medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
V. Kerry Inman wrote:
>
> I keep seeing the word "Vulgate" in this discussion. Has "Vulgate"
> become a word like "Septuagint," meaningless? (Sorry, RAK) When the
> term "Vulgate" is used does it mean "Latin"? It shouldn't. It
> should be reserved for Jerome's translation as distinguished from Old
> Latin Versions. When we are talking of the Psalms we seldom
> encounter Jerome's translation in quotations or versions. The last
> time I studied them in detail, the Old English Psalms were clearly
> based on an Old Latin version and not the "Vulgate" at all. If I
> learned anything from RAK it was to define my terms. (At the cost of
> a minus in front of my grade!)
>
I think "Vulgate" very probably is meaningless. Restricting it to "Jerome's
translation" is probably hopeless, especially as that probably wasn't
exactly what anyone in the Middle Ages actually had in front of them. The
"Stuttgart Vulgate" seeks to reproduce precisely what Jerome wrote, but as
changes set in almost immediately, the usefulness of that edition isn't
readily obvious. I would much prefer to have a 'typical Medieval Vulgate' -
whatever that might be! (Incidentally, nearly all copies of "The Vulgate"
loose on the internet are defective copies of the Stuttgart Vulgate.) Even
the "Clementine Vulgate" underwent changes - particularly in the 20th
century! The existence of a "Nova Vulgata" suggests that the unqualified
use of the word "Vulgate" is unwise. (There isn't a single Old Latin
version either, and seeing that Jerome was revising one or more of them, and
didn't finish the task because he got interested in Hebrew ... )
John Briggs
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