31–32

inquit, res est, quae homines absentes praesentes faciat. nec falsam dedit, quamquam in re non uera, sententiam. quid enim est, ut ita dicam, tam praesens inter absentes, quam per epistulas et adloqui et audire quos diligas? nam et rudes illi Italiae homines, quos cascos Ennius appellat, qui sibi, ut in Rhetoricis Cicero ait, uictu fero uitam requirebant, ante chartae et membranarum usum aut in dedolatis ex ligno codicellis aut in corticibus arborum mutua epistularum adloquia missitabant; unde et portitores earum tabellarios et scriptores a libris arborum librarios uocauere.

"... is the one thing," he says, "that makes absent people present." And he gave no false judgment, though on a matter not true. For what is so present, so to speak, among the absent, as to address and to hear those you love by letter? For even those rough men of Italy whom Ennius calls "Casci", who, as Cicero says in his Rhetoric, "sought their living by wild food," before the use of paper and parchment, used to send each other letters either on tablets planed from wood or on the bark of trees; hence they called their carriers tabellarii and their writers librarii, from the liber (inner bark) of trees.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome opens his letter to Niceas by praising letters as a way of making absent friends present.

  • The opening words of the letter are missing in the digital text; the quotation is from the comic poet Turpilius (not in the site's list of texts), whom Jerome names. Ennius, Annales (the "Casci"); Cicero, De inventione 1.2.

Extrabiblical texts: Ennius (Ennius; allusion); Cicero, Inv. 1.2 (Cicero; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 8.1 (CSEL 54:31–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-8-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

8.2CSEL 54:32–33

quanto igitur nos expolito iam artibus mundo id non debemus omittere, quod sibi praestiterunt, apud quos erat cruda rusticitas et qui humanitatem quodammodo nesciebant! ecce beatus Chromatius cum sancto Eusebio non plus natura quam morum sibi aequalitate germano litterario me prouocauit officio. tu modo a nobis abiens recentem amicitiam scindis potius, quam dissuis, quod prudenter Laelius uetat; nisi forte ita tibi exosus est oriens, ut litteras quoque tuas huc uenire formides. expergiscere, expergiscere, euigila de sommo, praesta unam chartae scedulam caritati inter delicias patriae et communis, quam habuimus, peregrinationis aliquando suspiria. si amas, rescribe; si irasceris, iratus licet scribe. magnum et hoc desiderii habebo solamen, si amici litteras uel indignantis accipiam.

How much more, then, ought we, in a world already refined by the arts, not to neglect what was done by people who lived in raw boorishness and in a way did not know civilization! See, blessed Chromatius, together with holy Eusebius, his brother no more by nature than by likeness of character, has challenged me with the courtesy of a letter. You, having just left us, are cutting a new friendship rather than unstitching it, which Laelius wisely forbids; unless perhaps you so hate the East that you fear even to let your letters come here. Wake up, wake up, rouse yourself from sleep; amid the pleasures of your homeland, give to love a single sheet of paper, and sometimes a sigh for the travels we shared. If you love me, write back; if you are angry, write even in anger. I shall have this great comfort for my longing, if I receive a letter from my friend, even an indignant one.

Eph 5:14 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome urges Niceas, who has returned home, to write, even if angry, rather than break off their friendship.

  • Laelius's advice, to unstitch rather than tear a friendship, is from Cicero, De amicitia 76. "Wake up" may echo Eph 5:14.

Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Amic. 76 (Cicero; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 8.2 (CSEL 54:32–33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-8-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

Chapter 9

9.1CSEL 54:33

dorus tibi potuit fideliter nuntiare, qui non minori te diligit amore, quam diligo, ut ego semper in ore meo nomen tuum sonem, ut ad primam quamque confabulationem iucundissimi mihi tui consortii recorder, ut humilitatem admirer, uirtutem efferam, praedicem caritatem.

... [Helio]dorus could faithfully report to you, who loves you with no less love than I do: that your name is always on my lips, that at every conversation I recall our most pleasant companionship, that I admire your humility, extol your virtue, and proclaim your love.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome tells Chrysogonus that he constantly speaks of him with affection, as Heliodorus can attest.

