The Bible in English

A History

Old Testament: 39 books, written in Hebrew New Testament: 27 books, written in early

Greek Apocrypha: 14 books, Greek translations of

Hebrew

Roman Catholic Bible = 77 books, contains 11 from Apocrypha

Protestant Bible = 66 books, does not include Apocrypha

The Bible in English

David Daniell: “The history of the Bible is a

story of translation.”

Christians, among the major world religions, are the only followers of faith who know their central book only through translation.

The Bible in English

Translated to Latin by St. Jerome beginning

around 376 A.D. This was standard European Bible from 400

through 1530 A.D. Official stance of Roman Catholic Church:

Common people are not capable of understanding so complex a text as the Bible

The Latin Vulgate

Pre 850 A.D.

Early Biblical Translation inAnglo-Saxon England

8th century cross

located in Northumbria (Now Scotland)

Possibly the oldest surviving text in Old English

Contains scriptural elements as well as text from “Dream of the Rood.”

The Ruthwell Cross

Completed A.D. 698

by Bishop Eadfrith Finest example of

Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscript.

When Vikings invaded in 875, accompanied the body of St. Cuthbert in 7 year journey

Book survived shipwreck

Lindisfarne Gospels

Primarily known as a

historian, his most famous work is An Ecclisiastical History of the English People, A.D. 731

Translated biblical verse to Old English and provided early commentary of Christianity

The Venerable Bede

Anglo-Saxon Biblical Texts

850 A.D. – 1066 A.D.

• No complete version of Bible completed in Old English• Gospels, Psalms, and assorted Old Testament books

translated usually as glosses between lines of Latin texts

Abbot of Cerne in

Dorset, @98 - 1010 A.D.

Produced first vernacular translation of the first six books of Old Testament into Old English, the Hexateuch

AElfric

Traceable to 1050, a

gift of Leofric, Bishop of Exeter

One of four surviving Anglo-Saxon codices

This the largest, consisting of 161 pages

Early version of Lord’s Prayer appears here

The Exeter Book

This 10th century

parchment contains 23 Christian homilies interspersed with six poems

“Dream of the Rood” is one of these

Also includes “Fates of the Apostles” and reflections on “Soul and Body”

The Vercelli Book

Norman England1066-1350

• During Norman period, language of government was French while language of church was Latin

• English was pushed to the hinterlands and the peasantry• For 250 years, there are no attempts to translate Bible into

English• By the time translation begins again, Anglo-Saxon is a forgotten

language.• Biblical Translation into English must begin again from start.

Pre-Printing1350 - 1476

• Printing press invented in 1440 by Gutenberg• By 1476, William Caxton had opened his press in

London• Nonetheless, in the preceding 100 years, the first hand-

copied translations of the Bible began appearing in English

Early dissident of Roman Catholic Church: Believed in worship in the common language Early proponent of “Divinity by grace”

(personal acquiescence to God’s law, not canonical, or man’s law)

Renounced doctrine of Transubstantiation

Thomas Wyclif (1320-1384)

Translated Roman Vulgate by hand; his followers, who

became known as Lollards, copied and spread the translation copiously

Over 250 Lollard manuscript copies survive: 20 versions of the whole Bible; 90 versions of the New Testament

In 1411 Thomas Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared the reading of scripture in any language but Latin a heresy (De heretico comburendo) and declared that making holy text legible to the common class was “casting pearls before swine.”

Wyclif’s Bibles

Believed the Roman Catholic Church had become corrupt, so

turned to personal interpretation of scripture as a direct relation to God

As movement grew, it took on broader concerns both social and theological

The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards was posted on the doors of Westminster hall in Feb. 1395 and included social criticisms of clergy garnering personal wealth and church meddling in politics along with theological questioning of the sacrament and a growing concern over idolatry within the church

Lollards were forced underground due to persecution but resurfaced to merge with the broader Protestant Reformation of the 16th century

The Lollards

Early Modern English1476-1700

The first printed Bibles in English

Invented in 1440, by the

time Caxton introduced his press in London, 8 distinct versions of the Bible had been printed in Germany, 5 in French, and 3 in Dutch.

Despite this, Caxton chose to obey the will of the Holy Roman Church; he never, himself, printed an English language version of the Bible

William Caxton

A true polyglot (proficient in

Hebrew, German, Greek, Latin, and English) and literary stylist.

Even though his Bible translation was condemned and countless copies burned, Tyndale’s prose style nonetheless influenced all translations that followed, including the King James version (4/5 of KJ’s New Testament is simply recopied from Tyndale!)

William Tyndale1494-1536

Tyndale completely translated whole of New

Testament and roughly half of Old Testament His 1526 translation of the New Testament

was printed in Germany and smuggled into England where it became an instant best seller (and was immediately condemned).

Tyndale revised his New Testament in 1534 All editions printed “pocket sized” for easy

transport and reading (and hiding) Well over 25,000 copies sold by 1539

Tyndale

Lived in poverty in exile until seized in Antwerp in 1535. Tried and condemned, he was tied to a post, strangled, then burned,

in public. His last words: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

Tyndale’s Reward

Printed complete translation

of Old and New Testaments in 1535 in Antwerp

Knowing neither Hebrew nor Greek, Coverdale relied upon the Latin Vulgate and Luther’s German Bible for bulk of his translation

Was, as well, a known collaborator with Tyndale, though they had both stylistic and theological differences

Myles Coverdale

Compiled by John Rogers and

printed by Matthew Crom, in Antwerp in 1537, this was actually Tyndale’s New Testament and half of Old Testament with Coverdale’s second half of the Old Testament.

The creators could not credit Tyndale, so created the name Thomas Matthew, probably referencing two of the disciples.

This version met Henry VIII’s approval.

Matthew’s Bible

A revision of Matthew’s Bible

under the direction of Henry VIII

So-called due to its size, the largest printed yet at 14 by 9 inches

Printed in 1539, it became the English standard until the reign of Elizabeth

Despite Tyndale’s condemnation, his uncredited prose and verse dominates this version as well

The Great Bible

Under Mary I, numerous Protestant

dissenters fled to the continent, many to Geneva where their brand of Protestantism was welcome

A scholarly undertaking as much a theological one, the creators introduced annotations and cross-referencing, which made scripture more accessable

The language, though, was more forceful than the plainspoken English of the Great Bible; this, too, contributed to its popularity

This, the first truly mass-produced Bible, became the standard Protestant Bible and was the Bible carried to America by the Pilgrims

The Geneva Bible of 1560

The King James version

of the Bible remains the best selling book in the history of the world

While heavily edited by some of the best writers of the era (including Shakespeare), nearly 2/3 or the wording in the final product is that of Tyndale.

King James Version of 1611