The Preface is to Chromatius and Heliodorus. It recognizes that the books are apocryphal. After his usual complaints of “the Pharisees” who impugned his translations, he says: “Inasmuch as the Chaldee is closely allied to the Hebrew, I procured the help of the most skilful speaker of both languages I could find, and gave to the subject one day’s hasty labour, my method being to explain in Latin, with the aid of a secretary, whatever an interpreter expressed to me in Hebrew words.” As to Judith, he notes that the Council of Nicæa had, contrary to the Hebrew tradition, included it in the Canon of Scripture, and this, with his friends’ requests, had induced him to undertake the labour of emendation and translation.

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