Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BCE prophet Isaiah ben Amoz, but there is extensive evidence that much of it was composed during the Babylonian captivity and later. Bernhard Duhm originated the view, held as a consensus through most of the 20th century, that the book comprises three separate collections of oracles: Proto-Isaiah, containing the words of Isaiah. While no scholars today attribute the entire book, or most of it, to one person, the book's essential unity has become a focus in more recent research. Isaiah 1–33 promises judgment and restoration for Judah and the nations, chapters 34–66 presume that judgment has been pronounced and restoration follows soon, it can thus be read as an extended meditation on the destiny of Jerusalem after the Exile. The Deutero-Isaian part of the book describes how God will make Jerusalem the centre of his worldwide rule through a royal saviour who will destroy her oppressor.
Isaiah speaks out against corrupt leaders and for the disadvantaged, roots righteousness in God's holiness rather than in Israel's covenant. Isaiah 44:6 contains the first clear statement of monotheism: "I am the last; this model of monotheism became the defining characteristic of post-Exilic Judaism, the basis for Christianity and Islam. Isaiah was one of the most popular works among Jews in the Second Temple period. In Christian circles, it was held in such high regard as to be called "the Fifth Gospel", its influence extends beyond Christianity to English literature and to Western culture in general, from the libretto of Handel's Messiah to a host of such everyday phrases as "swords into ploughshares" and "voice in the wilderness"; the scholarly consensus which held sway through most of the 20th century saw three separate collections of oracles in the book of Isaiah. A typical outline based on this understanding of the book sees its underlying structure in terms of the identification of historical figures who might have been their authors: 1–39: Proto-Isaiah, containing the words of the original Isaiah.
While one part of the consensus still holds – no contemporary scholar maintains that the entire book, or most of it, was written by one person – this perception of Isaiah as made up of three rather distinct sections underwent a radical challenge in the last quarter of the 20th century. The newer approach looks at the book in terms of its literary and formal characteristics, rather than authors, sees in it a two-part structure divided between chapters 33 and 34: 1–33: Warnings of judgment and promises of subsequent restoration for Jerusalem and the nations. Seeing Isaiah as a two-part book with an overarching theme leads to a summary of its contents like the following: The book opens by setting out the themes of judgment and subsequent restoration for the righteous. God has a plan which will be realised on the "Day of Yahweh", when Jerusalem will become the centre of his worldwide rule. On that day all the nations of the world will come to Zion for instruction, but first the city must be punished and cleansed of evil.
Israel is invited to join in this plan. Chapters 5–12 explain the significance of the Assyrian judgment against Israel: righteous rule by the Davidic king will follow after the arrogant Assyrian monarch is brought down. Chapters 13–27 announce the preparation of the nations for Yahweh's world rule; the oppressor is about to fall. Chapters 34 -- 35 tell. Chapters 36–39 tell of the faithfulness of king Hezekiah to Yahweh during the Assyrian siege as a model for the restored community. Chapters 40–54 state that the restoration of Zion is taking place because Yahweh, the creator of the universe, has designated the Persian king Cyrus the Great as the promised messiah and temple-builder. Chapters 55–66 are an exhortation to Israel to keep the covenant. God's eternal promise to David is now made to the people of Israel/Judah at large; the book ends by enjoining righteousness as the final stages of God's plan come to pass, including the pilgrimage of the nations to Zion and the realisation of Yahweh's kingship.
The older understanding of this book as three discrete sections attributable to identifiable authors leads to a more atomised picture of its contents, as in this example: Proto-Isaiah/First Isaiah:1–12: Oracles against Judah from Isaiah's early years.
Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is a British writer, dub poet and Rastafarian. He was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008. Zephaniah was born and raised in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, which he has called the "Jamaican capital of Europe", he is the son of a Jamaican nurse. A dyslexic, he left aged 13 unable to read or write, he writes that his poetry is influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he calls "street politics". His first performance was in church when he was eleven, by the age of fifteen, his poetry was known among Handsworth's Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities, he received a criminal record with the police as a young man and served a prison sentence for burglary. Tired of the limitations of being a black poet communicating with black people only, he decided to expand his audience, headed to London at the age of twenty-two, he became involved in a workers co-operative in Stratford, which led to the publication of his first book of poetry, Pen Rhythm.
