A Commentary on a Commentary on one of the most obscure and opaque biblical books, by one of the most cantankerous and enigmatic of the Latin Fathers, appears destined to be demoralising and doomed. Yet this volume is nothing of the sort. G. & M. have, by their meticulous and painstaking approach, presented Hieronymian readers with a valuable contribution to biblical scholarship and some important corrigenda to Volume 72 of Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (CCSL).

The introduction includes the essentials of Jerome's life and works, general background on the biblical texts available to Jerome: the Veritas Hebraica, the Septuagint – as found in Origen's Hexapla – the recensions of Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Old Italic Versions. It concludes with a discussion on the concept of a commentary in the time of Jerome, a statement of the Saint's competence in Hebrew, and a list of Church Fathers whose works would have been available to Jerome. Among the latter are Dionysius of Alexandria, Gregory Thaumaturgos, Origen, Victorinus of Poetovio, Apollinarius of Laodicea and Gregory of Nyssa – all of whom had written on Ecclesiastes. The main body of the book is divided into two parts: the first section contains the translation of Jerome's Commentary and the second part is the commentary. An appendix, a bibliography of both primary sources and up-to-date secondary readings, along with an index, complete the book.

The elegance and simplicity of G. & M.'s writing style belie the breadth and profundity of their research into the languages of the original biblical writings. These languages encompass an array of disparate scripts: the Hebrew of the Jewish Scriptures, the earliest Greek translations – Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion – and the myriad Latin or Italic recensions. Each entry in the notes shows a depth of familiarity and profound insight into the meaning of these ancient languages. The use of Greek and Hebrew fonts, accompanied by phonetic transcriptions, satisfies the curiosity of the peritus while allowing access to the neophyte. The translation is palatable and engaging and is readily accessible to the twenty-first-century reader. The only annoying and distracting element I encountered in my initial reading was the constant use of superscripted asterisks to indicate an authorial note. However, the annoyance disappeared by Chapter 2, when I ceased consulting each individual term and suspended my curiosity until the end of the chapter. It is particularly in the notes that G. & M.'s most significant contribution lies.

Beyond the literary nuances of the main text and the notes, there is a rich and particularly helpful appendix with textual notes that correct the multiple errors – typographical mishaps, misspelled Hebrew and Latin words and a miscellany of grammatical and syntactical errors – that had crept into Adriaens' edition in CCSL, Volume 72 (1959). The present corrigenda, 85 in all, are a critical contribution to the field of Hieronymian studies and a long overdue and welcome emendation. G. & M.'s diligence in tracking down the multiple references to ancient classical writers that occur at every turn must be acknowledged. All the more noteworthy is G. & M.'s meticulousness in locating the precise source for the numerous scriptural echoes that resound throughout the text especially given Jerome's inveterate tendency to be inconsistent when repeating scriptural passages, in spite of his amazing memory. G. & M. substantiate and affirm Jerome's claim to a certain competence in the Hebrew language, pace Nautin (p. 17). G. & M. have clearly, and correctly, vindicated Jerome's linguistic boast and shown how his insight into the original languages has brought clarity to many a puzzling and opaque passage. Instances of Jerome's pedagogical skills abound as, for example, in Chapter 8 (p. 218) when he discusses the Hebrew word dabar while reading a manuscript without vowel pointing which potentially yields multiple possibilities and calls for in-depth control of the language. As G. & M. affirm: ‘Jerome's ability to understand Hebrew is manifestly apparent’ (p. 218.) Several other instances of Jerome's linguistic expertise occur, in particular his lesson on the differences between Hebrew and Latin grammar (p. 218, passim). By way of balance, G. & M. also note when Jerome's memory slips or when he makes a mistake such as in Chapter 10.8 when he references a quotation to the Book of Wisdom instead of to Sirach (p. 230); or again, when he mistakes an active verb for its passive form (p. 231). Jerome is guilty of some of the most frequently occurring mistakes in the Hebrew language. He unwittingly confuses the Hebrew verb bazah (despise) with bazar (scatter) (p. 232), and even more blatantly mistakes the letter daleth for resh (p. 220), failing to note that pesky little tittle in the former. But since, as Horace tells us, ‘even the mighty Homer nods’ (AP 259), it is easy to be magnanimous towards such linguistic slips in the works of this veritable uir trilinguis.

G. & M. have rendered a difficult and daunting biblical text accessible to the contemporary reader and have done so with elegant language and linguistic scholarship, all the while allowing the learning, humour and touchiness of this disgruntled Church Father to shine through the text and authenticate his writings.