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The Lion and the Vulgate
- Duquesne University Press
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The History of the Church 62 The Lion and the Vulgate Three symbols appear frequently in illustrations of Saint Jerome (342– 420): a Bible, a lion, and the cardinal’s hat. The latter signifies Jerome’s illustriousness and the authority that the magisterium recognizes in him. The lion refers to an anecdote related in The Golden Legend, which lends a more human face to this intellectual figure. During his many years at a monastery in Bethlehem, Saint Jerome once helped a lion by pulling a thorn from its paw. The lion, tamed as a result, was appointed the caretaker of the convent’s donkey, daily conducting it to its pasture. One day, the donkey disappeared, and the lion was condemned to carrying out the duties of the beast of burden. The lion bore its punishment with admirable stoicism, until the robbers who had stolen the donkey returned it to its rightful owners. The Golden Legend is less attentive to describing Saint Jerome’s true merit. This polyglot from Pannoia translated the Bible into Latin—translating directly from the Hebrew those books originally written in that language (while referring also to the Greek translations of the Septuagint) and translating the other books from Greek. His translation still is recognized by the Catholic Church, though it is known that Saint Jerome at times did not shy from adding some original text. For example, in the book of Tobit, where an angel requires that Tobiah recite a prayer before consummating his marriage, Jerome’s translation has this prayer lasting three days, a detail that demonstrates the importance the holy translator attached to continence. Dieric Bouts (ca. 1415–75) Saint Jerome Church of Saint Peter, Louvain ...