Polyglot Bibles. The victory of translation

01/03/2024

When we study the history of the versions of the Bible, it turns out that they all converge perfectly in the Polyglot Complutense Bible, printed in 6 volumes in Alcalá de Henares between 1514-1517. The later Royal Bible, sponsored by Philip II in the midst of the Reformation, directed by the humanist Benito Arias Montano and printed in Antwerp in 8 volumes between 1568-1572, is also a space of confluence between the versions. Previously there were also polyglot copies, composed for various purposes, but always in favor of the intelligibility of the biblical text. The Hexapla of Orígenes (composed during the first half of the 3rd century), with six columns, can be considered, even now, the most ambitious project of a polyglot edition of the Bible.

The subtitle of the exhibition "The victory of translation" wants to capture the idea that in Western Europe the dialectic between the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek versions was resolved in favor of the Latin version, that is to say the translation elaborated by Sant Jeroni throughout the s. IV, called the Vulgate for having become the ʽusualʼ text thanks to its enormous expansion over other versions.

More than explaining the phenomenon of polyglot Bibles, this exhibition aims to raise questions related to the history of the biblical text and, therefore, to European culture, and not only medieval, but also modern and contemporary. The exhibition asks why a translation was officially imposed on the originals; how the differences in expression between the original versions and the translations were dealt with; why were the first translations into vernacular languages ​​problematic; how, since when and who recovered Greek and Hebrew studies in the Western tradition; what sense does our interest in polyglot specimens have today...

The exhibition is curated by Óscar de la Cruz Palma and Jordi Vidal Palomino and will be on display on floor 0 of the Humanities Library until April 29, 2024.

Consult the catalog "Bíblies poliglotes : La victòria de la traducció": https://ddd.uab.cat/record/289774

This information is related to the following SDG

• Quality education