Bis repetita placent

Jerome’s translations of Psalm citations in 1 Chronicles

Abstract

Two translations of the Psalter by Saint Jerome (ca. 347-420) have come down to us: (1) the Psalterium iuxta Septuaginta (ca. 390), translated from a Greek Vorlage, and (2) the Psalterium iuxta Hebraeos (ca. 392), translated from a Hebrew Vorlage. When translating the Hebrew text of 1 Chronicles (ca. 396), Jerome was confronted with several lengthy quotations from Ps 95, 104 & 105 in chapter 16. As a result, we do now have three translations of these Psalms, two of which are based on a nearly identical Hebrew Vorlage (viz. the iuxta Hebraeos versions and 1 Ch 16). Even though the Masoretic texts of these passages in the Psalter and 1 Chronicles are very similar, the two Latin versions contain some interesting differences as well. The present study will delve deeper into the mechanisms that caused these deviations and what they tell us about (the development of) Jerome’s translation technique.