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Vetus Latina

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Verses from the Vetus Latina Gospel of John (16:23–30) as they appear on a page of the Codex Vercellensis

Vetus Latina is the diverse body of Old Latin biblical translations used by Western Christians before and alongside the Vulgate, preserving important evidence for early Latin Christianity and ancient Greek textual forms.

Overview

The Vetus Latina ("Old Latin" in Latin), denoted by the siglum \mathfrak{{L}}, are the Latin translations of biblical texts (both Old Testament and New Testament) that preceded the Vulgate (the Latin translation produced by Jerome in the late 4th century).

The Vetus Latina translations continued to be used alongside the Vulgate, but eventually the Vulgate became the standard Latin Bible used by the Catholic Church, especially after the Council of Trent (1545–1563) affirmed the Vulgate translation as authoritative for the text of Catholic Bibles. However, the Vetus Latina texts survive in some parts of the liturgy (e.g., the Pater Noster).

As the English translation of Vetus Latina is "Old Latin", the pre-Vulgate translations are also sometimes referred to as the Old Latin Bible,[1] although they are written in the form of Latin known as Late Latin, not that known as Old Latin. The Vetus Latina manuscripts that are preserved today are dated from AD 350 to the 13th century.

The term Itala ("Italian"), also Vetus Itala ("Old Italian") or Old Italic, may be used synonymously with Vetus Latina, but Augustine of Hippo introduced the term Itala for a particular Latin text stream. Modern scholarship often distinguishes the Itala from the Afra or Vetus Afra ("[Old] African") text forms.[2]

Old Latin translations

Vetus Latina means Old Latin and names a family of translations rather than one standardized Bible. Latin-speaking Christians translated biblical books principally from Greek, producing textual forms that varied by region, book, and revision. Their beginnings preceded Saint Jerome, and their language reflects the developing Christian Latin vocabulary of North Africa, Italy, Gaul, and other communities. Manuscripts often preserve only portions, while citations in Fathers such as Cyprian and Augustine provide additional witnesses.

The Old Testament was commonly translated from Greek forms associated with the Septuagint, while New Testament translations reflect ancient Greek exemplars. Because a version can preserve a reading older than its surviving source-language manuscripts, Old Latin evidence matters for textual criticism. Translation technique must first be understood: a distinctive Latin wording may reflect a different Greek Vorlage, a loose rendering, harmonization, correction, or later mixture with Vulgate readings.

Not a single edition

References to the Old Latin Bible should not imply one publisher, date, or fixed text. Scholars classify witnesses by book and textual affiliation, and the same manuscript can contain layers. The collective name is useful because the traditions precede the dominance of Jerome's work, but their plurality was one reason revision became necessary. Ecclesial use gave them historical authority without making every variant an equally approved form for doctrine or public worship.

Jerome and the Vulgate tradition

Jerome revised the Latin Gospels against Greek manuscripts and translated much of the Old Testament anew, increasingly from Hebrew. The later Latin Vulgate is nevertheless composite: some books or portions derive from earlier Latin forms or other revisers, and centuries of copying introduced mixture. It is therefore inaccurate to treat Vetus Latina and Vulgate as two perfectly uniform editions or to attribute every Vulgate line directly to Jerome.[3]

The newer translations gradually became common through use rather than replacing every Old Latin text by one administrative act. Older renderings persisted in manuscripts, Fathers, chant, liturgical formulas, and particular biblical books. Comparison helps explain why Latin patristic quotations can differ from the Clementine or Nova Vulgata. Such differences are not evidence that a Father lacked Scripture; they witness the textual world from which Western Catholic theology and worship developed.[4]

Liturgical survivals

Certain Latin liturgical phrases preserve wording older than or different from the dominant Vulgate because worship has its own history of reception. A chant or antiphon can lawfully retain a venerable form without becoming the critical base for translating the entire Bible. The distinction among liturgical text, scriptural witness, and scholarly reconstruction allows the Church to preserve patrimony while continuing philological study.

