Jerome

Jerome. A Latin priest and scholar.

Jerome was born Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus to a Christian family ca. AD 347 in Stridon, Dalmatia. After receiving a classical education in Rome, he was attracted to asceticism and periodically spent time as a hermit. His extensive list of writings includes numerous biblical commentaries that consist of verse by verse literal explanations, often followed by allegorical interpretation. Jerome died near Bethlehem in 420.

Jerome's most important work was revising the Old Latin (Vetus Latina) Bible. In 382, Pope Damasus I commissioned him to revise the Four Gospels using the best available Greek MSS. When done, he started revising the Psalms using the LXX, which he considered the inspired form of the OT.

When he resumed the project in Bethlehem in 390 and had come to prefer the Hebrew text over the LXX, he directly translated the Hebrew Bible into Latin. The result, finished in 405, was the Latin Vulgate.