Clementine Vulgate (Latin Bible) Vatican Press

The Clementine Vulgate was promulgated in 1592

Preface to the reader (from the Vatican edition of 1592)

Vatican Press-1592

Among the many and great benefits that God brought to his Church through the holy Trent Synod, it seems to be numbered first that, among the many Latin editions of the divine Scriptures, the only old and Vulgate, which had been approved by long use in the Church for so many centuries, was declared authentic by a most solemn decree. For let us leave aside the fact that not a few of the recent editions seemed to have been perverted with license to confirm the heresies of this time: certainly such a variety and diversity of versions could have endured great confusion in the Church of God. For already in this age of ours it is well established that what St. Jerome testified to have happened in his time, namely, that there were as many copies as there were codices; while each one added or subtracted according to his discretion.

But the authority of this old and Vulgate edition was always so great, and so excellent was its excellence, that it could not be called into question by equal judges that it was far superior to all the other Latin editions. For those books which are contained in it (as it has been handed down to us by our elders as if by hand) were partly taken from the translation or emendation of St. Jerome; partly retained from a very ancient Latin edition, which St. Jerome calls the Common and Vulgate, St. Augustine the Italian, St. Gregory the Old Translation.

And of the sincerity and pre-eminence of this Old, or of the Italian edition, there is the illustrious testimony of St. Augustine in his second book De doctrina christiana , where he decided to prefer the Italian to all the Latin editions, which were then most widely circulated, because it was, as he says, more tenacious of words with clarity of opinion Of Saint Jerome there are many excellent testimonies of the ancient Fathers: for Saint Augustine calls him the most learned man, and the most expert in the three languages, and confirms that his translation is true by the testimony of the Hebrews themselves. The same Saint Gregory preaches in such a way that he says that his translation, which he calls new, has transferred everything more truly from the Hebrew speech: and therefore it is the most worthy, to whom faith is to be had in all things. Saint Isidore, however, does not in one place place the Jerome version before all others, and affirms that it is generally received and approved by the Christian churches, because it is clearer in words, and more truthful in its opinions. Sophronius also, a most learned man, noticing that the translation of St. Jerome was highly approved not only in Latin, but also in Greek, made it so great that he translated the psalter and the prophets from Jerome’s version into Greek in an elegant language. And those who followed, most learned men, Remigius, Bede, Rabanus, Haymus, Anselmus, Peter Damiani, Richard, Hugh, Bernardus, Rupertus, Peter Lombardus, Alexander, Albertus, Thomas, Bonaventure, and all the rest who flourished in the Church during these ninety years , the version of Saint Jerome was so used that the others, which were almost innumerable, as if they had fallen from the hands of theologians, became completely obsolete. Why does the Catholic Church not undeservedly celebrate St. Jerome, the greatest teacher, and divinely inspired to interpret the sacred Scriptures, so that it is no longer difficult to condemn the judgment of all those who either do not acquiesce to the lucubrations of such an excellent teacher, or are confident that they can do even better, or at least equal .

Moreover, lest a translation so faithful, and so useful in all parts of the Church, should be corrupted in any part by the insults of the times, or the carelessness of the printers, or the audacity of the careless emendators, the same sacrosanct Synod of Trent wisely added it to its decree, so that this very old and Vulgate edition was most corrected. as far as possible, it should be printed: and no one should be allowed to print it without the ability and approval of the superiors. By which Decree he at the same time imposed a measure on the rashness and license of the printers, and awakened the vigilance and diligence of the pastors of the Church by keeping and preserving them as diligently as possible.

