There is probably no book in the Western world that has had a greater impact, over a longer period of time, than the Latin Bible. From the fourth to the sixteenth centuries, it was familiar to almost everyone in Western Europe—read and studied by those who could, and heard by churchgoers on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis. Even after the Reformation and the emergence of vernacular Bibles, it remained influential for hundreds of years, and it is only in our own time that it has gone out of regular use in the Roman Catholic Church. Even so, it continues to be updated, the so-called Nova Vulgata having appeared as recently as 1979, and countless choral compositions keep it alive in public worship. It might be thought that with such a rich tradition behind it, the Latin Bible would be a major object of study, but that is not really true. Biblical scholars prefer to go straight to the original Hebrew and Greek texts, relegating the Latin to a secondary, though not insignificant status. Medievalists, on the other hand, are often interested in other things, and they seldom pay adequate attention to the history of Biblical interpretation, which was so fundamental to the centuries they study. The appearance of a volume like this one is therefore to be welcomed as a timely corrective to this relative indifference. It covers almost every imaginable aspect of its subject and reflects the consensus of leading scholars in the field.
The Handbook contains thirty-one chapters by twenty-seven scholars, drawn from a wide range of academic and ecclesiastical backgrounds. The editor is a clergyman of the Church of England who is also a full-time professor at the University of Birmingham, which gives him a firm foothold in both sacred and secular worlds. Many of the contributors are also active churchgoers and teachers in religious institutions, which gives them a sympathy for their subject, though their scholarship is free of confessional bias. They come from twelve countries and speak seven languages, which gives their contributions a breadth commensurate with their subject. Each chapter stands on its own, with a comprehensive bibliography that allows the reader to pursue particular topics further than the space in the volume allows; yet care has been taken to ensure that every one of them gives a thorough overview of its subject.
The order of the chapters is broadly chronological, though period divisions are not indicated. The first two survey the Old Latin translation(s), which are now being collated and edited and are particularly valuable for the information they contain. It appears that each book of the Bible was translated only once, usually from Greek, and that subsequent variations were then introduced for a variety of reasons. It is hard to generalize, but it appears that the oldest Latin texts were not particularly close to the originals, at least as far as the choice of vocabulary is concerned. The first translators looked for Latin words to replace Greek ones, even when the latter had become technical theological terms in the Christian church. There is no sign of a Jewish translation from Hebrew into Latin—as far as we can tell, Jews used Christian translations when necessary and did not develop a Latin tradition of their own. As time went on, however, the Latin texts drew closer to the Greek and used Latinized forms of Greek words (baptizare, for example) without trying to produce equivalents that might not be readily understood. The idea that there was some kind of “Christian Latin” is thoroughly debunked—the language of the Latin Bible is that of the general educated public of the time.
Several chapters acknowledge the importance—and greatness—of Jerome as a translator, but it is made clear that the Vulgate translation usually ascribed to him was, in fact, the work of many hands. Jerome was unusual in that he was a Hebraist who wanted to translate the Old Testament from Hebrew rather than from Greek and confined himself to the Jewish canon, more or less ignoring the so-called “deuterocanonical” books, with the result that they give us a better picture of the Old Latin versions than the other books do. Jerome also had access to manuscripts that were older and sometimes more accurate than the ones that survive today, making his version particularly valuable in reconstructing the original texts. One interesting point that the authors of this volume bring out is that the Vulgate underwent constant revision in an attempt to improve its accuracy, even as it also suffered from the usual pattern of scribal corruption and the like. Its history is far more complex and fascinating than many people think, and this Handbook takes us down pathways that remain obscure for many people, including specialists.
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the Handbook is the way in which it introduces unfamiliar themes. Where else can we find a concise yet authoritative study of something like Protestant Latin Bibles, or of the way in which art history has been shaped by the Vulgate? What might take a scholar months to put together is here made readily available in an accessible format, which makes it an invaluable starting point for research. Typographical errors are very few, the most notable one being on p. 359 where Donatien de Bruyne is mentioned as having lived from 1817 to 1935, although he was not born until 1871!
The downside to a volume like this is its price, which puts it out of reach of many who stand in greatest need of it. We must hope that a paperback edition will soon appear, but meanwhile every theological library ought to get a copy. Professor Houghton and his colleagues deserve our warmest congratulations for their magnificent effort, which will surely remain the standard resource for its subject for years to come.
