it B I B 
dinary; and canonical translation made ufe of by the Chrif- 
tian church in the earlieSf ages.; and it (till fubfifts in the 
churches berth of the ea(t and weft. 
A great number of editions, of the Bible have fince been 
printed in Greek ; but they may be all reduced to three 
or four principal ones, viz. that of Co.trvplutu.ni, or Alcala 
de Henares, that of. Venice, that of Rome, and that of 
Oxford. The firft was published in 1515, by cardinal 
Ximenes, and infected in the Polyglot Bible, tifually called 
the Campiute.ufian Bible: this edition is not juft, the Greek 
of the Seventy being altered in many places according to 
the Hebrew text. It has, however, been reprinted in the 
Polyglot Bible of Antwerp, in that of Paris, and in the 
quarto Bible, commonly called Vatablus's Bible. The fe- 
cond Greek Bible is that of Venice, printed by Aldus, in 
1518. Here the. Greek text of the Septuagint is reprinted 
juft as it flood in the manufeript, full of faults of the co¬ 
pyists, but eafily amended. This edition was reprinted at 
Strafburg in 1526, at Bafil in 1545, at Frankfort in 1597, 
and other places, with fame alterations to bring it nearer 
the Hebrew. Tiie moll commodious is that of Frankfort; 
there being added to if, little fcholia, which (hew the dif¬ 
ferent interpretations of the old Greek translators. This 
collection is without a name, but it is commonly fuppofed 
that Junius was the author. The third Greek Bible is 
that of Rome, or the Vatican, in 1587, with Greek fcholia 
collected from the manuferipts. in the Roman libraries by 
Pet. Morin. It was firft fet on foot by cardinal Montalbo, 
afterwards pope Sextus Quintus. This fine edition has 
been, reprinted at Paris, in 1628, by J. Morin, pried of the 
oratory, who has added the Latin translation, which in 
the Roman was printed feparately, with Jcholia. The 
Greek edition of Rome has been printed in the Polyglot 
Bible of London ; to which are added, at the bottom, the 
various readings of the Alexandrine manufeript. This 
has been alfo reprinted in England, in. quarto and 121110, 
with fome alterations. It has been again published at 
Franeker, in 1709, by Bos, who has added all the various 
readings he could colled. The fourth Greek Bible is that 
done from the Alexandrine manufeript, begun at Oxford 
by Dr. Grabe, in 1707. In this the Alexandrine manu¬ 
feript is not printed fuch as it is, but Such as it was thought 
it Should be; i. e. it is altered wherever there appeared 
any fault of the copyifts, or any word inferted from any par¬ 
ticular dialed : this fome think an excellence, but others a 
fault; urging, that the manufeript Should have been given 
abfolutely and entirely of itSelf, and all conjectures as to 
the readings Should have been placed in the notes. 
Latin Bibles, how numerous foever, may be all re¬ 
duced to three clades : the ancient Vulgate, called alfo 
Italica, translated’from the Greek Septuagint; the mo¬ 
dern Vulgate, the greatest part of which is done from the 
Hebrew text ; and the new Latin translations, done alfo 
from the Hebrew text, in the Sixteenth century. We 
have nothing remaining of the ancient Vulgate, tifed in the 
primitive times in the western churches, but the Pfalms, 
Wifdom, and Ecclefiaftes. Nobilius has endeavoured to 
retrieve it from the works of the ancient Latin-fathers ; 
but-it was impoflible to do it exadly, becaufe few of the 
fathers kept clofe to it in their citations. With regard to 
the modern Vulgate, there are a vaft number of editions 
very different from each other. Cardinal Ximenes has in¬ 
ferted one in the Bible of Complutum, correded and al¬ 
tered in many places. R. Stephens, and the dodors of 
Louvain, have taken great pains in correding the modern 
Vulgate. The bed edition of Stephens’s Latin Bible is 
that of 1540, reprinted in 1545, in which are added on the 
margin the various readings of feveral Latin manuferipts 
which lie had confulted. The dodors of Louvain reviled 
the modern Vulgate after R. Stephens ; and added the va¬ 
rious readings of feveral Latin manuferipts. The belt of 
the Louvain editions are thofe at the end of which are 
added tlie critical notes of Francis Lucas of Bruges. 