And although the insignia of the Academies of Theologians labored with great praise to restore to its former glory in the Vulgate edition; because, however, in such a matter there can be no excessive diligence, and several and older manuscripts had been procured by order of the Supreme Pontiff, and had been brought into the City; and lastly, since the execution of the general councils, and the integrity and purity of the Scriptures itself, are known to belong above all to the care of the Apostolic See; therefore, Pius IV, the Pontiff Maximus, for his incredible vigilance in all parts of the Church, to some of the most well-read Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and to other men most skilled in both Sacred Letters and various languages, demanded that province, as the Vulgate Latin edition, using the most ancient manuscript codices, also examining the Hebrew, and the sources of the Greek books; finally, after consulting the commentaries of the ancient Fathers, they would chastise with the utmost precision. Pius V continued the same institution. True, that assembly having been long interrupted by the various and most serious occupations of the Apostolic See, Sixtus V, summoned by divine providence to the highest priesthood, recalled it with the most ardent zeal, and at last ordered the completed work to be sent to type. When it was already excused, and that it should be brought to light, the same pontiff, noticing that not a few errors had crept into the sacred Bible of the press, which seemed to need repeated care, thought and decided to recall the whole work under the anvil. But when he had not been able to stand before his death, Gregory XIV., who, after Urban VII had succeeded Sixtus as Pontificate for twelve days, having executed the intention of his mind, set out to complete it, with a number of the most important Cardinals, and other learned men again deputed for this purpose. But he, too, and he who succeeded him, Innocent IX, in a very short time removed from this light; at last, under the beginning of the pontificate of Clement VIII, who now holds the helm of the whole Church, the work which Sixtus V had intended was completed, with the good help of God.

Accept, then, Christian reader, with the nod of the same Clement Supreme Pontiff, from the Vatican printing press, the old and Vulgate edition of the sacred Scriptures, punished with as much care as possible: which indeed, as with all numbers absolute, it is difficult to affirm because of human weakness, so with all the rest, which up to this point the day they came forth, that it was more correct and purer, there is no doubt at all. And indeed, although in this revision of the Bibles, no mean study has been employed in the manuscript codices, in the Hebrew and Greek sources, and in the commemorations of the ancient Fathers themselves; in this widespread reading, however, as some things were deliberately changed, so also others, which seemed to be changed, were deliberately left unchanged; Saint Jerome more than once warned that this should be done in order to avoid offending the people, and that it is easy to believe that it can be done, as our ancestors, who made Latin out of the Hebrews and Greeks, had an abundance of better and improved books than those who came after them. they have reached an age which, perhaps, having been repeatedly described for such a long time, has become less pure and intact; and finally, because it was not the purpose of the Sacred Congregation of the most extensive Cardinals, and of the other most learned men chosen for this work by the Apostolic See, to forge any new edition, or to correct or amend the ancient translator in any part; but to restore the old Latin edition itself, and the Vulgate, purged of the errors of the old librarians, as well as of the errors of wrongful emendations, to its former integrity and purity, as far as it could be done; and they were restored, so that they might be impressed as perfectly as possible according to the Decree of the Ecumenical Council, to give attention to the forces.

Moreover, in this edition it seemed necessary to add nothing uncanonical, nothing ascetic, nothing extraneous: and that was the reason why the third and fourth books of Esdras inscribed, which the Tridentine Synod did not enumerate among the canonical books, even the Oration of King Manasseh, which was not in Hebrew, it does not even exist in Greek, nor is it found in older manuscripts, nor is it a part of any canonical book, being placed outside the canonical series of the Scriptures: and there are no concordances at the margin (which from now on are not forbidden to be placed there), no notes, no miscellaneous readings, no prefaces, no arguments to be seen at the beginning of the books.

But just as the Apostolic See does not condemn the industry of those who inserted concordances of places, various readings, prefaces of St. Jerome, and other things of that kind into other editions; in this way also it does not prevent that in this very Vatican edition of another type of character such devices may be added for the convenience and benefit of the students in the future; so, however, that the various readings are not at all annotated at the margin of the text itself.

Latin Version

In multis magnisque beneficiis, quæ per sacram Tridentinam Synodum Ecclesiæ suæ Deus contulit, id in primis numerandum videtur, quod inter tot latinas editiones divinarum Scripturarum, solam veterem ac Vulgatam, quæ longo tot sæculorum usu in Ecclesia probata fuerat, gravissimo Decreto authenticam declaravit. Nam, ut illud omittamus, quod ex recentibus editionibus non paucæ ad hæreses hujus temporis confirmandas licenter detortæ videbantur : ipsa certe tanta versionum varietas, atque diversitas magnam in Ecclesia Dei confusionem parere potuisset. Jam enim hac nostra ætate illud fere evenisse constat, quod sanctus Hieronymus tempore suo accidisse testatus est, tot scilicet fuisse exemplaria, quot codices ; cum unusquisque pro arbitrio suo adderet, vel detraheret.

