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348 of 350 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Critical edition of THE classic, May 12, 2002
I'm a very new student of Latin, and not an expert on the Vulgate, so take my review for what it's worth. As far as I can tell, there are three versions of the Vulgate in print today, and I have copies of all three of them. So I thought that perhaps those who don't want to buy three versions might appreciate a neophyte's impression of their relative strengths and weaknesses. The full names on the title pages are rather long, so I'll just refer to these three versions briefly as the Stuttgart Vulgate (Biblia Sacra iuxta vulgatam versionem), the New Vulgate (Bibliorum Sacrorum nova vulgata editio), and the Madrid Clementina (Biblia Sacra iuxta Vulgatam Clementinam).The Stuttgart Vulgate is available here on Amazon. It is a critical attempt to restore the Vulgate to its original Latin text. It comes with a complete critical apparatus showing variant readings from the most important Latin manuscripts. This version comes with the prefaces of St. Jerome, the old medieval critical apparatus of the Gospels (canones evangelorum), the apocryphal books of III and IV Ezra, Psalm 151, Prayer of Manasses, and the Epistle to the Laodiceans, as well as the complete Catholic canon. It also contains two complete Psalters, both by St. Jerome: The Psalterium Gallicanum and the Psalterium juxta Hebraicum. The two psalters are laid out side-by-side on facing pages to facilitate comparison. This version attempts to reconstruct the experience of reading a medieval manuscript, so the spelling is medieval, which can be a problem for anyone used to the Clementina, and to anyone looking up words in a dictionary. The text also lacks punctuation: no commas, colons, periods, question marks, or quotation marks; this actually is not a major problem in Latin, which is so rich in conjunctions. However, the lack of question marks sometimes gives me pause, as when Caiaphas says to Jesus "Tu es Christus Filius Benedicti" (Mc 14,61). The text is well cross referenced, and the typeface is modern and easy to read. The Madrid Clementina does not seem to be currently (May 2002) available at Amazon, but it is available elsewhere on the internet. The Clementina was the official Latin text of the Catholic Church from 1502 to 1979. The Madrid edition includes a great many magisterial documents, and the biblical text is footnoted also with references to magisterial documents, although the prefaces of St. Jerome are missing, and there is no critical apparatus. Color maps are provided, but they are labeled in Spanish, not Latin. The orthography is fully modern, with modern punctuation and typeface. Like the Stuttgart Vulgate, this edition has two psalters (in adjacent columns for easy comparison): The traditional Psalterium Gallicanum, and the new Psalterium Pianum, a modern (1940's) translation of the Hebrew into neo-classical Latin. One of the delights of the Clementina is that it eclectically preserves some of the text from the ancient pre-Vulgate Latin versions, which reflect the early Latin liturgy of the Church. The New Vulgate has replaced the Clementina as the official Latin text of the Catholic Church. Its New Testament and most of its Old, like the Stuttgart Vulgate, are based on a critical reconstruction of the original Vulgate text. However, in some cases the ancient text was amended to accord with the modern Greek and Hebrew critical editions. The spelling and punctuation are all modern, so in the majority of the verses the New Vulgate text is identical to the Clementina, but in Psalms, Judith, and Tobit, there are significant differences. I know of two editions of the new Vulgate, the one from Libraria Editrix Vaticana, and the Nestle-Aland edition; both editions are available here at Amazon. We can expect to see much more of the New Vulgate now that its use has been endorsed in the recent encyclical Litugiam Authenticam. The Vatican edition is available used here on Amazon under the title Bibliorum Sacrorum nova vulgata editio. It contains the complete Old and New Testaments, but no prefaces, cross references, nor commentary, and has a minimal critical apparatus. It seems to be designed more for use in the pulpit than the armchair. Physically, it is an excellent tome made from red leather with gold lettering, large typeface in one column with plenty of margin on thick pages. It looks magnificent on my bookshelf. More likely to be on my bureau is the Nestle-Aland edition of the New Vulgate. It contains only the New Testament, and is sold here under the title "Novum Testamentum Latine". The editors provide you with a thorough critical apparatus comparing the New Vulgate with other printed Latin versions such as the Clementina and Stuttgart, mentioned above, the Sistina, the Gutenberg, and some other editions I'm not very familiar with (the Complutensian, Roberti Stephani, Bartolomaei Gravii, and Christophori Plantini). Like the Madrid Clementina, this edition has color maps, but they are labeled in English, not Latin.
