Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Word of God · Book II: On the Editions and Versions of Scripture
Chapter 7: On the Greek edition of the New Testament
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. I, De Verbo Dei, Book II: On the Editions and Versions of Scripture. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
Two questions concerning the Greek edition of the New Testament are wont to be disputed. The former is of the authors of that edition. The latter of the authority and integrity of the same edition.
And the former question indeed is neither very necessary nor very difficult. For it is established that the New Testament was written in Greek by those Apostles or Evangelists whose names are prefixed in the titles of the several books or epistles, excepting only the Gospel of Matthew and of Mark, and the epistle to the Hebrews; since that Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Hebrew speech, Irenaeus book 3 chapter 1, Athanasius in the Synopsis, Jerome in the preface of his Commentary on Matthew, and on chapter 11 of Osee, and in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers, in Matthew, and all the rest testify.
Moreover Athanasius in the cited place thinks that the Gospel of Matthew was translated into the Greek tongue by the Apostle James; but others attribute that translation to John the Apostle, and others to Matthew himself. But whosesoever it be, that translation was so received by the Church as if the Gospel of Matthew had first been written in that tongue. Wherefore we have not much need of the Hebrew Gospel which Munster published; nor even of that which John Tilius lately caused to be published, in which many things are wanting, many are superfluous, and not a few also are seen to be changed; and God knows whether this was not done to detract credit from the Greek and Latin edition, namely by the cunning of the Jews, out of whose storehouses that Gospel came forth.
But that the book of Mark was written in Latin by Mark himself at Rome, and then by the same turned into the Greek tongue at Aquileia, Adrian Finus teaches book 6 of the Scourge of the Jews chapter 80, and book 8 chapter 62; and Peter Antony Beuther, who followed Finus, in annotations 8 and 9 on sacred Scripture. In the life of blessed Peter too, which holds the first place in the Pontifical of Damasus, it is indicated openly enough that the Gospel of Mark was at first written in Latin, and by Paul himself written in Greek, or at least translated by some Apostolic man from the Hebrew speech into Greek. And so the whole Greek edition of the New Testament has the Apostles and Evangelists as its authors.
Now as to the authority, there can be no doubt that the Apostolic edition is of the highest authority, unless perchance it be established that it is corrupt. Of which matter I judge that we ought to think just as we said above of the Hebrew — namely, that the Greek codices are not generally corrupt, nor yet are they most pure fountains, so that whatever differs from them must necessarily be corrected, as Calvin, Major, Kemnitz, and the other heretics of this time falsely think.
And indeed that the Greek codices are not universally and altogether corrupt can easily be demonstrated: for although the heretics have attempted to deprave many things, yet there have never been wanting Catholics who detected their corruptions and did not permit the sacred Books to be corrupted. Very many things out of the whole New Testament Marcion took away and changed, as Tertullian testifies book 5 against Marcion; but almost all these Epiphanius noted, heresy 42, and in our Greek codices they are had rightly. The Arians too had taken away out of the Gospel John 4, God is a spirit; but blessed Ambrose indicated and noted it, book 3 On the Holy Ghost chapter 11, and all our Greek codices have this testimony.
But that they are not everywhere incorrupt, but that some errors have sometimes crept in, at least through the negligence of the copyists, and that it is not always safe to correct the Latin to the Greek, will be made plain by several examples. Certainly 1 Corinthians 15 it ought to be read: The first man was of the earth, earthy; the second man from heaven, heavenly, as not only our Latin version has, but Calvin also approves, chapter 12 of the Institutes section 12. But the Greek constantly reads, the second man, the Lord, from heaven, [ho deuteros anthrōpos Kyrios ex ouranou]. That this depravation remained by the fault of the copyists from the corruptions of Marcion, is plain from Tertullian book 5 against Marcion.
