Polyglot

Polyglot (Gr. polys, 'many,' and glōtta, 'tongue') means a collection of versions in different languages of the same work, but is almost exclusively applied to manifold versions of the Bible. The Hexapla of Origen (q.v.) contained, besides the Hebrew text, several other Greek versions, but is not commonly reckoned among the polyglots. The most famous polyglots are (1) the Complutensian, published under the auspices of Cardinal Ximenes (q.v.) at Alcalá (Lat. Complutum), in 6 vols. folio, 1502-17, with Hebrew, Greek, Chaldee (each with Latin versions), and the Vulgate Latin; (2) the Antwerp Polyglot, printed at the Plantin press, at the cost of Philip II. of Spain, in 1569-72, edited by Arias Montanus; (3) the Paris Polyglot, edited by Le Jay in 1645, in 6 splendid volumes; and (4) the London Polyglot, edited by Brian Walton, in 6 vols. folio, 1654-57, and containing the Bible, or parts of it, in nine languages. Of modern works of this kind the most convenient is Bagster's Polyglot, first published by Bagster at London in 1831 (new eds. 1874, &c.), which gives the Old Testament in eight languages (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, German, Italian, French, and Spanish), and the New Testament in nine (the Syriac version being added).