Bibliology - Week 9 - The History of the English Bible

David Brandt

Bibliology • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

English Versions of the Bible

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In this lesson, we will discuss the history of the various editions of the Bible in English.

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Introduction

Welcome back to week 9 of our class on the Bible. Let’s pray and then we’ll begin.

Pray

So we’ve been talking about the Bible in this class. And I’ve said in the past that we basically are dividing up this quarter into three segments. Our first segment was on the doctrine of the Bible - revelation, inspiration, inerrancy and the canon. The second segment of our class, which we in right now, is about the history of the Bible. So we talked about the preservation of the Bible over time (from the manuscripts to our modern-day Bibles), last week we talked about Martin Luther, and his view of Scripture.

In our class we have covered:

Revelation

Inspiration

Inerrancy

The Canon

Translation

Preservation

Sola Scriptura (a summary of Martin Luther’s view on Scripture)

I find all of this to be very interesting. I don’t know about you, but I love learning about how our Bible was made, and how God has preserved it over time to us.

Today, we are going to talk about the history of the English Bible.

But before we get into today’s lesson, I just want to show you a really cool short video clip that is related to the preservation of the Bible.

We’ve already talked about the Dead Sea Scrolls. But there was another very cool bit of manuscript news that made headlines last year, in 2016. (I may have shown this video to some of you already in a previous class. Forgive me, I can’t remember). But there was a tiny scroll that was discovered in 1970, that was burned and charred so badly that they couldn’t unwap it without destroying it. Well, the owners of the scroll kept it, hoping that some day, technology would advance to such a degree that they might be able to finally figure out what was on the scroll. And just last year, technology finally was able to do this. Check this out:

Ed gedi scroll video

Isn’t that cool? I just think that is amazing. And this scroll is dated between 200-300 AD. And it contains the earliest copy of verses from chapters 1 and 2 of Leviticus. That’s cool. So just remember, the work of manuscript discovery continues. Who knows what else will be found in our lifetime?

But moving on to today - we are going to talk about our English Bible, and specifically how we got from the first translations in English to today’s versions.

Then, next week, we will begin our third and final segment, which will last until the end of the quarter, on how to study the Bible. So that’s what the remainder of our class looks like.

Today will be our last lesson in the ‘history’ section of our class. Then, next week, we will begin our third and final segment, which will last until the end of the quarter, on how to study the Bible.

So far, we’ve talked about a lot of subjects related to the Bible. And as I’ve said in the past - our class has basically babout the doctrine of the Bible - revelation, inspiration, the canon, preservation, and more.

But for today, I want to talk about the history of the English Bible.

Let’s start our lesson with a review of translation.

Review: The Problem of Translation

All translation is interpretation. There is no perfect way to translate the Bible from one language to another.

In one sense, only the original autographs (in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic) are absolutely perfect.

Muslims have a similar view of their Scriptures - In their view, the only true Koran is the one in Arabic.

Nevertheless, translation is necessary, for without it, we wouldn’t be able to understand the Word of God.

Because language changes over time, new translations are also necessary over time. One English translation will not suffice for all time.

For example, words fall out of common use such as ‘Thou’ and ‘Thee’. We don’t use those words in normal conversation any longer. And there are other words that have their primary meaning change over time. A few weeks ago, we gave the King James example of ‘suffer the little children come to me’. In that context, ‘suffer’ means allow. But that’s not its primary meaning any longer. In addition, the word ‘gay’ has changed meanings.

Now, we have already talked about ‘Translation’ in a dedicated lesson a few weeks ago. In that lesson we talked about the different types of translations, from ‘literal, word-for-word’ translations like the NASB and ESV to ‘dynamic equivalence’ translations like the NIV, all the way to modern paraphrases like the New Living Translation.

Today I’d like to not so much talk about the philosophy of translation, like we did then, but rather, cover the history of English translations, and the interesting stories around the English Bibles through the centuries.

The First Translations into English

Who is often credited with the first translation of the Bible into English? John Wycliffe

Actually, Wycliffe didn’t do this work alone. It is commonly thought that he only did part of the New Testament, and his followers did the rest. And it is also commonly accepted that one of his associates, Nicholas of Herford, translated the Old Testament. But the person who initiated all of this was John Wycliffe. And he lived from 1320-1384.

