Vulgate
In 382, Pope Damasus I commissioned Jerome to revise the Gospels used by the Roman Church. This task began as a specific assignment to update four Gospel texts using the best available Greek manuscripts. Jerome completed this initial work before Damasus died in 384. He had also produced a cursory revision of the Psalms in Rome, though he later disowned that version and it is now lost.
The scope of his work expanded far beyond the original commission. Of his own initiative, Jerome extended translation efforts to include most books of the Bible. He translated the Jewish Bible directly from Hebrew, including the Book of Psalms, which differed from his earlier Gallican version derived from Greek sources. He also worked on Tobit and Judith from Aramaic versions and added sections to Esther and Daniel from Greek texts like Theodotion.
His approach involved novel layout techniques called per cola et commata, placing each major clause on a new line. This format influenced how scribes copied his text for centuries. Despite his extensive output, Jerome did not intend to create a complete new Bible initially. His changing program can be tracked through voluminous correspondence with contemporaries like Augustine of Hippo.
The Vulgate exists as a composite collection rather than a single unified work by one author. While Jerome translated the Gospels and many Old Testament books, other parts remain unrevised Vetus Latina translations. These older Latin texts were incorporated into the final compilation without Jerome's direct intervention.
Scholars identify specific books within the Vulgate that Jerome never touched. The deuterocanonical books 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and the Letter of Jeremiah appear in the text purely as Vetus Latina translations. These books entered the Vulgate tradition over time, sometimes added by later editors or scribes.
Jerome himself used different source materials for different sections. He translated most Old Testament books directly from Hebrew, yet he derived the Book of Psalms from the Greek Hexapla Septuagint. For Daniel, he utilized additions from the Greek of Theodotion, marking them with an obelus to distinguish them from standard text. This mix of sources created a complex textual landscape where some parts reflect Jerome's direct translation while others preserve earlier Latin traditions.
During the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1563, the Catholic Church affirmed the Vulgate as its official Latin Bible. The council declared this old and vulgate edition authentic for public lectures, disputations, sermons, and expositions. No one was allowed to reject it under any pretext whatever.
The decree cited long usage within the Church as justification for its authority. It specified that the canon included 72 books: 45 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Lamentations were not counted separately from Jeremiah during this session on the 8th of April 1546. Later clarification came on the 2nd of June 1927, when Pope Pius XI addressed disputes regarding the Comma Johanneum.
Pope Pius XII later stated in his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu that the Vulgate is free from error in matters of faith and morals. However, this inerrancy does not extend to philological accuracy. Catholic historian Fr. E.F. Sutcliffe noted that Jerome sometimes made Messianic texts plainer than the Septuagint without warrant in Hebrew. Such passages carry only the authority of tradition rather than direct scriptural force.
The Catholic Church produced three distinct official editions of the Vulgate over centuries. The Sixtine Vulgate appeared in 1590 under Pope Sixtus V but faced immediate controversy. After Sixtus died on the 27th of August 1590, many claimed the text contained too many errors for general use. On September 5 of that same year, the College of Cardinals halted sales and destroyed copies by burning them due to alleged printing inaccuracies.
Clement VIII replaced the Sixtine edition with the Clementine Vulgate in 1592. This became the standard Bible text for the Roman Rite until 1979 when the Nova Vulgata was promulgated. Misprints in the Clementine edition were partly eliminated in subsequent printings during 1593 and 1598. Roger Gryson later asserted that the Clementine edition frequently deviates from manuscript traditions for literary or doctrinal reasons.
The third official version, the Nova Vulgata, emerged in 1979 as a revision intended to align with modern critical Hebrew and Greek texts. It produces a style closer to Classical Latin rather than preserving historical Vulgate forms. John Paul II promulgated this new edition as typical for contemporary Roman rite usage.
