hebraica veritas

noun

The traditional Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Jewish Bible, viewed as its original, correct, and authoritative text.

“It is impossible to understand the book of Job without consulting the hebraica veritas.”

Meanings

nounhebraica veritas (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe traditional Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Jewish Bible, viewed as its original, correct, and authoritative text.

    It is impossible to understand the book of Job without consulting the hebraica veritas.

    5 more examples

    “Once again it becomes apparent that the Christians, however devoted to the hebraica veritas, could not be so bold as the Jews; for their interpretations were always subject to censorship by the custodians of an infallible tradition that was partly independent of Scripture.”

    2003, Frank Kermode, Pieces of My Mind: Essays and Criticism, 1958-2002, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 239

    “Jerome had gone to Palestine to study the Hebrew language at its source and produce a new translation of the Bible from a restored hebraica veritas.”

    1964, Marie Aquinas McNamara, Friends and Friendship for Saint Augustine, Alba House, page 197

    “With the rise of towns and universities, the interest of Christian scholars in the Hebraica Veritas rose.”

    1990, Clarence C. Walton, Enriching Business Ethics, Plenum Press, page 12

    “Guy returned to Salomon’s a week later. ‘It is audacious of me to ask you for a favor that will only waste your time, but I have come to think that to truly understand scripture, I must ascertain the Hebraica veritas from the original Hebrew.’”

    2005, Maggie Anton, Rashi’s Daughters, Book III: Rachel, Plume, page 124

    “In a pair of chapters on the neglected story of how Hebrew figured in the Christian imagination, Mr. Glinert tells how Christians learned Hebrew both to access ‘hebraica veritas,’ or Hebrew truth, and to monitor the Jews in their midst ‘with the goal of mastering the mischief and the falsehoods of the Jews,’ as a 14th-century writer put it.”

    2017, Benjamin Balint, “The Language of Survival”, in The Wall Street Journal, European, vol. 35, no. 39, Friday-Sunday, March 24-26, 2017, page 9A
  2. uncountableSaint Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation of the Jewish Bible, viewed as a faithful and authoritative rendering of the original Hebrew and Aramaic.

    At this point the Old Latin versions are almost incoherent: we must follow Jerome's hebraica veritas instead.

    1 more example

    “Jerome began it, offering hebraica veritas, and Greek truth also, but in Latin.”

    2003, Frank Kermode, Pieces of My Mind: Essays and Criticism, 1958-2002, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 235

Origin

Composed of the Latin hebraica (“Hebrew”, feminine nominative singular of adjective hebraicus) + vēritās (“truth”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian еврейска истина, еврейската истина
  • еврейска истина (evrejska istina)Hebrew truth
  • еврейската истина (evrejskata istina)Hebrew truth
Cite this entry
APA

hebraica veritas. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hebraica%20veritas

MLA

“hebraica veritas.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hebraica%20veritas. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hebraica veritas,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hebraica%20veritas.

Source: hebraica veritas on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.