300

THE VENERABLE BEDE'S KNOWLEDGE OF HEBREW

(f A. D. 735)

The Venerable Bede was the most learned man of his age, not
only in the British Isles, but in all Western Europe. His mastery
of Latin made possible that elegance of language which is familiar
to all students of his works, and indeed as illustrated in his homilies
to all who use the Roman Breviary. His command of the Latin
language would call for admiration in any age, but was altogether
remarkable in view of the fact that his birth fell little more than
eighty years after the arrival of St. Augustine and his band of monks
in A. D. 597. To those who suppose that the knowledge of Greek
was first spread in Western Christendom as one of the incidental re-
sults of the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in A. D. 1453
it is a surprise to learn that the Venerable Bede was well acquainted
with Greek. Graecae (linguae) peritiam non mediocriter percepit.
This is the testimony we read in the Brevis commemoratio de Vene-
rabili Beda presbytero et monacho, catholico doctore sanctae Ecclesiae
et Scripturarum expositore, in the colophon of which we are informed
quam edidit Antonius eius discipulus (*). This account was retouched
in the eleventh century, as it mentions the translation of Bede's relics
to Durham, but there is no ground for calling in question the accuracy
of this testimony to his proficiency in Greek. His writings show his
knowledge of the language, and Bede himself bears witness that some
of his contemporaries were as at home in Greek as in their native
tongue. This was the fruit of the labours of that great man the
Archbishop Theodore who with the Abbot Hadrian accomplished such
wonders for the spread of learning in England. Bede's own words

(4) Migne, Patr. Lat . 90, 37 B. Another account, ancient and anonymous,
says : Cumque Latinae aeque ut vernaculae linguae in qua natus est perce-
pisset notitiam, Graecae quoque non parva ex parte attigit scientiam (ibid.
90, 46 D).

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 The Venerable Bede* s Knowledge of Hebrew 301

are: usque hodie supersunt de eorum discipulis, qui Latinam Grae-

camque linguam aeque ut propriam in qua nati sunt norunt (i).
The question with which this short paper is concerned is this,
Had the Venerable Bede in addition to his knowledge of Latin and
Greek acquired a knowledge of Hebrew? There have not been
wanting writers to affirm it. Roger Bacon, who had himself studied
Hebrew and even attempted a Grammar of that language, implies
that Bede was familiar with both Greek and Hebrew. He calls him
literatissimus in grammatica et Unguis in originali (2). This passage
occurs in his Opus Minus , in which he enumerates the defects of the
ecclesiastical studies of his day, deploring among other causes which
hindered progress in the knowledge of the Scriptures the prevalent
ignorance of Greek and Hebrew (3).
The great Humphrey Hody, Regius Professor of Greek in the
University of Oxford and author of the book De Bibliorum Textibus
originalibus, Versionibus Graecis, et Latina Vulgata , also implies that
Bede read the Old Testament in the original Hebrew. He says that
Bede drew up his work De Sex Aetatibus Mundi not according to
the numbers given in the Septuagint, as had been done by previous
chronographers following the lead of Eusebius, sed secundum Veri-
tatem Hebraicam et Hieronymi Editionem. He further states : Ver-
sionem ipsam Hieronymi quandoque reiicit, tamquam Hebraico textui
non satis congruentem (4). But it may be said at once that in the
passages quoted Bede confessedly bases himself on Jerome's own re-

(*) Historia Ecclesiastica nos trae insulae ac gentis , Lib. IV, cap. 2
(Migne, Patr . Lat . 95, 174 A). For Bede's knowledge of Greek reference
may be made to his Liber Retractationis in Actus Apostolorum (Migne.
Patr. Lat. 92, 995 ff.). Here he frequently quotes Greek words. He even not
only refers to the reading he found in his codex, but mentions another
word to point out the difference (avapadpióç non xaTaßafrfio*;, col. 1029 B).
The codex Bede used is generally, after Mill and Wetstein, taken to be
Codex E (Oxoniensis Bodleianus Laudianus 35). All the variants quoted by
Bede, to the number of over 70, are found in this codex, and often in this
codex alone (Gregory, C. R. : Prolegomena , 1894, 412). However Professor
A. C. Clark has recently ( The Acts of the Apostles , 1933, 234) pointed out
that this identification is not certain since Bede's Ms 4 may have been a
gemellus of E
(2) Fr. Rogeri Bacon, Opera quaedam hactenus inedita, vol. I, edited
by J. S. Brewer (Rolls Series, vol. 15) 1859, 332.
(3) Ibid. 350 ff.
(4) Op. cit. (1705) 406, 408.