  • The beginning of the letter is missing in the digital text; the first word is the end of the name Heliodorus.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 9.1 (CSEL 54:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-9-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

9.2CSEL 54:33–34

uerum tu, quod natura lynces: insitum habent, ne post tergum respicientes meminerint priorum et mens perdat, quod oculi uidere desielint, ita nostrae necessitudinis penitus oblitus illam epistulam, quam in corde Christianorum scriptam apostolus refert, non praepeti litura, sed imis, quod aiunt, ceris erasisti.

But you, like the lynxes, which by nature, it is said, when they look behind them forget what came before, and their mind loses what their eyes have ceased to see, have so completely forgotten our friendship that you have erased that letter which the apostle says is written on the heart of Christians, not with a quick stroke of the eraser, but, as they say, down to the bottom of the wax.

2 Cor 3:3 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome reproaches Chrysogonus for forgetting their friendship like a lynx that forgets what it no longer sees.

  • 2 Cor 3:2-3.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (words run together): ne postergum → ne post tergum.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 9.2 (CSEL 54:33–34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-9-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

9.3CSEL 54:34

et illae quidem, quas diximus, ferae sub frondente captantes arboris ramo fugaces e capreas aut timidum, ceruos, animal conprehendunt currentemque frustra praedam, dum hostem suum secura uehit, rabido desuper ore dilaniant et tam diu meminere praedandi, quam diu uenter uacuus siccum fame guttur exasperat; ubi uero sanguine pasta feritas uiscera distenta conpleuerit, cum saturitate succedit obliuio tam diu nescitura, quid capiat, donec memoriam reuocauerit esuries.

Those beasts I spoke of, lying in wait on a leafy branch of a tree, seize the fleeing roe or the timid deer, and tear the prey that runs in vain with ravenous jaws from above while it carries its enemy on its back; and they remember to hunt only as long as an empty belly makes the throat dry with hunger. But when their fierceness, fed with blood, has filled its swollen belly, forgetfulness follows fullness, and it will not know what to catch until hunger brings back memory.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome describes how the lynx forgets its prey once it has eaten its fill.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR n for u): capreas ant timidum → capreas aut timidum.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 9.3 (CSEL 54:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-9-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

9.4CSEL 54:34–35

tu necdum satiatus e nobis cur finem iungis exordio? cur amittis; antequam teneas? nisi forte neglegentiae semper excusatione socia adseras te non habuisse, quod scriberes, cum hoc ipsum debueris scribere, aliud te non habuisse, quod scriberes.

But you, not yet having had your fill of us, why do you join the end to the beginning? Why do you let go before you hold? Unless perhaps, with the excuse that always accompanies negligence, you claim that you had nothing to write, when you ought to have written just that: that you had nothing else to write.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome asks Chrysogonus why he has dropped their friendship and urges him to write, even if only to say he has no news.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 9.4 (CSEL 54:34–35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-9-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

Chapter 10

10.1CSEL 54:35–36

Humanae uitae breuitas damnatio delictorum est et in ipso saepe lucis exordio mors secuta nascentem labentia cotidie in uitium saecula profitetur. nam cum primum paradisi colonum uiperinis nexibus praepeditum coluber deduxisset ad terras, aeternitas mortalitate mutata in nongentos et eo amplius annos, secundam quodammodo inmortalitatem, maledicti hominis distulerat elogium. exinde paulatim recrudescente peccato totius orbis naufragium gigantum adduxit inpietas. post illud, ut ita dixerim, purgati baptismum mundi in breue tempus hominum uita contracta est. hoc quoque spatium sceleribus nostris semper contra diuina pugnantibus paene perdidimus. quotus enim quisque aut centenariam transgreditur aetatem aut non ad eam sic peruenit, ut peruenisse paeniteat, secundum quod in libro psalmorum scriptura testatur: dies uitae nostrae septuaginta anni, si autem multum, octoginta; quidquid reliquum est, labor et dolor?

