 For medieval Christians the Bible was what we call the Vulgate, a Latin translation of the Old Testament (as Christians called the Jewish scriptures) and the New  Testament.[4]  The Protestant reformers have persuaded many that the Bible was neglected during the middle ages—according to Luther the Bible “has come to lie forgotten in the dust under the bench” (see Luther [1539] 1915: vol. 1, 7; cf.  2 Kings 22:8).  However, the many copies of the Bible made during the middle ages, the many commentaries on books of the Bible made by medieval scholars and the constant references to the Bible in their writings show that the Bible was a very familiar book.