GENERAL Polyglots are those which contain all the Books of Holy Scripture; that is to say, the Old and New Testaments: The Particular include a Part only of the Scripture, the Old or New Testament, or some certain Books only. They are called Polyglots, because Works of this kind are in several Languages, and are derived from the two Greek Words, πολὺ and Γλῶττα, multum and lingua.
Among the general Polyglots are commonly reckoned those of Alcala, Antwerp, Vatablus, Hutter, le Jay, and Walton. We shall here produce the Titles of each as they are printed in Latin; next we shall describe what they contain; and lastly, we shall speak of the Persons who were employed about them, in order to give them their due Honour.
Biblia Polyglotta Complutensia Ximenii Cardinalis, cum Lexico; Compluti ab anno 1514, ad 1517. six Vols. in fol. This Polyglot contains four Languages; Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek and Latin. The New Testament was printed in 1514, the Dictionary in 1515, and the Old Testa- ment was finished in 1517; but the whole Work entire was not published till 1520. Pope Leo X’s Bull which confirms the Edition is dated the 22d of March 1520. This Polyglot, procured by Cardinal Ximenes, served as a Pattern for all the rest which came out afterwards. The Hebrew is printed pretty correctly. The Greek of the New Testament has neither Accents nor Spirits. The Text of the Septuagint is reformed in many Places, to make it agree with the Hebrew and the Vulgate. The Latin Text is likewise different in some Places both from the Old Manuscripts, and the Vulgate published by Pope Clement VIII. which we have at this Day in the Latin Bibles, printed ever since the Year 1592. The Chaldee is also in several Places corrected. So that except the Hebrew, we cannot say that there is any Text in it pure, or without Alteration. This Polyglot therefore is more considerable for its Scarceness and Antiquity, than for any Advantage that may be made of it. The Price of it was at first fixed by the Bishop of Avila, who had received Orders from the Pope to this purpose, at six Gold Ducats and a half, which was a large Sum for those Times.
Cardinal Ximenes is looked upon as the principal Author of the Complutensian Polyglot, because it was carried on at his Expence, and all the most eminent Men of that Time for their Skill in the Oriental Languages were got together by him, and made use of in this Undertaking; such as Demetrius Ducas, Antony of Lebrixa, Didacus Lopez of Stunica, Ferdinandus Nonnius, Alphonsius of Alcala, Paul Coronelli, Zamora, and John Vergara.
They who have the Curiosity to read and understand perfectly the History of this Polyglot, may meet with it in Marsolier’s Life of Ximenes, l. 4. p. 222. in 8vo. in Nicholas Antonio’s new Bibliotheca Hispanica, tom. 1. p. 293. in Fabricius’s Bibliotheca Græca, l. 3. c. 11. p. 325. and l. 4. c. 5. p. 185. In the Hispania Illustrata, tom. 1. p. 966, 967. Richard Simon, in his Critical Enquiries against Vossius, observes what is useful and defective in it.
Tho’ all these great Men were equally concerned in perfecting this Polyglot, it may be proper notwithstanding to distinguish what each of them in particular contributed to it. The Epistle Dedicatory to Leo X. was by Cardinal Ximenes; but whether he was the Author of the Prefaces is a Question; his great multiplicity of Business not allowing him to spend much time in Study; this at least is Marsolier’s Opinion, in p. 223. of his Life. Demetrius Ducas furnished the Latin Interlineary Version, together with the Greek Text. Lebrixa was particularly employed in the Corrections and Disposition of it. Zamora translated into Latin the several Targums of Onkelos, Jonathan, Joseph the Blind, and others; and made likewise the Hebrew Version of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Vergara, for his Share had what they call the Libri Sapientiales allotted him, as Gomez reported, who had often heard Cardinal Ximenes say so; he designed to publish Scholia upon the Book of Ecclesiasticus, but was prevented, as this Spanish Writer says, by want of Health, and by his Death.
Biblia Polyglotta Antwerpiæ, impressa typis Christophori Plantini, curà & studio Benedicti Ariæ Montani. Antwerpiæ, ab Anno 1569, ad An. 1572. sumptibus, Philippi II. Hispan. Reg. The Old Testament is in four Languages, viz. in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Chaldee; and the New Testament contains the Syriac, besides the Greek and Latin. The Old and New Testament are in five Volumes, and the Apparatus’s in three; so that the whole Work is in eight Volumes. The first Volume of the Apparatus comprehends Hebrew, Greek, Chaldee, and Syriac Dictionaries and Grammars. The second includes the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament, and the Greek of the New, with the Latin Version interlined. The third Volume of the Apparatus contains many Pieces concerning Scripture, as a Treatise of the several Idioms or Proprieties of Speech; another of Weights and Measures, the Chronology, Geography, and Ornaments of the Priests, &c. by Benedictus Arias Montanus. This Edition is more beautiful and magnificent than the Complutensian. The same Faults however are found with it as to the Chaldee, Greek and Latin; but in the Greek of the New Testament there are the Accents and Spirits, which were wanting in the first.
