Complutensian Polyglot

​All five volumes of the Complutensian Polyglot can be seen on the website of the World Digital Library. Launched in 2009, the Library is operated by UNESCO and the U.S. Library of Congress. Hover your cursor over the image of a page and then click on "Read Online." Genesis begins on page 19 of volume 1. It is a right-hand page. 

In the center of each page of the Old Testament (volumes 1-3) is a narrow column with the Latin Vulgate (A peculiarity of the typesetting is that instead of blank spaces, lines are filled out with rows of little circles). To the outside of the Latin (to the right on right-hand pages and to the left on left-hand pages; Genesis 1 is a right-hand page) is Hebrew and to the inside is Greek of the same text. The Old Testament Greek text was edited from the Septuagint and the New Testament was compiled from older Greek texts. There are, in essence, two interlinears in the Complutensian Polyglot. Above each Greek word in the inside column (left in Genesis 1) is a translation in Latin -- a Greek/Latin interlinear. Because Hebrew is written from right to left, including an interlinear translation with the Hebrew would not have been practical, and so the editors placed a tiny letter of the Roman alphabet above the beginning (to the right) of each Hebrew word in the outside column (right in Genesis 1) and then put the corresponding Roman letter next to the Latin translation in the middle column -- creating a Hebrew/Latin interlinear. “It sounds complicated, but in practice it is extremely easy to use. Even without knowing a word of Hebrew, one can compare the Hebrew text,” said Christopher de Hamel in The Book: A History of The Bible. The outer margin contains roots of Hebrew words in the text.

The two translations at the bottom of the page are included only in the Pentateuch: the Targum of Onkelos, an Aramaic version written in Hebrew characters, and a literal Latin translation. The New Testament (volumes 4 and 5) contain only Greek and Latin.