Story of the English Bible

Randy Broberg

John Wycliffe c. 1330-1384

• most eminent Oxford theologian of his day.

• He saw the Bible as the codification of God’s law, which all Christians ought to live by. – Scriptures are the authority for every

Catholic tenet. They are the Law of Christ, the Law of God, the Word of God, the Book of Life—liber vitae.

– They are the immaculate law of the Lord, most true, most complete and most wholesome.

– All things necessary to belief for salvation are found in them.

• “This book is the whole truth

which every Christian should

study. It is the measure and

standard of all logic. Logic, as in

Oxford, changes very frequently,

yea, every twenty years, but the

Scriptures are yea, yea and nay,

nay. They never change. They

stand to eternity. All logic, all law,

all philosophy and all ethic are in

them. As for the philosophy of the

pagan world, only whatever it

offers that is in accord with the

Scriptures is true. “

1380-1384 Begins Translating

BibleInto English • Wycliffe translated Bible into English

• sent out preachers to take the message of the Bible to the people.

• 1408 Council of Oxford forbids translations of the Scriptures into the vernacular unless and until they were fully approved by Church authority

• 1409 Pope Alexander V publicly burns 200 of John Wycliffe's

Wycliffe’s Bible

The Gutenberg Bible, 1455

• The three-volume Latin text arguably represents the greatest single innovation in the history of communication technology, as well as a style of printing that existed almost unaltered until the twentieth century.

1516

Erasmus

Publishes

Greek New

Testament

• 1516 edition was a diaglot with the Greek text and his own Latin text.

From the preface to Erasmus

Greek New Testament

I wish that even the weakest

woman should read the Gospels –

should read the Epistles of Paul;

and I wish that they were

translated into all languages, so

that . . . the farmer should sing

portions of them to himself as he

follows the plow, that the weaver

should hum them to the tune of his

shuttle, that the traveler should

beguile with their stories the

tedium of his journey. All

communication of the Christian

should be of the Scriptures.

E R A S M U S

1516

1519

1522

1527

1535

S T E P H A N U S

1546

1549

1550

1551

B E Z A

1565 (1) 1582 (3)

1598 (5)

1604 (9)

9 editions

E L Z E V I R

1624 (1)

1633 (2)

7 editions

Textus Receptus

Textus Receptus

William Tyndale

1490-1536

• under the influence of Lollards.

• converted early to Lutheran doctrines.

• Studied at Oxford and Cambridge

Universities.

– Skilled in English, Greek, Hebrew,

Latin, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and some

German.

– Came under the influence of John Colet

and Erasmus.

• At Cambridge in the late 1510's or

early 1520's, he is spreading

Protestant principles in Cambridge with

a group of like minded students and

lecturers who met at the White Horse

Inn,

– scripture,was the final authority.

– attacked teaching salvation by works.

Tyndale On Need for

Bible in English

•"They say our tongue is too rude. It is not so. Greek and Hebrew go more easily into English than into Latin. Has not God made the English tongue as well as others? They suffer [allow] you to read in English of Robin Hood, Bevis of Hampton, Hercules, Troilus, and a thousand ribald or filthy tales. It is only the Scripture that is forbidden. It is therefore clearer than the sun that this forbiddal is not for love of your souls, which they care for as the fox doth for the geese."

Tyndale’s Bible,

1525-34

• translated Erasmus’s work

on the Christian Soldiers

hand book. In it Erasmus

writes that all men should

study the New Testament

and that it should be the

main text that the church

consults for issues in the

Christian life.

• forced to relocate to the

continent

To a Priest: "If God spare my

life, as many years pass, I will

cause a boy that drives the

plow to know more of the

Scriptures then you do,"

Tyndale’s Bible, 1525

• Tyndale's first translation of the NT from the Greek text of Erasmus

• Reflects Luther's NT of 1522 in rejecting "priest" for "elder," "church" for "congregation.“

• first printed in Cologne and Worms in 1525.

• Two editions were sent to England starting in 1526.

• 90% of Tyndale's words passed into the KJV

• Bishop of London began buying the books in order to burn them, and ended up being the main support of the early bible printing operation

William Tyndale died on October the

6th, 1536

• In Tyndale's later years he lived in Antwerp which was neutral territory.

• The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V kidnapped Tyndale and sentenced himto die.

• He stayed in a cell for about a year and a half until his execution

• He was strangled and then burned at the stake October 6, 1536 as he cried, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”

• One year later, Bibles were being sold legally in England.

Tyndale’s Legacy

“I call to God to record

against the day we shall

appear before our Lord

Jesus, to give a reckoning of

our doings, that I never

altered one syllable of God’s

Word against my conscience,

nor would I so alter it this day,

if all that is in the earth,

whether it be pleasure,

honour, or riches, might be

given me.” –

• In 1537 the Matthew’s Bible was

penned by John Rodgers who

wrote under the name of

Thomas Matthew.

• Rogers was a friend and

assistant to William Tyndale.

He had hand written

manuscripts that Tyndale gave

him prior to his martyrdom.

• King required all local churches

to have a copy of the Bible

available for all desiring to read.

• 2,000 marginal notes with

Protestant orientation.

