Latin Vulgate
The Latin Bible of the Western Christian tradition: its origin, transmission, principal editions and complete list of books in Latin and English.
The Latin Bible of Western Christianity
The Vulgate is the great Latin biblical tradition of Western Christianity. Its name derives from the Latin expression editio vulgata, meaning the common, widely disseminated or generally used edition.
It is especially associated with the work of Saint Jerome, who revised and translated numerous biblical books between the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century. The collection known as the Vulgate did not, however, originate at a single moment, and not every part was translated directly by Jerome. Some sections preserved or reworked earlier Latin translations collectively known as the Vetus Latina.
During the Middle Ages, the Vulgate became the principal Latin biblical text of Western Europe. Its transmission passed through manuscripts, revisions and different printed editions, leading to the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate and, in the modern period, the Nova Vulgata.
The following catalogue adopts the official order and Latin book titles of the Nova Vulgata. Its 46 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books form the 73-book Catholic canon.
The Old Vulgate, the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate and the Nova Vulgata
The term Vulgate describes a complex textual tradition rather than one unchanging manuscript. Across the centuries, the Latin text was copied, corrected, compared and arranged in different forms.
The Nova Vulgata preserves the general order of the Sixto-Clementine tradition while revising the Latin in light of the original texts, modern textual criticism and the liturgical tradition.
Search the Books List
Complete catalogueBooks of the Nova Vulgata
The left column preserves the official Latin title; the right column presents the corresponding English title. A gold marker identifies an available ASH page, study or internal search path.
Pentateuch 5
Historical Books 14
Poetic and Wisdom Books 7
Major Prophets 6
Minor Prophets 12
Books of Maccabees 2
Gospels and Acts 5
Pauline Epistles 14
Catholic Epistles 7
Revelation 1
Historical Appendix in Certain Vulgate Editions 3
Consult the Nova Vulgata directly
The Holy See provides the complete Latin text of the Nova Vulgata, arranged by Old Testament, New Testament and introductory documents.
Open the Nova Vulgata