Besides, 1 Corinthians 7, where we have: He that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided; the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, etc., the Greek codices have it far otherwise; for that he is divided they join with the following thus, [memeristai hē gynē kai hē parthenos], the wife and the virgin is divided. Which reading blessed Jerome, in book 1 against Jovinian, affirms is not of the Apostolic truth. Romans 12, where we read, Serving the Lord, the Greek does not have [Kyriō] but [kairō douleuontes], that is, serving the time. And yet that our reading is most true is plain, both from Jerome in the epistle to Marcella which begins After the former epistle, where he says that in the emended Greek codices there is had not [kairō] but [Kyriō]; and from Origen, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and other Greek Fathers, who so read and expounded it in their Commentaries.
Finally it is established that in very many Greek codices there are wanting many parts of the true Scripture, as the history of the adulteress John 8, the last chapter of Mark, the most beautiful testimony of the Trinity 1 John, and others of which we have discoursed above. It is established also that certain things are found in all the Greek codices which are not parts of the divine Scripture, as at Matthew 6 there is added to the Lord's Prayer: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever — which words are not of the text, but added by the Greeks, as can be understood from two things. First, from this, that Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine expound the Lord's Prayer, and yet make no mention of these words, though all these knew Greek well. Secondly, from this, that the Greeks in their liturgy do indeed recite these words, but do not join them with the Lord's Prayer.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT VII. De editione Grceca Testamenti novi. Duae quaestiones de Graeca editione Testa¬ menti novi disputari solent. Prior est de auctoribus ejus editionis. Posterior de auc¬ toritate et integritate ejusdem editionis. Ac prior quidem quaestio nec admodum necessaria, nec valde difficilis est. Nam con¬ stat Testamentum novum Graece scriptum esse ab iis Apostolis, vel Evangelistis, quo¬ rum nomina in titulis singulorum librorum, vel epistolarum praefiguntur, exceptis dun- taxat Evangelio Matthaei et Marci, et epist. ad Hebr. : siquidem Matthaeum Hebraico sermone scripsisse Evangelium suum, tes¬ tantur Irenaeus lib. III, cap. 1. Athanasius in Synopsi, Hieronymus praefat. Comme nt. in Matthaeum; et in c. XI. Oseae, et in lib.de Script. Ecclesiast. in Matthaeo, et alii omnes. Porro Athanasius loco citato existimat, ab Apostolo Jacobo Matthaei Evangelium in Graecam linguam esse translatum : alii vero Joanni Apostolo, et alii ipsi Matthaeo eam translationem tribuunt. Sed cujuscumque sit, ita recepta est ab Ecclesia illa translatio, ac si ea lingua primum scriptum fuisset Evangelium Matthaei. Quocirca non multum egemus Evangelio Hebraico quod Munsterus edidit; nec illo etiam quod nuper edi cura- CAPUT VII. 133 vit Joannes Tilias, in quo multa desunt, multa supervacanea sunt, non pauca etiam immutata cernuntur; et Deus novit, utrum id factum non sit ad detrahendam fidem Graecae et Latinae editioni, astutia videlicet Judaeorum, ex quorum promptuariis Evan- gelium illud"prodiit. Marci vero librum Latine ab ipso Marco Romae scriptum esse , ac deinde ab eodem Aquileiae in Graecam linguam conversum, docet Adrianus Finus lib. YI. Flagelli Ju¬ daeorum cap. 80. et lib. YIII. cap. 62. et qui Finum secutus est Petrus Antonius Beuther annotat. 