A nativitate quippe Abrahae usque ad Mosen et egressum Israhelis ex Aegypto, computantur anni DV: a Mose usque ad Solomonem et primam aedificationem templi, anni CDLXXIX, secundum minorem tamen numerum quem tertius Regnorum liber continet, -- fnam juxta volumen Judicum, supputantur anni DC -- a Solomone vero usque ad instaurationem templi, quae sub Dario Persarum rege facta est, colliguntur anni DXII: porro a Dario usque ad praedicationem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et usque ad quintum decimum annum Tiberii principis Romanorum, explentur anni DXLVIII.
Itaque simul fiunt ab Abraham usque ad XV Tiberii annum, anni MMXLIV:
similiter a Nino et Semiramide usque ad Mosen et Cecropem, anni DV;
a Cecrope usque ad captivitatem Troiae, anni CCCXXIX;
a captivitate Troiae usque ad primam olympiadem, anni CDVI;
a prima olympiade usque ad secundum Darii annum, et instaurationem templi, anni CCLVI;
fa secundo Darii anno et instauratione templi usque ad XV annum Tiberii Caesaris, anni DXLVIII.
Fiunt simul a Nino a Semiramide usque ad XV Tiberii annum, anni MMXLIV, quos et ab Abraham usque ad Tiberium ostendimus supputatos: a Tiberii autem XV anno usque ad decimum quartum annum Valentis , quo interiit, numerantur anni CCCLI, itaque fiunt omnes anni istius historiae MMCCCXCV.
Et, ne forte longus ordo numerorum aliquid turbationis afferet, omnem annorum congeriem in decadas caecidimus, quas ex singularium gentium historiis congregantes sibi in vicem,fecimus esse contrarias, ut facilis praebeatur inventio, cuius Graeci aetate vel barbari, prophetae, et reges, et sacerdotes fuerint Hebraeorum, item qui diversarum gentium falso crediti dii, qui heroes, quae quando urbs condita, qui de illustribus viris philosophi, poetae, principes, scriptoresque variorum operum exstiterint, et si qua alia digna memoria putavit antiquitas. Quae universa in suis locis summa cum brevitate ponemus.
Footnotes
1. Word-order reversal, for emphasis.
2. instrumenta. Lewis & Short: "II.Trop. A. Of writings... B.Ornament, embellishment: felices ornent haec instrumenta libellos. Ov. Tr. 1,1,9."
3. Jerome is here referring to the parallel translations from Hebrew into Greek in the columns of Origen's Hexapla. The separate columns circulated separately.
4. Horace.
5. This paragraph is a later interpolation. One family of the manuscripts was reformatted by a later scribe, who wrote this paragraph as an explanation of the new format. His system placed all the columns of numbers on the left, and all the text at the right. Which column of numbers the text related to is controlled by colour coding. This paragraph describes the system, albeit obscurely. Manuscript L is of this family, and this translation is provisional, pending a visit to the British Library.
1. number=bright red; first letter of text=bright red
2. number=? (Probably black); first letter of text=mixed red/black
3. number=? (probably bright red); first letter of text=middle bright red , rest black
4. number=black; first letter of text=bright red
5. number=red; first letter of text=mixed red/black
6. Like #2
7. Like #3
8. Like #4, two colour
9. number=black; first letter of text=black
The 'probablies' I get by alternating the colour of the numbers.