CRAMPON, JOSEPH-THÉODORE-AUGUSTIN. - French exegete, b. at Franvillers (diocese of Amiens) on 4 Feb. 1826, d. in Paris on 16 Aug. 1894. At the seminary of S. Sulpizio in Paris he had as his professor of Hebrew the celebrated Le Hir. More than to teaching, he devoted his life to the publication of various works, such as the commentary on Holy Scripture by Cornelio a Lapide (21 vols., Paris 1857–63), the Explanatio in Psalmos of St. Roberto Bellarmino, to which he added a new Latin version from the Hebrew original (ibid. 1861), the commentary of Baltassare Cordier on Giobbe (ibid. 1861), etc. His principal work was the translation of the whole Bible from the original texts, with introductions and notes. It was the first work of its kind by a Catholic (apart from two unsuccessful attempts in Germany) since the Council of Trent.
C. was able, however, to publish only his annotated translation of the Pentateuch (Tournai 1894); the remainder of the Old Testament was issued under the care of several Fathers of the Society of Jesus who were professors of Holy Scripture, among them J. Corluy (ibid. 1898–1904). As for the New Testament, the version of the Vulgate which C. had published at Tournai in 1885 was simply revised. An edition of C.’s translation with a few notes, issued in one volume in 1905, was repeatedly updated and even completely
recast in the years 1923, 1930, and 1938; it is widely used among the educated public and is useful to scholars.