The Codex Amiatinus stands as the oldest surviving complete manuscript of the Vulgate from the 8th century. Other significant witnesses include the Codex Fuldensis dating around 545, which harmonizes the four Gospels into a continuous narrative derived from the Diatessaron. These physical artifacts preserve variations introduced by scribes over centuries.
Regular attempts occurred throughout history to conserve Jerome's original text or purify it of obvious errors. Cassiodorus worked on editions in the 6th century while Alcuin of York oversaw revisions in the 8th. Stephen Harding contributed corrections in the 12th century before Erasmus published his own corrected edition in 1516.
Scholars have identified families of variants allowing tracing of influence or provenance. The Rushworth gospels belong to an Insular family characterized by inversions of word order. The Oxford Anglican scholars utilized specific manuscripts like the Book of Armagh, Egerton Gospels, Lichfield Gospels, and Book of Kells when compiling their critical New Testament edition between 1889 and 1954.
Johannes Gutenberg produced the first printed Vulgate Bible in Mainz during 1455 through a partnership with banker John Fust. At that time, a single manuscript copy sold for approximately 500 guilders. Gutenberg's initial venture became a commercial failure after Fust sued for recovery of his 2026 guilder investment and gained possession of the printing plant.
The transition from handwritten codices to movable type dramatically increased consistency and uniformity of biblical texts. Despite early reproductions merely copying available manuscripts, the technology enabled wider dissemination of knowledge. This diaspora of information arguably made the Reformation possible without such widespread access to scripture.
Erasmus published a corrected edition aligning better with Greek and Hebrew sources in 1516. Robertus Stephanus issued his final critical edition in Geneva in 1555, introducing full chapter and verse divisions. These innovations transformed how readers encountered the text, moving it from monastic scriptoria into public circulation across Europe.
Anglican scholars at Oxford University began editing the New Testament in 1878 under classicist John Wordsworth. Their work resulted in three volumes published between 1889 and 1954 known as the Oxford Vulgate. The Benedictines of Rome started an Old Testament edition in 1907, completing the Pentateuch by 1926 and finishing the remaining volumes in 1987 and 1995.
The Stuttgart Vulgate emerged in 1969 combining findings from both Oxford and Rome projects. Württembergische Bibelanstalt later became Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft based in Stuttgart. Robert Weber directed the project alongside collaborators including Bonifatius Fischer and Jean Gribomont. Roger Gryson has overseen recent updates through editions appearing in 2007.
These modern critical editions serve as standard references for academic study today. They include expanded Apocrypha containing Psalm 151 and Epistle to the Laodiceans alongside traditional texts. Prefaces written in Latin, German, French, and English provide valuable historical context about the development of the Vulgate tradition.
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Common questions
When did Pope Damasus I commission Jerome to revise the Gospels?
Pope Damasus I commissioned Jerome to revise the Gospels in 382. This task began as a specific assignment to update four Gospel texts using the best available Greek manuscripts.
Which books of the Vulgate did Jerome never translate from Hebrew?
Scholars identify that Jerome never translated deuterocanonical books such as 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and the Letter of Jeremiah. These books appear in the text purely as Vetus Latina translations incorporated over time by later editors or scribes.
What date did the Council of Trent affirm the Vulgate as the official Latin Bible?
The Catholic Church affirmed the Vulgate as its official Latin Bible during the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1563. The council declared this old and vulgate edition authentic for public lectures, disputations, sermons, and expositions on the 8th of April 1546.
Who produced the first printed Vulgate Bible and when was it published?
Johannes Gutenberg produced the first printed Vulgate Bible in Mainz during 1455 through a partnership with banker John Fust. A single manuscript copy sold for approximately 500 guilders at that time before the venture became a commercial failure.
When was the Clementine Vulgate established as the standard Bible text for the Roman Rite?
Clement VIII replaced the Sixtine edition with the Clementine Vulgate in 1592. This version remained the standard Bible text for the Roman Rite until 1979 when the Nova Vulgata was promulgated.