Complutensian Polyglot
A.D. 1514-1517
New Testament Facsimile
Early in the 16th century efforts began to print the scriptures in their original languages in order to compare them with the popular Latin text of Jerome’s Vulgate. Roman Catholic Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1436-1517), the founder of the University of Alcalá in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, (Latin Complutum; thus the title Complutensian Polyglot), initiated and financed a massive project of printing an entire polyglot Bible. Work on the project began in 1502, and the New Testament was completed and printed in 1514 (prior to Erasmus’ Greek-Latin New Testament), but distribution was withheld until the Old Testament was completed (1517) and papal authorization secured (1520). Cardinal Cisneros died in 1517, just after the project was completed, but did not live to see its distribution.
The Complutensian Polyglot Bible was the first complete printed polyglot Bible. Printed in six volumes, the first four volumes contained the Old Testament with three columns (Hebrew, Latin Vulgate, Greek). The Pentateuch also had an Aramaic translation (the Targum Onkelos) and a new Latin translation at the bottom of each page. The fifth volume contained the New Testament in a diglot parallel of Greek and the Latin Vulgate. The sixth volume contained Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic dictionaries and other study aids for scholars.
This facsimile volume contains only the New Testament portion of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible, with the Greek text and the unmodified Latin Vulgate in parallel columns.
The Complutensian Polyglot Bible was the first complete printed polyglot Bible. Printed in six volumes, the first four volumes contained the Old Testament with three columns (Hebrew, Latin Vulgate, Greek). The Pentateuch also had an Aramaic translation (the Targum Onkelos) and a new Latin translation at the bottom of each page. The fifth volume contained the New Testament in a diglot parallel of Greek and the Latin Vulgate. The sixth volume contained Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic dictionaries and other study aids for scholars.
This facsimile volume contains only the New Testament portion of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible, with the Greek text and the unmodified Latin Vulgate in parallel columns.