If any one would know wherein it differs from Cardinal Ximenes’s Polyglot, he should read what Arias Montanus says of it in his Preface; and F. le Long, upon the Polyglots, in his Bibliotheca Sacra. Vossius extols it very highly, in his Critical Enquiries, l. 27. p. 215. Nay, some there are who call it one of the Wonders of the World, Orbis Miraculum. In F. Morinus’s Oriental Antiquities, p. 131, 137. we see the Faults which are to be discovered in it.
They who were principally concerned in it, were Montanus, Fabricius Boderianus, Joannes Harlemius, Franciscus Raphelingius, Lucas of Bruges, Andrew Masius, John Livinejus, William Canterus, Augustinus Hunnæus, and Cornelius Goudanus.
Montanus was the only one employed in drawing up the Apparatus of this Polyglot, which is one of the finest Ornaments of it, considering the several important Subjects which are therein treated under the Title of Jewish Antiquities. The two Brothers de la Bodiere, or Boderiani, furnished the Latin Translation, which is performed with great Accuracy, as Arias himself assures us in his Preface. Harlem prepared the Index to the Bible, with the various Lections of the Latin, taken from MSS. The Thesaurus of Sciences and Languages, as well as many Corrections made with great Exactness, were supplied by Raphelingius: To these Luke of Bruges added his. Masius contributed the Chaldee Paraphrase on the first Prophets, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Ruth; to which a Syriac Grammar and Dictionary are added. Livinejus and Canterus examined the Greek Text, as Thuanus tells us in his History. Hunnæus and Goudanus revised it, as appears by Gregory XIII.’s Brief, addressed to them on purpose to engage them in this Undertaking.
Biblia Polyglotta, vulgò dicta Vatabli. Heidelberg. An. 1586. two Vols. in fol. This Polyglot is in Hebrew, Greek and Latin; viz. The old Latin Version of St. Jerome, and the new one of Pagninus, ranged in four Columns, with Vatablus’s Notes at the bottom of the Page. It is to be seen with different Title-Pages, tho’ by the same Printer, Jerome Commelin, called St. Andrew. In some of these it is said, Ex Officinâ Santandreanâ, 1586. in others, Heidelbergæ, 1599. and again in others, Ex Officinâ Commelidanâ: But it is literally, and word for word the same Bible. F. le Long will have this Bible to be Cornelius Bonaventure Bertram’s. See his Dissertation on the Polyglots.
It may be said more properly that this Polyglot was printed under Vatablus’s Name; for it was printed without his Knowledge, and against his Inclination, as well as the Marginal Notes, which have been falsified. Walton, in his Prolegomena, p. 33. tells us that R. Stephens was the Author of this Polyglot; which he supports with the Testimony of Boot, who says so in his Animadversiones Sacræ; and Genebrard observes, that Theodore Beza supposed Leo de Juda to be the Author of it. As to the Notes, we shall speak of them in another Place. Besides the two Editions which we have taken notice of, there is a third, of 1616, two Vols. in fol. And F. Delfau, in his Manuscript Catalogue of Libraries, says that he had seen one of 1587, three Vols. fol.Biblia Polyglotta, Eliæ Hutteri. Norim- berg. 1599. This Bible is in six Languages; the first whereof are copied from the Antwerp Bible, viz. the Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek, and Latin; the fifth is Luther’s German Translation; the sixth varies; for some Copies have the Sclavonian Version of the Wittemberg Edition; others the French of Geneva, some the Italian of the Geneva Edition likewise; and others again the Saxon Version made from the German one of Luther. The Pentateuch only, with Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, are printed in this manner. That which distinguishes this Bible, and makes it useful to Beginners, is its marking the radical Letters of the Hebrew Words in full Characters, and supplying over the Line the Radical or Radicals that are wanting; and for the servile Letters, they are written in hollow Characters, cut on purpose for this Use.
The same Author has published a Psalter, and a New Testament, in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German.
He has also put out the New Testament in twelve Languages; in Syriac, Hebrew, Greek, Italian, Spanish and French: The first Page is taken up by these; the second by the Latin, German, Bohemian, English, Danish, and Polonian.
To this Polyglot may be joined that of Wolderus which is no more than a Copy of it. Both are very particular in their kind; Translations in the Vulgar Language being inserted in them, for the use of Protestant Churches. It is in four Vols. fol. The first Edition is of 1587, from which David Wolderus published his in 1597, and in the same number of Volumes. It may be necessary to see what the Learned thought of it, in the Collection of Letters, cited by M. Bayle in his Critical Dictionary, where he speaks of Hutter. His New Testament in twelve Languages, was printed in the Year 1600. He reduced it afterwards to four Languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German, and printed it in 1603.
Biblia Polyglotta, Guidonis, Michaelis le Jay. Parisiis, An. 1645. ten Vols. in fol. This is the most magnificent Polyglot, that till that time had appeared. It is in seven Languages; viz. Hebrew, Samaritan, Chaldee, Greek, Syriac, Arabick and Latin. Some will have it that the Impression is not very correct: It has neither Lexicon, Apparatus, nor Prolegomena. The Greek and Latin are taken from the Antwerp Edition. The large Size of these Volumes makes the use of them very troublesome. These Defects have lessened the Price and Esteem of this Edition.