Three editions were published. Zephaniah has said that his mission is to fight the dead image of poetry in academia, to "take everywhere" to people who do not read books so he turned poetry readings into concert-like performances, his second collection of poetry, The Dread Affair: Collected Poems, contained a number of poems attacking the British legal system. Rasta Time in Palestine, an account of a visit to the Palestinian occupied territories, contained poetry and travelogue, his 1982 album Rasta, which featured The Wailers' first recording since the death of Bob Marley as well as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, gained him international prestige and topped the Yugoslavian pop charts. It was because of this recording that he was introduced to the political prisoner and soon-to-be South African president Nelson Mandela, in 1996, Mandela requested that Zephaniah host the president's Two Nations Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Zephaniah was poet in residence at the chambers of Michael Mansfield QC, sat in on the inquiry into Bloody Sunday and other cases, these experiences leading to his Too Black, Too Strong poetry collection.
We Are Britain! is a collection of poems celebrating cultural diversity in Britain. Zephaniah's first book of poetry for children, called Talking Turkeys, was reprinted after six weeks. In 1999 he wrote a novel for teenagers, the first of four novels to date. Zephaniah lived for many years in East London but in 2008 began dividing his time between Beijing and a village near Spalding, Lincolnshire, he was married for twelve years to Amina, a theatre administrator, whom he divorced in 2001. In 2011, Zephaniah accepted a year-long position as poet in residence at Keats House in Hampstead, London. Zephaniah is a supporter of Aston Villa F. C. and is the patron for an Aston Villa supporters' website. Zephaniah is an honorary patron of The Vegan Society, Viva!, EVOLVE! Campaigns, the anti-racism organisation Newham Monitoring Project with whom he made a video in 2012 about the impact of Olympic policing on black communities, Tower Hamlets Summer University and is an animal rights advocate. In 2004 he wrote the foreword to Keith Mann's book From Dusk'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement, a book about the Animal Liberation Front.
In August 2007, he announced that he would be launching the Animal Liberation Project, alongside People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He became a vegan when he read poems about "shimmering fish floating in an underwater paradise, birds flying free in the clear blue sky". In 2016 Zephaniah curated We Are All Human, an exhibition at the Southbank Centre presented by the Koestler Trust which exhibited art works by prisoners, detainees and ex-offenders; the poet joined Amnesty International in speaking out against homophobia in Jamaica, saying: "For many years Jamaica was associated with freedom fighters and liberators, so it hurts when I see that the home of my parents is now associated with the persecution of people because of their sexual orientation."Zephaniah has spoken in favour of a British Republic and the dis-establishment of the crown. Zephaniah appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing members of parliament to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.
Zephaniah is a Rastafari. He gave up smoking cannabis in his thirties. In 2003, Zephaniah was offered appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, but publicly rejected it. In a subsequent article for The Guardian he elaborated upon his reaction to learning about being considered for the award and his reasons for rejecting it: "Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word'empire'. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire."In 2015 he called for Welsh and Cornish to be taught in English schools, saying "Hindi and French are taught, so why not Welsh? And why not Cornish? They're part of our culture."In a 2017 interview, commenting on the ongoing Brexit negotiations, Zephaniah stated that "For left-wing reasons, I think we should leave the EU but the way that we’re leaving is wrong". Zephaniah won the BBC Young Playwright's Award, he has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of North London, the University of Central England, Staffordshire University, London South Ba
Amon of Judah
Amon of Judah was a 7th-century BC King of Judah who, according to the biblical account, succeeded his father Manasseh of Judah. Amon is most remembered for his idolatrous practices while king, which led to a revolt against him and his assassination in c. 641 BC. Amon was the son of King Manasseh of Judah and Meshullemeth, a daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. Although the date is unknown, the Hebrew Bible records that he married Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. Amon began his reign of Judah at the age of 22, reigned for two years. Biblical scholar and archeologist William F. Albright has dated his reign to 642–640, while professor E. R. Thiele offers the dates 643/642 – 641/640. Thiele's dates are tied to the reign of Amon's son Josiah, whose death at the hands of Pharaoh Necho II occurred in the summer of 609. Josiah's death, independently confirmed in Egyptian history, places the end of Amon's reign, 31 years earlier, in 641 or 640 and the beginning of his rule in 643 or 642; the Hebrew Bible records that Amon continued his father Manasseh's practice of idolatry and set up pagan images as his father had done.
II Kings states that Amon "did that, evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did Manasseh his father. And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, served the idols that his father served, worshipped them." II Chronicles records that "…he did that, evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father. The Talmudic tradition recounts that "Amon burnt the Torah, allowed spider webs to cover the altar... Amon sinned much." Like other textual sources, Flavius Josephus too criticizes the reign of Amon, describing his reign to the Bible. After reigning two years, Amon was assassinated by his servants, who conspired against him, was succeeded by his son Josiah, who at the time was eight years old. After Amon's assassination his murderers became unpopular with the people, were killed; some scholars, such as Abraham Malamat, assert that Amon was assassinated because people disliked the heavy influence that Assyria, an age-old enemy of Judah responsible for the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel, had upon him.
