VULGATE, The, is the Latin translation of the Bible, due mostly to Saint Jerome (q.v.), which has been adopted as the authorized Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. The name, vulgata bibiliorum editio, whic,h means common or current edition of the Scriptures, was first applied to the Septuagint and then to the Old Latin Version derived from it; but after Saint Jerome's new translation came into common use, it inherited the name. Some scholars still spealc of the Old Latin Vulgate or the Greelc Vulgate; but the name, used without qualifica tion, properly applies only to the official Roman Catholic Bible.
Place in History.—Neglected for a long time, the Vulgate has during the last few decades won back from scholars a recognition of its intrinsic excellence, its importance for the study of the Bible text, and its place in history. In English-spealcing countries, this is due mainly to the labors of Anglican divines, such as Westcott, Wordsworth, White, Scrive ner and Burkitt. Westcott, for instance, re gards it as °not only the most venerable, but also the most precious monument of Latin Christianity?) Its great antiquity and the ex ceptional qualities of its translator make it a most valuable aid toward the recovery of the original text Its New Testament, in its re vised form, is contemporary with the oldest Greek manuscripts and embodies a much earlier text. The Old Testament antedates by several centuries the oldest Hebrew manuscripts. Al most from the time of its publication, the Vul gate has had a very great influence upon the religion and civilization of Europe. It gradu ally became the Bible of Europe; it has been called the- book of the Middle Ages. Latin then was the language of the educated and the Vulgate their Bible. From it was derived the theological language of Europe and much of its thought Hebrew idioms came through it to enrich our daily speech. National literatures took their rise in ventures to translate it: its text called forth the most beautiful work of the illuminators of manuscripts. Poetry, paint ing and music owed to it much of their in spiration and grandeur. °It was the real parent,D says Westcott, °directly or indirectly, of all the vernacular versions of western Europe? except the Gothic of Ulphilas. The translators of the Protestant versions had it constantly in hand; though it was °the guide° rattier than the source of their work. Upon English Bibles, its influence is very marked, particularly upon the Authorized Version. The Psalter of the Prayer Book, still used in wor ship, is a translation of the Vulgate: such naturally, too, are all modern Roman Catholic versions, like the English Douai Bible.
Latin Bible Before Saint Jerome.—The Vulgate, we have implied, was preceded by an earlier Latin Bible, and its history cannot be properly understood without some account of the forerunner. Throughout the 4th century, this Old Latin Version, as it is called, was read in all the churches of northern Africa and western Europe, but the tradition of its origin seems to have perished. It is known that it
was based. not on the original Hebrew, but upon the Greek of the Septuagint This is its most notable difference from the Vulgate. It can be traced back with certainty to the middle of the 3d century and, with great probability, even a century earlier. Its place of origin is unknown; nor even can we determine whether there were several distinct translations, made in different times and countries, or originally but one. The Old Testament has survived in a few books and many fragments, but these do not shed much light on their origin; and the many manuscrip.ts of the New Testament furnish to scholars no satisfactory solution. The old Latin Version is historically important by reason of its influence upon the Vulgate; moreover, despite its variations, it is a witness of the highest value to the current New Testa ment text of the 3d century. The books and fragments of the Old Testament also aid in determining the text, and sometimes the ar rangement, of the Septuagint Certain books of this ancient version, we shall see, were re vised by Saint Jerome and incorporated in the Vulgate; a few were adopted without change and remain part of the Catholic Bible. It was the corrupt condition of the existing Latin text that caused Saint Jerome to undertake, first, a revision and then a translation of the Bible. We must remember that in his day, toward the end of the 4th century, the old version had been in circulation about 200 years. It is easy to see to what chances of corruption it was ex posed. Experience proves that no manuscript can pass through many hands without the in troduction of frequent changes and in the case of this old version, more than the ordinary causes of corruption seem to have been at play. Saint Augustine (q.v.), a younger contempo rary of Saint Jerome, was so conscious of the almost innumerable variations in the current text that he advanced the theory —or possibly we should say, handed down the tradition— that there were almost innumerable distinct translations. Saint Jerome goes even further, stating that there were nearly as many types of text as there were manuscripts. This much is clear, that the confusion was almost hopeless and very perplexing, whether we consider pub lic worship or private devotion. There was an urgent need of a revised text, and Latin Christendom was most fortunate in possessing two men fitted to furnish it, Damasus the Pope and Jerome the scholar. Damasus was the most distinguished pontiff of his century and left to posterity the fame of an enlightened and energetic reign. As to Jerome, Westcott does not exaggerate in saying that he was the one man in 15 centuries capable of the task he ac complished; without him, in all probability, Europe would have had to wait till the Renais sance for a translation comparable to the Vul gate. The history of his life is in great part the history of its production.