VERSIONS
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VERSIONS
Among the Reformers, Latin Scriptural labours
were largely confined to commentaries and the trans-
lation of single books, e. g. Melanchthon, Proverbs
(1524); Luther, Deuteronomy (1525); Brentius, Job
(1527); Draoh, Psahns (1540), Daniel (1544), and
Joel (1565). A complete Hebrew-Latin Old Testa-
ment was given out by Sebastian Munster (Basle,
1534-46). Another Latin version of the Old Testa-
ment (Zurich, 1543, and Paris, 1545), bearing the
name of Leo Juda, w;is partly the work of Bibhander,
who translated Ezechiel, Daniel, Job, Ecclesiastes,
Canticles, and the last forty-eight psalms. Its
Apocrypha were translated from the Greek by P.
Cholin. A version whose author, Castalion, affected
a style of classic elegance, was printed at Basle in
1551. Other versions were put forth by Tremellius
and Junius or du Jon (Frankfurt, 1575-9), and by
Luc and Andrew Osiander, who sought to correct the
Vulgate after the Hebrew.
Hebrew Versions op the New Testament. — In 1537 Sebastian Miinst er published an old translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew, in a rabbinical Hebrew by Schemtob Isaac. Improved editions were made by Tillet (1555), and by Herbst (Gottingen, 1879). The four Gospels were done info classic Hebrew by a converted Jew, Giona, at Rome (1668). The first complete New Testament in Hebrew was made by Elias Hutter and was published in the Nuremberg Polyglot (1600), revised by Robertson (London, UiiiVi). A corrected New Testament in Hebrew was given out by Caddock (London, 1798). A number of Bible Society versions have appeared since 1818, and in 1866 Reichhardt and Biesenthal edited a text with accents and vowels. This was revised by Delitzsch in 1877.
Mixed Sources. Italian Versions. — Evidences of early versions of at least portions of the Scriptures for liturgical purposes, public readings, and private devo- tion are not wanting in the history of the Church among any of the peoples to whom her missionaries carried the Gospel. Leaving them and even many later recensions unnoticed, this article will touch on only the more important versions which have had some part and influence in national rehgious life. In Italy popular knowledge of the Bible in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was spread chiefly by the Franciscan and Dominican Friars. A complete version in the vernacular, a MS, preserved in the National Library at Paris, was made by Nicholas de Nardo, O.P., in 1472. The first printed Bible (Venice, 1471) was due to Nicholas Malermi, O. Camald. A revi- sion of this, with notes, rubrics, and r^sumds largely after the Biblical commentaries of Nicholas Lyra, was made by Marine de Veneto, O.P. (Venice, 1477). Santes Marmochini, O.P. (d. 1545), corrected the heretical version of Bruccioh according to the Vul- gate (Venice, 1538, 1547, etc.). Two noteworthy translations of the New Testament were made by Zaccaria Florentini, O.P. (Venice, 1542), and Donie- nico Gigli (Venice, 1551). The most widely used complete version was produced by Antonio Martini, .\rchbishop of Florence (Turin, 1776-81). It was approved by Pius V'l and has been widely circulated.
The first complete Protestant Bible in Italian was printed at Geneva (1.562). It was made up of the slightly revised heretical text of Bruccioli's Old Testament (L532), which was a perversion of the Latin of Xantes Pagninus, and not, as pretended, a translation from original sources, and of the apostate Massimo Teofilo's New Testament, first published at Lyons (1551), and revised by Gallars and Beza. This was adopted by the Bible societies. Martini's trans- lation was also taken and shaped to Protestant pur- poses bv the British .ind Foreign Bible Society (New Testament, 1813, and Bible, 1S21).
Spanish Versions. — Several M.SS. of early Spanish versions, e. g. the Biblia Alfonsina, and some made
from the Hebrew, are preserved at the Escurial,
Madrid. A later work (sixteenth century) is called
the Bible of Quiroga, a convert from Judaism, who
rose to be cardinal inquisitor. The first printed
Bible (Valencia, 1478), following an Old-Testament
version from the French and Latin by Romeu de
Sabruguera, O.P., was in the Catalonian dialect and
was the work of the General of the Carthusians, Boni-
face Ferrer (d. 1417), a brother of St. Vincent Ferrer,
O.P. His MS. was revised and extensively corrected
by Jaime Borrell, O.P. A later translation, of classic
elegance and with copious notes, by Philip Scio de S.
Miguel, was pubhshed at Madrid (1794). Another
with a paraphrastic commentary in the text was given
out at Madrid (1823) by Amat, but the work is said
to have been taken from a MS. of Father Petisco,
S.J. A New Testament by Francisco de Enzinas
(Antwerp, 1543) was later much used by the British
and Foreign Bible Society. It also adopted a com-
plete version from the Vulgate by the apostate Cassio-
dore Reyna (Basle, 1596), and a revision of this by
the apostate Cypriano de Valera (Amsterdam, 1602).
A Lutheran version, the so-called Biblia delOso, was
published by Juan de Valdes (Basle, 1567-69). The
Bible of Ferrara, or the Bible of the Jews, was a
Spanish version from the Hebrew by Abraham Usque,
a Portuguese Jew. Under a pseudonym he issued an
edition of the same for Christians. It gained con-
siderable authority and was many times reprinted.
A revision by Jos. Athias appeared at Amsterdam in
1661.
Portuguese Versions. — A Portuguese Bible for Cath- olics was issued by Ant. Pereira de Figueiredo at Lis- bon (1784). A New Testament (Amsterdam, 1712), and the Pentateuch and historical books (1719) by J. Ferreira a Almeida, a "convert from Rome", sup- plied the Bible societies with a version for Portuguese Protestants.
Basque Versions. — A New Testament by Jean Li- carrague (Roehelle, 1571) is probably the earliest Biblical work in the Basque tongue. The first Cath- ohc New Testament, translated by Jean Haraneder and later revised by two priests, was published at Bayonne (1855). A complete Bible after the Vulgate was edited at London (1859-65), under the patronage of Prince Lucien Bonaparte. Various portions of the Scriptures and revisions have appeared since.
French Versions. — Versions of the Psalms and the Apocalypse, and a metrical rendering of the Book of Kings, appeared as early as the seventh century. Lip to the fourteenth century, many Bible histories were produced. A complete version of the Bible was made in the thirteenth century; the translation of the vari- ous parts is of unequal merit. The fourteenth cen- tury MS. Anglo-Norman Bible follows it closely. In- dependent of either is the MS. Bible of King John the Good, which though unfinished is described as a "work of science and good taste". Done in the sec- ond half of the fourteenth century, it is largely the work of the Dominicans Jean de Sy, Jehan Nicolas, William Vivien, and Jehan de Chambly. Another incomplete version based on the thirteenth-century Bible was the work of Raoul de Presles and is known as the Bible of Charles V. About 1478, appearing at Lyons among the incunabula of France, is a New Tes- tament by Juhan Macho and Pierre Farget, and the books of the Old Testament histories. A complete Bible was published at Paris in 1487, by Jean de R^ly, confessor to Charles VIII. Up to 1545 it went through twelve editions, being called the Great Bible to distinguish it from the Bible for Simple People, a briefer Old-Testament history, published six times. A complete version done literally from the Vulgate and the Greek New Testament was given out by Lefevred'Etaples (Antwerp, 1.5.30, 1.534, 1.541). After revisions by Nicolas de Leuze (Antwerp, 1.548), and by Louvain theologians (1550), it remained a standard
