Some Biblico-liturgical passages reconsidered

Abstract

The language of the Liturgy is the language of the Bible. Not only is the Liturgy impregnated with words, phrases, ideas and reminiscences of all sorts drawn from the Bible, but extensive parts of the Bible are daily read, either privately or publicly, in the liturgical service. In the Latin Church obviously it is the Latin Bible or the Vulgate which is the official text of the Liturgy and which after Vatican Council II has been substituted by the vernacular languages. No version _ of the Bible is absolutely perfect. Neither St. Jerome's Latin Bible nor any of the modern versions is absolutely free from error or, at least, imperfections, and these errors and imperfections naturally find their way into the liturgy to the great detriment of the faithful in their daily use of liturgical books. It is not my purpose to list here all those biblico-liturgical passages which need correction or at least some explanation, but I simply limit myself to a few of the most familiar passages which are more likely.to cause some confusion or difficulty to the reader.