These editions were not mere reproductions, one of another; many different manuscripts had been consulted and many editors were at work, each using his judgment (or his whim) in the correction and choice of texts. To add to the variety, several new Latin translations, by both Catholics and Protestants, were put forth.
Decree of the Council of Trent— It is easy to see how bewildering must have been this immense variety of old and new translations. A standard text had become imperative. It was necessary, too, since the question of the Canon of Holy Scripture was debated, to determine which books should be included in the Catholic Bible. Accordingly, in 1546,. the Council of Trent closed the Canon, accepting as sacred and canonical all those books whic.h the tradition of the Church and especially the Council of Florence had declared to be inspired; more over, the decree specified that they were ac cepted "as they were had in the Latin Vulgate." In the same year the council ordered that the Vulgate be printed in as correct a text as possible and requested the Pope to carry out the measure. These two important points— the books included in the Vulgate and the text authorized by the Roman Catholic Church — call for separate and somewhat detailed treat ment.
Books Included in we give a list of the Vulgate books, in their proper order, according to the names which they bear in the Douai translation. These names, it will be seen, often differ from those of the Author ized Version; they are derived from the Sep tuagint through the Latin, while the Protestant names come in part from the same source and in part directly from the Hebrew. We subjoin the latter wherever the difference is notable. The books of the Old Testament are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Josue (Joshua), Judges, Ruth, I and II, Kings (I and II, Samuel), III and IV, Kings (I and II Kings), I and II Paralipomenon (Chronicles), I Esdras (Ezra), II Esdras, or Nehemias, Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticle of Canticles (Song of Songs), Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Isaias, Jeremias, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, Osee (Hosea), Joel, Amos, Abdias (Obadiah), Jonas,. Micheas (Micah), Nahum, Habacuc, Sophomas (Zeph aniah), Aggeus (Haggai), Zacharias, Malachias, I and II Maccabees. In the New Testament, the books and their names are identical with those of the Authorized Version, except that the last book is called in the one Apocalypse and in the other Revelation. The Vulpte, as
finally adopted by the Roman Catholic aurch, is a mosaic: it is made tip of direct translations from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, of revisions of Old Latin, according to the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament, and, lastly, of Old Latin translations unrevised.
Differences Between Roman Catholic and Protestant Bibles.— The foregoing list will have made clear the most striloing difference between the Vulgate and the ordinary Prot estant Bible of to-day—the inclusion of Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesia.sticus, Baruch and I and II Maccabees among the sacred books of the Bible on an equal footing with the rest. These books were formerly printed in Prot estant Bibles, sometimes as integral parts of Scripture, sometimes with an undefined stand ing, more frequently as being unequal to the other books, but useful °for example of life and instruction of manners!' With them may be classed the additions to Esther and Daniel, mentioned in the fifth topic. All these portions of the Vulgate are now generally excluded from English Protestant Bibles but find a place in the Lutheran. They are still used in the public services of the Anglican Church. Sub tract these books from the Vulgate list and the order of the books in the two Bibles will be found identical. Many minute differences, which cannot be noticed here, are found in the inner arrangetnent, but more particularly in the numbering of the contents of several books. Textual divergences, naturally, are the most numerous, but their extent and im portance have been greatly exaggerated. The Canon remains the only really great difference.
Official Text of The order of the Council of Trent, promulgated in 1546, that an cfficial text of the Vulgate be printed, remained unfulfilled till the reign of Sixtus V (1585– 1590). The attempts of previous pontiffs had led to little result. Sixtus surnmoned a com mission of cardinals and scholars and en trusted them with the work; not amient with this, he applied himself vigorously to the task, with more energy than critical acumen and with no scrupulous deference to the opinions of the commission. The edition, called after him the Sixtine, was completed and published in 1590, a few montns before the death of the Pope. It was soon found to contain numerous errors, and all copies of it were recalled two years later by Clement VIII, who published a new and more correct text (1592). The Clementine Vulgate has ever since remained the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.