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120 of 128 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's better in Latin., September 11, 2000
I would first like to state that I am not a scholar; I am reading the Biblia Sacra Vulgata simply because I wanted to, and my commentary is therefore more from an enjoyment perspective than an educated discussion. That being said...This text is wonderful. I have read the Bible in English, jumping between the King James, American Standard, and the New International Versions. They range from pretty to informative, but none of these translations can possibly compare to the Latin. Latin lacks English's precision, which is a good thing. Hebrew and Greek don't have this inflexibility and I've always felt that an English translation limits the authors' meanings. And although nothing provides the true meaning like the original language, Latin does a lot to alleviate this feeling for me. St. Jerome's translation is beautiful. The text seems to float through the stories with captivating imagery. The diction used adds depth and feeling that only a language like Latin can give. In my mind there are three good reasons to read the Biblia Sacra. First is that it is a beautiful, captivating read. Second is to further your Latin. The Biblia Sacra is not a difficult read and it doesn't take much study in Latin to be able to get through the texts passably. It's Medieval Latin, so the phraseology is much more like a modern Romance language and easier for us students to catch on to than say, Virgil or Cicero. The final reason is for those who, like me, see the Bible as a holy text, and not just a great historical document (which it is as well). Each translation of the Bible has something that the others don't - some insight that only that language and that translator could provide. I recommend you read the Latin to show yourself these stories in a different light. I guarantee you'll find something new and joyous.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite so common any more, October 18, 2005
'The Vulgate Bible' is the traditional name given to the Bible translated into 'common' or 'vulgar' Latin -- in the aftermath of the breakup of the Roman Empire in the West, connections were lost with the Greek East, and languages began to differentiate in various ways, with Latin becoming the 'lingua franca' of the time. By the seventh century, a Bible put together with translations from Jerome and others became the common bible for the West. This edition follows that translation (the original biblical texts were in Hebrew and Greek), following the ordering of Clement, pope in 1592 (rather late in the day; prior to this, there were different orderings of the Bible, and there is still variation between denominations as to ordering and which books get included).
This version includes both the Gallican and Hebrew Psalters side by side (on facing pages), as there is sufficient authority to attest to the validity and integrity of each. Jerome's prologues are included here, placed according to the biblical books' arrangement (not as Clement's printing had it); Clement's more modern division is retained for books that for Jerome were joined -- I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah were each single books for Jerome, but modern chapter/verse/book division has them separate, and for ease of modern scholarship, that is retained here.
The text is printed 'per cola et commata', that is, without punctuation and divisions that would not have appeared in the original Hebrew or Greek manuscripts (many people do not realise that the earliest manuscripts lacked punctuation, chapter, verse, and book designations; many even lacked spaces between words, which thankfully has been incorporated here). Capital letters are used for proper names and sacred names/terms.
Variants are included, but this is not an exhaustive manual of variations, so only a few primary authorities for variations are cited in general.
The text of the Bible, from Genesis to the Revelation, with some apocryphal books, prologues, notes, and even the preface, is all in Latin, the Latin of the Vulgate, which places it several centuries later than 'classical' Latin of Cicero and Catullus, but centuries prior to 'church Latin' proper. There are nearly 2000 pages in two volumes, bound with strong binding and a silk page marker for each sewn into the binding.
Meant for scholars, its use is probably not really appropriate for 'church' use -- given its lack of punctuation, it isn't a text from which to read aloud generally. However, it is a very useful text for those who wish to study the development of Bible -- while it is more 'in vogue' to study the earliest, original language editions, it is undoubtedly true that the Bible in Latin has had perhaps the greatest effect on overall Christendom for the longest period of any language for the Bible, probably rivaled only by the current linguistic champion, English.
Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo
narrabo omnia mirabilia tua!
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