La Sainte Bible

By Clara Newkirk

Title	La Sainte Bible en Latin et en François avec des notes littérales pour l’intelligence des endroits les plus difficiles: et la concorde des quatre Évangélistes (Tome Premier)
Contributor(s)	Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy (Translator), Desprez Guillaume (Printer), Desessartz Jean (Printer)
Date	1717
Location	Paris
Language	French/Latin
Source	Besançon Diocesan Center

What is the La Sainte Bible?

The La Sainte Bible, which was translated and annotated by Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy (1613-1684), was originally printed in Paris in 1696. Sacy was a priest of Port-Royal, as well as a Jansenist theologian and humanist. This version of the bible was not the first edition that De Sacy published. He is more well known for publishing installments of the bible translated into French between 1667 and 1696, commonly referred to as the Sacy Bible or the Port-Royal Bible. The La Sainte Bible was published posthumously, meaning it was edited in what was considered the Sacy tradition, but it was not the exact same as earlier editions published during his lifetime.

The copies at the Diocesan Center of Besançon were printed at an even later date than the first printing, in 1717. Bound in leather, they contain Latin and French on pages facing each other, with notes in the margins and footnotes explaining difficult passages. It also contains 40 separate wood cut engravings, as well as illuminated initials. The Diocesan Center holds three volumes, although this focuses on the first volume, which contains the Book of Exodus.

This Bible brought change to the French Catholic way of life, as it promoted study of the bible for those who were not educated enough to read foreign languages. The bilingual aspect of displaying both Latin and French, as well as commentary made the bible more accessible to clergy who might have lacked extensive Hebrew or Greek training, as well as others who could only read French.

As this bible was published during a period of tension surrounding the royal authority on religious matters, the bible participated indirectly in broader debates over religious authority and royal control of ecclesiastical publications. Compared with the 1535 Coverdale Bible, De Sacy’s edition is more scholarly, annotated, and, is also bilingual. It prioritizes explanatory notes and interpretation of the bible, containing far less illustrations.

Illustrations

In this copy, there is a large metal engraving at the beginning, depicting Jesus of Nazareth. It was signed by Jean Audran, a French engraver. The Exodus section contains small engraved headpieces at the beginning of each book and decorative initials at the beginning of paragraphs. There are no other illustrations in the text, except for cul-de-lampes at the end of chapters. It appears to depict God drowning the Pharaoh’s army, which was also depicted in a small woodcut in the Coverdale Bible. These illustrations emphasize Moses, disastrous events from the bible, and symbolic imagery of God giving guidance. The Ten Plagues are not illustrated . Instead, visual elements reinforce moral, liturgical, and typological interpretations of the text. The emphasis is on spiritual reflection, which is consistent with the Port-Royal theological approach that Sacy established.

References/Further Reading

Audran, Jean. https://research.rkd.nl/en/detail/https%3A%2f%2fdata.rkd.nl%2fartists%2f2917
Le Maistre de Sacy. https://www.amisdeportroyal.org/societe/index.php/le-maistre-de-sacy-isaac-louis/
Maxime Menuet, “Theology and Economics: The Case of the Early Jansenism”, Œconomia [En ligne], 12-2 | 2022, mis en ligne le 01 juin 2022, consulté le 04 décembre 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/12850 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/oeconomia.12850
Pierre G. Le Jeune, Le rôle de la Bible de Port-Royal dans la spiritualité française, Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique, 1992.
Images sourced from bible located at Centre Diocésain de Besançon. https://www.introcedo.com/bibli.RC/opac_css/index.php?lvl=more_results