While he and his followers made a complete translation of the Bible, several smaller portions of the Bible in English had translated into English many years before.

When did the English language begin? Around 600 AD

According to Wikipedia,

The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon (c. 550–1066 CE). Old English developed from a set of North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia, Lower Saxony, Jutland, and Southern Sweden by Germanic tribes known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. In the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain as the Roman economy and administration collapsed. By the seventh century, the Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain, replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409 CE): Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, and Latin, brought to Britain by the Roman occupation. England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc) are named after the Angles.

Before Wycliffe, only partial translations of the Bible (Exodus, the Psalms, the Gospels, and other small portions) were completed. None of these were ever mass-produced for widespread use in the home or for corporate worship.

In 735, Saint Bede, an English monk, on his dying day, completed his translation of John’s Gospel. Then about 165 years later, around 890 AD, King Alfred the Great issued a book of laws that included English translations of the 10 Commandments, a few chapters from Exodus, and . A few others during this period translated the Gospels or the Psalms, and little else.

Some Problems with the earliest English translations:

They were incomplete.

They were translated from the Latin Vulgate, not the original Greek and Hebrew texts.

Not only were these translations incomplete, but there were three other problems with them: (1) they were all translations from the Latin Vulgate, rather than from the original Greek and Hebrew texts; (2) they were not very good translations; and (3) for the most part, they were not accessible to lay folks, but were “translation ponies” to help the priests understand the Latin Vulgate better.

They were not very good translations.

They were not accessible to the average Christian.

For over 300 years, no Bible translation into English was done, as far as we know. The Norman Invasion of 1066 was the fundamental reason: for the next three centuries English was only infrequently used for any written documents. Noblemen wrote in French—the language of the elite—and official church documents were in Latin. English was for peasants.

Wycliffe’s Bible

This brings us to Wycliffe’s Bible. John Wycliffe lived in the 14th century, as we have already said.

John Wycliffe is often called the ‘Morning Star of the Reformation’, since many of his ideas inspired the Reformers who came after him, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin.

He was trained at Oxford (yes, Oxford existed back then), and was taught Latin, but not Greek or Hebrew. During his time at school, the Black Death killed between 1/3 and 1/2 of the English population. Wycliffe survived, but this terrible ordeal left an impact on him for years to come.

After graduating, he became a priest and also a lecturer at Oxford. He became very frustrated by the lack of faithfulness that he saw in other clergy during this time. Priests and friars did not live lives of simplicity as Christ taught, and their presence did not seem to be improving the spiritual life of England. As for the Bible itself, Wycliffe said “its study was in every possible way hindered and discouraged”. For these reasons, Wycliffe would soon begin to write a lot in protest, about the unfaithful leadership of the Church.

Like Luther who would come after him, Wycliffe wrote a great deal against the corrupt leadership of the Church, which resulted in Wycliffe being called, on several occasions to account for his inflammatory words. But also like Luther, Wycliffe managed to evade imprisonment and execution for the whole of his life. Other men, such as Jan Hus, were not so fortunate. He lived a few years after Wycliffe, and was burned at the stake for similar ideas, with Wycliffe’s Bibles being used as fuel for the fire.

But Wycliffe thankfully avoided this fate. He and his followers translated the whole Bible into English. Wycliffe’s Bible eventually was produced in two versions; the first was completed during Wycliffe’s time, and the second was revised by his close associate William Purvey after his death. The latter ultimately became more successful since it was easier to read than the first. These were known as the first and second editions of the Wycliffe Bible.

The the more popular version (the 2nd edition) of Wycliffe’s Bible was completed around 1395 AD.

Picture of the purvey Bible, sold at Sotheby’s in 2016 for 1.7 million dollars.

Wycliffe and his followers did not translate the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew, but from the Latin Vulgate.

