A Question about a Portion of Jerome's Preface to Judith

Question

In his Preface to Judith, Jerome writes:

Apud Hebraeos liber Judith inter apocrypha legitur: cujus auctoritas ad roboranda illa quae in contentionem veniunt, minus idonea judicatur.

I, with an atrociously minimal knowledge of Latin, would translate this thus:

Among the Hebrews, the book of Judith is counted among the Apocrypha: the authority of which, for confirmation on matters which come into dispute, is judged less than sufficient.

However, another translator translates it thus:

Among the Jews, the book of Judith is considered among the apocrypha; its warrant for affirming those [apocryphal texts] which have come into dispute is deemed less than sufficient

Which doesn't make sense to me in the slightest.

Have I captured the sense, or am I completely mistaken?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

It appears abundantly clear to me that you have correctly captured the sense and that the translation you cited is mistaken in identifying apocrypha as the antecedent of illa.

Three brief reasons I can think of:

1. Such restrictive relative clauses as id quod or illa quae need not--and most often do not--refer to a previously introduced antecedent.

2. Most important, it makes no sense if illa refers to apocrypha. What does it even mean to be "suitable for establishing contentious apocryphal texts"? Presumably the author means something like, "suitable for establishing the non-apocryphal status of certain texts that are judged to be apocryphal," but that too is problematic. Judith isn't used to establish other apocryphal texts: it would presumably be used to confirm doctrines.

3. Finally, every reference I can find to the text adopts this interpretation. I found, for instance, an old Compendium of Theology that says the following:

   ...Ex solis enim libris canonicis auctoritatem ecclesiasticorum dogmatum confirmandam veteres censuerunt, sicut testimonia supra allegata sunt. Solius canonicae Scripturae auctoritas idonea judicata fuit ad roboranda illa, quae in contentionem veniunt; reliquos vero libros quos Cyprianus ecclesiasticos, Hieronymus apocryphos nominat, legi quidem voluerunt in ecclesia ad aedificationem plebis non ad auctoritatem ecclesiarum dogmatum confirmandam.

   Here, it is clear that the "things that come into contention" are putative ecclesiastical doctrines--not putative apocryphal works.