Yes The Catholic Church has protected the Vulgate so that its translation has remained for the most part intact, but it is still on the premise that the original vulgate is infallible. I don’t think that this is the case. If I remember correctly it is based off of the Septuagint, which has had a few changes, and in light of new archeological discoveries has some errors.
Another problem comes from the Douay-Reims version, which was translated from the Latin Vulgate. So now you have a translation, of a translation, of a translation. Then finally you have to deal with the fact that there were some revisions done by Bishop Challoner. ← I hope I got all of the names correct.
So let us look at meaning. The Greek work “malakoi” is currently translated in 1 Cor 6:9 of many bibles as “effeminate” but this is probably not the correct translation. The Greek word “malakoi” means ‘soft’ or ‘vulnerable’ as in Matthew 11:18 and Luke 7:25. In addition we can see that the Greek word “arsenokoites” in 1 Cor 6:9 might also be mistranslated as homosexual. “Arsenokoites” is a combination of two words that mean “male” and “bed” and might just as likely mean male prostitute and not a homosexual.
So how do we know what “Arsenokoites” really means? Well, when early Greek Christian speakers condemned homosexuality they did not use these words. John Chrysostom preached on homosexuality but he never used “arsenokotes” when referring to homosexuals, and when he preached on 1 Cor 6:9 and 1 Tim 1:10 he never mentioned homosexuality. Funny considering his first language was Greek.
Sorry about the long windedness, but it goes to show that translations are subject to man’s fallibility.