The Vulgate was the official Bible in western Europe from the late fourth century on. It was a translation that St. Jerome had made in the 4th century, by the order of Pope Damasus. And since Greek had begun to die out in western Europe after Constantine moved the capital to the east, Latin naturally became the language of the people in the west. By the middle ages, Greek was completely unknown in western Europe. (It would not be studied in any university until 1458, at the University of Paris.) All the clergy in the west for a thousand years had to learn Latin, but not Greek or Hebrew. In terms of longevity, the Latin Vulgate is the most influential translation of the Bible in history.

So while, by modern standards, we might say it’s unfortunate that Wycliffe didn’t use the original Greek and Hebrew, given that Greek was not taught at a university until 1458, it makes sense why he used the Latin. But nevertheless, Wycliffe’s Bible remains one of the most important English translations ever made.

Wycliffe was declared a heretic on May 4, 1415, many years after his death, and so from that time on, his works were deemed heretical, and no one was allowed to own a Wycliffe Bible. Thus, many of the early copies of the Wycliffe Bibles do not have any owners names written on them before a certain period of time.

That leads us to ask - What happened after John Wycliffe’s translation?

A Breakthrough - The Invention of the Printing Press

The movable-type printing press was invented by the German blacksmith & printer, Johannes Gutenberg, around 1440 AD.

This changed everything. Again, according to Wikipedia:

In Renaissance Europe, the arrival of mechanical movable type printing introduced the era of mass communication which permanently altered the structure of society. The relatively unrestricted circulation of information—including revolutionary ideas—transcended borders, captured the masses in the Reformation and threatened the power of political and religious authorities; the sharp increase in literacy broke the monopoly of the literate elite on education and learning and bolstered the emerging middle class.

It was Gutenberg’s printing press that enabled Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and other works to spread throughout Germany. If there was no Gutenberg, there would have been no Luther.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Gutenberg press in the history of Bible translation. It’s something that we take for granted every day. Just last week, I was debating whether or not I should print a handout for my evening message. Originally, I was going to skip it. But at the last minute, at about 5:30pm on Sunday, I decided to print it on our church copier. And about 5 minutes into printing it, our copier started to jam. Not just once, but like 8 times in a row. And I started to get nervous, because I was clearing paper jams until about 6:40pm - 20 minutes before the service started. Thankfully, the copier started to work properly, and it finished printing all of the copies about 5 minutes before the service started. But in the middle of the jams, I thought… how would I ever make this many copies if I didn’t have a printer. I thought, “This handout is 8 pages long. Can I even imagine what it would be like, trying to hand copy just one of these…let alone a 100 copies!” It would take several days!

And that’s what’s so amazing! What would have taken days or weeks to copy (for just one book) could now be done in a few hours (resulting in scores of copies!)

Gutenberg’s most famous printing project was the Gutenberg Bible, a printed version of the Latin Vulgate, completed in the 1450’s.

Not surprisingly, one of Gutenberg’s most famous works would be the Gutenberg Bible. This was produced in Germany in the 1450’s.

But note that this was not an English Bible, or even a German Bible. Rather, it was a copy of the Latin Vulgate. So, Gutenberg was not a reformer or radical like Wycliffe, Hus or Luther. But his invention would lead to the printing of Bibles in other languages soon enough, and so it was monumental in the work of Bible translation!

Interestingly enough, only 49 copies of the Gutenberg Bible exist today. It may just be the most valuable printed book in the world, though none have been sold since 1978.

picture of the Gutenberg Bible, in the New York Public Library. There is also a more complete copy in the Library of Congress, Washington DC.

The Tyndale Bible

Some Significant Progress in the World of Bible Translation:

After the invention of the printing press, many other important works were produced. Though this is not an English translation,

The first published Greek New Testament was completed by Desiderius Erasmus on March 1, 1516.

This was significant because it finally made it possible for translators to use the original languages, rather than the Latin Vulgate, as their source for translation.

Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon and several others produced the ‘Luther Bible’ in the German language in 1534.

Luther translated the NT from Erasmus’ Greek text, and Melanchthon and Jonas did most of the work on the OT using the Latin Vulgate. This translation was signifcant because is was done in the dialect of the German people.

The Life of William Tyndale:

Tyndale lived from 1494-1536 AD.

By the time he was thirty, Tyndale had committed his life to translating the Bible from the original languages into English.