All theSe reformations of the Latin Bible were made be¬ 
fore the time of pope Sixtus V. and Clement VIII. fince 
b 
which time none have dared to raake any alterations, ex¬ 
cept in comments and feparute notes. The corredion of 
Clement VIII. in 1592, is now the Standard throughout 
all the Romilb churches, That pontiff indeed made two 
reformations; but it is the firft of them that is followed. 
From this the Bibles of PUntin were done, and from thofe 
of Plantin all- the reft ; fo that the common 3 ibles have 
none of the after-corredions of the fame Clement VIII. 
It is a heavy charge that lies on the editions of pope Cle¬ 
ment, via. that they have Come new texts added, and many 
old ones altered, to countenance and confirm what they 
call the catholic dodrine ; witnefs that celebrated paffage 
of St. John, tresjunt. See. There are a. great number of 
Latin Bibles of the third clafs, comprehending the ver- 
fions from the originals of the facred books made within 
thefe 200 years. Since the reformation there have been 
feveral Latin verfions of the Bible from the originals, by 
proteftants. The raoSl efteemed are thofe of Munfter, 
Leo Juda, Calfalio, and Tremellius ; the three laft have 
been reprinted various times. We may add a fourth ciafs 
of Latin Bibles, comprehending the Vulgate edition cor¬ 
reded from the originals. The Bible of Ifidprus Claims 
is of this number : that author, not being contented with 
reftoring the ancient Latin copy, has correded the tranfla- 
tor in a great number of places, which lie thought ill ren¬ 
dered. Some protellants have followed the fame method; 
and, among others, Andrew and Luke Oliander, who have 
each publilhed a new edition of the Vulgate, correded from 
the originals. 
Samaritan Bibles. At the head of the oriental ver¬ 
fions of the Bible mull be placed the Samaritan, as being 
the mod ancient of all, though neither its age nor author 
lias been yet afeertained, and admitting no more for holy 
feripture than the Pentateuch, or five books of Mofes. 
Tins translation is made from the Samaritan Hebrew text, 
which is a little different from the Hebrew text of the 
Jews. This verfion has never been printed alone; nor 
any where but in the Polyglots of London and Paris. 
Chaldee Bibles, are only the gloffes or expositions 
made by tlie Jews in the time when they fpake the Chal¬ 
dee tongue. Thefe they call by the name of Targumim 
or paraphrafes, as not being any ftrid verfions of the Scrip¬ 
ture. They have been inlerted entire in the large Hebrew 
Bibles of Venice and Bafil ; but are read more eommodi- 
ouSly in the Polyglots, being there attended with a Latin 
translation. 
Syriac Bibles. There are extant two verfions of the 
Old Teftainent in the Syriac: one from the Septuagint, 
which is ancient, and made probably about the time of 
Conftantine ; the other, called antiqua el Jimplex , made from 
the Hebrew, as fome fuppole, about the time of the Apof- 
tles. This verfion is printed in the Polyglots of London 
and Paris. In 1562, Widmanftadius printed the whole 
New Teftament in Svriac, at Vienna, in a beautiful cha¬ 
racter: after him there were leveral other editions; and 
it was inferted in the Bible of Philip II. with a Latin 
translation. Gabriel Siomta alfo publilhed a beautiful Sy¬ 
riac edition of the Pfalms, at Paris, in 1525, with a Latin 
interpretation. 
Arabic Bibles. In the year 1516, Aug, Juftinian, 
biftiop of Nebio, printed at Genoa an Arabic verfion of the 
Pfalter, with the Hebrew text and Chaldee paraphrafe, 
adding Latin interpretations. There are alfo Arabic ver¬ 
fions of the whole Scriptures in the Polyglots of London 
and Paris ; and we have an edition of tIre Old Teftament 
entire, printed at Rome in 1671, by order of the congre¬ 
gation de propaganda fide\ but it is of little eSteem, as hav¬ 
ing been altered agreeably to the Vulgate edition. The. 
Arabic Bibles among us are not the fame.with thofe uSed 
with the Chriftians in the Eaff. Some learned men take 
the Arabic verfion of the Old Teftament, printed in the 
Polyglots, to be that of Saadias, who lived about the year 
900, at leaft in the main. Their reafon is, that Aben- 
Ezra, a great antagonist of Saadias* quotes fqme paffages 
of Iris verfion, which are the fame with thofe in the Arabic 
verfion 
