chapter three
Without knowing these reasons and the situation where he worked, it is
hazardous to assess the information he provided about Jewish-Christian
gospels.
Letter to Damasus (Epist. )
Jerome’s first quotation is in his epistle to the pope Damasus, usually
dated ce. By that time, Jerome was back in Rome after his trip to the
East, where he had headed in in order to fulfill the ascetic ideals he
and his friends had adopted. Jerome’s original plan was to go to Jerusalem
but sudden illness struck him while he was staying in Antioch with
Evagrius, a presbyter of a small, Old Nicene church. Illness prolonged
Jerome’s stay in Antioch and finally made him give up the plan of going
to Jerusalem. Instead, he tried the life of a monk in the desert in the
neighborhood of Chalcis (/–). Despite the ascetic ideals—that
he never gave up in his later life—the life of a solitary was not for him.
He came back to Antioch (–) where he continued his studies
and writing. During a visit to Constantinople (–), he was able
to attend the famous assembly, the Council of Constantinople. There
he met Gregory of Nazianzus who made a lasting impression on him.^27
During the years in Antioch and Constantinople, Jerome studied Greek
and became acquainted with Origen’s and Eusebius’ works.^28 He also said
that he had listened to Apollinaris’ lectures.^29 He started to study Hebrew,
and from Syriac monks with whom he was living near Chalcis, he must
have picked up some Syriac.^30 Most scholars assume that if Jerome really
met Nazarenes, whose gospel he started to quote ten years later, it must
have happened here.
Jerome came to Rome in the company of the bishops Paulinus and
Epiphanius. Originally, Jerome was an interpreter for the bishops, but—
thanks to Jerome’s language skills and the knowledge of church life in the
East—the pope Damasus found his assistance so useful that when Pauli-
nus and Epiphanius headed back to their home cities, Jerome decided to
stay in Rome. Jerome had also made friends with wealthy Roman ladies
(^27) The exact chronology of the time Jerome spent in the East is obscure. The approx-
imate dates given above are based on Kelly , –. Although one cannot be sure
about the dates, the main outline of Jerome’s activities is well known.
(^28) Jerome translated (and elaborated) Eusebius’Chronicle,probablyinConstantinople,
and Origen’s homilies on Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah. See, Kelly , –.
(^29) Schmidtke’s hypothesis of Apollinaris as the other source for Jerome’s quotations
(see above Chapter .), is based on this short note.
(^30) Kelly , –.