Tyndale originally went to London in 1523 to begin translation work, but was forced to move to Germany since the English church, still under the authority of Rome, strongly opposed putting the Bible into the hands of the laity.

Many think that Martin Luther and William Tyndale would have met during their lifetimes.

Tyndale completed an English translation of the NT from Erasmus’ Greek in 1525, with a final revision being completed in 1535.

Who’s Who in Christian History Tyndale, William

Fifteen thousand copies, in six editions, were smuggled into England between the years 1525 and 1530. Church authorities did their best to confiscate copies of Tyndale’s translation and burn them, but they couldn’t stop the flow of Bibles from Germany into England. Tyndale himself could not return to England because he was considered an outlaw at the same time his translation had been banned.

Who’s Who in Christian History Tyndale, William

Fifteen thousand copies, in six editions, were smuggled into England between the years 1525 and 1530.

He began OT translation work from the Hebrew text, on the books of Jonah, the Pentateuch, and some historical books, but he died before he complete his work.

After being in prison for over a year, Tyndale was tried and condemned to death. He was strangled and burnt at the stake on October 6, 1536. His final words were: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

Who’s Who in Christian History Tyndale, William

After being in prison for over a year, Tyndale was tried and condemned to death. He was strangled and burnt at the stake on October 6, 1536. His final words were so very poignant: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

Who’s Who in Christian History Tyndale, William

“If God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than thou dost.”

Reasons Why Tyndale’s Translation Was Significant:

It was the first English New Testament produced in the age of the printing press.

It was the first English NT after the age of printing.

It was the first English New Testament translated directly from Greek, not Latin.

It was the first English NT translated directly from the Greek.

It was the first translation to use italics for words that were not in the text. (This practice has continued in translations such as the NASB).

It coined some new words that found their way into the English vocabulary for the next five centuries—words such as ‘Passover,’ ‘peacemaker,’ ‘scapegoat,’ and even the adjective ‘beautiful’ were coined by Tyndale.

It heavily influenced the King James Version.

In 1940, Prof. J. Isaacs wrote of Tyndale’s accomplishment: “His simple directness, his magical simplicity of phrase, his modest music, have given an authority to his wording that has imposed itself on all later versions.… Nine-tenths of the Authorized New Testament (that’s the King Jame) is still Tyndale, and the best is still his.”

The introduction to a reprint of Tyndale’s New Testament makes the quip: “Astonishment is still voiced that the dignitaries who prepared the 1611 Authorized Version for King James spoke so often with one voice—apparently miraculously. Of course they did: the voice (never acknowledged by them) was Tyndale’s.”

The Coverdale Bible

In 1535, while William Tyndale was still in prison, a friend of his, Miles Coverdale completed the first printed Bible (OT and NT) in English.

The Coverdale Bible was significant for putting the Apocrypha at the end of the OT instead of mixed in with the OT.

Who’s Who in Christian History Coverdale, Miles

This Bible, initially smuggled into England, achieved great popularity. Eventually it was published by English printers under the protection of Thomas Cromwell, a friend of Coverdale and vice-regent to the king. Cromwell convinced Henry VIII of the need for an official English Bible, so that in 1538 Coverdale was commissioned to revise his translation. The resulting “Great Bible” of 1539 was Coverdale’s major achievement and a significant influence on the translators of the 1611 King James Version of the Bible.

In 1537, Matthew’s Bible was made. This Bible was the work of John Rogers, whose pen name was Thomas Matthew. He combined Coverdale’s OT with Tyndale’s NT.28 But Rogers also added about 2000 notes, some not good.

Matthew’s Bible

In 1537, Matthew’s Bible was produced. This was the work of John Rogers, whose pen name was Thomas Matthew. He combined Coverdale’s Old Testament with Tyndale’s New Testament.

But Rogers also added about 2000 notes, some of which were not very helpful. John Rogers was ultimately burned at the stake in 1555 under ‘Bloody Mary’, Mary I of England.

The Great Bible

In 1538, King Henry VIII commissioned Coverdale to complete an official English translation (based on his earlier version, without the notes), called the ‘Great Bible’, was commissioned to revise his translation. This was completed a year later, and was called ‘great’ because of its sheer size. This version had a significant influence on the translators of the 1611 King James Bible.

