Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>]

Hi,

it's not something I've looked into in detail and I may be wrong but I  
believe the following resources discuss the reasons for the controversy:

Some, following P. Nautin (1986) and perhaps E. Burstein (1971),  
suggest that Jerome may have been almost wholly dependent on Greek  
material for his interpretation of the Hebrew.

A. Kamesar (1993), on the other hand, sees evidence that in some cases  
Jerome's knowledge of Hebrew exceeds that of his exegetes, implying a  
direct understanding of the Hebrew text.

Pierre Nautin, article Hieronymus, in: Theologische Realenzyklopädie,  
Vol. 15, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1986, p. 304-315, here  
p. 309-310.

Jerome, Greek Scholarship, and the Hebrew Bible: A Study of the  
Quaestiones Hebraicae in Genesim by Adam Kamesar, Clarendon Press,  
Oxford, 1993, page 97. This work cites E. Burstein, La compétence en  
hébreu de saint Jérôme (Diss.), Poitiers 1971

I'll get round to following this up more closely at some point. Until  
then, this is the best answer I can offer. I don't think relying on  
English translations is a good way of discussing this.

James Christian

Quoting schmuel <schmuel AT nyc.rr.com>:

> Hi Folks,
>
> There are so many difficulties in the post by James that I do not
> know exactly where to begin.
> However I would like to ask him about one factual assertion to start.
>
> > James Read J.Read
> > 8) Jerome (4th century) claims to have based his Vulgate translation
> > on the Hebrew text yet there is more agreement with derivative
> > manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate with the aforementioned dead
> > sea  scroll texts, the Greek versions and the Samaritan Pentateuch than
> > with the MT
>
> James, putting aside Psalms where Jerome has multiple translations
> from differing sources, please indicate the basis for your claiming
> this distance from the Vulgate OT and the Masoretic Text.  And the
> Latin supposed affinity to the Greek, or the Pentateuch, or some DSS,
> against the Masoretic Text.
>
> Since we have a decent English translation of the Vulgate in the
> Douay OT and that can be compared with the English translations of
> the Masoretic Text such as the King James Bible, you can simply show
> some of these major differences .. sections and verses where the
> Latin --> English aligns against the Masoretic Text.
>
> Or if you want to claim that the Douay OT is distant from the 4th
> century Latin, please give your historical and textual explanation.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Shalom,
> Steven Avery
> Queens, NY
>
>
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