Vossius, in his Critical Enquiries, p. 217. speaks much of this Polyglot, as does M. Simon, in his Critical History of the Old Testament. The last of these shews its Defects, p. 5, and 8. without denying, however, that it has some Advantages over that of Antwerp. He makes it appear that the Author himself in his Preface destroys the whole Merit of it, ibid, p. 269, 519.
The Impression of this new Polyglot had been a thing thought on ever since the Year 1615, and perhaps by M. le Jay himself; whereupon any one may read Thuanus’s Letter, written this very Year, and to be met with in the first Tome, p. 160. of Lambecius’s Memoirs relating to the Library of Vienna. But they did not begin to set about it till 1628, by the Advice of Cardinal de Berulle. The Persons employed in it were Philip Aquinas, Johannes Morinus, Gabriel Sionita, Abrahamus Ecchellensis and Hieronymus Parent; all very capable of going through so laborious an Undertaking; as F. le Long relates more at large in his Bibliotheca Sacra, in fol. p. 19, 35. p. 1.
Biblia Polyglotta Briani Waltoni, Londini impressa, Anno 1657. six Vols. in fol. This is the most compleat and commodious of all the Polyglots: It comprehends nine Languages, the Hebrew, Samaritan, Chaldee, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, Persian and Latin. Some Books only of the Bible, and not all in general, have the Persian, Ethiopic, Samaritan, and Chaldee Translations. In the New Testament, the four Evangelists are in six Languages, other Books in five; Judith, and the two Books of Maccabees, in three. There is not one Book of the Old Testament in nine Languages: But this notwithstanding, in the whole there are nine sorts of Languages. The Hebrew Text is very correct: The Greek of the Septuagint is taken from Nobilius’s Roman Edition; and the Vulgate Latin is that of Clement VIII. The Chaldee Paraphrases are more entire than in the former Editions. Lastly, in this Edition there are Prefaces, Prolegomena, Treatises of Weights and Measures, Geographical Maps, and Chronological Tables, which leave nothing almost to be desired. Walton’s Prolegomena are printed separately, for the Use and Satisfaction of those who have only le Jay’s Polyglot, or that of Philip the Second.
This Polyglot is preferable to all others, if not for the Beauty of the Edition and Characters, at least for its containing what is in both that of Antwerp and that of Paris. There are besides many valuable things added, as Vossius and R. Simon declare in the Place above cited. The former of these two Persons remarks notwithstanding, that abundance of Faults which were in le Jay’s Polyglot have been suffered to creep into this, without any ones taking care to correct them. F. le Long gives us the History of this Polyglot in his Bibliotheca Sacra, p. 35, 40.
Among those who were employed in it, may be reckoned Brian Walton, Edmund Castle, Alexander Huish, Samuel Clark, Thomas Hyde, and Loftus. Walton made the Preface, Prolegomena, or Apparatus. He likewise took a great deal of pains in the Translations of the sacred Text: He wrote a Defence of the Polyglot, in English, printed at London, 1659, in 8vo. Castle translated some Fragments of the Prophet Daniel out of the Syriac; as also the Books of Tobit, Judith, Jeremiah’s and Baruch’s Letters, together with the first Book of Maccabees. By him likewise was made the Latin Version of the Canticles from the Ethiopic. He added Notes upon the Samaritan Pentateuch: Lastly, his most considerable Performance was his Lexicon, in two Vols. fol. which should not be separated from this Polyglot. Huish procured the generality of those various Lections which we find in every Page: He likewise revived the Version of the Septuagint, the Greek Text of the New Testament, and the Vulgate: He moreover compared the Roman Edition of the Old Testament, and that of the New by Robert Stephens, with a very ancient Manuscript which came from Alexandria. Hyde corrected the Arabic Translation, the Syriac, Persian, &c. He translated the Pentateuch into Latin, from the Persian Language. Loftus translated the Ethiopic New Testament.
This is a sufficient Account of what relates to the large Polyglots: We shall only add, that in 1684 was published at Utrecht, Synopsis novorum Polyglottorum, in 8vo. This was only the Project of an Abridgment of the Paris and London Polyglots, which was never that I know of executed. John Hottinger published a Dissertation on the Paris Polyglot, printed at Zurich, 1649, in 4to. ibid. 1652, in 8vo. The Alexandrine Polyglotte. I don’t think it proper to rank among these Polyglots another, which is called Alexandrine, from the Dutch Printers publishing it under the Name of Alexander VII. It was only le Jay’s with a new Title, in order to promote the Sale of it; but their Cheat was soon discovered. They who are desirous to know more of this Matter may read Dom Mabillon’s Museum Italicum, t. I. p. 95. or F. le Long’s Bibliotheca, t. I. ch. 2. of the second Edition in fol.