The shortness of human life is the condemnation of sins, and death, often following the newborn at the very beginning of life, declares that the ages are sliding daily into vice. For when the snake had brought down to earth the first tiller of paradise, entangled in viper's coils, eternity was exchanged for mortality, yet the sentence on accursed man was put off for nine hundred years and more, a kind of second immortality. From then on, as sin gradually broke out again, the ungodliness of the giants brought on the shipwreck of the whole world. After that baptism, so to speak, of the cleansed world, human life was contracted to a short time. And even this span we have almost lost through our crimes, which always fight against the divine. For how few pass the age of a hundred years, or reach it without regretting that they reached it, as Scripture testifies in the book of Psalms: "The days of our life are seventy years, and if much, eighty; whatever remains is labor and sorrow"?

Gen 3:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 5:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 6:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 3:20 (echo, low confidence) · Ps 90:10 (89:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome begins his letter to the aged Paul by reflecting on how sin has shortened human life since the Fall and the Flood.

  • Gen 3 (the Fall); Gen 5 (the long lives before the Flood); Gen 6:4 (the giants); the Flood as a baptism (1 Pet 3:20-21); Ps 90:10 (LXX 89:10).

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 10.1 (CSEL 54:35–36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-10-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

10.2CSEL 54:36–37

Quorsum, ais, ista tam alto repetita principio et ita procul coepta, ut merito quiuis Horatiano de nobis possit sale ludere: et gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ouo? uidelicet ut senectutem tuam et caput ad Christi similitudinem candidum dignis uocibus praedicem. ecce iam centenarius aetatum circulus uoluitur et tu semper domini praecepta custodiens futurae beatitudines uitae per praesentium exempla meditaris. oculi puro lumine uigent, pedes inprimunt certa uestigia, auditus penetrabilis, dentes candidi, uox canora, corpus solidum et suci plenum. cani cum rubore discrepant, uirtus cum aetate dissentit. non memoriae tenacitatem, ut in plerisque cernimus, antiquior senecta dissoluit, non calidi acumen ingenii frigidus sanguis obtundit, non contractam rugis faciem arata frons asperat, non denique tremula manus per curuos cerae tramites errantem stilum ducit. futurae resurrectionis uirorem in te nobis dominus ostendit, ut peccati sciamus esse, quod ceteri adhuc uiuentes praemoriuntur in carne, iustitiae, quod tu adulescentiam in aliena aetate mentiris. et quamquam multis istam corporis sanitatem, etiam peccatoribus, euenire uideamus, tamen illis hoc diabolus ministrat, ut peccent, tibi dominus praestat, ut gaudeas.

"To what end," you say, "is all this, drawn from so far back and begun so far off that anyone could rightly mock us with Horace's wit: 'he begins the Trojan War from the twin egg'?" To praise in fitting words your old age and your head, white like Christ's. See, the circle of a hundred years is now turning, and you, always keeping the Lord's commandments, meditate on the blessedness of the life to come through the examples of the present. Your eyes are strong with clear sight, your feet press firm steps, your hearing is keen, your teeth white, your voice clear, your body solid and full of vigor. Your ruddy color does not match your white hair; your strength is at odds with your age. Old age has not dissolved the firmness of your memory, as we see in most people; cold blood has not blunted the sharpness of your warm mind; no furrowed brow roughens a face drawn with wrinkles; nor, finally, does a trembling hand guide a wandering pen along crooked paths in the wax. In you the Lord shows us the freshness of the future resurrection, so that we may know that it is due to sin that others, while still alive, die beforehand in the flesh, and due to righteousness that you counterfeit youth at an age not its own. And although we see this bodily health come to many, even sinners, yet to them the devil provides it so that they may sin; to you the Lord grants it so that you may rejoice.

Rev 1:14 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome praises the vigorous health of Paul of Concordia, nearly a hundred years old, as a foretaste of the resurrection.

  • Horace, Ars poetica 147 (Leda's egg, from which Helen was born). "White like Christ's": Rev 1:14.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR n for u): ab ono? → ab ouo?.

