Bible Dictionary: The Vulgate

◄ The Vulgate ►

Smith's Bible Dictionary

The Vulgate

the Latin version of the Bible. The influence which it exercised upon western Christianity is scarcely less than that of the LXX. upon the Greek churches. Both the Greek and the latin Vulgate have been long neglected; yet the Vulgate should have a very deep interest for all the western churches, many centuries it was the only Bible generally used; and, directly or indirectly is the real parent of all the vernacular versions of western Europe. The Gothic version of Ulphilas alone is independent of it. The name is equivalent to Vulgata editio (the current text of Holy Scripture. This translation was made by Jerome-Eusebius Hieronymus --who way born in 329 A.D. at Stridon in Dalmatia, and died at Bethlehem in 420 A.D. This great scholar probably alone for 1500 years possessed the qualifications necessary for producing an original version of the Scriptures for the use of the Latin churches. Going to Rome, he was requested by Pope Damascus, A.D. 383, to make a revision of the old Latin version of the New Testament, whose history is lost in obscurity. In middle life Jerome began the study of the Hebrew, and made a new version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew which was completed A.D. 404. The critical labors of Jerome were received with a loud outcry of reproach. He was accused of disturbing the repose of the Church and shaking the foundations of faith. But clamor based upon ignorance soon dies away; and the New translation gradually came into use equally with the Old, and at length supplanted it. The vast power which the Vulgate has had in determining the theological terms of western Christendom can hardly be overrated. By far the greater part of the current doctrinal terminology is based on the Vulgate. Predestination, justification, supererogation (supererogo), sanctification, salvation, mediation, regeneration, revelation, visitation (met.) propitiation , first appear in the Old Vulgate. Grace, redemption, election, reconciliation, satisfaction, inspiration, scripture , were devoted there to a new and holy use. Sacrament and communion are from the same source; and though baptism is Greek, it comes to us from the Latin. It would be easy to extend the list by the addition of orders, penance, congregation, priest ; but it can be seen from the forms already brought forward that the Vulgate has brought forward that the Vulgate has left its mark both upon our language and upon our thoughts. It was the version which alone they knew who handed down to the reformers the rich stores of medieval wisdom; the version with which the greatest of the reformers were most familiar, and from which they had drawn their earliest knowledge of divine truth.

Library

Prefaces to the Vulgate Version of the New Testament.
... Treatises. Prefaces to the Vulgate Version of the New Testament. This version
was made at Rome between the years 382 and 385. The ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/prefaces to the vulgate version.htm

Prefaces to the Books of the Vulgate Version of the Old Testament.
... Treatises. Prefaces to the Books of the Vulgate Version of the Old Testament.
This version was not undertaken with ecclesiastical ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/prefaces to the books of.htm

On Earthly Things
... The dust is a sinner or the vanity of the flesh; in the psalm: like the dust, which
the wind blows about. [Ps.1:4 Vulgate]. ... [Ps.68(69):15 Vulgate; John 9:11]. ...
/.../eucherius/the formulae of st eucherius of lyons/iii on earthly things.htm

Book ix. On Jerusalem and Her Enemies
... pitched in the sun. [Ps.18(19):6(4) Vulgate]. The ark is ... in the ark remained.
[Ps.131(132):8 Vulgate; Gen.7:23]. The stone tablets ...
/.../eucherius/the formulae of st eucherius of lyons/book ix on jerusalem and.htm

The Members of the Lord: their Names and Significance
... [Ps.117(118):16 Vulgate]. ... [Ps.109(110):3]. The feet of the Lord are for ever stable;
in the psalm: and darkness under his feet. [Ps.17(18):10(11) Vulgate]. ...
/.../eucherius/the formulae of st eucherius of lyons/i the members of the.htm

To the Rev. A. Brandram
... The case of Luther and the early Reformers, who were converted from the errors of
Popery by the perusal of the Vulgate, the book of the Popish Church, is ...
/.../borrow/letters of george borrow/to the rev a brandram 60.htm

Chapter xv.
... Footnotes: [384] Habere sollicitudinem; Vulgate, sollicitæ sitis. [385] Edatis;
Vulgate, manducetis. ... [387] Detrimentum faciat; Vulgate, detrimentum patiatur. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/augustine/our lords sermon on the mount/chapter xv 2.htm

On Heavenly Objects
... thunder in the heaven. [Ps.76(77):19(18) Vulgate]. The lightning is the ... seat
of His saints. [Ps.46(47):9(8) Vulgate]. The sun is Lord ...
/.../eucherius/the formulae of st eucherius of lyons/ii on heavenly objects.htm

Order of the New Testament Books.
... This appears in Melito, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Augustine, Jerome,
the Vulgate, the Councils of Carthage, held in AD397 and 419; and is now ...
/.../davidson/the canon of the bible/chapter viii order of the.htm

Ancient Versions of the New Testament.
... The English version of Wiclif (1324-1384) is a literal translation of the current
text of the Latin Vulgate. ... Westcott in Smith's Bible Dict.; Art. Vulgate. ...
/.../barrows/companion to the bible/chapter xxviii ancient versions of.htm