Jerome and the Jews

Download or read book Jerome and the Jews written by William L. Krewson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-05-31 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jerome rocked the boat in which the early church had been comfortably settled for two hundred years. He upset Christian tradition by arguing for the priority of the Hebrew Old Testament over the supposedly inspired Greek Septuagint. He learned Hebrew from a Jewish teacher and translated the Old Testament directly from Hebrew into Latin. Not only did his new Latin translation create turmoil, but the inclusion of Jewish interpretations in his commentaries furthered the controversy. Unlike his contemporaries, Jerome viewed the Jews and their homeland as a source of information and inspiration. However, at the same time, Jerome freely admitted his hatred of the Jews and their religion. His caustic rhetoric reinforced the Christian church's displacement of the Jews, but it seems to oppose his move toward appreciating Jewish resources. This book illuminates Jerome's contradictory personality, proposes a solution, and explores avenues for current Christian and Jewish relations in light of Jerome's model.