Introduction To the first Scriptures translated into English to diligently be compared
John Wycliffe (1320-1384 A.D.)
John Wycliffe is
credited with being the first to translate the entire Bible into English.
Wycliffe did his translating primarily from the only Bible then in use:
Jerome's Latin 'Vulgate' (no Greek or Hebrew texts, versions, or
editions were yet fabricated.) He is often called the "Morning Star of the
Reformation" for his opposition to ecclesiastical abuses and the papacy.
Wycliffe's New Testament translation was completed in 1380, and the entire Bible
in 1382. In the all-wise providence of God the Reformation of the 16th century would have
been impossible without his work.
So hated was he by Rome that, although the papists were restrained in his
lifetime from harming him, the church could not let his bones rest in peace. On
October 8, 1427, on order of the Council of Constance (the same Council that
burned John Hus at the stake), Wycliffe's body was exhumed, his bones burned,
and the ashes strewn on the River Swift. Somehow the Church authorities thought
that by burning his remains they might erase his memory. But even such
bizarre and extreme actions could not could stop the hunger for God's Word and
truth that Wycliffe had uncompromisingly advocated. A later chronicler described
this event in these eloquent words:
They burnt his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift, a neighboring
brook running hard by. Thus the brook conveyed his ashes into the Avon, the Avon
into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas and they into the main ocean.
And so the ashes of Wyclif are symbolic of his doctrine, which is now spread
throughout the world.
John Wycliffe is called the morning star of the reformation indeed.
* Wycliffe NT 1384 downloaded from wesley.nnu.edu;
text source: sbible.boom.ru
William
Tyndale (1494-1536 A.D.)
Tyndale was the first to have done an English translation of the scriptures taken directly from the original Hebrew tongue. In the 1530’s he translated the first fourteen books of the Old Testament. He thus became the first man to translate anything from Hebrew into English; as the Hebrew language was virtually unknown in England at that time.
1530 AD: Tyndale's translation of the Pentateuch (the first
five books of the Old Testament is Printed.
“I had perceived by experience, how that it was impossible to
stablish the lay people in any truth, except the scripture were plainly laid
before their eyes in their mother tongue, that they might see the process,
order, and meaning of the text.”
—William Tyndale, Preface to the Pentateuch, 1530
1531 AD: Tyndale's translation of the Book of Jonah is Printed.
Tyndale was a man of heroic stature and died a martyr’s death. In England alone,
hundreds of people were burned between 1400 and 1557 for the sake of the Gospel.
Tyndale’s books and tracts (or "pestilent glosses" as his enemies referred to
them) were smuggled into England wrapped in bales of wool or cloth, or sacks of
flour by fellow "Lollards". Had he remained a Catholic priest Tyndale would no
doubt have been canonized as a saint, but had he remained a Catholic he would
not have attempted to translate the Bible without official sanction. Although
the Bible was available in the vernacular in much of Europe, the only version of
the Scripture tolerated in England was St. Jerome’s Latin translation which
dated back to the 4th century. It was thus a closed book even to most clergymen.
Tyndale was determined to make God’s Word accessible to all men.
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Bible downloaded from wesley.nnu.edu/tyndale; text source: sbible.boom.ru
The Coverdale Bible. (1535)
BIBLIA The Bible / that is, the holy Scripture of the Olde
and New Testament, faithfully and truly translated out of Douche and Latyn in to
Englishe
Miles Coverdale was a close associate and friend of William Tyndale.
God spared Coverdale's life to further labour in His harvest to have even allowed him to supervise the English Bible Revisions like the Great Bible Authorised edition of 1539, and even help till the first Geneva "study bible".
Text from sbible.boom.ru.
The Geneva Bible. (1560)
(*The complete Geneva Bible was first published in 1560. Due to a passage in Genesis
describing the clothing that God fashioned for Adam and Eve upon expulsion from
the Garden of Eden as "Breeches" (an antiquated form of "Britches"), some people
referred to the Geneva Bible as the Breeches Bible.-)
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The Geneva Bible owes its origins to the Reformation Leaders who defied the persecutions of roman catholic "Bloody Mary" (as Mary queen of England would come to be called). Upon her ascension to the throne, queen Mary banned the printing of English scriptures. This led William Whittingham, Anthony Gilby, and a small band of Englishmen to flee to Geneva where they began translating an English version of the Bible.
In the 1550's, the Church at Geneva, Switzerland, was very sympathetic to the reformer refugees and was one of only a few safe havens for a desperate people. Many of them met in Geneva, led by Myles Coverdale and John Foxe (publisher of the famous Foxe's Book of Martyrs, which is to this day the only exhaustive reference work on the persecution and martyrdom of Early Christians and Protestants from the first century up to the mid-16th century), as well as Thomas Sampson and William Whittingham. There, with the protection of John Calvin and John Knox, the Church of Geneva determined to produce a Bible that would educate their families while they continued in exile.
These scholars were concerned about the influence the Catholic Church would have in shaping the available English translation of the Bible (all translated from the Latin Vulgate). They turned to the original Greek and Hebrew texts to create the Geneva Bible; and the version printed in 1560 AD was The First English Language Bible to Add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books) so that referencing specific passages would be easier. Every chapter was also accompanied by extensive marginal notes and references so thorough and complete that the Geneva Bible is also considered the first English "Study Bible".
The Cambridge Geneva Bible of 1591 was the edition carried by the Pilgrims when they fled to America. As such, it directly provided much of the genius and inspiration which carried those courageous and faithful souls through their trials, and provided the spiritual, intellectual and legal basis for establishment and flourishing of the colonies. Thus, it became the foundation for establishment of the American Nation. William Bradford cited it in his book Of Plymouth Plantation. It holds the honor of being the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims.
