Jerome's scholarship was exceptional even among the Church Fathers. In addition to Greek and Latin, he also knew Hebrew and was well versed in the ancient literary tradition. He knew well the works of the Eastern Church Fathers and translated some of them into Latin. His most important writings include commentaries on various parts of the Bible, especially the books of the prophets, but also the Psalms, the Gospel of Matthew, and the letters of Paul. He is also the author of the first Christian history of literature, De viris illustribus (On Excellent Men), which is the source of much valuable biographical data. He was the first to introduce hagiographic biography into Latin with his legends on the lives of three hermits, Vita S. Pauli primi eremitae (On St. Paul, the First Hermit), Vita S. Hilarionis (The Life of St. Hilarion), and Vita Malchi monachi captivi (How the monk Malchus fell into captivity).
Latin-Czech edition