Vulgate

8th-century Vulgate manuscript (Codex Sangallensis 63) with the Comma Johanneum at the bottom margin

Frontispiece of the original 1592 Sixto-Clementine Vulgate

The Vulgate (also called Biblia Vulgata, 'Bible in common tongue'), sometimes referred to as the Latin Vulgate, 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 Vetus Latina Gospels used by the Roman Church. Later, on his own initiative, Jerome extended this work of revision and translation to include most of the books of the Bible. The Vulgate became progressively adopted as the Bible text within the Western Church. Over succeeding centuries, it eventually eclipsed the Vetus Latina. By the 13th century it had taken over from the former version the designation versio vulgata (the 'version commonly used') or vulgata for short. The Vulgate also contains some Vetus Latina translations that Jerome did not work on.

The Vulgate was to become the Catholic Church's officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible as the Sixtine Vulgate (1590), then as the Clementine Vulgate (1592), and then as the Nova Vulgata (1979). The Vulgate is still currently used in the Latin Church. The Catholic Church affirmed the Vulgate as its official Latin Bible at the Council of Trent (1545–1563), though there was no authoritative edition at that time. The Clementine edition of the Vulgate became the standard Bible text of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, and remained so until 1979 when the Nova Vulgata was promulgated.

Quotes

English translations are from the Douay–Rheims Bible, unless otherwise cited

• Stāte super viās et interrogāte dē sēmitīs antīquīs que sit via bona et ambulāte in eā et inveniētis et refrīgerium animābus vestrīs.
• Stand ye on the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls.
  • Jeremiah 6:16

• Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant [in caelo: Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus: et hi tres unum sunt.]
  [Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra]: spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis: et hi tres unum sunt.
• And there are Three who give testimony [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.]
  [And there are three that give testimony on earth]: the spirit and the water and the blood. And these three are one.
  • 1 John 5:7–8. Johannine Comma

Classical and Foreign Quotations (1904)

Magna est veritas et prevalet
Great is truth and it prevaileth

Radix enim malorum omnium cupiditas
The love of money is the root of all evil

Super flumina Babylonis
By the waters of Babylon

Reported in: W. F. H. King, ed., Classical and Foreign Quotations (1904), nos. 3, 11, 108, 371, 385, 543, 549, 580, 600, 656, 721, 756, 1137, 1404, 1430, 1504, 1516, 1642, 1661, 1677, 1698, 1702, 1764, 1920, 2130, 2312, 2346, 2518, 2614, 2642, 2645, 2664, 2812, 2872, 2887, 2940, 2969a, 2996

• Prout vultis ut faciant vobis homines, et vos facite illis similiter.
• As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them in like manner.
  • Luke 6, 31

• Abyssus abyssum invocat.
• Deep calleth on deep.
  • Psalms 42, 7

• Magna est veritas et prevalet.
• Great is truth and it prevaileth.
  • 3 Esdras 4, 41

• Corrumpunt bonos mores colloquia mala.
• Evil communications corrupt good manners.
  • Corinthians 1, 15, 33
  • Menander: T. Kock ed. Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta, Vol. 3 (1888), p. 62, no. 218

• Radix enim malorum omnium cupiditas.
• The desire of money is the root of all evils.
  • 1 Timothy 6, 10
  • Compare: Ovid, Metamorphoses 1, 140

• Dignus est operarius mercede sua.
• The labourer is worthy of his hire.
  • Luke 10, 7

• Sic pereant omnes inimici tui, Domine: qui autem diligunt te, sicut sol in ortu suo splendet, ita rutilent!
• So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love thee shine, as the sun shineth in his rising.
  • Judges 5, 31
  • Compare: Virgil, Georgics 3, 513; Ovid, Amores 3, 11, 16

• Dominus illuminatio mea.
• The Lord is my light.
  • Psalms 26, 1. Motto of the University of Oxford

• Comedamus et bibamus, cras enim moriemur.
• Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we shall die.
  • Isaiah 22, 13

• In omnibus operibus tuis memorare novissima tua, et in æternum non peccabis.
• In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.
  • Ecclesiasticus 7, 40

• Ex abundantia enim cordis os loquitur.
• Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
  • Matthew 12, 34

• Lata porta, et spatiosa via est que ducit ad perditionem, et multi sunt qui intrant per eam.
• Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat.
  • Matthew 7, 13
  • Compare: Virgil, Aeneid 6, 126

• Vir sapiens fortis est, et vir doctus robustus et validus.
• A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant.
  • Proverbs 24, 5
  • Compare: Scientia potentia est

• Cor hominis disponit viam suam; sed Domini est dirigere gressus ejus.
• The heart of man disposeth his way: but the Lord must direct his steps.
  • Proverbs 16, 9

• Litera enim occidit, spiritus autem vivificat.
• The letter killeth: but the spirit quickeneth.
  • 1 Corinthians 3, 6

• Medice, cura te ipsum.
• Physician, heal thyself.
  • Luke 4, 33

• Molliti sunt sermones ejus super oleum: et ipsi sunt jacula.
• His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts.
  • Psalms 54, 21

