COMMENTARY ON THE VITA PAULI OP ST. JEROME DISSERTATION Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Reverend Philip Charles Hoelle, S.M,, G •A« f S •| 3 •T •L •9 A• The Ohio State University 1953 ...... Approved bys Advlser 1 Preface The yi*La Pauli » an interesting and edifying story of St. Paul the First Hermit, is an original writing of St. Jerome. It is based to some extent on fact but built in good part upon legend and tales that the author gathered from among the desert fathers. St. Jerome insists upon the historical character of his hero and nominates him as the first hermit, though he admits that St. Anthony, popularized by St. Athanasius1 Vita Antonil and Evagrius1 Latin version of it, was commonly venerated as the founder of monasticism. St. Jerome wrote the Vita Pauli, his first literary work, excluding the earliest letters, In 376, at the age of 29, when he was beginning in earnest his ascetlcal life as a hermit in the Syrian desert of Chalcis. Doubts as to the existence of St. Paul arose In St. Jerome’s own lifetime. This early scepticism was reechoed by the Magdeburg Centuriators and Erasmus, and Weingarten in the late 19th Century, in harmony with his theory of a fourth century origin for Christian.monasticism, called the Vita Pauli a purely rhetorical exercise. Preuschen, Dorn Butler and de Labriolle refuted promptly and successfully Weingarten* s charges so that today the common view of scholars holds that the Vita Pauli deals with a real person in a framework of legend. A 1.6495 11 Th® Vita Pauli and Its later companions the Vita M«lchl and the Vita Hllarlonls gave a new character to hagiographical literature; instead of the Acts of the martyrs of the early Church, the accounts of the saintly heroes become largely legendary and Imaginative. Of the five Greek versions which figure in our study (a,b,F,M,N) version a is the most important, for it was made in the lifetime of St. Jerome and is thus about 125 years older than Latin ms. 106, after which it ranks second in value in reconstructing the original text. Version b, later and simpler than a, is the source of the Syriac, Coptic and Arabic versions. Among the Latin manuscripts Family K represents the tradition closest to the archetype; the oldest and best ms. of thi3 family is ms, 106, dated 517 A.D. From a study of ms. 106 we may assume that the archetype of K was written in uncials averaging 24 letters to the line. My purpose in this commentary is to examine the voca­ bulary and style of the Vita Pauli, paying special attention to the sources that St. Jerome used and probing the signifi­ cant words and phrases to see whether they derive from Karly, Classical, Silver, Late, Christian, technical or popular Latin. This study shows & direct use of nearly all the better authors both pagan and Christian and proves the wide and sound reading knowledge of the young author in his maiden literary lii work: Plautus, Terence, Cicero, Caesar, Sallust, Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Livy, the two Senecas, the two Pllnies, Pe- tronlus, Quintilian, Tacitus, Apuleius, Tertullian, St, Cyprian, and Holy Scripture from Oenesis to the Apocalypse, ’.Vhile most of the interest is in vocabulary, syntax and style, every effort has been made to discuss the historical, biographical, geographical, ascetlcal and mythological data needed to understand the text. In my investigation of the vocabulary I have made use of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae wherever possible. Otherwise I have relied upon the dictionaries of Forcellini and Georges and the various monographs treating of special phases of Late Latin vocabulary. Throughout the commentary generous use has been made of Goelzer, Leumann-Hofmann, lofstedt and Waszink, Goelzer's study of St. Jerome's Latinity was especially valuable. In citing the Latin authors I have followed the system em­ ployed by the Index Llbrorum Scriptorum Inscrlptlonum to the The a aurus Linguae Latinae. In general authors are cited in chronological order but when there is evidence of direct borrow ing the author borrowed from appears first to give him due recognition. I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Kenneth M. Abbott for suggesting this study and for guiding it along with timely and appreciated advice and forreading this manuscript. r*£. (J iv I also wish to thank Professors Clarence A. Forbes and W. Robert Jones for a careful reading of this manuscript and to Misses Joan Pavlic and Thelma Leffue for the generous typing of the final draft of this commentary, I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to Eileen Shell Schroeder, M.A,, for the use of the Index Verbortun in Hleronymi Vitam Pauli, and to C. Robert Holsinger, Ph.D, and Arta Fruth Johnson, Ph.D, for