Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Book Notice: Jerome’s Epistle 106

5

Michael Graves sends word that his new edition of Jerome’s Epistle 106 is now available from SBL Press. he told me about it last Fall and I am very pleased to see it’s out. There is lots of very interesting material in this letter of Jerome for the textual history of the Bible. Here’s the publisher's description:

The present volume offers the first accessible English translation and commentary on Jerome’s Epistle 106, an important work of patristic biblical interpretation. In his treatise Jerome discusses different textual and exegetical options according to various Greek and Latin copies of the Psalms with input from the Hebrew. Epistle 106 provides insightful commentary on the Gallican Psalter, Jerome’s translation of Origen’s hexaplaric edition. Jerome’s work offers a unique window into the complex textual state of the Psalter in the late fourth century and serves as an outstanding example of ancient philological scholarship on the Bible.

5 comments

  1. In addition to the very interesting material, is there any surprising and shocking material? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Epistle 106, Jerome addresses 177 passages from the Psalms, comparing different Latin and Greek readings and often the Hebrew. He says more about his translation theory here than he does in Epistle 57. He also talks much about his textual criticism, including describing his use of critical signs and marginal notations, and also which readings are "popular" or Lucianic and which are hexaplaric. The Introduction to the volume gives an up-to-date summary of the evidence for the Greek and Latin Psalters. It also summarizes Jerome's translation theory and principles of textual criticism. The Introduction and commentary argue for a date for the letter ca. 391-392, not between 404-410 has been recently supposed. In fact, this letter comes from the period when Jerome is realizing that translating the hexaplaric edition of the LXX will not suffice, and he will need to go back directly to the Hebrew. In this treatise, we actually see Jerome reaching that conclusion. This and many other important topics are treated.
      Thanks for posting and showing interest. I am grateful.
      Michael Graves

      Delete
    2. In Epistle 106, Jerome discusses 177 passages from the Psalms, comparing different Greek and Latin readings, and sometimes the Hebrew. He says more about his biblical translation theory here than he does in Epistle 57. He describes and displays his practice of textual criticism, including hexaplaric evidence and his use of critical signs, marginal notations, and which readings are "popular" or Lucianic versus hexaplaric. The Introduction provides a summary of our textual evidence for the Greek and Latin Psalters. The Introduction and commentary argue for a date for this work ca. 391-392, not 404-410 as is often supposed today. This letter/treatise comes from the period when Jerome is coming to recognize that translating the hexaplaric edition of the LXX will not suffice, and that he needs to go back directly to the Hebrew. In Epistle 106, we actually see him reaching this decision, as he works his way through these passages. The commentary addresses Jerome's various sources for his textual decisions and exegesis. Key ideas in Jerome's thought, such as hebraica veritas, are discussed with extensive parallel passages cited. Those interested in the Greek and Latin Psalters, HB/OT textual criticism, Jerome, and patristic exegesis will find useful material.
      Thanks for posting and for the interest.
      Michael Graves

      Delete
    3. Thanks, Michael!

      Delete
  2. An error in youe web design: Your logo at top has the link with www in it but that causes an ssl cert invalid message. There's not supposed to be a www. Means when I click the logo to go back to the main page I have to edit the address bar to remove the www. Does it both on mobile and PC. In Brave, Chrome, and MS Edge.

    ReplyDelete