Wednesday, September 30, 2026

It is the 30th of September 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Some people are Coke people; others dig Pepsi. Costco or Sam’s Club? Del Taco or Taco Bell? Some things naturally divide a group. Batman or Spiderman?

The early church has its divisions- but there was perhaps no more stark a divide in personalities, but also a shared popularity and divisiveness, than Augustine and Jerome. Augustine, of course, gets his own day here on the Almanac- should his frenemy Jerome get his own? Let’s at least give him today and say a word about one of the most important Bible translations of all time.

St. Jerome- or Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus- was born in the 340s in the Roman province of Dalmatia (think modern Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, etc.). He would study in Rome, where he was also baptized. He was in Constantinople and Rome in the early 380s. Pope Damasus I would commission Jerome to produce an authoritative translation of the Gospels. From this assignment, the whole Bible would get the textual treatment- by 405, the whole Bible was available in a modern translation into the “common” or “Vulgar” tongue- in this case, it was Latin.

It would be the translation in the West for over a thousand years- it would be of note for translating the Old Testament from the Hebrew texts, rather than the Greek Septuagint. Doing this would suggest different textual readings, some of which are more significant than others.

Perhaps the most famous of all mistranslations pertains to Moses in Exodus 34. In Latin it reads: "ignorabat quod cornuta esset facies sua”- he didn’t know his face was “cornuta”. This should read “radiant” or “shining,” but Jerome translated it as “horned”. Anyone on the GTI trip got tired of noticing wild-eyed and horned Moses all over the place.

Jerome’s Vulgate will translate an ox as a “Unicornis”. Stories of the miraculous healing powers of a unicorn's horn are ubiquitous. More theologically significant was what he did in translating the “aza zel” of Leviticus 16. Jerome translates this key beast as a “sent-away-goat” or “scape goat”. In Isaiah 14:12, Jerome used the common name for the Morning Star to refer to the fallen angel, and thus “Lucifer” has been a common name for Old Nick.

There may not have been a bigger catalyst in the early Reformation than the discovery of Jerome’s clunky translation from Matthew 3:2. The Greek imperative is “metanoeite”- or “repent” but Jerome would translate it as “paenitentiam agite” or “do penance”. This lent itself to ‘acts of penance’ and a “penitential system” as satisfaction for sins.

In the proto-evangelion of Genesis 3:15, the translation came to be that “she will crush your head”- this would pick up the parallel of Mary as the second Eve, as Jesus is, too, the second Adam.

Pope Damasus would die in 385, but Jerome would continue on with revisions. One of the more radical decisions he made was to translate the Old Testament from the Hebrew into the Latin. This, instead of the Greek Septuagint, made it a better translation even if it didn’t sound as familiar. We do well to remember just how many people had ceased to read Hebrew- it was a “dead language”. Jerome will help usher in a new age of Hebrew study.

Over time, a reliance on the Vulgate text led to its own errata becoming standard- it was the early work of Erasmus which led to others picking up the old manuscripts and testing against multiple copies and translations. At the Council of Trent in the 16th century, the Catholic Church recognized Jerome’s Vulgate as the only authorized Bible. The “Authorized” English Bible was soon to be published- the Authorized, or “King James,” dates from 1611.

But centuries later, what has having one translation, or multiple, done for our faith? The bible is more easily accessed today than ever… does that correspond with Biblical literacy?

Well, don’t blame Jerome- Horns and All- on his feast day we remember him for his monumental role in getting the Scriptures to the people with his Vulgate from the 4th and 5th centuries.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and one of my favorite interactions with Jesus in the Gospels:

2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 30th of September 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who hopes no one in the crowd was called Matt… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who knows it was courageous of the friends to lower him down, but if the guy fell… it couldn’t get worse… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.