Amon's reign was in the midst of a transitional time for the Levant and the entire Mesopotamian region. To the east of Judah, the Assyrian Empire was beginning to disintegrate while the Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace it. To the west, Egypt was still recovering under Psamtik I from its Assyrian occupation, transforming from a vassal state to an autonomous ally. In this power vacuum, many smaller states such as Judah were able to govern themselves without foreign intervention from larger empires. Manasseh of Judah Josiah Kings of Judah Kingdom of Judah This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore. "Amon, King of Judah". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls
Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)
In 589 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Jerusalem, culminating in the destruction of the city and its temple in the summer of 587 or 586 BC. Following the siege of 597 BC, the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as tributary king of Judah, at the age of 21. However, Zedekiah revolted against Babylon, entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar responded by invading Judah and began a siege of Jerusalem in December 589 BC. During this siege, the duration of, either 18 or 30 months, the Bible describes the city as enduring horrible deprivation. After completion of the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign, Nebuchadnezzar broke through Jerusalem's walls, conquering the city. Zedekiah and his followers attempted to escape but were captured on the plains of Jericho and taken to Riblah. There, after seeing his sons killed, Zedekiah was blinded and taken captive to Babylon, where he remained a prisoner until his death. After the fall of Jerusalem, the Babylonian general, was sent to complete its destruction.
Jerusalem was plundered, Solomon's Temple was destroyed. Most of the elite were taken into captivity in Babylon; the city was razed to the ground. Only a few people were permitted to remain to tend to the land; the Jew Gedaliah was made governor of the remnant of Judah, the Yehud Province, with a Chaldean guard stationed at Mizpah. The Bible reports that, on hearing this news, Jews who had fled to Moab, Edom, in other countries returned to Judah. Gedaliah was assassinated by Ishmael son of Nethaniah two months and the population that had remained and those who had returned fled to Egypt for safety. In Egypt, they settled in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Pathros. There has been some debate as to. There is no dispute that Jerusalem fell the second time in the summer month of Tammuz, but William F. Albright dates the end of Zedekiah's reign and the fall of Jerusalem to 587 BC, but Edwin R. Thiele offers 586 BC. Thiele's reckoning is based on the presentation of Zedekiah's reign on an accession basis, which he asserts was used for the kings of Judah.
In that case, the year that Zedekiah came to the throne would be his zeroth year. Since Judah's regnal years were counted from Tishri in autumn, that would place the end of his reign and the capture of Jerusalem in the summer of 586 BC; the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle, published in 1956, indicates that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem the first time putting an end to the reign of Jehoaichin, on 2 Adar 597 BC, in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh year. Jeremiah 52:28–29 gives the relative periods for the end of the two sieges as Nebuchadnezzar's seventh and eighteenth years, respectively. Identification of Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year for the end of the siege places the event in the summer of 587 BC
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was an Iron Age kingdom of the Southern Levant. The Hebrew Bible depicts it as the successor to the United Monarchy, a term denoting the Kingdom of Israel under biblical kings Saul and Solomon and covering the territory of two historical kingdoms and Israel. For the parallel history of the southern Kingdom of Judah and its northern neighbour, the Kingdom of Israel, see History of ancient Israel and Judah. In the 10th and early 9th centuries BCE, the territory of Judah appears to have been sparsely populated, limited to small rural settlements, most of them unfortified. Jerusalem, the kingdom's capital did not emerge as a significant administrative center until the end of the 8th century. In the 7th century its population increased prospering under Assyrian vassalage, but in 605 the Assyrian Empire was defeated, the ensuing competition between the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt and the Neo-Babylonian Empire for control of the Eastern Mediterranean led to the destruction of the kingdom in a series of campaigns between 597 and 582, the deportation of the elite of the community, the incorporation of Judah into a province of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
The legendary history of David and Solomon in the 10th century BCE tells little about the origins of Judah. There is no archaeological evidence of an extensive, powerful Kingdom of Judah before the late 8th century BCE. Prior to this the kingdom was no more than a small tribal entity, limited to Jerusalem and its immediate surroundings; the status of Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE is a major subject of debate. The oldest part of Jerusalem and its original urban core is the City of David, which does not show evidence of significant Israelite residential activity until the 9th century. However, unique administrative structures such as the Stepped Stone Structure and the Large Stone Structure, which formed one structure, contain material culture dated to Iron I. On account of the apparent lack of settlement activity in the 10th century BCE, Israel Finkelstein argues that Jerusalem in that century was a small country village in the Judean hills, not a national capital, Ussishkin argues that the city was uninhabited.
