Editing Vetus Latina

{{hatnote|"Vetus Latina" is the Latin for "Old Latin". For the form of Latin known as "Old Latin", see [[Old Latin]].}}
{{Short description|Bible translations into Latin before Jerome's Vulgate}}
{{lang title|la}}
[[File:Codex Vercellensis - Old Latin gospel (John ch. 16, v. 23-30) (The S.S. Teacher's Edition-The Holy Bible - Plate XXXII).jpg|thumb|235px|Verses from the ''Vetus Latina'' [[Gospel of John]] (16:23–30) as they appear on a page of the [[Codex Vercellensis]].]]
{{Bible-related |TM}}

The '''''Vetus Latina''''' ("Old Latin" in [[Latin]]), also known as '''''Vetus Itala''''' ("Old Italian"), '''''Itala''''' ("Italian"){{Efn|See, for example, [[Quedlinburg Itala fragment]].|name=|group=note}} and '''Old Italic''', and denoted by the [[siglum]] '''<math>\mathfrak{{L}}</math>''', are the Latin [[Bible translations|translations of biblical texts]] (both [[Old Testament]] and [[New Testament]]) that preceded the [[Vulgate]] (the Latin translation produced by [[Jerome]] in the late 4th century). 

The ''Vetus Latina'' translations continued to be used alongside the Vulgate, but eventually the Vulgate became the standard Latin Bible used by the [[Catholic Church]], especially after the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563) affirmed the Vulgate translation as authoritative for the text of [[Catholic Bibles]]. However, the ''Vetus Latina'' texts survive in some parts of the liturgy (e.g., the ''[[Pater Noster]]'').

As the English translation of ''Vetus Latina'' is "Old Latin", they are also sometimes referred to as the '''Old Latin Bible''',<ref name="plater">W. E. Plater and [[Henry Julian White|H. J. White]], ''A Grammar of the Vulgate'', Oxford at the Clarendon Press: 1926, paragraph&nbsp;4.</ref> although they are written in the [[:Category:Forms of Latin|form of Latin]] known as [[Late Latin]], not that known as [[Old Latin]]. The [[Vetus Latina manuscripts|''Vetus Latina'' manuscripts]] that are preserved today are dated from AD 350 to the 13th century.

== Text ==
There is no single "''Vetus Latina'' Bible". Instead, ''Vetus Latina'' is a collection of biblical [[manuscript]] texts that are Latin translations of [[Septuagint]] and New Testament passages that preceded Jerome's [[Vulgate]].<ref name="plater"/>  

=== Old Testament ===
{{Further|Vetus Latina manuscripts#Old Testament}}
{{See also|Latin Psalters}}
Some of the oldest surviving ''Vetus Latina'' versions of the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh) include the [[Quedlinburg Itala fragment|Quedlinburg ''Itala'' fragment]], a 5th-century manuscript containing parts of [[1 Samuel]], and the [[Codex Complutensis I]], a 10th-century manuscript containing Old Latin readings of the [[Book of Ruth]], [[Book of Esther]],<ref>[[Lewis B. Paton|Lewis Bayles Paton]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=6EySmXMiCmQC&pg=RA1-PA40 ''A critical and exegetical commentary on the book of Esther''], p. 40.</ref> [[Book of Tobit]],<ref>Joseph A. Fitzmyer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9d6gq_bR1AIC&pg=PA163 ''The Dead Sea scrolls and Christian origins''], p. 163.</ref> [[Book of Judith]], and 1-2 Maccabees.<ref>J. K. Elliott, [https://books.google.com/books?id=V2VVpNZ0N9sC&pg=PA242 ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt''] ([[Walter de Gruyter]], 1992), p. 242.</ref>

=== New Testament ===
{{Further|Vetus Latina manuscripts#New Testament}}
There are over [[Vetus Latina manuscripts#New Testament|80 manuscripts or fragments]] with Latin translations of New Testament books that pre-date [[Jerome]] (i.e. before 350 CE). There are around 50 for the Gospels in particular.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burton |first1=Philip |title=Lines of Enquiry |journal=The Old Latin Gospels |date=16 November 2000 |pages=3–13 |doi=10.1093/0198269889.003.0001}}</ref>  The ''vetus latina'' were revised to form the [[Vulgate]] New Testament: Jerome producing the Gospels and an [[Vulgate#Authorship|unknown scholar]] producing the rest.

