[2202] Ps. lv. 6. PBV.
[2203] Cant. iii. 1.
[2204] Matt. viii. 11.
[2205] Acts x. 1.
[2206] Rom. xv. 24.
[2207] Italy.
[2208] Rom. xv. 19.
[2209] Acts xxviii. 30.
[2210] Utriusque instrumenti æternam domum. The twofold record' is that of the old and new testaments both of which speak of the church under the figure of a house. For the term "instrument" see note on Letter.
[2211] Matt. iv. 19.
[2212] Cf. Ps. civ. 26.
[2213] Ps. lxiii. 1, 2.
[2214] Ps. lv. 7, 8.
[2215] Luke ix. 62.
[2216] Matt. ix. 20.
[2217] Cant. v. 2.
[2218] Matt. xxiv. 17, 18.
[2219] Gen. xiii. 10.
[2220] Jerome quoting from memory substitutes crown' for prize.'
[2221] 1 Cor. ix. 24.
[2222] Ruth i. 14.
[2223] Luke xix. 5.
[2224] Joh. xii. 2.
[2225] Mark xiv. 8.
[2226] Matt. xxvi. 6.
[2227] Gen. xii. 1.
[2228] Ps. xxxix. 12.
[2229] Phil. iii. 13.
[2230] Ps. lxxxiv. 7.
[2231] Matt. xii. 50.
[2232] His wife Theodora.
[2233] Gen. xxxix. 12.
[2234] Mark xiv. 51, 52.
[2235] 2 Kings ii. 11, 13.
[2236] 1 Kings xix. 21.
[2237] Ecclus. xiii. 1.
[2238] 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
[2239] Matt. vi. 24.
[2240] A disciple of Socrates, subsequently the founder of the Cynic School. Fl. 366 b.c.
[2241] See note on Letter LXVI. § 8.
[2242] Matt. xix. 28.
[2243] 2 Cor. viii. 14.
[2244] Luke xvi. 9.
[2245] Acts iv. 34, 35.
[2246] Prov. xiii. 8, LXX.
[2247] Prov. iii. 9, LXX.
[2248] Cf. Matt. vi. 20.
[2249] See note on Letter XXII. § 35.
[2250] A writer of the sub-apostolic age who had been a disciple of the apostle John. He was bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia.
[2251] Another sub-apostolic writer who was also a disciple of John. He became bishop of Smyrna and underwent martyrdom at the age of 86.
[2252] See note on Letter XXXIII.
[2253] The blind theologian of Alexandria by whose teaching Jerome had himself profited. See Letter XXXIV. § 3.
[2254] The old testament as translated direct from the Hebrew.
[2255] The first eight books.
[2256] This work Jerome accomplished between the years 383 and 390 a.d. Only the Psalter and Job are extant.
[2257] This task he undertook at the request of pope Damasus in 383 a.d. See Letter XXVII.
[2258] i.e. on Saturday.
[2259] At this time the communion was celebrated daily at Constantinople, in Africa, and in Spain. At Rome it was celebrated on every day of the week except Saturday (the Sabbath). See Socrates, H. E. v. 22.
[2260] A leading Roman churchman, bishop of Portus, in the early part of the third century, the rival and enemy of pope Callistus and author of many theological treatises, one of which--the Refutation of all Heresies--has recently become famous.
[2261] Compare the similar advice given by Gregory the Great to Augustine of Canterbury (Bede, H. E. 1. 27).
[2262] Nothing in the book of Acts bears out this statement. Fasting at the times mentioned was forbidden in Jerome's day.
[2263] Daily if you will and on fast days as well as on feast days.
[2264] Ps. xxxiv. 8.
[2265] Ps. xlv. 1, Vulg.
[2266] i.e. the period of fifty days between Easterday and Whitsunday. See Letter XLI. §3.
[2267] i.e. his wife Theodora.
[2268] Jer. x. 23.
Letter LXXII. To Vitalis.
Vitalis had asked Jerome "Is Scripture credible when it tells us that Solomon and Ahaz became fathers at the age of eleven?" The difficulty had previously occurred to Jerome himself (Letter XXXVI. 10, whence perhaps Vitalis took it) and in this letter he suggests several ways in which it may be met. He is quite prepared, if necessary, to accept the alleged fact on the grounds that "there are many things in Scripture which sound incredible and yet are true" and that "nature cannot resist the Lord of nature" (§2). He is disposed, however, to regard the question as trivial and of no importance. The date of the letter is 398 a.d.
Letter LXXIII. To Evangelus.
Evangelus had sent Jerome an anonymous treatise in which Melchisedek was identified with the Holy Ghost, and had asked him what he thought of the theory. Jerome in his reply repudiates the idea as absurd and insists that Melchisedek was a real man, possibly, as the Jews said, Shem the eldest son of Noah. The date of the letter is 398 a.d.