ABSTRACT
The first translations must have been made in the course of the lInd century. Under what conditions, in what country, and by whose hands'? These are so many questions which cannot be solved at the present time. 2 The hypothesis of an African origin is that which would most commend itself. However this may be, these Latin versions were to multiply themselves throughout the West up to the time of the great revision by 5t Jerome, who has preserved them in part in his own translation of the Holy Books. More ancient than the most ancient Greek manuscripts of the Bible which have been preserved to us, they offer great interest to theologians. 3 From the literary point of view likewise their importance is considerable. They have largely contributed to shape the imagination, language, and style of the Christian writers. They have been the starting point of a mighty work in the creation and adaptation of words which has had its repercussion throughout Christian literature. \Ve can even trace its influence much further. ,. The pre-Hieronymic versions," to again quote G. Paris, " havc left their traces down to much later centuries: the Middle Ages without exception quoted with complaisance so-called Messianic prophecies which are found neither in the Hebrew text nor in the Vulgate, and which owe their existence only to misinterpretations of the Septuagint diffused by their uld Latin translators; and even in our days the infant Jesus is pictured between an ox and an ass
because of a passage from Habacuc (III, 2) which, when translated by the Septuagint (between two animals), signifies in reality quite another thing."
