Definition
The Oxford Vulgate is a scholarly critical edition of the Latin Vulgate Bible produced under the auspices of Oxford University Press. It aims to reconstruct the text of the Vulgate as accurately as possible by collating and evaluating the evidence of early Latin manuscripts, early printed editions, and patristic citations.
Overview
The Latin Vulgate, translated principally by St. Jerome in the late 4th century, became the standard biblical text of the Western Church for more than a millennium. By the 20th century, advances in textual criticism and the discovery of numerous medieval manuscripts prompted the need for a modern, academically rigorous edition. The Oxford Vulgate project was launched in the early 1900s, with the New Testament portion completed and published in the latter half of the 20th century. Work on the Old Testament remains ongoing, and the edition is issued in separate volumes as the research progresses.
Etymology/Origin
The term combines the name of the city and university that sponsor the project—Oxford—with “Vulgate,” the traditional Latin designation of Jerome’s translation (from verbum vulgāre, “the common word”). The phrase therefore denotes a Vulgate edition produced by Oxford University Press.
Characteristics
- Manuscript Base: Relies on a wide array of early Latin witnesses, including papyri, uncial codices, and later medieval manuscripts, as well as early printed editions (incunabula).
- Critical Apparatus: Each volume contains a detailed apparatus criticus that records textual variants, manuscript sigla, and editorial decisions, allowing scholars to assess the evidence for each reading.
- Editorial Principles: Follows contemporary standards of textual criticism, prioritizing the earliest and most reliable attestations while taking into account Jerome’s translation methodology and the textual history of the Latin tradition.
- Publication: Issued in academic format by Oxford University Press; the New Testament was released in the 1970s (exact publication year varies by volume). The Old Testament is being issued incrementally as research is completed.
- Scholarly Use: Serves as a reference for biblical studies, liturgical scholarship, translation work, and the history of the Latin biblical tradition.
Related Topics
- Latin Vulgate – the original 4th‑century translation traditionally attributed to St. Jerome.
- Critical edition – a scholarly edition that reconstructs a text based on systematic comparison of textual witnesses.
- Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia – a critical edition of the Hebrew Bible used for comparison with the Latin text.
- Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus – early Greek manuscript witnesses that inform Vulgate textual criticism.
- Oxford Classical Texts – a series of scholarly editions of classical literature also published by Oxford University Press.