Extrabiblical texts: Horace, Ars 147 (Horace; quotation)

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 10.2 (CSEL 54:36–37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-10-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

10.3CSEL 54:37–39

Doctissimi quique Graecorum, de quibus pro Flacco agens luculente Tullius ait: ingenita leuitas et erudita uanitas, regum suorum uel principum laudes accepta mercede dicebant. hoc ego nunc faciens pretium posco pro laudibus. et ne putes modica esse, quae deprecor, margaritam de euangelio postularis, eloquia domini eloquia casta, argentum igne examinatum terrae, purgatum septuplum, scilicet commentarios Fortunatiani et propter notitiam persecutorum Aurelii Victoris historiam simulque epistulas Nouatiani, ut, dum scismatici hominis uenena cognoscimus. libentius sancti martyris Cypriani bibamus antidotum. misimus interim tibi, id est Paulo seni, Paulum seniorem, in quo propter simpliciores quosque multum in deiciendo sermone laborauimus. sed nescio quomodo, etiam si aqua plena sit, tamen eundem odorem lagoena seruat, quo, dum rudis esset, inbuta est. si hoc munusculum placuerit, habemus etiam alia condita, quae cum plurimis orientalibus mercibus ad te, si spiritus sanctus adflauerit, nauigabunt.

All the most learned of the Greeks, of whom Tullius, pleading for Flaccus, splendidly says, "inborn levity and trained vanity", used to speak the praises of their kings or princes for a fee. Doing this now, I ask a price for my praise. And lest you think that what I request is small, I ask of you the pearl of the gospel, "the words of the Lord, pure words, silver tried in the fire, purified from the earth seven times": namely, the commentaries of Fortunatianus, and, for the sake of knowing about the persecutors, the history of Aurelius Victor, and also the letters of Novatian, so that, while we learn the poisons of a schismatic man, we may more gladly drink the antidote of the holy martyr Cyprian. Meanwhile we have sent you, that is, to Paul the old man, Paul the older, on which we have worked hard to lower the style for the sake of simpler readers. But somehow, even if it is full of water, the jar keeps the same smell with which it was steeped when new. If this little gift pleases you, we also have other things stored up, which, with many Eastern wares, will sail to you if the Holy Spirit blows.

Matt 13:46 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 12:6 (11:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: As the "price" of his praise Jerome asks Paul for books of Fortunatianus, Aurelius Victor, and Novatian, and sends his Life of Paul the hermit.

  • Cicero, Pro Flacco 9; the pearl (Matt 13:46); Ps 12:6 (LXX and Vulgate 11:7). "Paul the older" is Jerome's Life of Paul, the First Hermit. The jar that keeps its first smell is Horace, Epistles 1.2.69-70.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR letter confusions in a Scripture quotation; OCR u for n): euaugelo → euangelio; argeutuni igue exauiinatum terKae → argentum igne examinatum terrae.

Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Flac. 9 (Cicero; quotation); Horace, Ep. 1.2.69-70 (Horace; allusion)

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 10.3 (CSEL 54:37–39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-10-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

Chapter 11

11.1CSEL 54:39

sermonem breui spatio coartaui, quia et uobiscum uolebam prolixius loqui et angustia scedulae cogebat tacere. nunc igitur ingenio est uicta pauperies. minutae quidem litterae, sed confabulatio longa est. et tamen in hoc necessitatis articulo animaduertite caritatem, cum me nec penuria scriptionis ualuit prohibere, ne scriberem.

... I have compressed my speech into a short space, because I wanted to talk with you at greater length, and the narrowness of the sheet forced me to be silent. So now poverty has been overcome by ingenuity. The letters are tiny, but the conversation is long. And yet, in this pinch of necessity, notice my love, since not even a lack of writing material could stop me from writing.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome tells the virgins of Emona that he has written in tiny letters because he had only a small sheet.

  • The beginning of the letter is missing in the digital text.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 11.1 (CSEL 54:39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-11-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

11.2CSEL 54:39

uos autem ignoscite, obsecro dolenti; dico enim laesus, dico lacrimans et irascens: ne unum quidem apicem totiens uobis tribuenti officium praestitistis. scio quia nulla communio luci et tenebris est, nulla cum ancillis dei et peccatoribus sociatio; attamen et meretrix domino pedes lacrimis lauit et de dominorum micis canes edunt et ipse saluator non uenit iustos uocare, sed peccatores.

