POLYGLOT (Gr. polys, many; and glOtta, tongue) means, in general, an assemblage of versions in different languages of the same work, but is almost exclusively applied to manifold versions of the Bible. The Ilexapla (q.v.) of Origeu contained, besides the text, several other versions. All these, however, were in the Greek language, and the Ilexapla is not commonly reckoned among time polyglots. They are divided into two classes, the greater and the lesser polyglots. To the former belong four works, known as the Complutensian Polyglot; the Antwerp, or king of Spain's Polyglot; the Parisian Polyglot, and the London or Walton's Polyglot.—The Complutensian Polyglot derives its title from Complutum, the Latin name of Alcala de Ilenares, where it was printed in 6 vols. folio, 1502-1517. It was published at time cost, and under the direc tion of the celebrated cardinal Ximenes, who spared- no expense, whether in collecting the most ancient and authentic MSS., or in bringing together the most distinguished scholars of all countries for the carryin,g out of his design. The Complatensian Poly glot contains, besides the Hebrew text, the Septuagint Greek and the Chaldee (each with a literal Latin version), and the Latin Vulgate.—The Antwerp Polyglot, so called from its being there printed (1569-72), at the celebrated press of Plan was published at the cost of Philip IL of Spain. under the direction of the distinguished scholar, Bene dict Arias Montanus. It is is 8 vols. folio, and contains, in the Old Testament, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Targum of Onkclos, and the other Chaldee paraphrases, and the Latin Vulgate. In the New Testament, besides the Greek and Latin, it contains a Syriac . version, printed both in Syriac and in Hebrew characters. Arias Montanus was assisted by many scholars of eminence, chiefly of Spain and the Low Countries.—The Parisian Polyglot was printed at Paris in 164:5. at the cost and under the editorship of Michel le Jay. It is in 10 splendid volumes, and contains, in addition to the contents of the Antwerp Polyglot, another Syriac version. and an Arabic version, togethmtr with the Samaritan version and the Samaritan text of the Pentateuch, each of these being accom panied by a literal Latin translation.—The London Polyglot was edited by Brian Walton,
afterward bishop of Chester, and it engaged for many years a number of the most emi nent linguists of the period. The number of its languages is not the same in all parts of the Bible; but it may be said to contain the Bible, or portions of it, in nine languages: Hebrew, Samaritan. Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, Persic, Greek (each of these accompanied by a literal Latin version), and Latin. It is in 6 vols. folio, and was pub lished in 1654-57; and was followed in 1669 by the Lexicon Ifeptaglotton of Edmund Castel], 2 vols. folio, containing dictionaries of all the languages of the polyglot. except the Greek and Latin. Of the minor polyglots the chief are (1) the Heidelberg Polyglot (1586), Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; (2) Wolder's Polyglot (Hamburg. 1596), Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German; (3) Hatter's Polyglot (Nt1rnberg, 1599), Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek, Latin, German, and French; (4) Reineccius's Polyglot, in Syriac, Greek, Latin, and German (Leipsic, New Testament, 1712; Old Testament. 1750, 1751): (5) Bagster's Polyglot., a very valuable collection of modern versions, folio (London, 1831). It con tains 8 versions in the Old Testament, viz., Hebrew, Greek, English, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, and German; and 9 in the New, Syriac being added to those already named. (6) A useful " Hand Polyglot," containing in the Old Testament, Hebrew, Greek. Latin, Wove, and Luther's German version; and in the New, Greek, Latin, Luther's German, and in the fourth column, in which mire presented the chief differences between this and other German versions.
Besides the Bible, many other works, or small pieces, have been published in poly glot. Of smaller pieces, the Lord's prayer has been the favorite, of which many collec tions, containing a greater or less number of languages, have been published from the 16th c. downward. Of these, the most comprehensive, and, for philological purposes, by far the most valuable, is the well-known Mithridates of Adeltmg, which contains the Lord's prayer in nearly 500 languages, with vocabularies and grammatical explanations of most of the specimens.