Amihai Mazar contends that if the Iron I/Iron IIa dating of administrative structures in the City of David are correct, "Jerusalem was a rather small town with a mighty citadel, which could have been a center of a substantial regional polity."A collection of military orders found in the ruins of a military fortress in the Negev dating to the period of the Kingdom of Judah indicates widespread literacy, given that based on the inscriptions, the ability to read and write extended throughout the chain of command, from commanders to petty officers. According to Professor Eliezer Piasetsky, who participated in analyzing the texts, "Literacy existed at all levels of the administrative and priestly systems of Judah. Reading and writing were not limited to a tiny elite." This indicates the presence of a substantial educational infrastructure in Judah at the time. According to the Hebrew Bible, the kingdom of Judah resulted from the break-up of the United Kingdom of Israel after the northern tribes refused to accept Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as their king.
At first, only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David, but soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined Judah. The two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north, coexisted uneasily after the split until the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in c. 722/721. The major theme of the Hebrew Bible's narrative is the loyalty of Judah, its kings, to Yahweh, which it states is the God of Israel. Accordingly, all the kings of Israel and all the kings of Judah were "bad", which in terms of Biblical narrative means that they failed to enforce monotheism. Of the "good" kings, Hezekiah is noted for his efforts at stamping out idolatry, but his successors, Manasseh of Judah and Amon, revived idolatry, drawing down on the kingdom the anger of Yahweh. King Josiah returned to the worship of Yahweh alone, but his efforts were too late and Israel's unfaithfulness caused God to permit the kingdom's destruction by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the Siege of Jerusalem; however it is now well established among academic scholars that the Biblical narrative is not an accurate reflection of religious views in either Judah or Israel during this period.
For the first sixty years, the kings of Judah tried to re-establish their authority over the northern kingdom, there was perpetual war between them. Israel and Judah were in a state of war throughout Rehoboam's seventeen-year reign. Rehoboam built elaborate strongholds, along with fortified cities. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, pharaoh of Egypt, brought a huge army and took many cities. In the sack of Jerusalem, Rehoboam gave them all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute and Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Rehoboam's son and successor, Abijah of Judah, continued his father's efforts to bring Israel under his control, he fought the Battle o
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as described in the New Testament. Its adherents, known as Christians, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of all people, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Depending on the specific denomination of Christianity, practices may include baptism, prayer, confirmation, burial rites, marriage rites and the religious education of children. Most denominations hold regular group worship services. Christianity developed during the 1st century CE as a Jewish Christian sect of Second Temple Judaism, it soon attracted Gentile God-fearers, which lead to a departure from Jewish customs, the establishment of Christianity as an independent religion. During the first centuries of its existence Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, to Ethiopia and some parts of Asia. Constantine the Great decriminalized it via the Edict of Milan; the First Council of Nicaea established a uniform set of beliefs across the Roman Empire.
By 380, the Roman Empire designated Christianity as the state religion. The period of the first seven ecumenical councils is sometimes referred to as the Great Church, the united full communion of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, before their schisms. Oriental Orthodoxy split after the Council of Chalcedon over differences in Christology; the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism over the authority of the Pope. In 1521, Protestants split from the Catholic Church in the Protestant Reformation over Papal primacy, the nature of salvation, other ecclesiological and theological disputes. Following the Age of Discovery, Christianity was spread into the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, the rest of the world via missionary work and colonization. There are 2.3 billion Christians in the world, or 31.4% of the global population. Today, the four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy.
Christianity and Christian ethics have played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization around Europe during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the New Testament, the names by which the disciples were known among themselves were "brethren", "the faithful", "elect", "saints" and "believers". Early Jewish Christians referred to themselves as'The Way' coming from Isaiah 40:3, "prepare the way of the Lord." According to Acts 11:26, the term "Christian" was first used in reference to Jesus's disciples in the city of Antioch, meaning "followers of Christ," by the non-Jewish inhabitants of Antioch. The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" was by Ignatius of Antioch, in around 100 AD. While Christians worldwide share basic convcitions, there are differences of interpretations and opinions of the Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is based. Concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds, they began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith.
