Jerome’s Prologue to the Canonical Epistles 1
The order of the seven Epistles which are called canonical is not the same among
the Greeks who follow the correct faith and the one found in the Latin codices, where
Peter, being the first among the apostles, also has his two epistles first. But just as we
have corrected the evangelists into their proper order, so with God’s help have we done
with these. The first is one of James, then two of Peter, three of John and one of Jude.
Just as these are properly understood and so translated faithfully by
interpreters into Latin without leaving ambiguity for the readers nor [allowing] the
variety of genres to conflict, especially in that text where we read the unity of the trinity
is placed in the first letter of John, where much error has occurred at the hands of
unfaithful translators contrary to the truth of faith, who have kept just the three words
water, blood and spirit in this edition omitting mention of Father, Word and Spirit in
which especially the catholic faith is strengthened and the unity of substance of Father,
Son and Holy Spirit is attested.
In the other epistles to what extent our edition varies from others I leave to the
prudence of the reader. But you, virgin of Christ, Eustochium, when you ask me urgently
about the truth of scripture you expose my old age to being gnawed at by the teeth of
envious ones who accuse me of being a falsifier and corruptor of the scriptures. But in
such work I neither fear the envy of my critics nor deny the truth of scripture to those
who seek it.
1
The translation below was made by Thomas Caldwell, S. J. of Marquette University in
Milwaukee, WI. The translation comes from the Codex Fuldensis (c. A. D. 541-546), one of the earliest
copies of the Vulgate. This Latin codex is available at http://books.google.com, and the Latin text above is
found on pg. 399. The preface claims to be by Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate. The prologue
has textual critical value because it bears on the question of the authenticity of the Johannine Comma, 1
John 5:7 (“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and
these three are one.”). If the preface is indeed by Jerome, it would provide evidence that there were Greek
copies in his day that contained the Comma, and that Jerome thought that others who seem to have held to
heretical doctrine had removed the verse from their manuscripts. Such a belief on Jerome’s part would
explain the presence of the Comma in the overwhelming majority of copies of the Latin Vulgate. There is
certainly evidence for the Comma in the Old Latin Bible and various other sources before Jerome (see, e.
g., “‘And These Three Are One’; A Case for the Authenticity of 1 John 5:7-8 Rooted in Biblical Exegesis,”
Jesse M. Boyd, http://faithsaves.net). If the Prologue is not by Jerome, whoever wrote it would still make
the assertion that the Comma was originally present but was removed by unfaithful and heretical scribes.
Of course, both Jerome and the copyist of the codex Fuldensis died many centuries ago and nobody today
can ask them what actually happened. It is certainly true that many opponents of the genuineness of the
Comma would dismiss out of hand the possibility that this Prologue truly comes from Jerome based on the
assumption that there cannot be genuine evidence so early for the Comma, just as they dismiss Cyprian’s
quotation of the Comma in A. D. 251 (“The Lord says, ‘I and the Father are one;’ and again it is written of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, ‘And these three are one.’” On The Unity of the Church,
Treatise 1:6. Trans. Church Fathers: The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts & James
Donaldson.) on the assumption that Cyprian simply cannot have quoted it, since it allegedly did not yet
exist. However, the fact that many people dismiss the evidence of this Prologue to the Comma from
unreasonable biases does not of itself mean that the work did indeed come from Jerome’s hand.
It should also be noted that there seem to be some problems with the Latin of the prologue found
in the codex, whether as a result of errors in the modern scanning of the text, ancient copyist errors, or for
other reasons. Those who know Latin should be able to evaluate these matters.
End of Prologue
PROLOGUS IN EPISTULAS CANONICAS. 399
Non ita ordo est apud graecos qui integre sapiunt et fidem rectam sectantur· Epistularam
septem quae canonicae nuncupantur· ut in latinis codicibus inuenitur quod petrusprimus
est in numero apostolorum primae sint etiam eius 5 epistulae in ordine ceterarum· Sed
sicut euangelistas dudum ad ueritatis lineam correximus ita has proprio ordine deo nos
iuuante reddidimus Est enim prima earum una iacobi· petri duae· iohannis tres· et iudae
una 10 Quae sicut ab eis digestae sunt ita quoque ab interpraetibus fideliter in latinum
eloquium uerterentur nec ambiguitatem legentibus facerent nec sermonum se uarietas
inpugnaret· illo praecipue loco ubi de unitate trinitatis in prima iohannis epistula positum
legimus in qua est ab infidelibus 15 translatoribus multum erratum esse fidei ueritate
conperimus trium tantummodo uocabula hoc est aquae sanguinis et spiritus in ipsa sua
editione potentes et patri uerbique ac spiritus testimonium omittentes» In quo maxime et
fides catholica roboratur et patris et fili et spiritus sancti una diuinitatis 20 substantia
conprobatur· In ceteris uero epistulis quantum nostra aliorum distet editio lectoris
prudentiae derelinquo· Sed tu uirgo christi eusthocium dum a me inpensius scribturae
ueritatem inquiris meam quodammodo senectutem inuidorum dentibus conrodendam
exponis qui me falsarium corruptoremque 25 sanctarum pronuntiant scribturarum· Sed
ego in tali opere nec aemulorum meorum inuidentiam pertimesco nec sanctae scribturae
ueritatem poscentibus denegabo
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EXPL· PROLOGUS· INC·
