Vulgate

The Vulgate, or the Latin Vulgate, is the Latin translation of the Bible largely associated with Saint Jerome in the late 4th century. It became the standard Latin text for the Western Church and remained influential throughout the Middle Ages and early modern era.

Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus I to produce a reliable Latin Bible that could replace the diverse and often inferior Latin translations in use at the time. He translated the Old Testament primarily from Hebrew (with some adjustments from the Septuagint in places) and the New Testament from Greek. Jerome also revised existing Latin versions, producing a coherent Latin text that aimed to be accessible for educated readers across the Latin-speaking Christian world.

The term Vulgate comes from the Latin vulgata, meaning “common” or “vernacular,” signaling its role as the standard text used by clergy and laity alike. Over centuries, it became the Church’s official Bible in the Latin-speaking West and informed theological thought, liturgy, and education.

Several critical editions of the Vulgate circulated before modern times. The Sixtine Vulgate (1590) and the Clementine Vulgate (1592) were issued under popes Sixtus V and Clement VIII respectively and served as the standard Latin editions for centuries. In the 20th century, the Catholic Church moved to a new edition based on contemporary manuscript evidence and scholarly study: the Nova Vulgata ( Nova Vulgata, 1979), which remains the official Latin text of the Catholic Church today.

The Vulgate’s influence extends beyond liturgy, shaping Western biblical interpretation, theology, and the transmission of Christian doctrine through Latin Christianity and subsequent vernacular translations.