8. et 9. ad sacram Scripturam. In vita quoque B. Petri, quae in Pontificali Da- masi primum locum tenet, satis aperte indi¬ catur, Marci Evan^elium initio Latine ab ipso Paulo Graece scriptum esse, vel certe abApos- tolico aliquo viro ex Hebraico sermone in Graecum esse translatum. Itaque Graeca edi¬ tio -Testamenti novi universa Apostolos et Evangelistas auctores habet. Jam vero quod attinet ad auctoritatem, dubium esse non potest, quin editio Aposto- lica summae sit auctoritatis, nisi forte constet eam esse corruptam. De qua re ita sentien¬ dum censeo, ut supra de Hebraicis diximus, videlicet, non esse Graecos codices corruptos generaliter : nec tamen esse fontes purissi¬ mos, ut necessario quidquid ab eis dissentit corrigendum sit , ut falso existimant Calvi¬ nus, Major, Kemnitius, caeterique hujus tem¬ poris haeretici. Et vero non esse Graecos codices in uni¬ versum atque omnino corruptos , facile de¬ monstrari potest : nam etsi multa depravare conati sint haeretici ; tamen nunquam defue¬ runt Catholici qui eorum corruptelas detexe¬ rint, et non permiserint Libros sacros cor¬ rumpi. Plurima ex toto novo Testamento abstulit mutavitque Marcion, ut testatur Ter¬ tullianus lib. V, Contra Marcionem : sed illa omnia fere notavit Epiphanius haeres, 42. et in nostris codicibus Graecis habentur recte. Ariani quoque abstulerant ex Evangelio Jo. IY. Spiritus est Deus, (1) sed indicavit et no¬ tavit B. Ambrosius lib. III. de Spiritu sancto cap.ll. et nostri codices Graeci omnes hoc testimonium habent. ‘Quod autem non sint ubique incorrupti, sed aliqui interdum errores irrepserint saltem negligentia Librariorum, et non sit tutum semper Latina ad Graeca corrigere ; aliquot exemplis planum fiet. Certe I. Cor, XY, le¬ gendum est : Primus homo de terra terrenus secundus homo de coelo coelestis (2) ut non so¬ lum nostra Latina versio habet , sed etiam Calvinus probat cap. XII. Instit. §. 12. At Graeci constanter legunt, secundus homo Do¬ minus de coelo , 6 hurzpoq uuOpumg Khptog i^ovpuvoo. Quam depravationem mansisse vitio scripto¬ rum ex corruptionibus Marcionis , patet ex Tertulliano lib. Y. in Marcionem. Praeterea I. Gorinth. YII. ubi nos habe¬ mus : Qui. cum uxore est, sollicitus est qucesunt Mundi , quomodo placeat uxori et divisus est : medier innupta et virgo cogitat quce Domini sunt etc. (3) Graeci codices longe aliter ha¬ bent, nam illud divisus est conjungunt cum sequentibus sic, p.sp.ipiaQcn y yvvT] y.(/.i y -KKpQiwg, divisa est uxor et virgo. Quam lectionem B. Hieronvmus in lib. I. contra Jovinianum af- firmat, non esse Apostolicae veritatis. Ro- man. XII. ubi nos legimus : Domino servien¬ tes (4) : Graeci non habent Kupw sed -/.capti Sovh uovrss, id est, tempori servientes . Et tamen nostram lectionem esse verissimam patet^ tum ex Hieronymo in epistola ad MarcellanaP,^ quae incipit : Post priorem epistolam; ubi dicit, in emendatis Graecis codicibus haberi non v.y.ipti sed y.vptM : tam ex Origene, Chryso- stomo, Theophylacto, et aliis Graecis Patri¬ bus, qui sic legerunt, et explicaverunt in suis Comment. Denique constat, in plurimis Graecis codi¬ cibus deesse multas verae Scripturae partes, ut historiam adulterae Jo. YIII., ultimum caput Marci, testimonium pulcherrimum Tri¬ nitatis I. Joann., et alia de quibus supra dis¬ seruimus. Constat etiam , quaedam in omni¬ bus Graecis codicibus inveniri, quae non sunt partes divinae Scripturae, ut Matth. YI. ora¬ tioni Dominicae addita : Quia tuum est regnum, et potentia et gloria in scecula, quae verba non esse de textu, sed addita a Graecis ex duobus intelligi potest. Primo ex eo quod Tertullia¬ nus, Cyprianus, Ambrosius, Hieronymus, Augustinus orationem Dominicam exponunt, et tamen nullam horum verborum mentio¬ nem faciunt, cum omnes isti Graece bene no¬ verint. Secundo ex eo quod Graeci in sua li- turgia recitant quidem haec verba, sed non contineant cum oratione Dominica. (1) Joan. IV, 24. — (2) I. Cor. XV, 47. — (3) I. Cor. VII, 33. — (4) Rom. XII, 11. r 134 LIBER IT.