The Vulgate at the SBL Meeting

From November 18 to 21, 2023, the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) took place in San Antonio, Texas (USA). This conference is the largest of its kind and is considered one of the most significant gatherings for both American and international researchers engaged in the study of (the history and textual criticism of) the Bible.

For the first time, a Program Unit on the ‹Vulgate and the Latin Bible› was organized at this SBL meeting. Eight speakers traveled to San Antonio to present their research in this research domain. The following speakers and topics were featured (in chronological order of presentation):

  • Prof. Dr. Andrew Cain (University of Colorado – Boulder, USA): «The Vetus Latina and Jerome’s Textual Criticism of the Pauline Epistles»
  • Dr. Anna Persig (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium): «A Rediscovered Spanish Vulgate Manuscript: The Text of 1 Corinthians in MS 7-2-41»
  • Michał Jan Marszałek (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium): «Augustine’s Text of 1 Corinthians and Its Relationship with the Freising Fragments: Some Observations»
  • Dr. Matthias Geigenfeind (University of Regensburg, Germany): «The Epistle to the Hebrews in the Vetus Latina: The Status Quaestionis, Preliminary Considerations, and Potential Usage in the Editio Critica Maior»
  • Dr. Dionisio Candido (University of Salzburg, Austria): «Who Defeated the Serpent? Text-Critical and Theological Observations on Vulgate Gen. 3:15»
  • Prof. Dr. Matthew Kraus (University of Cincinnati, USA): «On the Margins of Vulgate Leviticus»
  • Prof. Dr. Michael Graves (Wheaton College, USA): «The Reception of Vulgate Ps 39:7-9 (Heb 40: 7-9) among Latin Christian Hebraists»
  • Prof. Dr. Reinhart Ceulemans (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium): «The Hexametrical Psalter Metaphrases of Olympia Fulvia Morata (1558): Latin Versions and Tradition»

The lectures were of high quality, and speakers were invited to submit their research for publication in the open-access journal Vulgata in Dialogue. The Program Unit on the ‹Vulgate and Latin Bible› is scheduled again for the upcoming two sessions of the SBL Annual Meeting: November 23 to 26, 2024, in San Diego (California), and November 22 to 25, 2025, in Boston (Massachusetts). We invite speakers to propose topics on the Latin Bible for these sessions as well. More information can be found on the SBL website: https://sbl-site.org/meetings/AnnualMeeting.aspx.

Martijn Jaspers

Handbook of the Vulgate Bible

The «Handbook of the Vulgate Bible» of Prof. Bernhard Lang was published as 2023 2nd special issue of Vulgata in Dialogue:

Bernhard Lang. Handbook of the Vulgate Bible and Its Reception. Annotated Bibliography – Latin Glossary – Textual Notes. Chur: The Vulgate Institute, 2023 (e-book, 778 pp.)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25788/vidbor.v1i1.1166 

The handbook is an annotated bibliography of the last two centuries of Vulgata research.
Of particular note:
— an annotated alphabetical glossary of linguistic and stylistic terms (pp. 89–126),
— a glossary of the Latin vocabulary of the Vulgate (pp. 382–472),
— notes on individual biblical texts (pp. 511–723).
The final section is devoted to the reception of the Vulgate.