Textual and theological importance

Old Latin witnesses help reconstruct Greek textual history, trace translation choices, and understand early Christian exegesis. Their value depends upon date, independence, quality, and the translator's habits, not simply upon being Latin or ancient. A reading attested in an early version can be significant but must be weighed with Greek or Hebrew manuscripts and other versions. Textual criticism seeks the earliest attainable inspired wording rather than choosing the most familiar ecclesial phrase automatically.[5]

Catholic doctrine does not require one surviving language to be verbally perfect. Trent's declaration of Vulgate authenticity concerned the Latin Church's public use and doctrinal reliability, not critical superiority in every word; Pius XII expressly encouraged recourse to original languages. The Vetus Latina illustrates how Scripture is faithfully transmitted through human history: real texts, revisions, local usages, and variants exist under providence without destroying the Church's possession of the Word.[6][7]

Citation and naming

A claim about a significant variant should identify the specific Old Latin manuscript, patristic citation, or edition. Saying the Vetus Latina reads something can be too broad when witnesses disagree. Old Latin and Itala have sometimes been used with overlapping or narrower meanings; modern scholarship generally prefers precise sigla and book-level classification. Exact citation makes historical claims verifiable and prevents a complex tradition from becoming an apologetic slogan.

Text

There is no single "Vetus Latina Bible". Instead, Vetus Latina is a collection of biblical manuscript texts that are Latin translations of Septuagint and New Testament passages that preceded Jerome's Vulgate.[1] Scholars have identified four main text-types: Old African (from c.250), Recent African, Early European, and Italian.[8]: 135

Old Testament

Some of the oldest surviving Vetus Latina versions of the Old Testament include the Quedlinburg Itala fragment, a 5th-century manuscript containing parts of 1 Samuel, and the Codex Complutensis I, a 10th-century manuscript containing Vetus Latina readings of the Book of Ruth, Book of Esther,[9] Book of Tobit,[10] Book of Judith, and 1-2 Maccabees.[11]

New Testament

There are over 80 manuscripts or fragments with Latin translations of New Testament books that pre-date Jerome (i.e. before AD 350). There are around 50 for the Gospels in particular.[12] The vetus latina were revised to form the Vulgate New Testament: Jerome producing the Gospels and an unknown scholar producing the rest.

After comparing readings for Luke 24:4–5 in Vetus Latina manuscripts, Bruce Metzger counted "at least 27 variant readings in Vetus Latina manuscripts that have survived" for this passage alone.[13]

Replacement

When Jerome undertook the revision of Latin translations of Old Testament texts in the late 4th century, he checked the Septuagint and Vetus Latina translations against the Hebrew texts that were then available. He broke with church tradition and translated most of the Old Testament of his Vulgate from Hebrew sources rather than from the Greek Septuagint. His choice was severely criticized by Augustine, his contemporary; a flood of still less moderate criticism came from those who regarded Jerome as a forger. While on the one hand he argued for the superiority of the Hebrew texts in correcting the Septuagint on both philological and theological grounds, on the other, in the context of accusations of heresy against him, Jerome would acknowledge the Septuagint texts as well.[14]

Comparisons with the Vulgate

Below are some comparisons of the Vetus Latina with text from critical editions of the Vulgate.

The following comparison is of Luke 6:1–4, taken from the Vetus Latina text in the Codex Bezae:

Vetus Latina[15] Latin Vulgate[16] Douay Rheims
Et factum est eum in Sabbato secundoprimo abire per segetes discipuli autem illius coeperunt vellere spicas et fricantes manibus manducabant. factum est autem in sabbato secundoprimo cum transiret per sata vellebant discipuli eius spicas et manducabant confricantes manibus And it came to pass on the second first sabbath, that as he went through the corn fields, his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
Quidam autem de farisaeis dicebant ei, Ecce quid faciunt discipuli tui sabbatis quod non licet? quidam autem Pharisaeorum dicebant illis quid facitis quod non licet in sabbatis And some of the Pharisees said to them: Why do you that which is not lawful on the sabbath days?
Respondens autem IHS dixit ad eos, Numquam hoc legistis quod fecit David quando esuriit ipse et qui cum eo erat? et respondens Iesus ad eos dixit nec hoc legistis quod fecit David cum esurisset ipse et qui cum eo erant And Jesus answering them, said: Have you not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was hungry, and they that were with him:
Intro ibit in domum Dei et panes propositionis manducavit et dedit et qui cum erant quibus non licebat manducare si non solis sacerdotibus? quomodo intravit in domum Dei et panes propositionis sumpsit et manducavit et dedit his qui cum ipso erant quos non licet manducare nisi tantum sacerdotibus How he went into the house of God, and took and ate the bread of proposition, and gave to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat but only for the priests?