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302 E. F. Sutcliffe, S. J.

marks about the Hebrew text and on the latter's Liber Hebraico -
rum Nominum .

Among more recent writers who have attributed a knowledge of

Hebrew to the Venerable Bede may be mentioned Dr. Karl Werner,
the author of a biography and study of the Saint in German. He
points out that in his work De Schematis et Tropis Sacrae Scriptu-
rae, in which Bede' s aim is to show that all the beauties of language
to be found in the pagan authors are equalled and excelled in the
Bible, he is not content to take his examples only from the Latin
version before him, but appeals even to an example of paronomasia
which exists in the Hebrew but is not reproduced in the Latin (4).
The Rev. J. A. Giles, editor of The Complete Works of the Vene-
rable Bede (1843), in the biography of the Saint that he printed as
an introduction to his writings expressed his opinion thus : it is cer-
tain that Bede possessed considerable knowledge, not only in the
Latin and Greek languages, but also in the Hebrew, although nothing
remains that has been ascribed to him in that language, save a vo-
cabulary entitled Interpretatio Nominum Hebraicorum , which, however,
is the production of another " (2). More recently S. A. Hirsch has
reached the conclusion that Bede's knowledge of Hebrew cannot have
been extensive, but says that " Nevertheless, he must have known
some Hebrew, else he would hardly have embodied in his commentary
such notes as those in which allusion is made to the equal sound of
E? and D, or to the similarity of shape between T and ' or in his
preface to the Psalter given the Hebrew title of the Book of Psalms " (8).
Finally may be mentioned the opinion of Dr. Charles Singer that
Bede had a real, though very elementary, acquaintance with the Ian-
guage (*).
The first ground then on which a knowledge oí Hebrew might
be claimed for the Venerable Bede in his frequent appeal to the He-
braica Veritas. This expression, as is known, is due to St. Jerome,
and by him is used to signify the original Hebrew text (5). But in
Bede it can easily be shown that the meaning has been amplified,
and denotes not only the original Hebrew but St. Jerome's Latin

(4) K. Werner, Beda der Ehrwürdige und seine Zeit (Wien, 1875) 100.
(2) Op . cit., vol. I, p. Li.
(3) S. A. Hirsch, A Book of Essays (London, 1905) 7.
(4) The Legacy of Israel edited by E. R. Beyan and C. Singer (1927) 287.
(5) Epist. XLVIII ad Pammachium, n. 19; epist. LVII ad Pammachium,
nn. 7, 9; etc.

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 The Venerable Bede* s Knowledge of Hebrew 303

version from the Hebrew. Thus in his book De Schematis et Tropis

Sacrae Scripturae he quotes as án example of paronomasia from
Psalm XXI iuxta Hebraicam veritatem : In te confisi sunt, et non
sunt confusi (*). Now this verbal play is proper to St. Jerome's
Latin version from the Hebrew, and in no way figures in the Hebrew
itself: inai I 1|3 Again in his work De Temporum Ratione
: i |T I :
he acknowledges the source of his knowledge of the Hebraica Veritas
to be the translation of St. Jerome : nos, qui per beati interpretis Hie-
ronymi industriam puro Hebraicae veritatis fonte potamur. And the
immediate reference is to his own treatment de cursu praeteriti
saeculi (2). This use of the expression Hebraica Veritas to signify
St. Jerome's translation does not exclude its use in St. Jerome's own
sense to denote the Hebrew text whence that translation had been
made, e. g. nostra Editio, quae de Hebraica veritate translata est,
habet a principio, in antiqua translatione posi tum est ad Orientem (3).
Thus when Bede is referring to the source of the translation he used,
Hebraica Veritas denotes the Hebrew text ; when he refers to the text
he himself used, it signifies the translation made by Jerome from the
Hebrew, and is opposed to the antiqua translatio, which is the Old
Latin version made irom the Septuagint Greek.
The passage relied on by Werner occurs in the book De Sche-
rnaus et Tropis where Bede draws attention to the paronomasia to
be found in the Hebrew text of Isaias v. 7 :

