On The Day January 10 1514

Remembering the World's First Study Bible

Khen Lim



Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, O.F.M., also known as Ximenes de Cisneros or commonly referred to as simply Jiménez or Cisneros (Image source: faculty-staff.ou.edu)

The English Study Bible, complete with all sorts of supporting notes, translated details et al that help to enrich our pursuit of God’s Word actually has very interesting historical roots. As it turned out, there was a Bible, once upon a time, that contained anywhere from four to eight translations existing side by side within the same text. Such Bibles were known to provide columns of Hebrew and Greek translations and were originally called ‘Polyglot Bibles’ because the word ‘polyglot’ refers to ‘many languages.’

Two original pages of the Complutensian Polyglot of Alcala dated 1514 published by Arnald Guillen de Brocar in Alcala de Henares, Spain available for auction sold for USD240 on Feb 18 2013. These pages show text in Hebrew, Latin and Greek arranged in three columns on folio 36.5x25.5cm (14½x10¼) paper format. (Image source: pbagalleries.com)

The very first of its kind was actually compiled as early as the third century by Early Church Father cum theologian extraordinaire Origen but it was not until the sixteenth century in Spain that it was first printed and given the name, Complutensian Polyglot, or Complutensian for Alcala de Henares in reference to the place in Spain where it was printed.

Much of this is owed to the Spanish Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros the Inquisitor (1436-1517) who was rich enough to pay for the publication and printing of the Complutensian Polyglot. Yet despite his wealth, he preferred a humble life of a simple Franciscan friar until the Pope personally ordered him to ascend to the position of Archbishop of Toledo.

Jiménez was a man of supreme capability, not only founding the University of Alcala but also partook in the defeat of the Moors at Oran, North Africa even while he governed Spain in the absences of the royal family in power. In fact, had the papacy (under Julius II and later Leo X) had heeded his advice, it could have been possible that Luther’s Reformation might not have gathered any steam. Still Christians should also be aware that it was Jiménez who headed the dreaded Inquisition where many suffered his cruelties. In other words, he also happened to be one of those who was bent on stalling the Reformation.

Jiménez actually paid what today amounts to half a million dollars to finance the costly polyglot project in which he appointed Diego Lopez de Zunga to lead it to completion. In the end, the Old Testament ran to four volumes with Jerome’s Latin Vulgate sandwiched between the Hebraic translation and the Septuagint, which was the Greek version of the Old Testament. The Moses’ five-book Pentateuch was even available in its original Aramaic translation!

The first page of the Complutensian Polyglot being shown to Jiménez (Image source: lindy1950.tripod.com)

Jiménez wrote in its preface that it was his hope that the polyglot would be an invaluable assistance to scholars who were looking for accurately interpreted Scripture. He said that while the ‘meaning of heavenly wisdom’ may be widely available in different languages, it was vital that its truth be ‘understood… from the very fount of the original language.’

A colophon was to be found at the back of the Bible, revealing its publication details. Accordingly therefore, the maiden volume of the polyglot was issued on this day January 10 1514, which was more than three years following Luther’s protestation in Wittenberg. The sixth volume did not see the light of day until 1517 when Jiménez died on November 8.

The official publication date was actually even later – 1522 – years after his death not only because Pope Leo X dragged his feet in approving the project but also there was that little matter of Erasmus whose exclusive deal with Emperor Maximillian in the printing of the New Testament in Greek would have added more problems at the same time.

In the end, the Completensian Polyglot, though begun in 1502, took a tedious 20 years to finally see publication.