CHAPTER SIX

ST JEROME ’S COMMENTARY ON DANIEL

Scholars regard Jerome’s commentary on Daniel as the most impor- tant work of the Church Fathers based on the original Hebrew text. To that accomplishment, Jerome adds a mastery of all of the Church lit- erature unseen before his time.1 This is why Jerome ’s work introduces the beginning of a new era within the Church, as W. Smith notes.2 However, Jerome’s life and his importance cannot be reduced to this single commentary on Daniel . We therefore shall not forget his role concerning the development of monastic life, the Vulgate (completed c.404), which became the standard version of the Bible in the Western Church, and how useful his letters are in depicting various aspects of his thinking. In sum, we owe to Jerome the comparison between the original Hebrew text of the Bible and the one in the LXX, as well as his comments and remarks, which resulted in a more accurate version of the sacred text. Jerome was born c.340 A.D. in Stridon and died in Bethlehem c.420. During his lifetime, he traveled multiple times throughout the Roman Empire. We know that he was in Rome c.360 A.D., because there are some contemporary references that mention that it was during this visit that he was baptized and his interest concerning ecclesiastical matters developed. Later, he traveled to the East, spending time in Antioch. Even later, he spent some time in the desert, in a southwest part of Antioch. He was ordained a priest—although some say he did not desire such a thing—in Antioch and left for Constantinople, where he became friends with St Gregory Nanzianzus . He went back to Rome c.382 and 385, where he also became friends with Pope Damasus . However, after the latter’s death, his position became difficult due to his harsh criticism, which had earned him enemies. He then left Rome for Bethlehem, where he arrived c.386 after a brief stay in Antioch. It

1 Jerome, Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel, ed. Gleason Leonard Archer (Grand Rapids, 1958), p. 5. 2 In the preface of the work cited above. 158 chapter six was during this later period of his life that he founded a monastery and led a life of asceticism and study. Concerning his written production, we can divide his life into several periods. The first, until his first departure from Rome c.382, is what some authors call a “period of preparation.” In it he translates Origen ’s homilies on Jeremiah , Ezekiel, and Isaiah . Also from this period is the translation of the Chronicle of Eusebius . In a second phase, which lasts from c.382 until c.390, Jerome develops his exegetical vocation, and under Damasus , he draws the clear enmity of the ecclesiastics of Rome. This is also one of the factors commonly used to explain why he left Rome after the pope’s death and moved to Bethlehem. Start- ing c.384, Jerome begins his work “correcting” the Latin version of the biblical texts. We have no assurance that he did indeed revise the entire LXX, but we do know that he produced a new version based on the Hebrew originals between c.390 and c.405. It is also during this last period that Jerome devotes part of his time to several commentaries on the biblical books, namely, Samuel, Kings, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, etc. This tendency of his to write commentaries would last until his death. In fact, during his last years he wrote commen- taries on Hosea , Joel , Amos , Zechariah , Malachi , Daniel , Ezekiel, and Jeremiah. Later, he wrote some sermons and treatises on Mark and on the Psalms and the gospels. As we can easily see, his work is vast and a good testament to his will to study the sacred texts in depth. In fact, as J. Braverman comments, during the last 15 years of his life his comments were “of much greater length and more carefully written.”3 In addition, his commentary on Daniel “shows the fruits of his many years of previous diligent study of the Bible.”4 One good example of this are the 16 different Hebrew interpretations of Daniel that he cites in his commentary. According to Jerome , none of the prophets has so clearly spoken concerning Christ as has this prophet Daniel. For not only did he assert that He would come, a prediction common to the other prophets as well, but also he set forth the very time at which He would come. Moreover he went through the

3 Jay Braverman, Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel: A Study of Comparative Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the Hebrew Bible (Washington, D.C., 1978), p. 10. 4 Ibid.