Hujus autem veteris ac Vulgatæ editionis tanta semper fuit auctoritas, tamque excellens præstantia, ut eam ceteris omnibus latinis editionibus longe anteferendam esse, apud æquos judices in dubium revocari non posset. Qui namque in ea libri continentur (ut a majoribus nostris quasi per manus traditum nobis est) partim ex sancti Hieronymi translatione, vel emendatione suscepti sunt ; partim retenti ex antiquissima quadam editione latina, quam sanctus Hieronymus communem et Vulgatam, sanctus Augustinus Italam, sanctus Gregorius Veterem translationem appellat.

Ac de Veteris quidem hujus, sive Italæ editionis sinceritate atque præ stantia præclarum sancti Augustini testimonium exstat in secundo libro De doctrina christiana, ubi latinis omnibus editionibus, quæ tunc plurimæ circumferebantur, Italam præferendam censuit, quod esset, ut ipse loquitur, verborum tenacior cum perspicuitate sententiæ. De sancto vero Hieronymo multa exstant veterum Patrum egregia testimonia : eum enim sanctus Augustinus hominem doctissimum, ac trium linguarum peritissimum vocat, atque ejus translationem ipsorum quoque hebræorum testimonio veracem esse confirmat. Eumdem sanctus Gregorius ita prædicat, ut ejus translationem, quam novam appellat, ex hebræo eloquio cuncta verius transfudisse dicat : atque idcirco dignissimam esse, cui fides in omnibus habeatur. Sanctus autem Isidorus non uno in loco Hieronymianam versionem ceteris omnibus anteponit, eamque ab ecclesiis christianis communiter recipi ac probari affirmat, quod sit in verbis clarior, et veracior in sententiis. Sophronius quoque, vir eruditissimus, sancti Hieronymi translationem non latinis modo, sed etiam græcis valde probari animadvertens, tanti eam fecit, ut psalterium et prophetas ex Hieronymi versione in græcum eleganti sermone transtulerit. Porro qui secuti sunt, viri doctissimi, Remigius, Beda, Rabanus, Haymo, Anselmus, Petrus Damiani, Richardus, Hugo, Bernardus, Rupertus, Petrus Lombardus, Alexander, Albertus, Thomas, Bonaventura, ceterique omnes, qui his nongentis annis in Ecclesia floruerunt, sancti Hieronymi versione ita sunt usi, ut ceteræ, quæ pene innumerabiles erant, quasi lapsæ de manibus theologorum, penitus obsoleverint. Quare non immerito catholica Ecclesia sanctum Hieronymum doctorem maximum, atque ad Scripturas sacras interpretandas divinitus excitatum ita celebrat, ut jam difficile non sit illorum omnium damnare judicium, qui vel tam eximii doctoris lucubrationibus non acquiescunt, vel etiam meliora, aut certe paria præstare se posse confidunt.

Ceterum ne tam fidelis translatio, tamque in omnes partes Ecclesiæ utilis, vel injuria temporum, vel impressorum incuria, vel temere emendantium audacia, ulla ex parte corrumperetur, eadem sacrosancta Synodus Tridentina illud Decreto suo sapienter adjecit, ut hæc ipsa vetus ac Vulgata editio emendatissime, quoad fieri posset, imprimeretur : neque ulli liceret eam sine facultate et approbatione superiorum excudere. Quo Decreto simul typographorum temeritati ac licentiæ modum imposuit, et pastorum Ecclesiæ in tanto bono quam diligentissime retinendo, et conservando, vigilantiam, atque industriam excitavit.

