The Latin "Vulgate" Bible
Title: The Latin “Vulgate” Bible (Latin), commissioned 382 CE
Author: St. Jerome (Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus)
born c. 342, died 420. Dalmatia, Rome, Bethlehem.
Sources: Hebrew Old Testament, the Greek Septuagint, various other Greek, Aramaic, and Latin versions of the gospels
St. Jerome’s Latin “Vulgate” translation of large portions of the Old and New Testaments in the late-fourth century was one of the most important and long-lasting scriptural translations during the European Middle Ages. The word vulgate often found in reference to the text means “commonly-used” or “popular” (cognate with vulgar), and Jerome’s translation was indeed used and held as authoritative and used for almost 1,000 years, until his own translation began to be replaced by European vernaculars. Although it isn’t clear if Jerome worked wholly alone on this massive project, and although other Latin versions were later attached to Jerome’s compilation, the manuscripts of the “Vulgate” Bible circulating in the Middle Ages were attributed wholly to the saint.
Jerome’s new translation of the New Testaments into Latin was commissioned by Pope Damasus around 380, a commission which reflected a need for an authorized translation into the common, metropolitan language of the current government of Rome: Latin. In his prologue, addressed to Pope Damasus, Jerome notes that there are almost as many differing versions of the gospels in Latin as there were copies. Over many decades, Jerome extended this project to include other texts; he collected and arranged various books that had been circulating individually in corrupt and erroneous variations that were the result of centuries of copying and re-copying.
Jerome consulted the circulating “Old Latin” versions for some books, the divinely authoritative Greek Septuagint, and other Greek and Aramaic books, but he ultimately recognized the need to turn directly to the Hebrew testaments for a more legitimate and definitive Latin translation. In the preface to Damasus, Jerome emphasizes the need to let go of one’s attachment to popular or familiar versions to discover what the original texts actually said; however, like many translators before him and since, he writers of his fears of judgement from his readers who may not agree with his choices or interpretations. He takes solace in the fact that this project comes with papal support, and he reaffirms his dutiful intent to create a text that most closely reflects what is written in the Hebrew and Greek sources.
Sources and Further Reading:
de Hamel, Christopher. The Book: A History of the Bible (London: Phaidon Press, 2001), 15-25.
“Vulgate.Org.” Vulgate.Org. 2012. Last accessed August 17, 2019. vulgate.org.
Author: St. Jerome (Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus)
born c. 342, died 420. Dalmatia, Rome, Bethlehem.
Sources: Hebrew Old Testament, the Greek Septuagint, various other Greek, Aramaic, and Latin versions of the gospels
St. Jerome’s Latin “Vulgate” translation of large portions of the Old and New Testaments in the late-fourth century was one of the most important and long-lasting scriptural translations during the European Middle Ages. The word vulgate often found in reference to the text means “commonly-used” or “popular” (cognate with vulgar), and Jerome’s translation was indeed used and held as authoritative and used for almost 1,000 years, until his own translation began to be replaced by European vernaculars. Although it isn’t clear if Jerome worked wholly alone on this massive project, and although other Latin versions were later attached to Jerome’s compilation, the manuscripts of the “Vulgate” Bible circulating in the Middle Ages were attributed wholly to the saint.
Jerome’s new translation of the New Testaments into Latin was commissioned by Pope Damasus around 380, a commission which reflected a need for an authorized translation into the common, metropolitan language of the current government of Rome: Latin. In his prologue, addressed to Pope Damasus, Jerome notes that there are almost as many differing versions of the gospels in Latin as there were copies. Over many decades, Jerome extended this project to include other texts; he collected and arranged various books that had been circulating individually in corrupt and erroneous variations that were the result of centuries of copying and re-copying.
Jerome consulted the circulating “Old Latin” versions for some books, the divinely authoritative Greek Septuagint, and other Greek and Aramaic books, but he ultimately recognized the need to turn directly to the Hebrew testaments for a more legitimate and definitive Latin translation. In the preface to Damasus, Jerome emphasizes the need to let go of one’s attachment to popular or familiar versions to discover what the original texts actually said; however, like many translators before him and since, he writers of his fears of judgement from his readers who may not agree with his choices or interpretations. He takes solace in the fact that this project comes with papal support, and he reaffirms his dutiful intent to create a text that most closely reflects what is written in the Hebrew and Greek sources.
Sources and Further Reading:
“Vulgate.Org.” Vulgate.Org. 2012. Last accessed August 17, 2019. vulgate.org.