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Hiermeneutae

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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(ἑρμηνευταί ,d inmtepreteers), officers in the ancient Church, whose business it was to render one language into another, as there was occasion, both in reading the Scriptures, and in the homilies that were made to the people; an office chiefly used in those churches where the people spoke different languages, as in Palestine, where some spoke Syriac, others Greek; and in the churches of Africa, where some spoke Latin and others Punic. "So far was the primitive Church from encouraging ignorance, by locking up the Scriptures in an unknown tongue, that she not only translated them into all languages, but also appointed a standing office of interpreters, who were viva voce to make men understand what was read, and not suffer them to be barbarians in the service of God, which is a tyranny that was unknown to former ages." — Bingham, Orig. Eccles. bk. 3. ch. 13:§ 4.