After comparing readings for [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 24:4–5 in ''Vetus Latina'' manuscripts, [[Bruce Metzger]] counted "at least 27 variant readings in ''Vetus Latina'' manuscripts that have survived" for this passage alone.<ref>{{cite book|last=Metzger|first=Bruce|title=The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=72|isbn=9780195166675}}</ref>

==Replacement==
When [[Jerome]] undertook the revision of Latin translations of [[Old Testament]] texts in the late 4th century, he checked the Septuagint and ''Vetus Latina'' translations against the Hebrew texts that were then available. He broke with church tradition and translated most of the Old Testament of his [[Vulgate]] from Hebrew sources rather than from the Greek Septuagint. His choice was severely criticized by [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], his contemporary; a flood of still less moderate criticism came from those who regarded Jerome as a forger. While on the one hand he argued for the superiority of the Hebrew texts in correcting the Septuagint on both philological and theological grounds, on the other, in the context of accusations of heresy against him, Jerome would acknowledge the Septuagint texts as well.<ref name="Rebenich2013p58">Rebenich, S., ''Jerome'' (Routledge, 2013), p. 58. {{ISBN|9781134638444}}</ref>

==Comparisons with the Vulgate==
Below are some comparisons of the ''Vetus Latina'' with text from critical editions of the Vulgate.

The following comparison is of Luke 6:1–4, taken from the ''Vetus Latina'' text in the [[Codex Bezae]]:

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
! ''Vetus Latina''<ref>Text taken from [http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~wie/Rennes/ ''Codex Bezae and the Da Vinci Code''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107060716/http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~wie/Rennes/ |date=2009-01-07 }}, A textcritical look at the Rennes-le-Chateau hoax, Wieland Willker, 2005</ref>
! Latin Vulgate<ref>{{Cite web|title=Read the Bible text :: academic-bible.com|url=https://www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/biblia-sacra-vulgata/read-the-bible-text/bibel/text/lesen/stelle/52/60001/69999/ch/6cdb101fc1417bc42a2077547f0447e6/|access-date=2021-03-09|website=www.academic-bible.com}}</ref>
! Douay Rheims
|-
| Et factum est eum in Sabbato secundoprimo abire per segetes discipuli autem illius coeperunt vellere spicas et fricantes manibus manducabant.
| factum est autem in sabbato secundoprimo cum transiret per sata vellebant discipuli eius spicas et manducabant confricantes manibus
|And it came to pass on the second first sabbath, that as he went through the corn fields, his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
|-
| Quidam autem de farisaeis dicebant ei, Ecce quid faciunt discipuli tui sabbatis quod non licet?
| quidam autem Pharisaeorum dicebant illis quid facitis quod non licet in sabbatis
|And some of the Pharisees said to them: Why do you that which is not lawful on the sabbath days?
|-
| Respondens autem IHS dixit ad eos, Numquam hoc legistis quod fecit David quando esuriit ipse et qui cum eo erat?
| et respondens Iesus ad eos dixit nec hoc legistis quod fecit David cum esurisset ipse et qui cum eo erant
|And Jesus answering them, said: Have you not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was hungry, and they that were with him:
|-
| Intro ibit in domum Dei et panes propositionis manducavit et dedit et qui cum erant quibus non licebat manducare si non solis sacerdotibus?
| quomodo intravit in domum Dei et panes propositionis sumpsit et manducavit et dedit his qui cum ipso erant quos non licet manducare nisi tantum sacerdotibus
|How he went into the house of God, and took and ate the bread of proposition, and gave to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat but only for the priests?
|-
|}

The ''Vetus Latina'' text survives in places in the [[Catholic liturgy]],<!-- WHICH liturgy? --> such as the following verse well known from Christmas carols,<!-- Not liturgical --> Luke 2:14:
{| class="wikitable" align="center"
! ''Vetus Latina''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Christian Works : Codex Bezae|url=https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-NN-00002-00041/7|access-date=2020-03-17|website=Cambridge Digital Library}}</ref>
! Latin Vulgate<ref>{{Cite web|title=Read the Bible text :: academic-bible.com|url=https://www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/biblia-sacra-vulgata/read-the-bible-text/bibel/text/lesen/stelle/52/20001/29999/ch/46ed130f30082c2562a3a13a7ce18060/|access-date=2021-03-09|website=www.academic-bible.com}}</ref>
! King James Version (1611)
! Douay Rheims
|-
|[[Gloria in excelsis Deo]], et super terra pax in hominibus consolationis
|gloria in altissimis Deo et in terra pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis
|Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
|Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.
|-
|}
The ''Vetus Latina'' text means, "Glory [belongs] to God among the high, and peace [belongs] to men of good will on earth".{{cn|date=March 2023}} The Vulgate text means "Glory [belongs] to God among the most high and peace among men of good will on earth".{{cn|date=November 2022}}

