§ 185. Недовольство некоторых современников переводом Иеронима. Иероним защищает перевод.

What was the fate of Jeronimov's translation? Jerome both foresaw it and experienced it in practice: but foreseeing it, he was not afraid, and testing it, he did not shy away from good work. This is what he wrote, dedicating his very first translation to P. Damasus: “You force me to create a new thing from an old one, so that among so many copies scattered throughout the world I would sit as a judge, so, as they differ from each other, I would determine which of them agree with the Greek truth. Pious work, but a dangerous undertaking - to judge others and be judged by everyone; this means changing the language of the old man and returning the graying light to the years of youth. Which of the learned and unlearned, taking a book in his hands and seeing that it does not agree with the usual taste, does not immediately begin to shout: he is a liar; he is a blasphemer, he dares to add to old books, change, correct? But I am consoled by two circumstances - one is that you, the great high priest, command me this, and the fact that slander itself can testify that there is no truth where there is difference.” This is what the perspicacious husband said and this is what happened. Complaints arose from all sides against Jerome, especially when his translation of the Old Testament began to appear in 1358; reproaches, even harsh abuse, rained down on his head. The blessed one was forced to defend himself in almost every preface to his new work. It is very useful to listen to what they said against Jerome and what he answered, continuing his work under the hail of abuse that rained down on him. Rufinus, first his friend and then his enemy, reproached Jerome more harshly than anyone else for his translation. He wrote: “Who, besides you, raised his hand to the gift and inheritance of the apostles? Who dared to plunder the Divine covenant, handed over to the Church by the apostles, the pledge of the Holy Spirit.” 1359 Blzh. And Gustin, having heard about Jerome’s first experience - the translation of some books from Hebrew, called his enterprise useless and even dangerous: “The Latin churches, he wrote, will disagree with the Greek; Meanwhile, the wrangler is easily exposed when a Greek book is presented, i.e. in a known language. Everyone, amazed at the unusualness of the translation from the Hebrew, will be close to accusing him of lying, but he will hardly, or better yet, never turn to the Jewish evidence with which the objection is defended. And if they get to the Hebrew: who will dare to condemn so many Greek and Latin authorities? 1360. Others also pointed to the divine inspiration of the 70 translators. The essence of the blessed one’s justifications was as follows: a) He does not disparage Translation 70: proof of this, among other things, is the work he put into correcting it 1361. b) The superiority of the Hebrew text over the Greek is clear: the former is the “source of truth”, the latter is the “stream of opinions” 1362. c) The Greek translation 70 lacks much that is in the Hebrew text - even in relation to the most important Christian truths 1363. Jerome also cites testimonies read in the New Testament about Christ the Lord, which, however, as he testifies, are not in the lists of the Greek text (Hosea 11:1. Isa. 11:1. Zech. 12:10) 1364. And then he writes: “Let’s ask them, where is this written? They cannot say, but we cite them from Jewish books... Meanwhile, without knowing this, they follow the fables of the apocrypha... It is not my business to state the reasons for errors. The Jews say that this was done with a prudent intention, so that Ptolemy, a worshiper of the One God, would not think that the Jews have two Gods...” 1365. d) “I don’t know,” wrote Jerome, who was the first to build cells in Alexandria with his lies, in which they (70 interpretations), as if separated, wrote? Aristaeus and Josephus say that the interpreters compared, but did not prophesy. But a prophet is another thing, a translator is another” 1366. e) “After the work, I found those before me, and we work in the house of the Lord as much as we can. They interpreted before the coming of Christ, and what they did not know, they offered in a dubious form; After His Passion and Resurrection, we present not only a prophecy, but also a story” 1367. f) “If among the Greeks, after the 70th edition, then, as the light of the Gospel shines, the Jew - Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion - the Judaizing heretics - are accepted and although many have covered up the secret with an insidious interpretation, nevertheless, according to the exapla, they remain with the churches and are explained by the men of the Church: should I not be more rejected as a Christian, born of Christians, bearing the sign of the cross on my forehead, me, whose whole effort was to complete what was omitted, to correct what was corrupted, and to expound the mysteries of the faith in pure and precise language?” 1368. Here, as is obvious, lies a direct answer to the doubts of the blessed one. Augustine, regarding the Greek Church. We say: especially, the stream of accusations poured in on his corrected translation by 70 interpreters. In the preface to Job, speaking about complaints, he writes: “such is the habit of antiquity that even obvious errors are liked by many; they would rather have beautiful lists than functional ones.” Invectiv. lib. 2. item lib. 3. Epist. S. Avgustini 87. et 97. de Avet Dei 18, 43. See Deputy 27. 50. Apolog. adv. Rufin. 2, 24. Praefat in Genes: “Listen, zealot, listen, reproach! wrote the blessed one. Why are you tormented by anger? Why are you stirring up ignorant people against me? If you think I made a mistake in anything: ask the Jews, consult with teachers in different cities. What they have about Christ is not in your lists. It is a different matter when they approved the evidence later used against them by the Apostles. Other Latin lists are better than Greek ones, Greek ones are better than Hebrew ones.” Of course, Jerome here meant text 70 in the form in which it was before the time of Origen. Praefat. in Genesin. Also in the preface to Isaiah. “It must also be added that he is not so much a prophet as an Evangelist... Therefore, I think, 70 interpreters at that time did not want to clearly speak to the pagans about the sacraments of their faith, so as not to throw holy things to dogs and pearls to pigs; You yourself, reading this publication, will notice that secrets are hidden there.” Praefat. in Genesin. Also quaest. 19. in Judias. Praefat. in Job. Also in Praefat. ad Iesaiam. You might be interested in: