Letter 74: Rufinus, a Roman Presbyter (to be carefully distinguished from Rufinus of Aquileia and Rufinus the Syrian), had written to Jerome for an explanation of the judgment of Solomon 1 Kings 3:16-28. This Jerome gives at length, treating the narrative as a parable and making the false and true mothers types of the Synagogue and the Church. The date of ...
Letter 74: To Rufinus of Rome, On the Judgment of Solomon (398 AD)
[Written to Rufinus the Roman presbyter — carefully to be distinguished from Rufinus of Aquileia, Jerome's friend-turned-bitter-enemy, and from Rufinus the Syrian. This Rufinus had asked for an interpretation of Solomon's famous judgment between the two mothers claiming the same child (1 Kings 3:16-28). Jerome treats the narrative as a parable: the false mother represents the Synagogue, the true mother represents the Church, and the child is the soul of man over which both contend. Whether or not one finds the allegory convincing, the letter displays Jerome's typical exegetical method — historical fact overlaid with typological meaning — at its most vigorous.]
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