The "Vulgate": The Bible of the Mewdieval Latin World

The "Vulgate" was the translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, done mostly by St. Jerome (c. 400), which became standard in medieval western Europe.

(The online New Catholic Encyclopedia has articles on versions of the Bible and (look for "versions from the Hebrew, (6)" on the Vulgate

Modern English Bibles of all denominations, beginning with those of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, often went back afresh to the original sources and sometimes made different decisions about what to include or exclude. You should note that the text of the King James version, for instance, often differs substantially from the medieval Vulgate (sometimes excluding whole books which the Vulgate contained).

The translation of the Vulgate available in modenr English is the "Douay-Rheims" version, originally made by members of the English College in the Roman Catholic community at Douai and Reims (New Testament published 1582, Old Testament 1609).You can access the Douay-Rheims translation online.

The reprinting at this site is a somewhat revised edition but remains the available English version closest to the medieval Latin.

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