The Apostles' Creed is the most accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical churches of Western Christian tradition, including the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism and Western Rite Orthodoxy, it is used by Presbyterians and Congregationalists. This particular creed was developed between the 9th centuries, its central doctrines are those of God the Creator. Each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period; the creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Its main points include: Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Holy Spirit The death, descent into hell and ascension of Christ The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful; the Nicene Creed was formulated in response to Arianism, at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 and ratified as the universal creed of Christendom by the First Council of Ephesus in 431.
The Chalcedonian Definition, or Creed of Chalcedon, developed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, though rejected by the Oriental Orthodox churches, taught Christ "to be acknowledged in two natures, unchangeably, inseparably": one divine and one human, that both natures, while perfect in themselves, are also united into one person. The Athanasian Creed, received in the Western Church as having the same status as the Nicene and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, Trinity in Unity. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith while agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. Most Baptists do not use creeds "in that they have not sought to establish binding
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible that became the Catholic Church's promulgated Latin version of the Bible during the 16th century. The translation was the work of Jerome, who in 382 had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Vetus Latina Gospels in use by the Roman Church. Jerome, on his own initiative, extended this work of revision and translation to include most of the books of the Bible, once published, the new version was adopted and eclipsed the Vetus Latina; the Catholic Church affirmed the Vulgate as its official Latin Bible at the Council of Trent, though there was no authoritative edition at that time. The Clementine edition of the Vulgate of 1592 became the standard Bible text of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church and remained so until 1979 when the Nova Vulgata was promulgated; the Vulgate has a compound text, not the work of Jerome. While Jerome revised all the Gospels of the Vetus Latina from the Greek, it is unknown who revised the rest of the New Testament.
Several unrevised books of the Vetus Latina Old Testament commonly became included in the Vulgate. Medieval Vulgate Bibles might further include the Prayer of Manasses, 4 Esdras, the Epistle to the Laodiceans and Psalm 151. Jerome himself translated all books of the Jewish Bible from Hebrew; the Vulgate's components include: Independent translation from the Hebrew by Jerome: the books of the Hebrew Bible, including a translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew, found in early medieval Vulgate manuscripts but is supplanted by Jerome's Gallican version in bibles. This was completed in 405. Free translation from a secondary Aramaic version by Jerome: Tobias and Judith. Translation from the Greek of Theodotion by Jerome: The three additions to the Book of Daniel; the Song of the Three Children was retained within the narrative of Daniel, Susanna was moved by Jerome from before the beginning of Daniel to the end of the book along with Bel and the Dragon. These additions he marked with an obelus to distinguish them from the canonical text.
Translation from the Common Septuagint by Jerome: the Additions to Esther. Jerome gathered all these additions together at the end of the Book of Esther, marking them with an obelus. Translation from the Hexaplar Septuagint by Jerome: his Gallican version of the Book of Psalms. Jerome's Hexaplaric revisions of other books of Old Testament continued to circulate in Italy for several centuries, but only Job and fragments of other books survive. Revision of the Old Latin by Jerome: the Gospels, corrected with reference to the best Greek manuscripts Jerome considered available. Revision of the Old Latin: the Roman Psalter including Psalm 151, undertaken prior to Jerome but continuing in liturgical use, included in many medieval Vulgate Old Testaments and liturgical psalters. Revision of the Old Latin by a person or persons unknown, contemporary with Jerome: Acts, Pauline epistles, Catholic epistles and the Apocalypse. Old Latin, wholly unrevised: Epistle to the Laodiceans, Prayer of Manasses, 4 Esdras, Ecclesiasticus, 1 and 2 Maccabees.
The Book of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah were excluded by Jerome as non-canonical, but sporadically re-admitted into the Vulgate tradition from the Additions to the Book of Jeremiah of the Old Latin from the 9th century onwards. Independent translation, distinct from the Old Latin, he had been commissioned by Damasus I in 382 to revise the Old Latin text of the four Gospels from the best Greek texts. By the time of Damasus' death in 384, Jerome had completed this task, together with a more cursory revision from the Greek Common Septuagint of the Old Latin text of the Psalms in the Roman Psalter, a version which he disowned and is now lost. How much of the rest of the New Testament he revised is difficult to judge today, but none of his work survived in the Vulgate text of these books; the revised text of the New Testament outside the Gospels is the work of one or more other scholars. This unknown reviser worked more than Jerome had done using older Greek manuscript sources of Alexandrian text-type, had published a complete revised New Testament text by 410 at the latest, when Pelagius quoted from it in his commentary on the letters of Paul.
In 385, Jerome was forced out of Rome and settled in Bethlehem. There he was able to use a surviving manuscript of the Hexapla from the nearby Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima, a column
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). . Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
