The Helmeted Prologue

Jerome's preface to his translation of Samuel and Kings, which serves as a general introduction to the Hebrew canon. It establishes the twenty-two books of the Hebrew Bible corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, distinguishes canonical from apocryphal books, and defends Jerome's translation work.

Pope Clement VIII, Jerome's Prefaces, On Worship

• I. THE HELMETED PROLOGUE. — The full text of the Helmeted Prologue is reproduced as the first section of this file

  "I. THE HELMETED PROLOGUE."

• I. THE HELMETED PROLOGUE. — Jerome establishes the twenty-two-letter Hebrew alphabet and its correspondence with the books of the Old Testament

  "That there are twenty-two letters among the Hebrews is attested also by the language of the Syrians and Chaldeans"

• I. THE HELMETED PROLOGUE. — Jerome discusses whether twenty-two or twenty-four books comprise the Old Law, connecting the latter to the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse

  "And so the books of the old law come equally to twenty-two"

• I. THE HELMETED PROLOGUE. — Jerome concludes the prologue, noting it applies to all books he translated from Hebrew, and asks for prayers against his detractors

  "This prologue, as a helmeted beginning of the Scriptures, can apply to all the books which we have translated from Hebrew into Latin"

Preface and Praise of Sacred Scripture

• Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture — Jerome quoted reproaching those who teach Scripture they never learned

  "is one that everyone everywhere claims for themselves, and when they have soothed the people's ears with polished speech, whatever they have said, they consider it to be the law of God"

• II. The Richness of the Old Testament — Jerome quoted on the contents of Genesis

  "Genesis," says St. Jerome in the Helmeted Prologue, "is the book in which we read of the creation of the world, the origin of the human race, the division of the earth, the confusion of languages and peoples, down to the departure of the Hebrews."

Commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses

• Argumentum — Cited for the Hebrew division of Old Testament books into 22, in three classes

  "The Hebrews, as St. Jerome attests in his Helmeted Prologue, count as many books of Sacred Scripture"

Related

• St. Jerome