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Archive Highlights #1: The Junius-Tremellius Latin Bible

You’ve probably seen them: locked cases scattered across Tyndale Library, full of aged (and often quite large) books. These are the Tyndale archives, forbidden to the touch of public hands, but displayed nonetheless for their historical value. 

Still, they can easily go unnoticed. In the interest of combatting this tendency, therefore, I intend to regularly highlight items from the archives, beginning with none other than:

TESTAMENTI VETERIS BIBLIA SACRA

By: Tremellius, Junius, Beze (i.e. Beza)

Printed: 1593

Donated to Tyndale by: The Wenden House Project, 2014

WHAT IS IT?

The Testamenti Veteris Biblia Sacra is, chiefly, a Latin translation & edition of the Old Testament from the Hebrew, put together by Franciscus Junius the Elder and Immanuel Tremellius (both early, prominent Protestant scholars and Hebraists). Tyndale’s edition also includes:

• Theodore Beza’s Latin translation of the New Testament from the Greek
• Junius’ Latin translation of the Apocrypha
• Summaries, notes, and commentary by Tremellius and Junius

POINTS OF INTEREST

• As a Latin Bible translation, the Junius-Tremellius Bible distinguishes itself from the Vulgate in that it is distinctly a product of the Protestant Reformation (Junius even studied under John Calvin). As such, it became famous among Protestants, and especially Reformed Protestants. *
• The King James Version of the Bible was influenced by the Junius-Tremellius Bible; the translators used it as a resource. **
• The Junius-Tremellius Bible was the English poet John Milton’s favorite Latin translation, and he often cited it in his Latin prose works. ***
• Head Librarian Caleb Harris is currently doing his M.A. thesis on this Bible. He is working on transcribing and translating the minor prophets, including the notes and commentaries.

HOW TO READ IT

Although the archived edition is not available for checkout, Tyndale’s “Reference” section actually has a photocopied edition of the Junius-Tremellius Bible, albeit without the annotations. Only, be warned: the print can be difficult to read in places. Beza’s New Testament, by itself, is also in the Reference section, with clear and readable text. Readable, that is, if you know Latin.

Biblia Sacra Sive Testamentum Vetus Ab Imman. Tremellio et Francisco Junio ... Latine Redditum, Item Testamentum Novum, a Theodor Beza ... in Latinum Versum. Ed. Emendatior by Tremellius, Immanuel; Junius, Franciscus; Beza, Theodore

Call Number: 225 Tremellius

ISBN: 0343136597

Publication Date: 2018-10-14

Date Created: 1715

 

Novum Testamentum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi by Theodore Beza

Call Number: 225 Beza

ISBN: 1608996069

Publication Date: 2010-05-01

 

* S. L. Greenslade, ed., The Cambridge History of the Bible: The West from the Reformation to the Present Day, (London: Cambridge Universtiy Press, 1963), 72.

** Ibid., 167.

*** William B. Hunter Jr, ed., A Milton Encyclopedia: Volume 8 Sm-Z, (New Jersey: Associated University Press, 1980), 88-89.