• Omnia mihi licent, sed omnia non expediunt.
• All things are lawful to me: but all things are not expedient.
  • Corinthians 1, 10, 23

• Nemo propheta acceptus est in patriâ suâ.
• No prophet is accepted in his own country.
  • Luke 4, 24

• Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus et flevimus, quum recordaremur Sion.
• Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion.
  • Psalms 137, 1

• Duplex enim illos acceperat tedium et gemitus cum memoria præteritorum.
• A double affliction came upon them, and a groaning for the remembrance of things past.
  • Wisdom 11, 13

• Nihil sub sole novum.
• Nothing under the sun is new.
  • Ecclesiastes 1, 10

• Corona dignitatis senectus, quæ in viis justitiæ reperitur.
• Old age is a crown of dignity, when it is found in the ways of justice.
  • Proverbs 16, 31

• Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
• Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to thy name give glory.
  • Psalms 113, 9 (115, 1). Often sung as a grace after meals.

• Omnis homo mendax.
• Every man is a liar.
  • Psalms 115, 2. This is what the Psalmist said “in his haste”

• Porro unum est necessarium.
• But one thing is necessary.
  • Luke 10, 42

• Qui parcit viræ odit filium.
• He that spareth the rod, hateth his son.
  • Proverbs 13, 24

• Quod scripsi, scripsi.
• What I have written, I have written.
  • John 20, 22

• Sicut populus, sic sacerdos.
• Like people like priest.
  • Hosea 4, 9

• Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro vero infirma.
• The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
  • Mark 14, 38

• Attingit ergo a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponit omnia suaviter.
• She reacheth, therefore, from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly.
  • Wisdom 8, 1

• Sufficit diei malitia sua.
• Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.
  • Matthew 6, 34

• Levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in cælos.
• Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.
  • Lamentations 3, 41

• Ante mortem ne laudes hominem quemquam.
• Praise not any man before death.
  • Ecclesiasticus 11, 30

• Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.
• Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.
  • Ecclesiastes 1, 2

• Ventum seminabunt et turbinem metent.
• They shall sow wind, and reap a whirlwind.
  • Hosea 8, 7

• Militia est vita hominis super terram.
• The life of man upon earth is a warfare.
  • Job 7, 1

• Vox clamantis in deserto.
• The voice of one crying in the desert.
  • Isaiah 40, 3

• Qui fodit foveam, incidet in eam.
• He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it.
  • Proverbs 26, 27

Dictionary of Quotations (1968)

Reported in: Bergan Evans, ed., Dictionary of Quotations (1968), pp. 139, 163, 702, 749

Noli me tangere
Do not touch me

• Benedic Deo et morere.
• Bless God and die.
  • Job 2:9. Job's wife's advice to him.
  • Compare: Curse God, and die (KJV)

• De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.
• Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord.
  • Psalms 129:1 (130:1)

• Noli me tangere.
• Do not touch me.
  • John 20:17

• Vox clamantis in deserto.
• A voice of one crying in the wilderness.
  • Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4

About the Vulgate

Pope Sixtus V commissioned and edited the 1590 Sixtine Vulgate

• The Vulgate, from which the Douay derives, not only resulted from manuscripts hundreds of years older than those used by King James' men but derived from a canon which the whole Church for 1600 years before Luther held to be Sacred. In fact, the Septuagint Greek Bible, the Bible used by Greek−speaking Jews and gotten together long before is the true index to the books which the pre-Christian Jews and all the first Christians held sacred. The Septuagint has the same books as the Vulgate and, in fact, it was used as a guide by the translators of the Vulgate 1200 years before the first Protestant was born and just about the time that the Jewish rabbis were deciding that they wanted no part of some of the texts their ancestors had venerated.
  • R. Gerald Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist (1951), Ch. 1

• The medieval period based its scriptural exegesis upon the Vulgate translation of the Bible. There was no authorized version of this text, despite the clear need for a standardized text that had been carefully checked against its Hebrew and Greek originals. A number of versions of the text were in circulation, their divergences generally being overlooked. It was not until 1592 than an 'official' version of the text was produced by the church authorities, sensitive to the challenges to the authority of the Vulgate by Renaissance humanist scholars and Protestant theologians.
• For the humanists, whatever authority Scripture might possess derived from the original texts in their original languages, rather than from the Vulgate, which was increasingly recognized as unreliable and inaccurate. In that the catholic church continued to insist that the Vulgate was a doctrinally normative translation, a tension inevitably developed between humanist biblical scholarship and catholic theology. ... Through immediate access to the original text in the original language, the theologian could wrestle directly with the 'Word of God', unhindered by 'filters' of glosses and commentaries that placed the views of previous interpreters between the exegete and the text. For the Reformers, 'sacred philology' provided the key by means of which the theologian could break free from the confines of medieval exegesis and return ad fontes, to the title deeds of the Christian faith rather than their medieval expressions, to forge once more the authentic theology of the early church.
  • Alister E. McGrath, The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation (1987), Ch. 4