Letter 106: A long letter in which Jerome answers a number of questions put to him by two sojourners in Getica, Sunnias and Fretela. Diligent students of scripture, these men were at a loss to understand the frequent differences between Jerome's Latin psalter of 383 A.D. (the so-called Roman psalter) and the LXX, and accordingly sent him a long list of pass...

Jerome to Sunnias and Fretela — greetings. I rejoice to hear that even among the Getae, far to the north, men are devoting themselves seriously to the study of Scripture. The questions you have sent me show real diligence, and I am glad to answer what I can. On your first question — "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51): I prefer the reading found in the best Greek manuscripts, which runs "We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed." The distinction matters: universal sleep (death) is the common lot of humanity; the transformation at the last day, however, is a special gift reserved for those who belong to Christ. On your second question — "We shall be caught up together in the clouds" (1 Thessalonians 4:17): I would caution against a too-literal reading. The language of clouds and catching-up is figurative. What Paul means is that believers will be assumed into the company of the apostles and prophets — drawn up into the communion of the holy. A man who interprets this passage as a promise of literal levitation has missed the spiritual sense entirely. As for the differences you note between my Latin psalter and certain copies of the Septuagint: the problem is that you are working from a common-circulation Greek text, which differs substantially from the critical text of Origen preserved in the Hexapla. My psalter follows Origen's edition. When in doubt, the Hexapla is the authority. I am glad to correspond further on any remaining questions.

To Sunnias and Fretela A long letter in which Jerome answers a number of questions put to him by two sojourners in Getica, Sunnias and Fretela. Diligent students of scripture, these men were at a loss to understand the frequent differences between Jerome's Latin psalter of 383 A.D. (the so-called Roman psalter) and the LXX, and accordingly sent him a long list of passages with a request for explanation. Jerome in his reply deals fully with all these and points out to his correspondents that they have been misled by their edition of the LXX. (the common edition) which differs widely from the critical text of Origen as given in the Hexapla and used by himself. He also expresses his joy to find that even among the Getæ the scriptures are now diligently studied. The date of the letter is about 403 A.D.