Jerome, in his Letter 108, describes how Paula travelled through Palestine in 385-6 and visited the spring that Samson caused to gush from the earth, and the tomb of *Micah (Old Testament Prophet, S01236), now a church. Written in Latin in Bethlehem (Palestine), 404.
Evidence ID
E06529
Type of Evidence
Literary - Letters
Major author/Major anonymous work
Jerome of Stridon
Jerome of Stridon, Letter 108.14 ('Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae')
Transibo Aegyptum et in Soccoth atque apud fontem Samson, quem de molari maxillae dente produxit, subsistam parumper et arentia ora conluam, ut refocilatus uideam Morasthi, sepulchrum quondam Micheae prophetae, nunc ecclesiam.
'I will cross over into Egypt and stop for a while in Succoth, at the spring that Samson caused to gush from the tooth of the jawbone. I will drench my parched lips there so that after refreshing myself I may visit Moresheth-Gath, formerly the tomb of the prophet Micah but now a church.'
Text: Hilberg 1996 (1912).
Translation: Cain 2013.
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Holy spring/well/river
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Source
In the second half of 404 Jerome composed an Epitaph for his late friend and patron, Paula, which was transmitted to us as letter 108. The work depicts Paula as an example for ascetic women and bears features of hagiography.Paula died on 26 January 404 in Bethlehem. She was the descendant of a Roman aristocratic family, who traced their lineage back to the Gracchi and Scipiones. She was dedicated to the western ascetic movement and had spent more than twenty years by the side of Jerome of Stridon, whom she had followed with her daughter Eustochium to the Holy Land in 385, where they founded a monastery and a convent in Bethlehem. Paula was not only Jerome's most faithful companion, but also his biggest sponsor.
Jerome's Letter 108.8-13 describes Paula's pilgrimage through the Holy Land, which lasted from late winter 385 to late spring 386. It is, however, only a partial account, intended to show off Jerome's knowledge of biblical topography as much as to illustrate Paula's piety. Jerome specifically tells us that, at the beginning of his account of Paula's travels in the Holy Land, that he will only mention the places she visited which feature in the Bible: 'I say nothing of her journey through Syria Coele and Phoenicia, for it is not my intention to write a complete description of her travels; I will mention only those stops mentioned in the sacred books' (Omitto Syriae Coeles et Phoenices iter, neque enim odoeporicum eius disposui scribere; ea tantum loca nominabo quae sacris voluminibus continentur. Ep. 108, 8.1, trans. Cain). It is very possible that Paula also visited the shrines of post-biblical saints (as she had earlier done on Ponza - see E06524), but, if so, these visits were passed over by Jerome.
Discussion
According to the Old Testament, Samson slew a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass (Judges 15:15). Afterwards he asked God to quench his thirst, which God answered by splitting open the earth, releasing water (Judges 15:18). The site of the spring was near Lower Succoth, a village some fourteen and a half kilometres from Eleutheropolis. Jerome's description of the site does not suggest any cult around the figure of Samson.Moreshet-Gath is only some three kilometres northwest of Eleutheropolis. Egeria, who toured the Holy Land a few years earlier (sometime between 381 and 384), does not mention a church at the tomb of Micah, which makes Jerome's passage the earliest evidence for a late 4th (or very early 5th) century church at the site.
Bibliography
Edition:Hilberg, I., Hieronymus, Epistulae 71-120 (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 55; Vienna, 1996).
Translation:
Cain, A., Jerome's Epitaph on Paula: A Commentary on the Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae (Oxford, 2013).
Record Created By
Philip Polcar
Date of Entry
17/09/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01236 | Micah, Old Testament prophet | Micheas | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Philip Polcar, Cult of Saints, E06529 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E06529