The Geneva retains approximately 90% of William Tyndale's translation. For many decades, the Geneva Bible remained more popular than that authorized by King James. The Church of England never authorized or sanctioned the Geneva Bible. However, it was frequently used, without authority, both to read the scripture lessons, and to preach from. The works of Shakespeare contain many quotes from the Geneva translation. It was pre-eminent as a household Bible, and continued so until the middle of the 17th century.
The Bishops Bible. (1568)
Text from sbible.boom.ru.
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The "Bishops' Bible" was a revision of the * Great Bible done by several bishops
of the Church of England under the direction of Queen Elizabeth's Archbishop,
Matthew Parker.
The "Bishops' Bible" seems to have been a "Church" attempt to compete with the
Geneva that had become the English speaking people's "Congregation" most popular
household study Bible.
With the end of Queen Mary's bloody rein, the reformers could safely return to England. The Anglican Church, under Queen Elizabeth I, reluctantly tolerated the printing and distribution of the Geneva Bible in England. The marginal notes, which were vehemently against the institutional Church of the day, did not rest well with many in authority. Another version, one with a less inflammatory tone was desired. In 1568, the Bishop's Bible was introduced. Despite 19 printings between 1568 and 1606, the version never gained popularity among the people. The Geneva version was simply too trusted to compete with.
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* F.Y.I. About The Early English Bible Editions:
The Great Bible (1539) is a revision of Matthew's Bible (1537)
supervised by Miles Coverdale. The second edition of the Great Bible (1540) included a Preface written by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, and so was sometimes called "Cranmer's
Bible."
Matthew's Bible was by John Rogers who made a revision of The New
Testament from W.T. 1535 edition. Also evidently while in prison Tyndale had managed
to continue translating up through First Chronicles, and gave his manuscript to
Rogers before his execution. Rogers then completed the work by supplying the
remainder of the Old Testament from Coverdale's version, but published it under
the pseudonym Thomas Matthew (that may have also been a name of a martyr,) in
order to avoid the fate of Tyndale. Although later John Rogers was also martyred
for the sake of the Gospel in the people's tongue.
It is interesting that all English Bible translations (even starting with Wycliffe's translation of the Latin vulgate) till the Great Bible of 1539, when describing the antichrist, renders The Book of the Prophet Daniel Chapter 11 verse 37 :
"And he schal not arette the God of hise fadris, and he schal be in the coveitisis of wymmen, and he schal not charge ony of goddis, for he schal rise ayens alle thingis." Wycliffe 1394 (Purvey Revision)
"He shal not regarde the God of his fathers, but his lust shall be upon wome: Yee he shal not care for eny God, for he shal magnifie himself above all." Coverdale Bible 1535
"He shal not regarde the God of hys fathers, but his lust shalbe upon wemen: Yea, he shal not care for any God, for he shall magnifye him selfe above al." Matthew's Bible 1537
"He shall not regarde the God of hys fathers, but his lust shall be upon wemen. Yee, he shall not care for eny God, for he shall magnifye him selfe above all." Great Bible 1539
Although starting with the Geneva and Bishops' Bible and later editions afterward (including most modern translations today) have Dan 11:37 to read :
"37 Neither shall he regard the (The Romanes shall observe no certaine forme of religion as other nations, but shall change their gods at their pleasures, yea, contemne them & preferre themselves to their gods.) God of his fathers, nor the desires (Signifying that they should be without all humanitie: for the love of women is taken for singular or great love, as 2.Sam.1.26.) of women, nor care for any God: for he shall magnifie himselfe above all." Geneva Bible
"He shall not regarde the God of his fathers, nor the desires of women, yea he shall not care for any God: for he shall magnifie himselfe above all." Bishops' Bible
"Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all." K.J.V.
The King James
version. 1611
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The translators operated under fifteen rules, the first of which said:
"The ordinary Bible read in church, commonly called the Bishops' Bible,
to be followed and as little altered as the truth of the original will permit."
However, the fourteenth allowed that
"These translations to be used when they agree better with the text
than the Bishops' Bible - Tyndale's, Matthew's, Coverdale's, the Great Bible
and Geneva". Rule eight said that: "Every particular man of each company to
take the same chapter or chapters, and having translated or amended them
severally by himself, where he thinketh good, all to meet together to confer
when they have done, and agree for their parts what shall stand."
Rhythm's Aid to the Mind
To the translators of the King James version rhythm was important, for
they knew it was to be a book "appointed to be read in churches". Only
memory could serve those who could not read. Rhythm was vital not merely as
a source of pleasure to the ear, but as an aid to the mind. "for the ear trieth
words as the mouth tasteth meats", we read in Job. So there was brought to
bear linguistic skill, scholarship, a keen sense of what provided truth,
expression and cadence, the word to be remembered, words that gave
harmony.
Word of Dissent
But when all was done there was still opposition. A famous Hebrew
scholar of the day, Dr. Hugh Broughton, was one severe critic. F.F. Bruce in
"The English Bible" says: "For all his erudition, Broughton was not included
among the revisers; he was not cut out for collaboration with others, and would
have proved an impossible colleague. Probably he resented the fact that he
was not invited to serve, and when the new version appeared, he sent a
critique of it to one of the king's attendants: "The late Bible...was sent to me
to
censure: which bred in me a sadness that will grieve me while I breathe, it is
so
ill done. Tell His Majesty that I had rather be rent in pieces with wild horses,
than any such translation by my consent should be urged upon poor
churches...The new edition crosseth me. I require it to be burned.""
Ronald Hill, The Bible in English: The King James Version, The
Christadelphian, vol. 105, p. 113.
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The Epistle Dedicatory and The Translators To the Reader
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The KJV was Printed in 1611 AD originally with 80 Books, including marginal notes.
It's Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving 66 Books.