"The task of translating the Bible which he thus assumed was to absorb him until the end of his life."[1] While he was sequestered in the Wartburg Castle (1521–1522) Luther began to translate the New Testament into German in order to make it more accessible to all the people of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German nation." He used Erasmus' second edition (1519) of the Greek New Testament, known as the Textus Receptus. Luther didn’t use the Vulgate which is the official Latin translation used by the Catholic Church. Both Erasmus and Luther learned their first Greek at the latin schools led by the Brethren of the Common Life (respectively in Deventer (Netherlands) and in Magdeburg). These laybrothers added late 15th century Greek as a new subject to their curriculum. Greek was seldom used and taught at universities in those days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Bible
OK - mea culpa. However Martin Luther knew the Vulgate inside and out from his Augustinian formation.
It doesn’t change the fact that in the 370’s Jerome went to the desert to learn Hebrew. He was much closer to the original sources than Martin Luther was - just given the time frames.
Martin Luther randomly omitted 2 Maccabees because 12:44-46 specifically refers to praying for atonement for the dead.
Martin Luther made it too easy and that is why he had such a following - “Faith Alone” is much easier than faith plus works and being judged on those works. Phil 2:12; Mt 7:21; Jam 2:14 -24..