The Biblical Canon of
Jerome of Stridon

Saint Jerome of Stridon would record several different lists within his epistles (specifically Epistles 53 and 107), but the one treated here belongs to his Prologus Galeatus, which is dated to the early 390’s.  Jerome (ca. 347-420) was the greatest biblical scholar writing in Latin during Late Antiquity.  After his move to Bethlehem in 386, Jerome would be tasked by Pope Damasus I to translate the entire Hebrew Bible into Latin (ca. 391-405), along with revising the Latin text of the Gospels from the Koine Greek.  Jerome’s translation of the Bible would become known as the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible.  Although Jerome is known for advocating for the Jewish canon of the Old Testament, he would nevertheless concede to the Church and include the Deuterocanon in his Latin Vulgate.  In the Prologus Galeatus, however, he would refer to them as apocrypha.  Included in this apocrypha, Jerome would add the early Christian work the Shepherd of Hermas.

Sources: 

• Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity:  Texts and Analysis.  Oxford University Press. 2017