jewish-christian gospels recovered because he was no longer able to read Hebrew by lamplight. As regards
the Greek commentators, he had to rely on the brothers of the monastery
who read them aloud to him.^45
TheCommentary on Ezekielcontains two references to Jewish-Chris-
tian gospels. The first one (Comm. Ezech. .) repeats again the tradi-
tion about the Holy Spirit lifting Jesus by one of his hairs, which he had
already presented in his commentaries on Micah and Isaiah. The other
one (Comm. Ezech. .–) refers to the distressing of one’s brother:
And in the Gospel which is according to the Hebrews which the Nazarenes
are accustomed to read, among the worst crimes is set he who has dis-
tressed the spirit of his brother.
(Jerome,Comm. Ezech. .–; trans. Klijn ).The last years of Jerome’s life were overshadowed not only by the fall of
Rome but also by a heretic who had joined other refugees and settled
in the Holy Land in , namely Pelagius. Some twenty years earlier,
Jerome had disputed with Pelagius about Christian marriage. When
Pelagius came to Palestine, Jerome was still working on hisCommentary
on Ezekiel. From then on, he dealt with Pelagius’ teachings in several
of his letters and finally completed a fuller treatise against him at the
end of :A Dialogue Against Pelagius.^46 This work contains Jerome’s
last reference to Jewish-Christian gospels. The reference also exhibits the
most extensive collection of epithets:
In the Gospel according to the Hebrews which was written in the Chaldaic
and Syriac language but with Hebrew letters, and is used up to the present
day by the Nazarenes, I mean that according to the Apostles, or, as many
maintain, according to Matthew, which Gospel is also available in the
Library of Caesarea, the story runs:... (Pelag. .; trans. Klijn ).The next year, , the monasteries in Bethlehem were attacked and
destroyed by a mob that was rumored to have consisted of Pelagius’
supporters. Jerome managed to escape and save his life. He died four
years later, in , seventy-two or seventy-three years old and was buried
in one of the grottoes under the Church of Nativity.^47
(^45) Kelly , –.
(^46) Kelly , –.
(^47) Kelly , ,. According to Kelly, Jerome would have been or years old
when he died. However, I have followed the majority view, dating Jerome’s birth to
or . See above ...