What does the word Vulgate mean?
The word means the vulgar or common translation. Jerome was translating from the scholarly languages that nobody spoke or read anymore into Latin which was the common language of Christians in his day. Where and When? Jerome settled in Bethlehem and began to write a new standard version of the Bible. He was asked to do so by Pope Damasus. He began the work about 380 a.d. What sources did he use? Jerome gathered many Latin manuscripts of the Bible text – the most popular version was called the Vetus Latina, the Old Latin. Jerome soon realized the confusion and chaos that existed as to the authentic test. He then turned to the Greek Septuagint text of the Old Testament. But here too he found inconsistencies. So he turned to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. What languages did he read? Jerome was able to read Greek and Hebrew as well as his native Latin. So famous was Jerome as a linguist that Augustine called him “expert in all three languages”. How influential was his translation? J
