The Commentaries of Origen and Jerome on St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians

This important study provides the first English translation of both the surviving fragments of Origen's Commentary on Ephesians and of the complete text of Jerome's Commentary on Ephesians. The two translations are placed parallel to one another where they treat the same texts in Ephesians thus showing Jerome's extensive dependence on Origen's commentary. By using collateral texts from other works of Origen, Jerome, and Rufinus, the author is able to show Jerome's dependence on Origen in numerous passages in his commentary where the Greek text of Origen's commentary is lost. The translation is accompanied by Heine's illuminating commentary and a substantial introduction sets the works in their historical context. The book makes a significant contribution not only to scholarship on Origen and Jerome, but also to the wider question of the interpretation of scripture in the early Christian centuries.