npwt nam •• • npiť? »T • neto» • mm •• • Bara1? • pn I

»|tt : •• • : »T T : • T : • •• • : T : • : I

But St. Jerome had already emphasised the same play on words
in his commentary on Isaias, and Bede's dependence is placed beyond
doubt by his ' quotation of Jerome's sentence: Una itaque vel addita
littera vel mutata, sic verborum similitudinem temperavit, ut pro...
There are two small changes of order but the sentences are the same,
and the passage is taken from Jerome (4).

(*) Migne, Pair. Lat . 90, 178 B.

(2) Migne, Patr. Lat . 90, 572 A. My readers will not require to be
reminded that in the language of the time the word interpres stands for
translator.

(3) Hexaemeron in Gen. ii, 8 (Migne, Patr . Lat. 91, 43 D). Cf. nostra
Editio, quae de Hebraicae veritatis fonte descendit, ibid. 33 D.
(4) Bede, Migne, Patr. Lat. 90, 178 B; Jerome, ibid . 24, 79 C. The
Hebrew words are printed in Mignés text of Bede, and the unwary reader

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304 E. F. Sutcliffe, S. J.

Another passage relied on to prove Bede's knowledge of Hebrew

is the following: In septuagésimo psalmo, ubi nos habemus Reges
Arabům et Saba muñera ojfererit (Psalm. LXXI, 10), in Hebraeo
scriptum est Reges Saba et Saba , primům nomen per Sin, secundum
per Samech (quae nostrae litterae similis est). But, except for the
words in parentheses, and the accidental omission of the word primo
in the ordinal number of the psalm, this passage is from St. Jerome's
Quaestiones Hebraicae in Libro Geneseos . And even the parenthetic
addition may be traced to Jerome's Liber de Nominibus Hebrateis ;
Apud Hebraeos tres sunt S litterae: una quae dicitur Samech , et
simpliciter legitur, quasi per 6* nostram litteram describatur. This
passage does show the care with which Bede collected the scraps of
information about Hebrew that came his way, and enables us to judge
how eagerly he would have embraced the study of the language had
he had any opportunity of so doing (A).
Bede's information about the letters Daleth and Resh (ť Simili-
tudo enim litterarum Daleth et Res hunc apud Hebraeos saepe facit
errorem ut alia legatur pro alia ') is also to be traced to Jerome's
remark that ' Res et Daleth ( Deleth ) litterae Hebraicae, excepto parvo
apice, similes sunt '. Jerome's statement, however, is in his commentary
on Ecclesiastes, and Bede's on the tenth chapter of Genesis ; and this
fact once more illustrates the intelligent care with which Bede ga-
thered every scrap of information that came his way (2). Again Bede
writes: in (Hebraea) lingua vir appellatur his, et derivato ab hoc no-
mine femina dicitur hissa. And this passage also is dependent on
St. Jerome's Quaestiones Hebraicae in Libr . Geneseos (3). The same
source was used by Bede in another passage, where some scribe has
not served him well : Notandum quod hoc in loco pro %igantibus, in

might conclude that they were inserted by Bede himself. They are not given
in the two Bodleian codices which contain the work De Schematis et Tropis
(Bodl. Ms. Digby 100 fol. 16; Bodl. Ms. Addit. C. 144 fol. 37). Neither are
they in the two Bodleian codices which contain Jerome's Explanatio in
Isaiam Prophetam, the source of Bede's information (Bodl. Ms. Laud 290
[formerly Laud H 70]; Bodl. Ms. Loud 455 [formerly H 66]).
(f) Bede, Migne, Patr . Lat . 91, 117 A; Jerome, Quaest. Hebr . in Libr.
Gen., edit. P. de Lagarde, p. 16; Lib. de Nom. Heb.f Migne, Patr . Lat . 23,
783-784.

