In fact, Catholic vernacular translations of the Scriptures were produced
abundantly during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Non-Latin
Scripture versions (in whole or in part) produced before the Protestant
Reformation include:
20
(i)
62 Hebrew editions (12 of the entire Old Testament, 50 of
selected portions)
(ii)
22 Greek editions (3 of the Old Testament, 12 of the New
Testament, 7 of selected portions)
(iii)
6 Italian editions
(iv)
10 French editions
(v)
6 Dutch editions
(vi)
4 Spanish editions
(vii)
10 German editions
English versions of the Bible made before the Reformation include:
21
(i)
An Anglo-Saxon translation of portions of the Old and New
Testaments by the Northumbrian herdsman, Caedmon, c. 600
AD.
(ii)
An Anglo-Saxon translation of the Psalms by Guthlac at the
end of the 7th century.
(iii)
A translation of the Psalms by Aldhelm, Bishop of Scherborne,
in the 8th century.
(iv)
A translation of the entire Bible by St. Bede the Venerable
(+731 AD).
(v)
A translation of a portion of the Psalms by King Alfred the
Great (+901 AD).
(vi)
A translation of the Gospels in the West Saxon dialect, 10th
century (the Wessex Gospels).
20
Cf. The Oxford Companion to the Bible (edd. B. Metzger, M. Coogan), Oxford
University Press, 1993, pp. 755-758.
21
Cf. A Companion to Scripture Studies, Fr. John Steinmuller STD, Joseph
Wagner, New York, 1941, p. 208.
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