If we go back a few years before Rogers’ death, in September, 1538 King Henry VIII was still in charge, and sympathetic to the Protestant Reformation. A vice-regent to the king, Thomas Cromwell, convinced Henry of the need for an official English Bible. And so, Henry ordered an English Bible to be placed in every church. Which version would they use? Henry liked Matthew’s Bible, but did not like the notes. Also, he wanted the Bible to be the biggest book of all. So the ‘Great Bible’ was made, named as such not because of its literary quality but because of its size. Myles Coverdale was commissioned to make it, and it was essentially a revised version of the Matthew Bible, without notes. It was chained down to the pulpit, so that others could not steal it. During this time, Henry VIII also encouraged the average person to read the Bible. He said, “ye shall discourage no man… from the reading or hearing of the … Bible, but shall expressly provoke, stir and exhort every person to read the same, as that which is the very lively Word of God…” This command was followed so enthusiastically that laypeople were reading the Bible aloud to their fellow parishioners while the preacher was giving his sermon! Eight months later the king issued a proclamation forbidding this disruptive behavior.

The Geneva Bible

He liked Matthew’s Bible, but not the notes. Also, he wanted the Bible to be the biggest book of all. So the ‘Great Bible’ was made, named as such not because of its literary quality but because of its size. Myles Coverdale was commissioned to make it, and it was essentially a revised version of the Matthew Bible, without notes. It was chained down to the pulpit, so that others could not steal it. During this time, Henry VIII also encouraged the average person to read the Bible. He said, “ye shall discourage no man… from the reading or hearing of the … Bible, but shall expressly provoke, stir and exhort every person to read the same, as that which is the very lively Word of God…” This command was followed so enthusiastically that laypeople were reading the Bible aloud to their fellow parishioners while the preacher was giving his sermon! Eight months later the king issued a proclamation forbidding this disruptive behavior.

Then years later, when Mary Tudor came to power, she reversed all of the protestant reforms that had taken place, returning the country to Catholicism. She began to burn both Bibles and protestants. So many went from England to Geneva, Switzerland, where John Calvin was living. Here they produced the Geneva Bible in 1557.

Reasons Why the Geneva Bible Was Significant:

It was the first English Bible to be entirely translated from the Greek and Hebrew.

It was the first English Bible to use verse numbers.

It was Calvinistic in its notes.

The Geneva Bible is often called the first ‘Study Bible’

This was the Bible the Pilgrims took with them when they landed at Plymouth in America.

This was the Bible that Shakespeare used.

Shakespeare actually quotes the Geneva Bible hundreds of times in his plays. He would have lived from 1564-1616, and the KJV was only made in 1611, so that makes sense.

The Bishops’ Bible

“The instant success of the Geneva Bible made it impossible to go on using the Great Bible for reading in church; its deficiencies became all too obvious in the light of the new version.” But the Geneva Bible clearly could not be used in ecclesiastical settings: it was too Calvinistic for the English clergy and was so popular among the lower classes that it was politically incorrect to use from the pulpit!

The Bishops’ was created in 1568 as a pulpit Bible. However, it was only printed until 1606, as was never very well recieved, since its wording was inferior to the Geneva Bible.

Rheims-Douai Bible

This version, completed in 1609, was translated from the Latin Vulgate. The NT was translated in Reims, France, and the OT was translated at the University of Douai, France (hence the name, Rheims-Douai Bible). The purpose of the version was to promote Catholic theology in the face of the Protestant Reformation.

After Bloody Mary’s short reign, Elizabeth came on the scene as the new queen. And she was a Protestant. This time the Catholic scholars fled to Europe! It must be remembered that the Protestants were not the only ones to get persecuted. Blood flowed both ways.

The Catholics wanted their own English Bible. This was not because they had now agreed that lay people should have a Bible in their own tongues. Rather, since they really could not stop laypeople from reading the Bible, they at least wanted them to read a “correct” version of it. Nevertheless, in the preface to this version, the readership was intended to be priests and other dignitaries. The masses were discouraged from reading the Bible, but if they were going to read one, this had better be it.

