Page:The ancient interpretation of Leviticus XVIII. 18 - Marriage with a deceased wife's sister is lawful.djvu/31

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

21

Sebastian Munster, whose first edition appeared in 1534, has "Uxorem cum sorore ejus non accipies in æmulationem ut scilicet reveles turpitudinem ejus dum illa adhuc vivit;"[1] and has in his note, "In æmulationem sive tribulationem. Alludit ad matrimonium Jacob qui duas habuit viventes sorores, quarum una alteram perpetuo ob moritum æmulabatur."[2]

Isidore Clarius, who published his emended Vulgate in 1542, adopts both the translation and note of Munster, as just given.

In Cranmer's Bible, 1540, the translation is similar: "Thou shalt not take a woman and her sister also to vex her, that thou woldest uncover her secretes as long as she liveth." And to this translation Cranmer adhered, as may be seen in the "Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum," which expresses the joint judgment of Cranmer, Goodrick, Cox, May, Peter Martyr, and Rowland Taylor. Chap. v. is "Enumeratio personarum in Levitico prohibitarum. In Levitico dispositæ personæ citantur his nominibus, mater, noverca, soror, filia filii, filia filiæ, amita, matertera, uxor patrui, nurus, uxor fratris, filia fratris, filia uxoris, filia filii uxoris, filia filiæ uxoris, soror uxoris." (Cardwells edit., p. 48.) In the Revision of Cranmer's Bible by Cuthbert, Bishop of Durham, and Ridley, in 1541, the same translation is retained, and a reference given in the margin to Gen. xxix., showing that they understood it of simultaneous marriage with two sisters.

In the French translation, Lyons, 1544, "Tu ne prendras point aussi la femme avec sa sœur en son vivant: pour descouvrir sa vergonge, car ce tournerait en affliction."

  1. "A wife with her sister thou shalt not take into rivalship, namely, to reveal her shame, whilst the former still lives."
  2. "Into rivalship or tribulation. He alludes to the marriage of Jacob, who had two living sisters, of whom the one was perpetually jealous of the other on account of their husband."