A new translation for scholars and students of biblical interpretation and ancient Christianity The ancient writer dubbed Ambrosiaster was a pioneer in the revival of interest in the Pauline Epistles in the later fourth century. He was read by Latin writers, including Pelagius and Augustine, and his writings, passed on pseudonymously, had a long afterlife in the biblical commentaries, theological treatises, and canonical literature of the medieval and the early modern periods. In addition to his importance as an interpreter of scripture, Ambrosiaster provides unique perspectives on many facets of Christian life in Rome, from the emergence of clerical celibacy to the development of liturgical practices to the subordination of women. Features An up-to-date overview of what is known about Ambrosiaster, the transmission of his commentary on the Pauline Epistles, his exegetical method, his theological orientation, and aspects of Christianity in Rome in the fourth century A scholarly translation of the final version of the commentary, along with notes that identify significant variants from prior versions of the commentary Bibliography thatincludes a comprehensive list of the scholarly literature on Ambrosiaster

This Ancient Christian Texts volume, translated and edited by Gerald L. Bray, is the first of two that will offer a first English translation of the anonymous fourth-century commentary on the thirteen letters of Paul. Widely viewed as one of the finest pre-Reformation commentaries on the Pauline Epistles, this commentary, until the time of Erasmus, was attributed to Ambrose. The name Ambrosiaster ("Star of Ambrose") seems to have been given to the anonymous author of the work by its Benedictine editors (1686- 1690).

This ACT volume is the second of two volumes that will offer a first English translation of the anonymous fourth-century commentary on the thirteen letters of Paul. Widely viewed as one of the finest pre-Reformation commentaries on the Pauline Epistles, this commentary, until the time of Erasmus, was attributed to Ambrose. The name Ambrosiaster ("Star of Ambrose") seems to hav been given to the anonymous author of the work by its Benedictine editors (1686- 1690).

In the late fourth and early fifth centuries, during a fifty-year stretch sometimes dubbed a Pauline "renaissance" of the western church, six different authors produced over four dozen commentaries in Latin on Paul's epistles. Among them was Jerome, who commented on four epistles (Galatians, Ephesians, Titus, Philemon) in 386 after recently having relocated to Bethlehem from Rome. His commentaries occupy a time-honored place in the centuries-long tradition of Latin-language commenting on Paul's writings. They also constitute his first foray into the systematic exposition of whole biblical books (and his only experiment with Pauline interpretation on this scale), and so they provide precious insight into his intellectual development at a critical stage of his early career before he would go on to become the most prolific biblical scholar of Late Antiquity. This monograph provides the first book-length treatment of Jerome's opus Paulinum in any language. Adopting a cross-disciplinary approach, Cain comprehensively analyzes the commentaries' most salient aspects-from the inner workings of Jerome's philological method and engagement with his Greek exegetical sources, to his recruitment of Paul as an anachronistic surrogate for his own theological and ascetic special interests. One of the over-arching concerns of this book is to explore and to answer, from multiple vantage points, a question that was absolutely fundamental to Jerome in his fourth-century context: what are the sophisticated mechanisms by which he legitimized himself as a Pauline commentator, not only on his own terms but also vis-à-vis contemporary western commentators?

This collation presents the evidence for the earliest Latin versions of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians, enabling scholars to examine the development of the biblical text at an important early stage in its history.

Includes the text of the Epistle to the Romans (Revised standard version), and translations (from the Greek and Latin) of patristic commentaries on the Epistle.

Despite its importance and the frequent references made to it by modern scholars, this commentary has never before been translated into English in its entirety. This volume, which includes an extensive introduction, fills this gap, thus providing a needed contribution to medieval scholarship.