Bible & Christianity › Early church & the councils › The biblical canon: the agreed list of books
Jerome's Latin Vulgate
begun 382; finished c. 405· Council, creed or writing· Books & writings
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible, made 382–405, which became the Western church's Bible for over a thousand years.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
In 382 Pope Damasus I asked the scholar Jerome (c. 347–420) to revise the uneven Old Latin Gospels. Jerome, who had studied Hebrew, then moved to Bethlehem and, unusually, translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew, consulting Jewish teachers, rather than from the Greek Septuagint. He finished around 405. 'Vulgate' means 'common version'. His literal 'horned' in Exodus 34:29, where most read 'shining', is why Michelangelo's Moses has horns.
Why it matters
It shaped Western Christian vocabulary, art and theology. The Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455) printed it, and the Council of Trent (1546) made it the Catholic standard.
Think of it like
Like the King James Version for English speakers, but serving all of Latin Europe for a thousand years.
Sources and history
Jerome's letters and prefaces explain his methods. The oldest complete Vulgate Bible is Codex Amiatinus, copied in northern England around 700.
Questions and debates
Jerome did not translate everything: most of the New Testament beyond the Gospels was revised by someone else, whose identity is unknown.
Connections (3)
▸The biblical canon: the agreed list of books was rendered into Latin in Jerome's Latin VulgateHistorical record
The connection
Jerome turned the agreed books into Latin, revising the Gospels in Rome (382–384), then translating the Old Testament from Hebrew in Bethlehem (about 390–405). He judged the extra Septuagint books as useful but not scripture; the church kept them in the Vulgate anyway. The Vulgate's contents became the Western Bible, and Trent later used them to define the Catholic canon.
When and where
Rome and Bethlehem, 382–405, commissioned by Pope Damasus I.
Historical evidence
Jerome's prefaces, such as his 'Helmeted Preface' to Samuel and Kings (c. 391), set out his view of the canon; early manuscripts show the contents.
Questions and debates
Jerome's doubts about the extra books later supported the Protestant choice to set them aside, while Catholics followed the church's long use; both cite him.
▸Jerome's Latin Vulgate was the text printed in Gutenberg Bible: the first major printed bookHistorical record
The connection
Jerome's Latin Vulgate had been the Bible of the Western church for a thousand years, so it was the obvious book for Gutenberg's first big project, with ready buyers in monasteries, cathedrals and universities. Printing then made the Vulgate cheaper and more uniform than hand copies.
When and where
Mainz, Germany, about 1454–1455, printed by Johannes Gutenberg with Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer.
Historical evidence
The 49 surviving copies are the Latin Vulgate text, including Jerome's prefaces, in two volumes.
Questions and debates
Which manuscript the printers worked from is uncertain, and printed Vulgates varied until the Church issued its official Sixto-Clementine edition in 1592.
▸Jerome's Latin Vulgate was the source text for John Wycliffe and the first English BibleHistorical record
The connection
Wycliffe's circle, like most English clergy, worked in Latin rather than Hebrew or Greek, so they translated the Bible from Jerome's Vulgate. The early version followed the Latin word order so closely it was hard to read; a later revision turned it into smoother English.
When and where
Oxford and Lutterworth, England, about 1382–1395; translators included Nicholas of Hereford and probably John Purvey.
Historical evidence
The text follows Vulgate readings and word order, and the later version's General Prologue describes the translators' method.
Questions and debates
Wycliffe's personal role and the translators' identities remain uncertain; scholars debate how much he directed the project.