9/19/19
Jerome, Commentary on Galatians, [J.P. Migne, Editor]. Patrologiae Tomus XXVI. Paris: D’Ambroise, Pres La Barriere D’Enfer, ou Petit-Montrouge, 1845. pp. 307-438.
Jerome uses Galatians 1:11-12 to speak against the Ebionites and the followers of Photinus, who deny the full deity of Christ. Paul here claims that he received the Gospel from Jesus, as opposed to “from a man.” Jerome observes that Paul is not denying the humanity of Christ here, but is asserting his deity (Jerome, Galatians, 322). This is consistent with the testimony of 2 Corinthians 13:3 and Galatians 2:20. Though the Gospel is spoken by the human, it is a divine word. Jerome continues by noting thatMarcion and Basilides should be added to the group of those who have rejected the revelation of God.
The Gospel, then, according to Jerome, is not a matter only of words but of the message, the sense, received by faith. If it is not received by faith as the very word of God, Jerome says, it is treated merely as the word of man (Jerome, Galatians, 322). This is a “great danger,” to speak as if the Gospel comes from men.
Because the Gospel is the Word of God, Jerome considers its translation to be very important. He recommends consultation of original language manuscripts, comparison of existing translations, and review by various native speakers of the language so as to bring God’s Word faithfully into a different language, bringing the message to light (Jerome, Galatians, 323). As an example, he speaks of the difficulty of bringing Moses and his veil from Exodus 33-34 into adequate Latin.