“I don’t know that he said it was “deficient.” “
Deficient was my word. I think the Holy Father was being, as ever, politic!
“In order to come to that conclusion, wouldn’t +Augustine need a pretty good grasp of Greek (assuming he was comparing the Greek and Latin versions)?”
You know, its possible he was reading what was passing for scripture in those days in Punic and making a comparison to Latin. Its also possible that having been trained and acquired skill in classical Latin (as His Holiness points out), he may have been disappointed with a dog Latin version of some scripture. I think it is pretty well accepted that Blessed Augustine’s grasp of Greek was at best very limited.
Those are certainly possible explanations. It seems that the latter is more likely based on what Benedict XVI also said about St. Augustine's "mastery" of Punic. Hopefully, the Holy Father will give a little more detail in a future address.
I think it is pretty well accepted that Blessed Augustine’s grasp of Greek was at best very limited.
I'll defer to those more knowledgeable than I on the matter.