help* found in their special studies of the Vita Pauli, I am deeply Indebted moreover to the Very Reverend John A, Elbert, S#M,, Ph.D. my Provincial Superior, for suggesting that I undertake this graduate work and for making It possible to devote my full time to Its successful completion. Special thanks are duo to the Most Reverend Michael J. Ready, D.D., Bishop of Columbus, for his gracious hospitality and to the devoted Sisters of Hotre Dams de Namur at Maryhurat and to tKe Carmelite Sisters at St, Raphael<s Home for the Aged for providing me with a studious environment during the past two years. To all other* who have in any way helped, me in this task I heartily render thanks. TABLE OP CONTENTS PAGE Profftco i Abbreviations vl Select Bibliography viii Introduction The Lire of St, Jerome 1 St. Jerome's Literary Activity 7 The Vita Pauli 11 Historicity of St. Paul 14 Sources of the Vita Pauli 21 Influence and Iater Development of the Vita Pauli 22 The Text 24 Manuscripts and Manuscript Tradition 25 Greek Versions 26 Latin Manuscripts 27 First and Seoand Editions 29 St• Jerome 1s Latin Style 31 Vocabulary and Syntax 33 Prose Rhythm 36 Orthography 41 Commentary on the Vita Pauli 42 Vlt* 266 vi ABBREVIATIONS A C Aske se und Christentum. v, Dolger A H Askese und Mdnohtum, v. ZSckler B Z Byzantlnischa Zeit3Chrift, v, Kugener C. A H. Cambridge Ancient History C S E L Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum D A C L Dlctlonnaire d * archeologie chretlenne et de llturgie, v. Cabrol-Leclercq D A a K Dictionnalre dea antlqultes grecquea et romaines, v. Daremberg-Saglio DOB Dictionary of Christian Biography, v. Smith and Wace d v a i Deux Versions gre cque s lnedltes de la vie de Paul de Thebes, v. Bidez Evagr. V A Vita Antonii, Latin version by Evagrius Hand, 'furs. Handius* Tursellinus Ind, V.V. Index Verborum Vergilianus, v, Wetmore K.-Steg* Kiihne r- S t e gmann L.-Hof. Leumann-Hofmann Lof. Komm, Lofstedt, Philologischer Kommentar zur Peregrlnatlo Aetherlae 0 C D Oxford Classical Dictionary p a Migne, Patrologla Craeoa P L Migne, Patrologla Latina P W Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll vii ROC Revue de 11 Orient chr^tlen Studies Studios In the Text Tradition of at. i q Vitae Patrum, v. Oldfather T L L Thesaurus Linguae Latinae V A Vita Antonil by St. Athanasius V H Vita Hilarlonls by St. Jerome V M Vita Malohl by St. Jerome V P Vita Pauli by St. Jerome vlii SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Am^lineau, E. Annale 3 du Mus^e Guimet. tome 25. Leroux, Paris, 1894. Analecta Bollandiana, Soci^te des Bollandistes, Brussels, 1882 ff. Apophthegmata Patrum, MIgne, Patroloaia Graeca 65,71-440. Bardenhewer, 0. Geschlchte der altklrohlichen Literatur, vol. IV. Freiburg im Brelsgau, 1924. Bayard, L. Le latln de saint Cyprlen. Paris, 1902. Bennett, G.E. The Syntax of Early Latin, 2 vols. Boston, 1910-1914. Bidez, J. Deux versions grecques in^dites de la vie de Paul de Thebes. Gand, 1900. Bieter, F. The Syntax of the Gases and Prepositions in Gasslodorus1 Hlstorla Tripertlta, Catholic University of American Medieval and Renaissance Studies, vol. VI. Washington, 1958. Brown, M.V. The Syntax of the Prepositions in the Works of St. Hilary, Catholic University of American Patristic Studies, vol. XLI. Washington, 1934. Budge, E.A.W. The Book of Paradise, Syriac textsedited with English translation. Leipzig, 1904. Butler, C. Text and Studies ed. by J. Armitage Robinson, The Lausiao History of Palladlus. Cambridge University Press, 1904. lac Cabrol-Leclercq. Dictlonnalre d 1 archaologie ohretienne et de^ llturgle. Paris, 1907 ff. Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Co. New York, 1909 ff. Cavallera, P. Saint JerSme, sa vie et son oeuvre. Tomes I and II. Louvain and Paris, 1922. Codex Theodoslanus.edd. T. Mommsen and P.M. Meyer. Berlin, 1905. Daremberg-Saglio. Dictlonnaire des antlqulte s grecques et romaines, Paris, 1877-1919. Decker, J. de. Contribution ct 1 1 ^tude des vies da Paul de Thebes. Gand, 1905. Delehaye, H. "La personnalit^ hlstorlque de saint Paul de Thebes," Comptes rendus de l*Acad6rale des Inscrip­ tions et Belles-Lettres. Picard, Paris, 1926. Dolger, P. J. *Unser tagllohes Brot ? Antike und Chrlsten- tum, 6 Bde, pp. 201-210. Munster 1. W., 1936. jtiarly Christian Biographics. Fathers of the Church Inc. New York, 1952. Forcellini-Corrodlni-Perin. Lexicon Totius Latinitatis. Padua, 1864-1887. Georges, K.E. Ausf3hr 1 ohle 3 latelnlsoh-deut3ches HandwcTrterbuch, 2 vols., 8th ed. Hannover and Leipzig, 1913-1918. X Gillis, J. H. The Coordinating Particles in Sts. Hilary, Jerome, Ambrose and Augustine. Catholic University of America Patristic Studies, vol. LVI.Washington, 1938. Goelzer, H. jjjtude lexicographique et grammat 1 cale de la latlnit^ de saint J^rfone.