But you, I beg you, forgive a man in pain; for I speak as one hurt, I speak weeping and angry: you have not given even a single stroke of the pen to one who has so often done you this courtesy. I know that there is no fellowship between light and darkness, no partnership between the handmaids of God and sinners; yet a prostitute washed the Lord's feet with her tears, and dogs eat of their masters' crumbs, and the Savior himself did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

2 Cor 6:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 7:38 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 15:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 9:13 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome reproaches the virgins of Emona for never answering his letters, reminding them that Christ welcomed sinners.

  • 2 Cor 6:14; Luke 7:37-38; Matt 15:27; Matt 9:13.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR u for n): saluator nou uenit → saluator non uenit.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 11.2 (CSEL 54:39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-11-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

11.3CSEL 54:39–40

non enim egent sani medico et mauult paenitentiam peccatoris quam mortem et errantem ouiculam suis umeris refert et prodigum filium reuertentem excepit laetus pater. quin potius apostolus ait: nolite iudicare ante tempus. tu enim quis es, qui alienum seruum iudices? suo domino stat aut cadit, et: qui stat, uideat ne cadat, et: inuicem onera uestra portate.

For those who are well do not need a physician; he would rather have the repentance of a sinner than his death; he carries the straying sheep back on his shoulders; and the father gladly welcomed the prodigal son on his return. Indeed, the apostle says: "Do not judge before the time. For who are you, to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls"; and: "Let him who stands take heed lest he fall"; and: "Bear one another's burdens."

Matt 9:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 33:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:20 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 4:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 14:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 6:2 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome cites Christ's mercy toward sinners and Paul's warnings against judging others.

  • Matt 9:12; Ezek 33:11 (18:23); Luke 15:5; Luke 15:20; 1 Cor 4:5; Rom 14:4; 1 Cor 10:12; Gal 6:2.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR n for u): et manult paenitentiam → et mauult paenitentiam.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 11.3 (CSEL 54:39–40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-11-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

11.4CSEL 54:40–41

aliter, sorores carissimae, hominum liuor, aliter Christus iudicat. non eadem sententia est tribunalis eius et anguli susurronum. multae hominibus uiae uidentur iustae et postea repperientur prauae, et in testaceis uasculis thesaurus saepe reconditur. Petrum ter negantem amarae in locum suum restituere lacrimae. cui plus dimittitur, plus amat. de toto grege siletur et ob unius morbidi pecudis salutem angeli laetantur in caelo. quod si cui uidetur indignum, a domino audiat: amice, si ego bonus, quare oculus tuus nequam est?

Human envy judges one way, dearest sisters, Christ another. The sentence of his tribunal is not the same as that of the whisperers in a corner. Many ways seem right to men and are later found to be crooked, and treasure is often stored in earthen vessels. Bitter tears restored Peter to his place after his threefold denial. The one who is forgiven more loves more. Nothing is said of the whole flock, and the angels in heaven rejoice over the safety of one sick sheep. And if this seems unfair to anyone, let him hear from the Lord: "Friend, if I am good, why is your eye evil?"

Prov 14:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:75 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 7:47 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 20:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome contrasts human judgment with Christ's, citing Peter's restoration and God's joy over one lost sheep.

  • Prov 14:12; 2 Cor 4:7; Matt 26:75; Luke 7:47; Luke 15:7; Matt 20:15.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 11.4 (CSEL 54:40–41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-11-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

Chapter 12

12.1CSEL 54:41

tate discipulis unum adprehendit e paruulis dicens: quicumque uestrum non fuerit conuersus sicut infans, non potest introire regnum caelorum. quod ne tantum docere nec facere uideretur, inpleuit exemplo, dum discipulorum pedes lauat, dum traditorem osculo excipit, dum loquitur cum Samaritana, dum ad pedes sibi sedente Maria de caelorum disputat regno, dum ab inferis resurgens primum mulierculis apparescit.

