4. To remedy the defects of Olivetan's version, and to produce one more suited to the Avants of tlie age, the Venerable Company of Pastors at Geneva undertook a thorough revisal of the work, with the special aid of Beza, Goulart, Vay, etc., and under the editorial care of Cornelius Bertram. This appeared in 1588. In this revision, ilin^, which in all the other Protestant versions is rendered bj' a word equivalent to Lord, is throughout trdnslated U Eternel. Revised editions have been issued hy the Venerable Companv in 1693, 1712, 1726, 1805, and of the N. T. in 1833 ; the last two very much modernized in style. This claims to be the most elegant of the French versions, but it is far from being an adequate rendering of the original.
5. "The Bible of DIodati, Gen. 1644; of Desmarets, Amst. 1609 ; of Martin, Utr. (N. T.) 1C96, (Bible) 1707, 2 vols. fol. ; of Roques, Basle, 1744 ; Osterwald, Amst. 1724; Neufch. 1744, are revisions of Olivetan's text, undertaken by individuals. Of these, Osterwald's is the most thorough, and may be viewed as occupying the place in the Frencii Protestant Church of an au- thorized version, though Martin's is the one most es- teemed by the more orthodox of its members, while that of Desmarets is sought by those who attach much value to fine paper and printing. A carefully revised edition of Osterwald's Bible, with parallels bj' the Rev. W. Mackenzie, has been issued by the French Bible Society, Paris, 1S61.
6. Of avowedly new translations from the original by individuals ma}' be mentioned that of Sob. Chastilloii (Castalio), 2 vols, fol., Basle, 1555, in which the trans- lator aimed to impart classical elegance to the style, but whicli was universally regarded as neither conve}-- ing the just sense of tlie original, nor being in accord- ance with French idiom ; that of Lc Clerc, 2 vols. 4to. Amst. 1703, in the interests of Arminianism ; that of Le Cene, published after his death in 2 vols, fol., Amst. 1741, deeply marked by Socinian leanings ; and that of Beausobre and L'Enfant, 2 vols. 4to, Amst. 1718. This last is by much tlic best, and has been repeatedly reprinted. See BKArsoBUE.
7. Of Roman Catholic versions of the Bible, the first is that of Rene Bennist, a member of tlie theological faculty at Paris, which appeared in 1566. It was con- demned bj' Pope Gregory XIII in 1575, and involved the author in much trouble because of its supposed
Protestant leanings. It is, in fact, onl}' a slightly al- tered transcript of the Geneva Bible. A revised edi- tion, conformed to the Vulgate, was proposed and is- sued b}' tlie divines at Louvain. Four translations of tlie N. T. had appeared before this, viz. tliat of Claude Deville, 1613 ; that of Jaques Corbin, an advocate of Paris, 1643 ; that of ]\Iichcl de Marolles, abbe of Ville- loin, 1649 ; and in 1606 that of Den}'s Amelotte, a priest of the oratory, whose hatred of the Jansenists and desire to damage tiieir version, then in the press, prompted him to a work for which he was wholly unfit, and tlie blunders of which drew down on him the un- sparing criticism of Richard Simon, a priest of his own order. Marolles had begun a translation of the O. T., but it was suppressed after the printing had proceeded as far as Lev. xxiii. A translation of the N. T. by the theologians of Louvain appeared in 1686; of tliis only a few copies exist. All these are made from the Vul- gate. So also is the famous Jansenist translation be- gun by Antoine Lemaitre, and finished by his brother Isaac Louis Lemaitre de Sacy, aided by Antoine Ar- nauld, P. Nicole, etc. The N. T. was first published in 2 vols. 8vo in 1667, and subsequently the O. T., nominalh' at Mons, but reallj' at Amsterdam. It is variously styled the version of Mons, the version of Port Roj'al, but now commonly the version of De Sacy. Many editions of it have appeared, with and without notes ; the best is that of Fosse and Beaubrun, Par. 1682, 3 vols. 8vo ; a beautifulh' illustrated edition was issued at Paris in 1789-1804, in 12 vols. 8vo. It was with an edition of this version, altered so as to be more conformed to the Vulgate, that Quesnel jniljlish- ed his Rrjlcctlons, 1671-80. Tlie translation of Calmet, in his Commentaire IJtliralet Critique, Paris, 1724, may be also viewed as a revised edition of the ilons Bible. Antoine Godeau, bishop of Grasse, published a trans- lation made from tlie Vulgate, in 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1668. It holds a middle place between a literal ver- sion and a paraphrase. The translation of Nic. Le- gros was published anonymouslj' at Cologne in 1739, and afterwards with his name in several editions. Of the N. T., a translation, from the pen of Richard Si- mon, appeared anonymouslj' in 1702 at Trevoux. This version was charged by Bossuet with Socinian lean- ings, and was condemned by Cardinal de Noailles. Of the translation bj' Huro, 1702, and that by the Jes- uits Bouhours, Tcllier, and Bernier, between 1697 and 1703, it ma}' suffice to make mention.
8. In our own day several versions of the Psalms have appeared in France. A translation of tlie whole Bible from the Vulgate, by Eugene Geronde, in 23 vols. 8vo, appeared at Paris between 1820 and 1824. This has frequently been reprinted, and has excited much attention, some of the journals vehemently com- mending it, while by others it has been no less severe- ly criticised. The latest appearance in this depart- ment is the translation of the Gospels by La IMennais, 1846, the style of whicli is admirable, but the notes ap- pended to it are in the interest of Socialism. But the most im])ortant work of this kind is undoubtedly the translation from the Hebrew of the O. T. by S. Cahen, La Bible : Traduction Xouvelle uvec rHehreu en regard, etc. Par. 1832-39, 18 vols. 8vo. (Le Long, BiUiothcca Sacra; Simon, Hist. Crit. du N. Test. liv. ii; Brunet, Manuel du FAbraire ; Home, Introduction, vol. ii, pt. 2; Reuss, Gesch.des V. T. sec. 466, etc. ; and in Herzog's Eeal-Encylhji. s. v. Romanischc Bibelubers. ; Darling, Ennjcl. Jiibliogr. ii, 99 sq.). — Kitto, Cyclop, s. v.