Hebrews, Apostles, and Christ: Three Authorities of Jerome’s Hebraica Veritas

Abstract Against many defenders of the LXX, such as Hilary of Poitiers and Augustine, Jerome tries to prove the superiority of the Hebrew text as a source text of translation. To do so, in his Preface to the Chronicles (iuxta Hebraeos), Jerome relies on three authorities: the Hebrews, the Apostles, and Christ. The Hebrews philologically endorse Jerome’s translation, by judging whether it literally agrees with the Hebrew text. The Apostles support Jerome’s position both philologically and theologically: sometimes their Old Testament quotations literally agree with the Hebrew text; at other times they spiritually agree with the Hebrew text, even though they do not literally. Christ functions as the highest authority. Relying on these three, Jerome’s real purpose concerning Hebraica veritas is not only the philological discussion between the Hebrew text and the LXX, but also the theological discussion between these two texts and the Old Testament quotations in the New Testament.