Origen and Jerome

Origen and Jerome weren’t just “reading their Bibles.” They were swimming in manuscript oceans—Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Latin—many already centuries old even in their lifetimes. The key is that neither man used one manuscript; they used clusters of manuscripts from different regions and of different ages.

ORIGEN (ca. 185–254)

Where he worked: 

Alexandria (Egypt) first, then Caesarea Maritima (Palestine).

What manuscripts he used:

Origen’s textual work centered on his famous Hexapla—a colossal comparison of multiple versions of the Old Testament. For the New Testament, he also compared many Greek manuscripts, though he didn’t produce a similar grand layout.

1. OLD TESTAMENT materials Origen used (in the Hexapla)

Origen compared:

Hebrew manuscripts (from Jewish communities in Egypt and Palestine).

• These were copies of the Hebrew scriptures circulating long before standardized Masoretic tradition.

• Many were likely 2nd–1st century BC in textual ancestry, though the actual physical copies he used would be later.

The “Secunda” – a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew text.

The Septuagint (LXX) – the Greek translation made in Alexandria around 3rd–2nd century BC.

• Origen used several Alexandrian LXX manuscripts, some quite old by his time.

Other Greek translations (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion)

• Aquila (ca. 130 AD, from Palestine)

• Symmachus (late 2nd century, probably from Palestine)

• Theodotion (late 1st–2nd century, Asia Minor or Palestine)

These Greek Jewish translations were regionally diverse. Origen hunted copies across Palestine, Egypt, and possibly Syria.

2. NEW TESTAMENT manuscripts Origen used

Origen explicitly says he compared many Greek NT manuscripts, which came from:

• Alexandrian tradition (Egypt)

• Caesarean tradition (Palestine)

• Possibly Asian Minor copies brought by travelers and scholars

Many of these texts show readings we now call “Alexandrian,” which tend to be older and more concise. Some scholars think Origen had manuscripts going back to the 2nd century, perhaps even earlier ancestors of Codex Vaticanus and Sinaiticus.

Geographic sources: Egypt → Palestine → Asia Minor.

Approximate ages: Manuscript traditions dating 1st–2nd century; physical copies likely 2nd–3rd century.

JEROME (ca. 347–420)

Where he worked:

Rome, then Bethlehem (Palestine), with travel through Syria and possibly Egypt.

Jerome was obsessed with finding the oldest and “truest” texts he could get—often hiking across deserts, pestering rabbis, and quarrelling with bishops along the way.

1. OLD TESTAMENT manuscripts Jerome used

Jerome shifted away from the Septuagint and insisted on translating the OT directly from Hebrew. His Hebrew manuscripts came from:

• Jewish communities in Palestine – Bethlehem, Tiberias, Lydda

• Rabbis in Syria and perhaps Galilee

• Some older traditions preserved in synagogue scrolls

These Hebrew manuscripts predate what we call the Masoretic Text (MT). They reflect proto-Masoretic traditions from roughly 1st–3rd century AD.

He also compared:

• Aramaic Targums (Jewish paraphrastic translations)

• Greek Septuagint manuscripts from Rome and Palestine, often older and inconsistent

• Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion—just like Origen

2. NEW TESTAMENT manuscripts Jerome used

Jerome revised the Latin Gospels by comparing:

Old Latin manuscripts (Vetus Latina)

• These varied widely and came from:

– North Africa

– Italy

– Gaul (France)

– Spain

• Many went back to 2nd–3rd century Latin translations, though the physical copies Jerome used were later.

Greek manuscripts

• Jerome used Greek copies from:

– Rome

– Constantinople (sent by friends)

– Palestine (including older Alexandrian-type texts)

• Some were quite early—likely 3rd-century Greek codices, maybe even older exemplars.

He states in his prefaces that he aligned the Latin Gospels with “the oldest Greek manuscripts.”

Geographic sources: Italy, Rome, Palestine, Constantinople.

Approximate ages: Greek textual traditions from 2nd century; Latin from mid-2nd century onward.

So what were Origen and Jerome using?

They used a patchwork of Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and even Syriac manuscripts, many with textual ancestry in the 1st–2nd centuries, physically copied in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Italy, and Asia Minor.

Origen’s world was dominated by Greek and Hebrew diversity.

Jerome’s world was dominated by Latin chaos and Hebrew precision chasing.

This constellation of manuscripts is why their scholarship still matters: they had access to textual streams that modern scholars only know through fragments and reconstructions.