ST. JEROME'S FEAST DAY WAS YESTERDAY. The Catholic Encyclopedia writes:

St. Jerome owes his place in the history of exegetical studies chiefly to his revisions and translations of the Bible. Until about 391-2, he considered the Septuagint translation as inspired. But the progress of his Hebraistic studies and his intercourse with the rabbis made him give up that idea, and he recognized as inspired the original text only. It was about this period that he undertook the translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. But he went too far in his reaction against the ideas of his time, and is open to reproach for not having sufficiently appreciated the Septuagint. This latter version was made from a much older, and at times much purer, Hebrew text than the one in use at the end of the fourth century. Hence the necessity of taking the Septuagint into consideration in any attempt to restore the text of the Old Testament. With this exception we must admit the excellence of the translation made by St. Jerome.

That's a pretty fair evaluation. The Dead Sea Scrolls show both that many variants in the Septuagint have a Hebrew basis and some are better readings than those of the Masoretic Text. At the same time, the Scrolls show that the Masoretic text has a very ancient basis and needs to be taken seriously.

Meant to post this yesterday, but circumstances did not permit.