... [when the disciples were disputing about rank, the Lord, teacher of humil]ity, took one of the little children and said: "Whoever of you is not converted like an infant cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." And so that he might not seem only to teach and not to do, he fulfilled it by example: when he washes the disciples' feet, when he receives the traitor with a kiss, when he speaks with the Samaritan woman, when he discusses the kingdom of heaven with Mary sitting at his feet, when, rising from the dead, he appears first to some poor women.

Matt 18:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:49 (allusion, high confidence) · John 4:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 10:39 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 28:9 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome begins his letter to the monk Antony with Christ's teaching and example of humility.

  • The beginning of the letter is missing in the digital text; the bracketed words are supplied from the sense. Matt 18:2-3; John 13:5; Matt 26:49; John 4:7-26; Luke 10:39; Matt 28:9.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR h for li): discipuhs → discipulis.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 12.1 (CSEL 54:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-12-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

12.2CSEL 54:41–42

satanas autem ex archangelico fastigio non aliam ob causam nisi ob contrariam humilitati superbiam ruit. et Iudaicus populus primas sibi cathedras et salutationes in foro uindicans deputato antea in stillam situlae gentili populo succedente deletus est. contra sophistas quoque saeculi et sapientes mundi Petrus et Iacobus piscator mittitur, cuius rei causa scriptura ait: superbis deus resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam.

Satan fell from the height of an archangel for no other reason than pride, the opposite of humility. And the Jewish people, claiming for themselves the chief seats and greetings in the marketplace, were blotted out when the Gentile people, formerly counted as a drop from a bucket, took their place. Peter and James, fishermen, are sent against the sophists of the age and the wise men of the world; for which reason Scripture says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Isa 14:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 23:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 40:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:20 (allusion, medium confidence) · Jas 4:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 5:5 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome gives examples of pride brought low, from Satan's fall to the choice of fishermen as apostles.

  • Isa 14:12-15 (read of Satan); Matt 23:6-7; Isa 40:15; 1 Cor 1:20, 27; Jas 4:6 and 1 Pet 5:5 (Prov 3:34). The statement about the Jewish people is Jerome's own; it is translated as written.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 12.2 (CSEL 54:41–42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-12-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

12.3CSEL 54:42

uide, frater, quale malum sit, quod aduersarium habet deum. ob quod in euangelio et pharisaeus adrogans spernitur et humilis publicanus auditur. decem iam, nisi fallor, epistulas plenas tam officii quam precum misi, cum tu ne muttum quidem facere dignaris et domino loquente cum seruis frater cum fratre non loqueris. nimis, inquies, contumeliose.

See, brother, what an evil it is that has God as its adversary. Because of it, in the gospel, the arrogant Pharisee is rejected and the humble tax collector is heard. I have now sent you, unless I am mistaken, ten letters full of both courtesy and entreaty, while you do not deign even to mutter a word; and while the Lord speaks with his servants, you, a brother, do not speak with your brother. "Very insulting," you will say.

Luke 18:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome complains that Antony has not answered any of his ten letters.

  • Luke 18:9-14.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR h for li; OCR m for ru): cum semis frater → cum seruis frater; contumehose → contumeliose.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 12.3 (CSEL 54:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-12-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

12.4CSEL 54:42

crede mihi, nisi stili uerecundia prohiberet, tanta laesus ingererem, ut inciperes mihi rescribere uel iratus. sed quoniam et irasci hominis est et iniuriam non facere Christiani, ad antiquum morem reuertens rursus precor, ut et diligentem te diligas et conseruo sermonem conseruus inpertias.

Believe me, if the restraint of my pen did not forbid it, I would, being hurt, heap on you so much that you would begin to write back to me, even in anger. But since to be angry is human and not to do injury is Christian, I return to my old custom and again pray that you will love one who loves you, and that you, a fellow servant, will share a word with your fellow servant.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome restrains his anger and again asks Antony to write to him.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 12.4 (CSEL 54:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-12-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

Chapter 13

13.1CSEL 54:42–43

Iohannes idem apostolus et euangelista in epistula sua ait: quicumque odit fratrem suum homicida est, et recte. cum homicidium ex odio saepe nascatur, quicumque odit, etiam si gladio necdum percusserit, animo tamen homicida est. cur, ais, tale principium? scilicet ut ueteri rancore deposito mundum pectoris deo paremus habitaculum. irascimini, inquit Dauid, et nolite peccare. hoc quid uelit intellegi, apostolus plenius interpretatur: sol non occidat super iracundiam uestram.

