The Oxford Vulgate (full title: ''Nouum Testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi latine, secundum editionem Sancti Hieronymi'', tr.: ''Latin New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the edition of

Saint Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

'') is a

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...

of the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

version of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

produced by scholars of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and published progressively between 1889 and 1954 in 3 volumes.

History

As a result of the inaccuracy of existing editions of the Vulgate, the delegates of

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

accepted in 1878 a proposal from classicist

John Wordsworth John Wordsworth (1843–1911) was an English Anglican bishop and classical scholar. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1883 to 1885, and Bishop of Salisbury from 1885 to 1911. Life H ...

to produce a critical edition of the New Testament. This was eventually published as ''Nouum Testamentum Domini nostri Iesu Christi Latine, secundum editionem sancti Hieronymi'' in three volumes between 1889 and 1954. Along with Wordsworth and

Henry Julian White Henry Julian White (27 August 1859 – 16 July 1934) was an English biblical scholar. White was born in Islington, north London, the second son of Henry John White. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating on 11 October 1878, grad ...

, the completed work lists on its title pages Alexander Ramsbotham. As preliminary work to the full edition, Wordsworth published the text of certain important manuscripts in the series ''Old-Latin Biblical Texts'', with the help of William Sanday, H. J. White (professor of New Testament studies at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

), and other scholars. Wordsworth was consecrated

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

in 1885, and White (who became

Dean of Christ Church, Oxford The Dean of Christ Church is the dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and head of the governing body of Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of ...

in 1920) assumed co-editorship of the edition, which was published in fascicles beginning with the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

in 1889; the first volume, with an extensive epilogue discussing the history of the manuscripts and the text, was completed in 1898.

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

, forming the beginning of the third volume, was published in 1905. In 1911, Wordsworth and White produced a smaller ''editio minor'' with the complete text of the New Testament and a limited apparatus, but using modern punctuation. Wordsworth died in 1911. Even with the death of some of those involved in the project during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the second volume (containing the

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest extan ...

) had been published as far as the

Second Epistle to the Corinthians The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author named Timothy, and is addressed to the church in Corinth and Christians in the ...

by 1926. In 1933, White enlisted Sparks to assist him in the work, who after White's death in 1934 assumed primary responsibility for the edition. After its completion, he served on the editorial board for the

Stuttgart edition of the Vulgate Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swa ...

, beginning in 1959.

Manuscripts used

The edition, commonly known as Oxford Vulgate, relies primarily on the texts of the

Codex Amiatinus The Codex Amiatinus (also known as the Jarrow Codex) is considered the best-preserved manuscript of the Latin Vulgate versionBruce M. Metzger, ''The Text of the New Testament'' (Oxford University Press 2005), p. 106. of the Christian Bible. It w ...

Codex Fuldensis The Codex Fuldensis, also known as the Victor Codex (Hessian State Library, ''Codex Bonifatianus I''), designated by F, is a New Testament manuscript based on the Latin Vulgate made between 541 and 546. The codex is considered the second most impo ...

(Codex Harleianus in the Gospels),

Codex Sangermanensis Codex Sangermanensis designated by Dabs1 or 0319 (in the numbering Gregory-Aland), α 1027 ( Soden), is a tenth-century diglot manuscript, formerly in the library of St. Germain des Prés, Paris, hence its name ''Sangermanensis'', "of Saint Ge ...

and

Codex Mediolanensis The ''Codex Mediolanensis'' or ''Fragmentum Mediolanense'', designated by g2 or 52 (in Beuron system), is a 10th- or 11th-century Latin manuscript of the New Testament. The text, written on vellum, is a version of the Vetus Latina. The manuscript c ...

; but also consistently cites readings in the so-called DELQR group of manuscripts, named after the

sigla Scribal abbreviations or sigla (singular: siglum) are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mechanica ...

it uses for them:

Book of Armagh The ''Book of Armagh'' or Codex Ardmachanus (ar or 61) ( ga, Leabhar Ard Mhacha), also known as the ''Canon of Patrick'' and the ''Liber Ar(d)machanus'', is a 9th-century Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the L ...

(D), Egerton Gospels (E),

Lichfield Gospels The Lichfield Gospels (recently more often referred to as the St Chad Gospels, but also known as the Book of Chad, the Gospels of St Chad, the St Teilo Gospels, the Llandeilo Gospels, and variations on these) is an 8th-century Insular Gospel ...

(L),

Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( la, Codex Cenannensis; ga, Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New ...

(Q), and Rushworth Gospels (R).

References

External links

* * * {{Cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/nouumtestamentum03whit, title=Nouum Testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi latine, secundum editionem Sancti Hieronymi, date=1954, publisher=

The Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, editor-last=Wordsworth, editor-first=John, volume=3, location=Oxford, editor-last2=White, editor-first2=Henry Julian Editions of the Vulgate 19th-century Latin books 20th-century Latin books New Testament editions

History

Manuscripts used

See also

References

External links