New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-25

Il Note on the Pope's Decree for Its
Revision.

ht(tStDH.
The announcement from Rome that the Pope
has issued decree ntrusting the revision of the
Nulgate TO the Benedictine order equals in gen
eral interest and importance any step taken by
the Vatican for many years. The very name of
the Latin version of the Scriptures comes from
| the fact that it at time the version in
common use. To-day it is the only version
authorized by the Catholic Church, and any
country which wishes for Bible in its own Ian
guase must use a translation of the Vugate.
From ii. therefore. the Douay Bible, used by
| Catholics in English speaking countries has
been translated. and is the version universally
employed by them. But Protestants, too are
much indebted to 1t. many words, phrases and
sentences in the Authorized and Revised
sions OF the Bible owing their origin to it. usu
ally through the medium OF Tyndales transla-
ton. Some of these are pinnacle of the tenn
pie This night is thy soul required of thee"
IN my Fathers house are many mansions"
Let run the race that is set before us" and
written on their forehead" In these and other
passages where Tyndale followed the Vulgate
the American revisers of the Authorized Version
have adopted his translation word for word-a
striking proof of the accuracy of his scholar
ship The prayer book OF the Episcopal Church
in America and England also contains two
transations from the Vulgate. the Benedcite
and the Psalter, translated by Miles Coverdale.
Previous to this great work Of St Jerome, &C
complished by him between the years 3S7 A. d.
and 400 a. d, there were in existence large
number of Latin manuscripts OF the New Testa-
ment, usually grouped in three families-Ehro-
pean, African and Italian Perhaps the most
famous was that known ITALIA" made in
Africa in the second century and praised by ST.
Augustin for its clearness and fidelity. AS copies
of the Latin versions had to be made by hand.
and as they often altered to agree with
local dialect, n corruption of the text was UNI
avoidable The copyists themselves were often
responsible for this they attempted to i'm
prove the text instead of following IT The
rors in these older manuscripts became serl-
Gus that in order to secure a correct and uniform
text, Pope Damascus In 3s2 A. D., commissioned
st. Jerome TO revise them. In carrying out this
commission ST Jerome translated the entire Old
Testament, except the Apocrypha from the
Hebrew. the Apocrypha from the Greek Septua-
gint and corrected the existing Latin text OF
the New Testament from the best Greek manu-
scripts which he could find His work is spe-
ciany valuable as a witness to Hebrew and
Greek manuscripts Of greater antiquity than
any we now possess. 1t gradually made It's way
through It's own intrinsic merits and for more
than a thousand years was the origin Of all
TRANSACTIONS of the Scriptures in Western
Europe. 1t is computed that there are about
eight thousand copies scattered through the IL
braries Of Europe.
The revision now proposed is by no means
the first TO which the famous version has been
subjected. Acting under the orders of Charles
the Great. Alcuin. in sol a. d. made revision
which claimed to perpetuate the pure Vulgate
text and this followed by reyisiOns by
Theodulf in the ninth century. Lanfranc. Arch
and others These individual efforts not.
however, considered TO have satisfactory re-
suits and the work taken up more fully
and systematically by groups of scholars in the
thirteenth century and revisons issued by the
Domncans Francscans and theOlogians at
the University of Paris headed by Stephen
Iangton. the originator of the modern division
into chapters. During the first half century
of printing at least l24 editions of tho
Vulgate were printed and at the Council
Of Trent 1910 the great variety Of trans
latIons current in the Church" declared
IAN evil TO be remedied." To effect this remedy
the Vulgate edition was held to be authentic
"as representing more correctly the state of the
ancient copies Of the Greek and Hebrew Script
than any other copy" This, however left
unsettled what the standard edition of the
Vulgate itself, and the attention of scholars
was for many years directed to ascertanng
its true text. Their efforts eliminated in the
publication by Pope Sixtus V, in 1890 of an
edition prefaced by a bull which announced that
this edition true. legitimate. authentic and
undoubted in all public and private debates
readings preachings and explanations" ana
that any one who ventured to change it with
out Papal authority would incur the wrath of
God Almighty and of the blessed Apostles Peter
and Paul"
This edition proved. however. to he faulty,
and was recalled by Clement VII. who in l.92
issued a fresh edition. with more than three
thousand alterations from that of Sixtus and
which has since been the standard edition of
the Roman Church. BY Papal decree every edi-
ton OF the Vulgatc must he assimilated to this
one no word of the text may he altered.
even variant readings printed in the margin.
The new revsers have before them arduous
task and it will be interesting to know whether
they will merely endeavor To get accurate
edition of the Vulgate translated by st.
Jerome or will avail themselves of sources of in
formation not at St Jeromes disposal arising
from the discovery of other manuscripts and a
fuller and more careful examination Of all ex-
listing manuscripts. the work of such men os
Kennicolt. De Rossi, Davidson and others, gath
ering together In available form all the material
from which light the true text be ob-
tanned. We hope that this larger work will be
undertaken by them and in many respects 1t
will not differ from the work of the American
and English revision committees the original
text of the Scriptures. One leading difference
between the Vulgate and its English ransa-
ton, the Douay. and the authorized and revised
versions used by Protestant churches is the ex
clusion from the latter of the Apocrypha as
oft no