970 THIRD PERIOD. A.D, 311-590.
The Hebrew he learned with great labor hi his mature years; first from a eouverted but aiioiiymous Jew, during hia five years' ascetic seclusion in the Syrian desert of Chalcia (37-1-379); afterwards in Bethlehem (about 385) from the Palestinian Rabbi Bar-Auina, who, through fear of the Jews, visited him by night.' This exposed him to the foolish rumor among bigoted opponents, that he preferred Judaism to Christianity, and betrayed Clirist in preference to the new " Barabbas."^ He afterwards, in translating the Old Testament, brought other Jewish scholars to his aid, who cost hini dear. He also inspired several of his admiring female pupils, like St. Paula and her daughter Eustochium, with enthusiasm for the study of the sacred language of the old covenant, and brought them on so far that they could sing with him the Hebrew Psalms in praise of the Lord. He lamented the injurious influence of these studies on his style, since " the rattling sound of the Hebrew soiled all the elegance and beauty of Latin speech." ^ Yet, on the other hand, he was by the same means preserved from flying off into hollow and turgid ornamentations, from which his earlier writings, such as his letters to Heliodorus and Lmocentius, are not altogether free. Though his knowledge of Hebrew was defective, it was much greater than that of Origen, Epiphanius, and Ephraem Syrus, the only other fathers besides himself who understood Hebrew at all ; and it is the more noticeable, when we consider the want of grammatical and lexicographical helps and of the Masoretic punctuation."
' Ep. 84 ad Pamniacli. et Ocean, c. 3 (torn. i. 524, ed. Vallarsi): " Veni rursura Jerosolymam et Bethlehem. Quo hibore, quo pretio Baraninam iiocturnum habui praeceptorem ! Timebat enim Judaeos, et mihi altcrura exhibebat Nicodemum."
* So Rufinus wrested the name, with reference to Mark xv. 7. Comp. Rufiuus, Apol. or Invect. ii. 12, and the answer of Jerome to these calumnies, in the Apol. adv. libros Paif. 1. i. c. 18 (tom. ii. 469).
* In the Preface to his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians : " Omnem Bermonis elegantiam ct Lathii eloquii venustatem stridor Ilebraicae Icctiouis sordi davit." This, however, is to be understood cum grano sails.
* That there were at that time as yet no vowel-points or other diacritical signs in writing Hebrew words, has been proved against Buxtorf by L. Capellus, Morinu^ and Clcricus, and among modt-rn Oriental scholars, especially by Uupfeld (Studieo iind Kritikcn, 1830, p. 549 ff.). Comp. ZoCKLER, 1. c. p. 345 f.
§ 176. JEKOME AS A DIvmE AND SCHOLAE. 971
Jerome, wlio unfortunately was not free from vanity prided himself not a little upon his learning, and boasted against his opponent Rufinus, that he was " a philosopher, a rhetorician, a grammarian, a dialectician, a Hebrew, a Greek, a Latin, three-tongued," that is, master of the three principal languages of the then civilized world.'
All these manifold and rare gifts and attainments made him an extremely influential and useful teaclier of the church ; for he brought them all into the service of an earnest and energetic, though monkishly eccentric piety. They gave him superior access to the sense of the Holy Scriptures, which continued to be his daily study to extreme old age, and stood far higher in his esteem than all the classics. His writings are imbued with Bible knowledge, and strewn, with Bible quotations.
But with all this he was not free from faults as glaring as his virtues are shining, which disturb our due esteem and admiration. He lacked depth of mind and character, delicate sense of truth, and firm, strong convictions. He allowed himself inconsistencies of every kind, especially in his treatment of Origen, and, through solicitude for his own reputation for orthodoxy, he was unjust to that great teacher, to whom he owed so much. He was very impulsive in temperament, and too much followed momentary, changing impressions. Many of his works were thrown off with great haste and little consideration. He was by nature an extremely vain, ambitious, and passionate man, and he never succeeded in fully overcominor these evil forces. He could not bear censure. Even liis later polemic writings are full of envy, hatred, and anger. In
' Apol. adv. Ruf. lib. iii. c. 6 (torn. ii. 537). His claim to be a philosopher may be questioned. In the same place he calls "papa" Epiphanius TrevrayAoiTTos, a man of five tongues, because besides the three chief languages he also understood tlie Syriac and the Egyptian or Coptic. But his knowledge of the languages wa3 far inferior to that of Jerome. Augustine regarded Jerome as the most learned man among all mortals. " Quod Hieronymus nescivit," he said, " nullus mortalium unquam scivit." Comp. also the enthusiastic praise of Era.smus, quoted §41, p 206, who placed hun far above all the fathers ; while Luther acknowledged hia learning indeed, but could not bear his monastic spirit, and judged him harshly ani jnjustly. Corap. M. Lutheri OoUoquia, ed. H. Bindseil, 1863, torn. iii. 135, 149, 193; ii. 340, 349, 35 Y.