The same John, apostle and evangelist, says in his letter: "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer"; and rightly. Since murder often springs from hatred, whoever hates, even if he has not yet struck with the sword, is still a murderer in heart. "Why," you say, "such a beginning?" So that, putting away our old rancor, we may prepare a clean dwelling of the heart for God. "Be angry," says David, "and do not sin." What this means the apostle explains more fully: "Do not let the sun go down on your anger."

1 John 3:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 4:4 (4:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:26 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome begins his appeal for reconciliation with his aunt Castorina with Scripture's warnings against hatred and lasting anger.

  • 1 John 3:15; Ps 4:4 (LXX and Vulgate 4:5); Eph 4:26.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR q for c; words run together): quicumqueodit fratrem suumhomicida → quicumque odit fratrem suum homicida; qum homicidium → cum homicidium.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 13.1 (CSEL 54:42–43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-13-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

13.2CSEL 54:43

quid agimus nos in die iudicii, super quorum ira non unius diei, sed tantorum annorum sol testis occubuit? dominus loquitur in euangelio: si offeres, munus tuum ad altare ibique rememoratus fueris, quia frater tuus habet aliquid aduersum te, relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare et uade prius reconciliari fratri tuo, et sic offeres munus tuum.

What shall we do on the day of judgment, over whose anger the sun has set as witness not for one day but for so many years? The Lord says in the gospel: "If you offer your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go first to be reconciled to your brother, and then you shall offer your gift."

Matt 5:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:24 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome recalls Christ's command to be reconciled before offering one's gift at the altar.

  • Matt 5:23-24.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 13.2 (CSEL 54:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-13-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

13.3CSEL 54:43

uae mihi misero, ne dicam et tibi, qui tanto tempore aut non obtuli munus ad altare aut ira permanente sine causa obtuli! quomodo in cotidiana prece umquam diximus: dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris, animo discordante cum uerbis, oratione dissidente cum factis?

Woe to me, wretch that I am, not to say to you too, who for so long a time have either not offered a gift at the altar, or offered it while anger without cause remained! How could we ever say in the daily prayer, "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors," with our mind at odds with our words and our prayer at odds with our deeds?

Matt 5:22 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 6:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome laments that their estrangement has made both their offerings and the Lord's Prayer insincere.

  • Matt 5:22 ("without cause", as in the Latin text Jerome knew); Matt 6:12.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (words run together): tanto temporeaut → tanto tempore aut.

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 13.3 (CSEL 54:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-13-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.

13.4CSEL 54:43–44

precor itaque, quod et ante annum prioribus litteris rogaueram, ut pacem, quam nobis dominus reliquit, habeamus. et meum desiderium et tuam mentem Christus intuetur: in breui ante tribunal eius reconciliata seu scissa concordia aut praemium recuperabit aut poenam. quod si tu, quod procul absit, nolueris; ego liber ero; epistula me haec, cum lecta fuerit, absoluet.

So I beg you, as I asked a year ago in an earlier letter, that we may have the peace that the Lord left us. Christ sees both my desire and your mind; soon, before his tribunal, harmony restored or broken will receive either reward or punishment. But if you are unwilling (which God forbid), I shall be free; this letter, once it has been read, will acquit me.

John 14:27 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:10 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jerome again asks his aunt for peace, saying that if she refuses, this letter will clear him before Christ.

  • John 14:27; 2 Cor 5:10.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR R for s): quod Ri tu → quod si tu.

Cite (SBL): Jerome, Ep. 13.4 (CSEL 54:43–44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-epistulae/7-1/#p-13-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude from Hilberg's Latin text (CSEL 54–56, 1910–1918); compared afterwards with the NPNF² 6 translation (Fremantle, 1893) where it translates a letter in full, and otherwise re-read against the Latin.