In the past two millennia, the Bible – the most distributed and widely read book in history – has been translated into more than 2,100 languages.

Because words do not always translate easily from one language to the next, variations in words and meanings – some subtle and benign, others striking – have crept into the various biblical texts over the years.

The King James Version of the Christian Bible, for example, translates Psalm 119:147 as “I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy Word.” The Revised Standard Version of this text, however, reads, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in thy words.”

Theological historians and scholars of religion at USC now can view the Scriptures translated into such diverse ancient languages as Hebrew, Greek, Chaldaic, Latin Vulgate, Ethiopic, Syriac, Arabic and Persian and have these versions displayed side by side in columns or in boxed quadrants for comparative study. The books are located on the second floor of Doheny Memorial Library in USC’s special collections.

Ed and Sara Wilkins of Northern California recently donated to the university a rare and valuable “Biblia Sacra Polyglotta,” which contains the Scriptures of biblical testaments translated into nine disparate languages.

“Although the “Biblia Sacra Polyglotta” was created a couple of centuries after the beginning of the widespread circulation of translations of the Scriptures into the vernacular,” said the Rev. Elizabeth Davenport, associate dean of religious life at USC, “it certainly was building on the interest in the meanings of the original languages and the other ancient languages in which biblical texts had previously circulated.”

The polyglot Bible – published in 1657 in London – also contains the Samaritan Pentateuch; various “Targums” (Aramaic versions of the Old Testament, made when Hebrew no longer was commonly spoken among the Jews); selected readings from the “Codex Alexandrinus,” a fifth-century manuscript of the Greek Bible; the “Codex Bezae” of the Gospels and Acts (fifth century); the “Codex Claromontanus” of the Pauline Epistles (sixth century); illustrations; copious annotations, tables, indices, appendices and assorted religious essays.

English clergyman Brian Walton initiated the project of issuing a polyglot Bible in 1652 after viewing one published in France. Among his collaborators were scholars James Ussher, Edmund Castell, Thomas Hyde and Thomas Greaves. Walton’s is considered to be the quintessential polyglot Bible by many scholars of religion.

At the time of the “Biblia Sacra Polyglotta” publication (1654-57), English theologians were divided regarding the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. The polyglot Bible was Walton’s defense against scribal corruption.

The polyglot Bibles enabled students to learn classical languages by comparing them to Latin. They also allowed those versed in a multitude of languages to have access to older texts.

The “Biblia Sacra Polyglotta” – often referred to as the “London Polyglot” or the “Walton Polyglot” – was one of the first books published by subscription in England. Today, a complete set of the six-book series easily commands between $20,000 and $25,000 at auction.

Only a few hundred sets were ever produced; most now reside in museums or libraries.

Along with the monetary assessment, religious experts see the “Biblia” as having both a spiritual and scholarly value.

“Today, people are still fascinated with the kind of comparisons that can be made by placing different versions of the Bible beside one another,” Davenport said. “I regularly consult an edition of the Hebrew Bible – that Christians sometimes refer to as the Old Testament – which shows the best Hebrew manuscripts and an English translation side by side. As any linguist will tell you, there’s nothing like going back to the original.”

“Edgar and Sara Wilkins knew the value of the scholarly collection that their uncle, Austin Thomson, had bequeathed to them,” said university archivist Claude Zachary, a librarian who works closely with the collection. “When the Thomson collection came into the Wilkins’ possession, they immediately thought that the books should be given to an academic institution that would make use of the books for research.”

Thomson, a Berkeley, Calif., postal worker and a World War II veteran, served as the music director for San Francisco’s Russian Catholic Church and sang in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera.

Other items in Thomson’s collection that have been donated to USC include volumes of Russian chants, collections of various folk tunes, liturgical books from the 1880s and a first-edition collection of Beethoven’s works.

“Thomson was an avid rare book collector who also translated Russian musical manuscripts for the UC Berkeley Library, and he amassed a large library of rare Slavic and European choral scores and religious texts,” Zachary said.

“The Wilkinses are very pleased that the books have a home at USC, an institution for which they have a great fondness,” he added. “USC Specialized Libraries and Archival Collections and the Music Library are tremendously gratified by their generosity and thoughtfulness.”