Matthew’s Bible, 1537

• the first complete authorized printed

English bible

• used Tyndale's (1525) translation

along with Latin and German

versions.

• Henry VIII allowed the text to circulate

freely.

– First English bible to place books in

their present order.

• first to separate the Apocrypha

• Called the “Bug Bible” from Psalm

91:5 “Thou shalt not nede to be

afrayed for any bugges by night.”

Coverdale Bible

1535

Great Bible 1539

• called Great Bible

because it was a large

volume chained to the

reading desk in

churches.

• Published in 1539 three

years after Tyndale’s

martyrdom- this was

essentially Tyndale’s

TEXT!

• Sometimes called the

chain bible as it was

chained to the pulpit.

1550 Stephanus Greek

New Testament

• “One of the ten most important books ever printed”

• first printing of the scriptures to have the text separated into numbered verses…

• Produced by Robert Stephanus (a.k.a. Robert Etienne),

• primary Greek text used to translate the King James Version of 1611.

• first “critical apparatus”

• In 1553 Mary Tudor began to kill

many of those who had helped

translate of endorse the English

Translation.

– John Rodgers (the translator the

Matthew’s Bible)

– Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.

• Others like Coverdale were forced to

flee to the continent.

Interestingly the Great Bible was left

in place

1553 “Bloody” Queen Mary

• Queen Elizabeth

reissued the decree

that all parishes had to

have a copy of the

Bible available for all

desiring to read it

Queen Elizabeth came to power

Geneva Bible 1560

• new translation of the Bible published in

Geneva (New Testament, 1557; Old

Testament, 1560) by a colony of Protestant

scholars in exile from England

– under the general direction of Miles

Coverdale and John Knox

– under the influence of John Calvin.

• brought back to England during Elizabeth's

reign.

• adds many reformed (espousing the theology

of John Calvin) notes and commentary.

• one of the main encouragers of the Puritan

movement.

Geneva Bible

Innovations

• The first English bible to use Stephanus’ verse divisions.

• The first English bible to use italics.

• The first English bible to remove the Apocrypha

• called the non Pauline letters the General Epistles instead of the Catholic Epistles.

• leaves out Paul’s name from the letter to the Hebrews explaining that we do not know who wrote that text, but that God ultimately penned it.

Geneva Bible In

English and In

French

Geneva Bible

Geneva Bible Page showing Explanatory Notes

Calvinist Influence

of Geneva Bible,

• Called “Breeches Bible”

for Genesis 3:7 “They

sewed figge tree leaves

together, and made

themselves breeches.”

• Bible quoted by William

Shakespeare.

• Bible brought to America

by the Pilgrims on the

Mayflower.

• Revision of the Great

Bible.

• Produced by 15 men

including 8 English

Episcopalian bishops

under Archbishop

Parker.

• It was more

supportive of

Episcopal belief

whereas the Geneva

was a Puritan type

bible.

• Never received

popular support and

failed to displace the

Geneva.

Bishops Bible 1568

1582/1610

Douay-Rheims

• The first English

language Bible ever

issued and authorized

by the Roman Catholic

Church.

• Translated from the

Latin Vulgate.

King James I (1603-1625) Anti-Puritan

"no bishop,

no king” • Elizabeth I died childless and

was succeeded by her cousin James VI of Scotland.

• He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots.

• King of Scotland already

• Union - creation of “Britain”

• An open homosexual

• James had once signed the Negative Confession of 1581 favoring the Puritan position.

King James’ Hampton Court

Conference 1604 • meeting held at Hampton Court Palace,

near London, in January 1604, in response to the Millenary Petition.

• The conference was presided over by King James I and attended by the bishops and the Puritan leaders.

• Among the reforms discussed were changes in church government, changes in The Book of Common Prayer, and a new translation of the Bible.

• James rejected most of the Puritans' demands and was firm in his rejection of any change in the episcopal form of church government.

• King James Bible designed to suppress the Geneva Bible with its fully Protestant marginal notes.

• Translators: University scholars, bishops, and the

King

• 54 scholars were to be divided into 6 panels (we

only have 47 names); 2 groups met at Oxford, 2 at

Cambridge, and 2 at Westminster

• They were assigned the task of revising the

Bishops’ Bible; with Tyndale, Coverdale, and other

bibles used where their wording was good

• Three panels were to work on the Old Testament,

two panels on the New, and one panel to translate

the Apocrypha.

• 12 men, 2 from each panel were to review the text

before it was taken to printing.

• Techniques: Word-for-Word

• no commentary notes -- All commentary was limited

to elucidation of difficult Greek readings and

chapter summary titles.

• Deliberately archaic

KJV Translators

• As the A.V. was used over time

successive editions were needed

and from these we have some very

interesting misprinting that have

provided amusement for those

interested in the subject.

– “Wicked Bible” left out the word “not”

from the 7th commandment thus

encouraging adultery among the

nation of Israel.

– “Vinegar Bible” replaces Vineyard

with Vinegar in the chapter summary

of Luke 20.

– The Murderers Bible of 1795

commands that children first be “killed”

instead of “filled” in Mark 7.27.

– Printers Bible states in Psalm

119.161 that the printers have

persecuted the writer without cause

Later KJV

Editions