The Vetus Latina text survives in places in the Catholic liturgy, such as the following verse well known from Christmas carols, Luke 2:14:

Vetus Latina[17] Latin Vulgate[18] King James Version (1611) Douay Rheims
Gloria in excelsis Deo, et super terra pax in hominibus consolationis gloria in altissimis Deo et in terra pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.

The Vetus Latina text means, "Glory [belongs] to God among the high, and peace [belongs] to men of good will on earth". The Vulgate text means "Glory [belongs] to God among the most high and peace among men of good will on earth".

Probably the most well known difference between the Vetus Latina and the Vulgate is in the Pater Noster, where the phrase from the Vetus Latina, Panem nostrum cotidianum, "our daily bread", becomes Panem nostrum supersubstantialem, "our supersubstantial bread" in the Vulgate; the Vetus Latina form being retained in the Roman Missal for liturgical use.

See also

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Plater, W. E; White, H. J. (1926). A Grammar of the Vulgate. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Par. 4.
  2. Back to citation Houghton, H. A. G., ed. (April 10, 2023). "Introduction". The Oxford Handbook of the Latin Bible. Oxford University Press. pp. xxv–xxxviii. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190886097.002.0100. ISBN 978-0-19-088609-7.
  3. Back to citation Scripturae Sacrae Affectus — Pope Francis on Saint Jerome's use of Hebrew and Greek, his translations and revisions, the Vulgate's composite development, textual scholarship, and Scripture in ecclesial life.
  4. Back to citation Dei Verbum, 8–13 and 21–25 — Vatican II on Tradition's transmission of the canon, inspiration and interpretation, the Old and New Testaments, ancient versions, accurate translations, and Scripture in the Church.
  5. Back to citation Providentissimus Deus — Leo XIII on the complete canonical books as inspired in all their parts, the authority of Scripture, ancient texts and versions, interpretation, and scholarly safeguards.
  6. Back to citation Divino Afflante Spiritu — Pius XII on inspired originals, original languages, textual criticism, ancient versions, the Vulgate's juridical authenticity, literary study, and Catholic exegetical work.
  7. Back to citation Scripturarum Thesaurus — Saint John Paul II's promulgation of the Nova Vulgata, describing its relation to the Vulgate tradition, original-language critical texts, and the Church's Latin biblical patrimony.
  8. Back to citation Lorenz, Peter (1 January 2021). "The Latin Version and the Greek Tradition in the Gospel of Mark". Novum Testamentum Graecum EditioCritica Maior I Synoptic Gospels: The Gospel of Mark, Vol. 3: Studien.
  9. Back to citation Paton, Lewis Bayles (1908). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Esther. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 40.
  10. Back to citation Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2000). The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-8028-4650-1. OCLC 43063137.
  11. Back to citation Temporini, Hildegard (1992). Haase, Wolfgang (ed.). Aufstieg Und Niedergang Der Romischen Welt (Rise and Decline of the Roman World). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co. p. 242. ISBN 978-3-11-013489-6.
  12. Back to citation Burton, Philip (16 November 2000). "Lines of Enquiry". The Old Latin Gospels: 3–13. doi:10.1093/0198269889.003.0001. ISBN 0-19-826988-9.
  13. Back to citation Metzger, Bruce (2005). The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780195166675.
  14. Back to citation Rebenich, Stefan (2013). Jerome. London: Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-203-45682-8.
  15. Back to citation Willker, Wieland (2005). "A textcritical look at the Rennes-le-Chateau hoax". Codex Bezae and the Da Vinci Code. Universität Bremen. Archived from the original on 2009-01-07.
  16. Back to citation "SECUNDUM LUCAM 6 - Biblia Sacra Vulgata". Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
  17. Back to citation "Christian Works: Codex Bezae". Cambridge Digital Library. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  18. Back to citation "SECUNDUM LUCAM 2 - Biblia Sacra Vulgata". Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.

Bibliography

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