(2) Bbde, Migne, Patr. Lat . 91, 116 B; Jerome, ibid . 23, 1075 B.
(3) Bede, Migne, Patr. Lat. 91, 52 A; Jerome, Quaest. Heb. in Libr.
Gen . ed. P. de Lagarde, p. 6.

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 The Venerable Bede's Knowledge of Hebrew 305

Hebraeo cadentes, id est, annasilim leguntur (A). To give yet ano-

ther example, Bede's knowledge that in Hebrew, plural masculine
nouns terminate in -im is derived from Jerome's commentary on,
Isaias (2). The many interpretations of Hebrew names, which it would
be tedious to quote in detail, are all to be found in Jerome's Quae -
stiones Hebraicae in Librum Geneseos or in his Liber de Hebraicis

Nominibus . As for the Hebrew title of the book of Psalms, it is

taken with the passage in which it occurs from St. Jerome, and in
any case, the commentary on the psalms in question is not considered
to be the work of Bede (3).
To the above arguments may be added the fact that the passage
quoted in my first paragraph in which Bede's knowledge of Latin
and Greek is extolled, there is no mention of his being acquainted
with Hebrew. Knowledge of this language would been a far more
wonderful achievement than knowledge of the two so-called classical
languages, and would not have been passed over in silence, if Bede's
eulogist had been able to claim it for his hero.
Moreover, Hebrew in the seventh and eighth centuries was not
a tongue that could be learnt without oral assistance. Suitable books
were not available. In England there was no one to teach him. We
have no knowledge of Jews residing in this country before the Norman
Conquest (4). And Bede never left these shores. He did indeed re-
ceive an invitation from Pope Sergius to go to Rome, but the journey
was not undertaken, probably on account of the Pope's death (5).
Our conclusion, then, is that the Venerable Bede had no know-
ledge of Hebrew beyond the few scraps of information he was able
to glean from the writings of St. Jerome. His appreciation of the
importance of the language for a correct understanding of the Bible

(4) Bede, Migne, Paer . Lat . 91, 84 A ; Jerome, Quaest. Heb . in Libr.
Gen. ed. de Lagarde, p. 12.
(¿) Bede, Migne, Pair. Lat. 91, 119 B; Jerome, tbia. 24, ¿bo.
(3) Cf. Migne, Patr. Lat. 93, 477 and 28, 1124.
(4) The Jewish Encyclopedia , V (1907) 161.
(5) See J. A. Giles , Life of Venerable Bede (prefixed to his edition of
the Saint's Complete Works) ch. VI ' Of his supposed journey to Rome '.
Bede's own words are clear: Cum essem annorum septem cura propinquo-
rum datus sum educandus reverentissimo abbati Benedicto, ac deinde Ceol-
frido ; cunctumque ex eo tempus vitae in eiusdem monasterii habitatione pe-
ragens, omnem meditandis Scripturis operam dedi (at the end of his Hist .
EccL, Migne, Patr . Lat. 95, 228 C). These words were written in 731, some
four years before his death.

Bibltca i6 (1935) 20

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306 E. F. Sutcliffe, S. J., The Ven. Bede's Knowlegde of Hebrew

is apparent from the intelligent use he makes of the little knowledge

he could gather second-hand, and coupled with his encyclopedic range
of study justifies the assertion that had the means of acquiring a
mastery of the language been at his disposal, he would eagerly have
embraced the opportunity, and it may be fairly conjectured, would
have rivalled the fame of his master, St. Jerome (*).

Heythrop College, Chipping Norton, Oxon. England.

Dec. 12. 1934.

E. F. Sutcliffe, S. I.

(*) The question of Bede's knowledge of Hebrew has teen touched on

by Father Vaccari S. J. in an interesting note on the supposed Hebrew
word adnerotes found in editions of Bede, Biblica 12 (1931) 243 ff. This he
shows convincingly to be a corruption of ad vero testis . My attention was
drawn to this article when my own was already in type. It is a pleasure
to find that his judgement on Bede's knowledge of Hebrew agrees with
that set out above.

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