Probably the most well known difference between the ''Vetus Latina'' and the Vulgate is in the [[Pater Noster]], where the phrase from the ''Vetus Latina'', ''Panem nostrum cotidianum'', "our daily bread", becomes ''Panem nostrum supersubstantialem'', "our [[Epiousios|supersubstantial]] bread" in the Vulgate; the ''Vetus Latina'' form being retained in the [[Roman Missal]] for liturgical use.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

== See also ==
* [[Latin Psalters]]
* [[List of New Testament Latin manuscripts]]
* [[Vetus Latina manuscripts|''Vetus Latina'' manuscripts]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=Alan England |last2=McLean |first2=Norman |last3=Thackeray |first3=Henry St. John |date=1906 |title=The Old Testament in Greek. Volume I: The Octateuch. Part I: Genesis |url=https://archive.org/details/OldTestamentGreeklxxTextCodexVaticanus/01.OTGreek.Vat.v1.Octat.p1.Gen.Brooke.McLean.1906./page/n13/mode/2up |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=176 |isbn= |access-date=8 November 2022}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=Alan England |last2=McLean |first2=Norman |last3=Thackeray |first3=Henry St. John |date=1927 |title=The Old Testament in Greek. Volume II: The Later Historical Books. Part I: I and II Samuel |url=https://archive.org/details/p2oldtestamentin01broouoft/page/n11/mode/2up |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=220 |isbn= |access-date=8 November 2022}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=Alan England |last2=McLean |first2=Norman |last3=Thackeray |first3=Henry St. John |date=1930 |title=The Old Testament in Greek. Volume II: The Later Historical Books. Part II: I and II Kings |url=https://ia600303.us.archive.org/17/items/OldTestamentGreeklxxTextCodexVaticanus/06.OTGreek.Vat.v2.LHB.p2.Kings.I.II.Brooke.McLean.1930..pdf |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=208 |isbn= |access-date=8 November 2022}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Everson |first1=David L. |date=2014 |title=The Book of Exodus: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation |chapter=The ''Vetus Latina'' and the Vulgate of the Book of Exodus |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004282667/B9789004282667_016.xml |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |pages=370–386 |isbn=978-90-04-28266-7 |access-date=8 November 2022}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Fischer |first1=Bonifatius |date=1951 |title=Vetus Latina: die Reste der altlateinischen Bibel. Genesis, Volumes 2–4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTVVAAAAYAAJ |location=Freiburg |publisher=Herder |pages=576 |isbn= |access-date=9 November 2022}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Vetus Latina}}
* [https://www.herder.de/vetus-latina/ The Vetus Latina Institut, Beuron/Germany] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060215183514/http://www.erzabtei-beuron.de/kultur/vetus_latina.php former website])
* [http://www.vetuslatina.org/ Vetus Latina] – Resources for the study of the Old Latin Bible (in English, German, and Latin)
* [http://www.iohannes.com Vetus Latina Iohannes] – An electronic edition of the manuscripts of John
* [http://nttf.klassphil.uni-mainz.de/ The old Latin Acts of the Apostles] – About the edition of the Latin versions of the Books of Acts (in German)
* [https://archive.org/details/bibliorumsacroru01saba Bibliorum Sacrorum latinae versiones antiguae v.1] – Vulgate and Old Latin versions in parallel columns.
* [https://archive.org/details/bibliorumsacroru02saba Bibliorum Sacrorum latinae versiones antiguae v.2] – Vulgate and Old Latin versions in parallel columns. Vol. 2 begins at Psalms.
* [https://archive.org/details/BibliorumSacrorumLatinaeAntiquaeV3 Bibliorum Sacrorum latinae versiones antiguae v.3] – Vulgate and Old Latin versions in parallel columns. New Testament

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