The Rheims-Douai Bible also had some influence on the wording of the KJV.

This brings us to the dawn of a new era, which began with the KJV. The first era of English Bible translation thus lasted from 1382—1610, or nearly 230 years. It was a period marked by two things: on the one hand, by a profound concern that every Christian have access to God’s revealed will in the Bible. On the other hand, the church hierarchy suppressed this effort—first by killing the translators and burning their Bibles. And when that failed, an ‘authorized’ translation was made that tried to stem the tide of the Protestant heresy.

The King James Bible (Authorized Version)

Show King James video

With the death of Queen Elizabeth I,

Prince James VI of Scotland became King of England. The Protestant clergy approached the new King in 1604 and announced their desire for a new translation to replace the Bishop's Bible.

They knew that the Geneva Version had won the hearts of the people because of its excellent scholarship, accuracy, and exhaustive commentary. However,

There was a desire to remove the controversial marginal notes (proclaiming the Pope an Anti-Christ, etc.) Additionally, King James disliked certain margin notes that seemed to undermine royal authority.

For example, the notes on suggested that the Hebrew midwives were justified in disobeying the king’s order to kill the babies.

Thus, part of the motivation for creating a new version was political.

The translation was initiated by the Hampton Court Conference, over which King presided. The conference appointed 47 scholars, divided into 6 groups, who would translate from the original Greek and Hebrew.

The Greek text behind the KJV was the Stephanus text, which was based on Erasmus’ 3rd edition of the Greek NT, the same one Tyndale used. But these men also were essentially supposed to use the Bishops Bible as a guide. Additionally, they also referred to: The Tyndale New Testament, The Coverdale Bible, The Matthews Bible, The Great Bible, The Geneva Bible, and even the Rheims New Testament. But ultimately, the resulting work would be regarded as a unique work in its own right.

The final work was published in 1611.

From 1605 to 1606 the scholars engaged in private research. From 1607 to 1609 the work was assembled. In 1610 the work went to press, and in 1611 the first of the huge (16 inch tall) pulpit folios known today as "The 1611 King James Bible" came off the printing press. Starting just one year after the huge 1611 pulpit-size King James Bibles were printed and chained to every church pulpit in England; printing then began on the earliest normal-size printings of the King James Bible. These were produced so individuals could have their own personal copy of the Bible.

Other facts about the KJV:

He arranged 6 panels of scholars to translate this, 47 men in total.

They were told to retain the words of the Bishops’ Bible while using the Greek and Hebrew.

In 10 places the KJV abandons all known Greek texts in favor of the Vulgate.

9/10 of the KJV is very similar to Tyndale’s.

The leading principle of the KJV was elegance.

The original preface admitted that it wasn’t perfect.

Nearly 100,000 changes have been made to the original 1611 Bible since the time of its first printing. Many of them were minor – spelling and punctuation changes. But that is important to know for whoever says that the KJV is the only Bible to use.

Some Humorous Typos in Later KJV Editions

1613 - “The Judas Bible” - “Then cometh Judas with them unto a place called Gethsemane” ( - should say Jesus)

First edition – called “The Basketball Bible” – because it talks about hoops instead of hooks in making the Temple.

1795 – “The Murderers Bible” – Let the children first be killed. (instead of ‘first be filled’)

*1611 Geneva Bible – “Then Judas said to the twelve, will you also go away?” ( - supposed to say ‘Jesus’)

1613 KJV - “The Judas Bible” - “Then cometh Judas with them unto a place called Gethsemane” ( - should say Jesus)

1612 - “The Printers Bible” - “Printers have persecuted me without cause” ( - should say ‘princes’)

1613 - “The Judas Bible” - “Then cometh Judas with them unto a place called Gethsemane” ( - should say Jesus)

1631 - “The Wicked Bible” – “Thou shalt commit adultery.” ( - 7th Commandment - leaving out ‘not’).

1653 – “The Unrighteous Bible” - “The unrighteous shall inherit the earth” ( - leaving out ‘not’)

1716 – “The Sin On Bible” - “Sin on more” ( – Should say ‘I will remember their sin no more’)

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