Et quamvis insignium Academiarum Theologi in editione Vulgata pristino suo nitori restituenda magna cum laude laboraverint ; quia tamen in tanta re nulla potest esse nimia diligentia, et codices manuscripti complures et vetustiores Summi Pontificis jussu conquisiti, atque in Urbem advecti erant ; et demum, quoniam executio generalium Conciliorum, et ipsa Scripturarum integritas ac puritas ad curam Apostolicæ Sedis potissimum pertinere cognoscitur ; ideo Pius IV Pontifex Maximus pro sua in omnes Ecclesiæ partes incredibili vigilantia, lectissimis aliquot sanctæ romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalibus, aliisque tum Sacrarum litterarum, tum variarum linguarum peritissimis viris, eam provinciam demandavit, ut Vulgatam editionem latinam, adhibitis antiquissimis codicibus manuscriptis, inspectis quoque hebraicis, græcisque bibliorum fontibus ; consultis denique veterum Patrum commentariis, accuratissime castigarent. Quod itidem institutum Pius V prosecutus est. Verum conventum illum ob varias, gravissimasque Sedis Apostolicæ occupationes jamdudum intermissum, Sixtus V divina providentia ad summum Sacerdotium evocatus, ardentissimo studio revocavit, et opus tandem confectum typis mandari jussit. Quod cum jam esset excusum, et ut in lucem emitteretur, idem Pontifex operam daret, animadvertens non pauca in sacra Biblia præli vitio irrepsisse, quæ iterata diligentia indigere viderentur, totum opus sub incudem revocandum censuit atque decrevit. Id vero cum morte præventus præ stare non potuisset, Gregorius XIV qui, post Urbani VII duodecim dierum Pontificatum, Sixto successerat, ejus animi intentionem executus perficere aggressus est, amplissimis aliquot Cardinalibus, aliisque doctissimis viris ad hoc iterum deputatis. Sed eo quoque, et qui illi successit, Innocentio IX brevissimo tempore de hac luce subtractis ; tandem sub initium Pontificatus Clementis VIII qui nunc Ecclesiæ universæ gubernacula tenet, opus, in quod Sixtus V intenderat, Deo bene juvante perfectum est.

Accipe igitur, christiane lector, eodem Clemente Summo Pontifice annuente, ex Vaticana typographia veterem ac Vulgatam sacræ Scripturæ editionem, quanta fieri potuit diligentia castigatam : quam quidem sicut omnibus numeris absolutam, pro humana imbecillitate affirmare difficile est, ita ceteris omnibus, quæ ad hanc usque diem prodierunt, emendatiorem, purioremque esse, minime dubitandum. Et vero quamvis in hac Bibliorum recognitione in codicibus manuscriptis, hebræis, græcisque fontibus, et ipsis veterum Patrum commentariis conferendis non mediocre studium adhibitum fuerit ; in hac tamen pervulgata lectione sicut nonnulla consulto mutata, ita etiam alia, quæ mutanda videbantur, consulto immutata relicta sunt ; tum quod ita faciendum esse ad offensionem populorum vitandam sanctus Hieronymus non semel admonuit : tum quod facile fieri posse credendum est, ut majores nostri, qui ex hebræis, et græcis latina fecerunt, copiam meliorum, et emendatiorum librorum habuerint, quam ii, qui post illorum ætatem ad nos pervenerunt, qui fortasse tam longo tempore identidem describendo minus puri, atque integri evaserunt ; tum denique quia sacræ Congregationi amplissimorum Cardinalium, aliisque eruditissimis viris ad hoc opus a Sede Apostolica delectis propositum non fuit, novam aliquam editionem cudere, vel antiquum interpretem ulla ex parte corrigere, vel emendare ; sed ipsam veterem, ac Vulgatam editionem latinam a mendis veterum librariorum, necnon pravarum emendationum erroribus repurgatam, suæ pristinæ integritati, ac puritati, quoad ejus fieri potuit, restituere ; eaque restituta, ut quam emendatissime imprimeretur juxta Concilii œcumenici Decretum pro viribus operam dare.

Porro in hac editione nihil non canonicum, nihil ascititium, nihil extraneum apponere visum est : atque ea causa fuit, cur liber tertius et quartus Esdræ inscripti, quos inter canonicos libros sacra Tridentina Synodus non annumeravit, ipsa etiam Manassæ regis Oratio, quæ neque hebraice, neque græce quidem exstat, neque in manuscriptis antiquioribus invenitur, neque pars est ullius canonici libri, extra canonicæ Scripturæ seriem posita sint : et nullæ ad marginem concordantiæ (quæ posthac inibi apponi non prohibentur), nullæ notæ, nullæ variæ lectiones, nullæ denique præfationes, nulla argumenta ad librorum initia conspiciantur.

Sed sicut Apostolica Sedes industriam eorum non damnat, qui concordantias locorum, varias lectiones, præfationes sancti Hieronymi, et alia id genus in aliis editionibus inseruerunt ; ita quoque non prohibet, quin alio genere caracteris in hac ipsa Vaticana editione ejusmodi adjumenta pro studiosorum commoditate, atque utilitate in posterum adjiciantur ; ita tamen, ut lectiones variæ ad marginem ipsius textus minime annotentur.

Index of Books (Vulgata Clementina ) 46+27 Books