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''The Jerome Biblical Commentary'' is a series of books of Biblical scholarship, whose first edition was published in 1968. It is arguably the most-used volume of
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
scriptural commentary
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, ...
in the United States.
The book's title is a reference to
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
, known for his translation of the Bible into Latin (the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
), and his extensive Biblical commentaries.
First edition
''The Jerome Biblical Commentary'' was published in 1968 by
Prentice Hall
Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari B ...
: it was edited by
Raymond Edward Brown
Raymond Edward Brown (May 22, 1928 – August 8, 1998) was an American Sulpician priest and prominent biblical scholar. He was regarded as a specialist concerning the hypothetical "Johannine community", which he speculated contributed to the a ...
,
Joseph A. Fitzmyer
Joseph Augustine Fitzmyer (November 4, 1920 – December 24, 2016) was an American Catholic priest and scholar who taught at several American and British universities He was a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
Fitzmyer was considered ...
, and
Roland E. Murphy. It immediately gained enormous fame, selling more than 200,000 copies; it was also translated into Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.
Second edition
''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'' was published in 1990 by the same editors as a revised and updated edition.
[Franklin, James L. (April 11, 1993). Scholars seeing New Testament in different light. Deciphering 1st century called crucial. '']Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''.[Crews, Clyde F. (February 14, 1993). New Critique of Jesus' Life Is Intelligent, Provocative. '']Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
''. In the forward to the new edition, Cardinal
Carlo Maria Martini
Carlo Maria Martini (15 February 1927 – 31 August 2012) was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering ...
acknowledges it as the work of "the best of English-speaking Catholic exegetes...
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
condenses the results of modern scientific criticism with rigor and clarity. Yet this contemporary approach is achieved without neglecting the long road that Christian tradition has travelled in dedicated, constant, and loving attention to the Word of God....
he pages of the Bible
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
are duly situated in their appropriate historical and cultural context."
Martini goes on to describe it as "an instrument for rich
ecumenical
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
dialogue" that avoids "arid literalism 'that kills'" and a drift "into generalized spiritual applications."
[Cardinal ]Carlo Maria Martini
Carlo Maria Martini (15 February 1927 – 31 August 2012) was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering ...
, 1990. "Foreword to ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary''," p. xv. It contains, besides detailed commentary on all the books of the Bible, introductory articles on parts of the Bible and on each book as well as topical articles:
*Apocrypha; Dead Sea Scrolls; Other Jewish Literature –
Raymond E. Brown
Raymond Edward Brown (May 22, 1928 – August 8, 1998) was an American Sulpician priest and prominent biblical scholar. He was regarded as a specialist concerning the hypothetical "Johannine community", which he speculated contributed to the a ...
,
Pheme Perkins Pheme Perkins (born 1945 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a Professor of Theology at Boston College, where she has been teaching since 1972. She is a nationally recognized expert on the Greco-Roman cultural setting of early Christianity, as well as the P ...
, Anthony Saldarini
*Text and Versions – Raymond E. Brown , D. W. Johnson , Kevin G. O'Connell
*Modern Old Testament Criticism –
Alexa Suelzer
Alexa Suelzer (June 19, 1918 – June 26, 2015) was an American author, educator and theologian known for her Old Testament criticism. A Roman Catholic religious sister, she was a member of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, ...
, John S. Kselman .
*Modern New Testament Criticism – John S. Kselman , Ronald D. Witherup
*Hermeneutics – Raymond E. Brown ,
Sandra M. Schneiders Sandra Marie Schneiders, I.H.M. (born 12 November 1936), is professor emerita in the Jesuit School of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.
She has published numerous works on spirituality, feminism, and theology.
...
, I.H.M.
*Church Pronouncements – Raymond E. Brown , Thomas Aquinas Collins
*Biblical Geography – Raymond E. Brown , Robert North
*Biblical Archaeology – Robert North ,
Philip J. King
Philip J. King (March 26, 1925 – December 7, 2019) was an American Roman Catholic priest, historian, and archaeologist.
Life
King was born in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated in 1945 from Saint John's Seminary in Boston. King was ordained to ...
*A History of Israel – Addison G. Wright ,
Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm.,
Joseph A. Fitzmyer
Joseph Augustine Fitzmyer (November 4, 1920 – December 24, 2016) was an American Catholic priest and scholar who taught at several American and British universities He was a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
Fitzmyer was considered ...
* Religious Institutions Of Israel –
John J. Castelot, Aelred Cody
*Aspects of Old Testament Thought –
John L. McKenzie
John Lawrence McKenzie (1910–1991) was an American Catholic biblical scholar.
Biography
McKenzie was born on October 9, 1910, in Brazil, Indiana, the first of the six children of Myra (Daly) and Harry McKenzie. John McKenzie became the premie ...
*Jesus –
John P. Meier
John Paul Meier (August 8, 1942 – October 18, 2022) was an American biblical scholar and Roman Catholic priest. He was author of the series ''A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'' (5 v.), six other books, and more than 70 articles ...
*Paul –
Joseph A. Fitzmyer
Joseph Augustine Fitzmyer (November 4, 1920 – December 24, 2016) was an American Catholic priest and scholar who taught at several American and British universities He was a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
Fitzmyer was considered ...
*Early Church – Raymond E. Brown , Carolyn Osiek , Pheme Perkins
*Aspects of New Testament Thought – Raymond E. Brown , John R. Donahue , Donald Senior ,
Adela Yarbro Collins
Adela Yarbro Collins (born 1945) is an American author and academic, who has served as the Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School. Her research focuses on the New Testament, especially the Gospel ...
*Pauline Theology – Joseph A. Fitzmyer
*Johannine Theology – Francis J. Moloney
Third edition
''The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century'' was published on 27 January 2022 by
Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...
: it is edited by
John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid and Donald Senior .
The new volume continues its approach of
historical-critical methodology in the light of
Catholic tradition
Sacred tradition is a theological term used in Christian theology. According to the theology of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian churches, sacred tradition is the foundation of the doctrinal and spiritual authority of ...
, with a broader array of commentators beyond Europe and North America; its publication was welcomed by
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
, who wrote the foreword of the volume.
''The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century: Third Fully Revised Edition''
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Editions
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References
{{reflist
1968 non-fiction books
Biblical commentaries
Biblical exegesis
Books about the Bible