Complutensian Polyglot Bible

Prologus.
To the reader. Concerning those things that must be noted beforehand regarding the reading of the Old Testament, now printed for the first time in diverse languages.

Latin

So that you, studious Reader, may understand the method and order which we have preserved in this printing of the Old Testament—and may thereby be able to use this book with ease—it is necessary that you first be advised of several matters. First, it must be stated that since the Old Testament is divided by the holy doctors into three parts—namely, the Law (which they call the Pentateuch), the Hagiographa From the Greek 'hagios' (holy) and 'graphos' (writing); referring to books like Psalms, Job, and Proverbs, and finally the Prophets—the number of languages is not the same in all of them.

The Pentateuch contains a triple language: Hebrew, Chaldean Aramaic, and Greek. We have ordered these to be printed with three corresponding Latin translations. Thus, the Latin translation of Saint Jerome corresponds to the Hebrew Truth original: "Hebraicae veritati"; a common scholarly term for the Hebrew text itself; to the Chaldean corresponds another Latin translation, labored over almost word-for-word by men most skilled in that tongue; and to the Greek edition of the Seventy Translators The Septuagint corresponds an interlinear Latin translation.

Furthermore, the Hagiographa and the Prophetic books are printed in a double language: Hebrew and Greek, with two corresponding Latin translations. For the Chaldean version in the other books (besides the Pentateuch) is corrupted in several places and sprinkled with fables and the pure trifles of the Talmudists The editors viewed later Aramaic Targums as less reliable than the Pentateuch's Targum Onkelos, making it utterly unworthy to be included among the sacred volumes. However, because it remarkably favors the Christian religion in certain places where the text is intact and uncorrupted, we have seen to it that the remaining books of the whole Old Testament be translated from the Chaldean tongue into Latin, and these—most diligently recorded with their Latin translation—have been placed in the public library of our University of Alcalá original: "Complutensis noſtræ Uníuerſitatis".

As for those books outside the canon The Deuterocanonical books or Apocrypha, which the Church receives more for the edification of the people than for confirming the authority of ecclesiastical dogmas, they contain only the Greek text, but with a double Latin translation: one by Saint Jerome and the other an interlinear word-for-word translation, in the same manner as the others. These things concerning the number of languages in this book ought to have been touched upon generally.

Now we must deal briefly with the manner in which we have arranged the languages of the Pentateuch within the book itself. First, upon opening the volume, two facing pages will present themselves to you, each of which has three principal columns. Of these, the one situated at the outer margin contains the Hebrew Truth. The one adhering to the inner margin is the Greek edition of the Seventy Translators, above which is placed the Latin interlinear translation, word for word.

Between these, we have placed the Latin translation of Saint Jerome in the middle, just as if between the Synagogue and the Eastern Church—placing them like the two thieves on either side, with Jesus (that is, the Roman or Latin Church) in the center. This famous and controversial allegory suggests that the Roman Church (Vulgate) remains the central, stable truth, while the Hebrew (Synagogue) and Greek (Eastern Church) have "deviated" or are less central. For she alone, built upon a firm rock (while the others sometimes deviate from a right understanding of Scripture), has always remained immovable in the truth.

In addition to these three columns, two other smaller columns are placed at the foot of the page. The wider of these contains the Chaldean text; the narrower contains its Latin translation. The columns themselves are arranged in such a way that two Latin lines correspond to each single Hebrew line in that region; however, it is always observed that all five columns agree at the beginning and the end, except where the narrowness of space does not permit it—which you will find happens very rarely.

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either at the beginning or at the end—unless the narrowness of the space does not allow it, which you will find occurs very rarely. Furthermore, since our intention is not only to provide for those who have achieved absolute skill in these languages, but also to bring aid to those who have made little progress in them (for we are debtors to both), we desire that no one be deterred by the difficulty of foreign idioms from approaching the inner chambers of the divine books.

Therefore, so that anyone may easily distinguish the Hebrew words and assign each to its own Latin translation, small Latin letters proceeding in alphabetical order are placed above each Hebrew word. Similar letters correspond in the neighboring Latin column, so that by the similarity of the letter, one may know which Latin word refers to which Hebrew word. When the translator interprets a single word through a circumlocution of many words, or conversely embraces many words with a single word, then a single small letter will serve the entire circumlocution or the condensed word.

Among these small letters, you will find some with a thin point subscripted in this manner: ̣. This point designates that either the underlying Hebrew word is multiple and ambiguous—and therefore encloses some hidden mystery of secret understanding which can be easily investigated by perceptive minds by consulting a Dictionary—or it denotes at least that its meaning placed in the Latin column is figurative and serves only the sense, rather than being entirely literal and proper.

Again, because finding the primitives or roots of Hebrew and Chaldean words that deviate from their original source is an extremely necessary thing for finding vocabulary in the Dictionary—yet a matter of such difficulty that men most skilled in that language frequently stumble and sometimes even fall—we have devised a most useful artifice. By this, anyone imbued with even the first rudiments of Hebrew can have the root of any word ready at hand; so that now, aided by these supports, we might loathe the "nausea and belching" of the Hebrews (as Saint Jerome says) and not need to consult their teachers.

It should be noted, then, that when another word corresponds to a Hebrew or Chaldean word in the margin (which you will recognize by the same small letter placed over both), then that word as it is noted in the margin is to be sought in the vocabulary. For those are the first substantial letters of the primitive word. The remaining words of the Hebrew text, to which no primitive word corresponds in the margin, are to be sought in the dictionary by their first three letters, or sometimes only by their first two.

This is except where any of these five letters precedes: Beth (בּ), He (הּ), Caph (כּ), Lamed (לּ), or Mem (מּ), whichever dot is placed beneath vowel points, provided it is marked with a sign above in this manner: בּ הּ כּ לּ מּ. For then such a letter is taken as a particle or preposition, and since it is not a substantial letter, it must be removed. The next three, or sometimes only two, following letters will be the first letters of the primitive root, by which the word itself will be found in the vocabulary.

This must be understood in the same way regarding the letter Vav (ו), even if it is never marked with such a sign. For wherever it is prefixed to any word, it is always used as a copulative conjunction; therefore, it will be necessary to remove it. In Chaldean, this must also be observed: that the letter Daleth (ד) is sometimes taken among the Chaldeans for the genitive article meaning 'of'; therefore, when it is found with the aforesaid sign, it must be removed, just as we have said of the others. Again: