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 10 January 1514. In vols. ii.−v. (finished on 10 July 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 did not receive the papal sanction until March 1520, and was apparently not issued until 1522. The chief editors were
Juan de Vergara,
López de Zúñiga (Stunica),
Hernán Núñez (Pincianus),
Antonio de Nebrija (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 Lejay'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, 1654-1657), which is more complete in various ways than Le Jay's, including, among other things, the
Syriac of
Esther and of several
apocryphal books for which it is 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 had 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 ==