Jerome on Bar Kochba
Simon ben Kosiba, surnamed Simon bar Kochba ("son of the star") was a Jewish Messiah. Between 132 and 135, he was the leader of the last resistance against the Romans. After the end of the desastrous rebellion, the rabbis called him "Bar Koziba", which means "son of the lie".
One of the "fathers" of the Christian church, Jerome (347-419), has made three stray remarks about the revolt of Bar Kochba. They serve to add extra detail to the stories by Eusebius and Cassius Dio. The translations are taken from Yigael Yadin, Bar-Kokhba. The rediscovery of the legendary hero of the last Jewish revolt against imperial Rome (1971 London).
Jerome, Commentary on the Bible |
||
|
[Dan.9.24-27] He shall establish a covenant with many for one week: The division is between the reigns of Vespasian and Hadrian. According to the History of Josephus, Vespasian and Titus concluded peace with the Jews for three years and six month. And the [other] three years and six months are accounted for in Hadrian's reign, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed and the Jewish nation was massacred in large groups at a time, with the result that they were even expelled from the borders of Judaea. This is what the Hebrews have to say on the subject, paying little attention to the fact that from the first year of Darius, King of the Persians, until the final overthrow of Jerusalem, which befell them under Hadrian, the period involved is a hundred and seventy-four Olympiads or six hundred ninety-six years, which total up to ninety-nine Hebrew weeks plus three years - that being the time when Barcochebas, the leader of the Jews, was crushed and Jerusalem was demolished to the very ground. |
||