THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
ii. 583) 790-749 B.C.; Jeroboam II. was one of the most important and powerful kings of the northern kingdom, his rule extending " from Hamath to the sea of the plain " (II Kings xiv. 23-29), probably including Moab under his power. According to Schrader (KAT, pp. 212 sqq.) his extraordinary success is to be explained from his relations with Assyria. Ramman-nirari III. of Assyria had overthrown Mari of Damascus, and in his inscription he claims to have laid the land of Omri (i.e., Israel) under tribute. It is not improbable that the conquered Damascus and its territory was turned over to Jeroboam in return for tribute. Commentators are at variance over the meaning of the reference in Hos. x. 14, " as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel," whether it refers to a conquest of the Galilean city under Shalmaneser III. or IV., or to a calamity experienced by the Moabite King Salamanu mentioned by Tiglath-Pileser. II Kings xiv. 25 regards the success of Jeroboam as the fulfilment of the prophecy of Jonah the son of Amittai; but the prophecies of Hosea and Amos give a far different impression of the state of his kingdom, which under the external glory carried the seeds of decay, speedily to bear fruit. (E. Kautzsch.)
Bibliography: 1. The sources are: I Kings xi. 26-40, xii. 1-xiv. 20: II Chron. x. 2-19, xi. 14-16, xii. 15, xiii. 2. Sources are: II Kings xiv. 23-29, xv. 1,8; and especially the books of Amos and Hosea. For literature on both kings see the pertinent sections in the works cited under Ahab; Israel, History of.
JEROME.
I. Life, Historical (§2).
Studies and Travels to Dogmatic and Polemical 378 (§ 1). (§ 3).
Sojourn in Rome, 382- Letters (§ 4).
385 (§ 2). III. Theological Position.
Residence in Palestine His Excellences and Deaf ter 385 (§ 3). fects (§1).
II. Works. His Lack of Independence
Biblical and Exegetical (§ 2)
(§ 1).
I. Life: The famous ecclesiastical author commonly known as St. Jerome, whose full name was
Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, was
i. Studies born at Stridon, on the border between
and Travels Pannonia and Dalmatia, in the second
to 378. quarter of the fourth century; d. near
Bethlehem Sept. 30, 420. He came of Christian parents, but was not baptized until about 360, when he had gone to Rome with his friend Bonosus to pursue his rhetorical and philosophic studies. These were principally secular, probably including Greek literature; he seems as yet to have had no thought of studying the Greek Fathers, or any Christian writings. His journey with Bonosus to Gaul seems to have followed immediately upon a stay of several years in Rome. During this sojourn in eastern Gaul and " on the semi-barbarous banks of the Rhine," he seems to have been occupied with theological studies, and to have copied for his friend Rufinus Hilary's commentary on the Psalms and treatise De synodis. Next came a stay of at least several months, possibly years, with Rufinus at Aquileia, where he made many Christian friends. Some of these accompanied him when he set out about 373 on a journey through Thrace and Asia Minor into northern Syria. At Antioch, where
he made the longest stay, two of his companions died and he himself was seriously ill more than once. During one of these illnesses (about the winter of 373-374) he had a vision which determined him to lay aside his secular studies and devote himself to the things of God. In any case he' seems to have abstained for a considerable time from the study of the classics and to have plunged deeply into that of Holy Scripture, under the impulsion of Apollinaris of Laodicea, then teaching in Antioch and not yet suspected of heresy. Seized with the desire for a life of ascetic penance, he went for a time to the desert of Chalcis, to the southwest of Antioch known as the Syrian Thebaid, from the number of hermits inhabiting it. During this period, however he seems to have fpund time for study and writing. He made his first attempt to learn Hebrew under the guidance of a converted Jew; and at this time he seems to have been in relation with the Jewish Christians in Antioch, and perhaps as early as this to have interested himself in the Gospel according to the Hebrews, asserted by them to be the source of the canonical Matthew.
Returning to Antioch, in 378 or 379, he was ordained by Bishop Paulinus, apparently with some unwillingness and on condition that he 2. Sojourn still continue his ascetic life. Soon in Rome, afterward he went to Constantinople 382-385. to pursue his study of Scripture under the instruction of Gregory Nazianzen. There he seems to have spent two years; the next three (382-385) he was in Rome again, in close intercourse with Pope Damasus and the leading Roman Christians. Invited thither originally to the synod of 382, held for the purpose of ending the schism of Antioch, he made himself indispensable to the pope, and took a prominent place in his councils. Among other duties he undertook the revision of the text of the Latin Bible on the basis of the Greek New Testament and the Septuagint, in order to put an end to the marked divergences in the current western texts (see Bible Versions, A, II., 2). This commission determined the course of his scholarly activity for many years, and gave occasion to his most important achievement. He undoubtedly exercised an important influence during these three years, to which, outside of his unusual learning, his zeal for ascetic strictness and the realization of the monastic ideal contributed not a little. He was surrounded by a circle of well-born and well-educated women, including some from the noblest patrician families, such as the widows Marcella and Paula (qq.v.) with their daughters Blaesilla and Eustochium. The resulting inclination of these women for the monastic life, and his unsparing criticism of the life of the secular clergy, raised a growing hostility against him, especially in the class just named. Soon after the death of his patron, Damasus (Dec. 10, 384), he decided to retire from a position which was fast becoming impossible.
In August, 385, he returned to Antioch, accompanied by his brother Paulinianus and several friends, and followed a little later by Paula and Eustochium, who had resolved to leave their patrician surroundings and to end their days in the Holy Land. In the winter of 385 Jerome accom-