Everything about Polyglot Book totally explained
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A
polyglot (also spelled
polyglott) is a book that contains side-by-side versions of the same text in several different languages. The most important polyglots are editions of the
Bible, or its parts, in which the
Hebrew and
Greek originals are exhibited along with historical translations. Polyglots are useful for studying the history of the text and its interpretation.
Origen's Hexapla
The first enterprise of this kind is the famous
Hexapla of
Origen, in which the
Old Testament Scriptures were written in six parallel columns, the first containing the
Hebrew text, the second a transliteration of this in
Greek letters, the third and fourth the Greek translations by
Aquila of Sinope and by
Symmachus the Ebionite, the fifth the
Septuagint version as revised by Origen, and the sixth the translation by
Theodotion. However, as only two languages, Hebrew and Greek, were employed, the work should perhaps be called a
diglott rather than a polyglot in the usual sense.
Printed Polyglots
After the invention of printing and the revival of
philological studies, polyglots became a favourite means of advancing the knowledge of Middle Eastern languages, for which no good references were available, as well as for the study of
Scripture.
Complutensian Polyglot
The series began with the
Complutensian printed by
Axnaldus Guilielmus de Brocario at the expense of
Cardinal Ximenes at the university at
Alcalá de Henares (Complutum). The first volume of this, containing the
New Testament in
Greek and
Latin, was completed on the
January 10,
1514. In vols. ii.−v. (finished on
July 10,
1517), the
Hebrew text of the
Old Testament was printed in the first column of each page, followed by the Latin
Vulgate and then by the
Septuagint version with an interlinear Latin translation. Below these stood the
Chaldee, again with a Latin translation. The sixth volume containing an appendix is dated
1515, but the work didn't receive the papal sanction until March
1520, and was apparently not issued until
1522. The chief editors were
Juan de Vergara,
Lopez de Zuniga (Stunica),
Nunez de Guzman (Pincianus),
Antonio de Librixa (Nebrissensis), and
Demetrius Ducas.
Antwerp Polyglot
About half a century after the
Complutensian came the
Antwerp Polyglot, printed by
Christopher Plantin (
1569-
1572, in eight volumes folio). The principal editor was
Arias Montanus, aided by
Guido Fabricius Boderianus,
Raphelengius,
Masius,
Lucas of Bruges, and others. This work was under the patronage of
Philip II of Spain; it added a new language to those of the
Complutensian by including the
Syriac New Testament; and, while the earlier polyglot had only the
Targum of
Onkelos on the
Pentateuch, the Antwerp Bible had also the Targum on the
Prophets, and on
Esther,
Job,
Psalms, and the Salomonic writings.
Paris Polyglot
Next came
Guy Michel Le Jay's
Paris Polyglot (
1645), which embraces the first printed texts of the
Syriac Old Testament (edited by
Gabriel Sionita, a
Maronite, but the
Book of Ruth by
Abraham Ecchellensis, also a Maronite) and of the
Samaritan Pentateuch and version by
Jean Morin (Morinus). It has also an
Arabic version, or rather a series of various Arabic versions.
London Polyglot
The last great polyglot is
Brian Walton's (London,
1657), which is much less beautiful than Le Jay's but more complete in various ways, including, among other things, the
Syriac of
Esther and of several
apocryphal books for which it's wanting in the Paris Bible,
Persian versions of the Pentateuch and
Gospels, and the
Psalms and
New Testament in
Ethiopic. Walton was aided by able scholars and used much new manuscript material. His prolegomena and collections of various readings mark an important advance in biblical criticism. It was in connection with this polyglot that
Edmund Castell produced his famous
Heptaglott Lexicon (two volumes folio, London,
1669), a monument of industry and erudition even when allowance is made for the fact that for the Arabic he'd the great manuscript lexicon compiled and left to the
University of Cambridge by
William Bedwell. The liberality of
Cardinal Ximenes, who is said to have spent half a million
ducats on it, removed the
Complutensian polyglot from the risks of commerce. The other three editions all brought their promoters to the verge of ruin.
Subsequent polyglots are of little scholarly importance, the best recent texts having been confined to a single language; but at least into the early 20th century many biblical students still used Walton and, if it was available, Le Jay.
Genoa psalter
The numerous polyglot editions of parts of the Bible include the
Genoa psalter of
1516, edited by
Agostino Giustiniani, bishop of
Nebbio. This is in
Hebrew,
Latin,
Greek,
Chaldee, and
Arabic, and is interesting from the character of the Chaldee text, being the first specimen of Western printing in the Arabic writing system, and from a curious note on
Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America on the margin of Psalm xix.
Further Information
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