E VOLUTION O F T HE E NGLISH B IBLE

Origins of Translation OT was written primarily in Hebrew NT autographs (original manuscripts) were written in Koine (common) Greek A Greek translation of the OT, called the Septuagint, was made between 250 & 150 BC As Christianity spread throughout the world – Fewer Christians knew Greek or Hebrew – They could not read the text – Thus translations into native languages were made

Hebrew in Aleppo Codex showing vowel and grammar points

Codex Bezae showing uncial Greek

Early Translations Once beyond Rome, Greek was not the predominate lingua franca The earliest translations were into – Syriac (2 nd Century AD, region of Syria and Mesopotamia – similar to Aramaic) – Latin (2 nd Century AD, Roman Empire) – Coptic (soon after Syriac & Latin, language of 1 st Century Egypt – used Greek alphabet)

9 th Century Syriac

1407 AD Latin Manuscript

8 th Century Coptic MSS of Luke

Early Translations Origen ( AD) produced the Hexapla (6 translations side by side) Ulfilas (a Goth) translated the NT into Gothic in the 4 th Century AD Mesrob (an Armenian) translated the NT into Armenian in the 5 th Century Also in the 4 th and 5 th Century periods translations were produced in Ethiopic and Georgian

Codex Ambrosianus B Written in Gothic

5 th -6 th Century AD Armenian MSS

Medieval Translations In the Middle Ages (5 th – 16 th Centuries AD) translations were made into – Old High German (748 AD for Matthew) – Old Church Slavic (9 th Century) – Hungarian Hussite (15 th Century) – Catalan (a Valencian dialect – 1478 AD) – More Latin – Old and Middle English In 1199 AD Pope Innocent III banned unauthorized versions

Old High German Hildebrandslied 9 th Century AD

Old Church Slavic Codex Zographensis 10 th -11 th Century AD

Hungarian Hussite Bible Codex Munich 15 th Century AD

Catalan Language Tirant lo Blanc by Joanot Martorell Dated 1490 AD

Reformation Translations In 1452/3 Gutenberg printed 200 copies of the Latin Vulgate on his new printing press Martin Luther set the way for “unauthorized” versions with his German NT translation in 1522 The first complete Dutch Bible was printed in 1526 The first complete French Bible was printed in 1530 The floodgates were now open

Luther’s 1534 AD Bible

Gutenberg Bible in the Library of Congress

Latin Versions Latin was one of the first translations It was a primary basis for the first English translation There were early Latin translations – Called Old Latin – Not uniform in quality – Was accepted in the Latin reading world

Jerome & Latin Vulgate Jerome translated NT & OT into Latin in 380s but met resistance By 6th or 7th century it became the accepted Latin translation Jerome’s translation was unofficially the Latin Vulgate (“common”) Officially the Council of Trent in 1546 designated it as Vulgate

Latin Vulgate NT based on Old Latin version, not translated from Greek Revised numerous times Divided into today’s chapters in 13th century Basis for earliest translations into European languages Reigning translation for 1,000 years in Western Europe

8 th Century AD Oldest complete copy Latin Vulgate Showing page from Ezra

Old English Translations Christianity had reached Britain by 3rd century Bible worldwide mainly in Latin In 7th century, Caedmon retold Bible stories into Anglo-Saxon In 8th century, Aldhelm translated the Psalms and Venerable Bede translated John

737 AD Copy of Cademon’s Hymn (a 9 line alliterative poem praising God) Written in Old English

Beowulf First page (in Old English)

Old English Translations Late 9 th / Early 10 th century – “Vespasian Psalter” – an interlinear Old English translation of the Psalms – King Alfred the Great had some of Exodus and the 10 Commandments translated and began a translation of Psalms – “Northumbrian Gloss on the Gospels” – an interlinear Old English translation – Farman of Yorkshire interlined another Latin manuscript with an idiomatic translation of the Gospel of Matthew

Old English Translations Late 10th century – Abbot Ælfric created an abridged version of the Pentateuch – Wessex Gospels, an anonymous version of the four Gospels appeared in the south Norman conquest in 1066 AD halted progress of Old English translations – New French-speaking ruling class had only contempt and hostility for the fledgling Old English versions – No significant developments in English Bibles until 13 th century

Lord’s Prayer in Wessex Gospels (Old English, 10 th century) Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum, Si þin nama gehalgod. to becume þin rice, gewurþe ðin willa, on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum. and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele. soþlice.

Lord’s Prayer in monk’s version for nun (Middle English, 14 th century) Oure Fader that art in heuene, halewed be thi name. Thi kyngdom come to us. Thi wylle be don, as in heuene, and in erthe. Oure eche dayes breed yeue us to day. And foryeue us oure dettys, as foryeue oure dettourys. And ne lede us not in temptacyon, but delyuere us of yuel. Amen.

John Wycliffe Early advocate for translation of the Bible in the common tongue He and his associates completed a translation from the Vulgate in 1382 Opponents: "The jewel of the clergy has become the toy of the laity." Only English Bible until William Tyndale about 140 yrs later For God louede so the world that he yaf his oon bigetun sone, that ech man that beliueth in him perische not, but haue euerlastynge lijf.

An original copy of Wycliffe’s Bible

Wycliffe Bible open to First Timothy

Beginning of John’s Gospel in pocket-sized Wycliffe Bible

Desiderius Erasmus Dutch Catholic reformer and classical Latin and Greek scholar Set out to prepare a new edition of Jerome's Latin Vulgate and a corresponding collation of Greek texts His Greek text was primarily meant to validate his Latin version, not be the source from which it was translated He used several late Greek manu- scripts, ignoring older and better ones

Desiderius Erasmus He found it necessary to ensure that both were actually presenting the same content Numerous instances where he edits the Greek text to reflect his Latin version He translated Latin to Greek where Greek was missing or less desirable His was the 1 st published Greek NT Subsequent versions became known as the Textus Receptus

Early Modern English William Tyndale (1526) – first English translation to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts – first to take advantage of the new medium of print, allowing for wide distribution – Tyndale used Erasmus’s Greek and Latin New Testament, as well as Martin Luther’s German version and the Vulgate – Tyndale’s purpose was to “cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more scripture than the clergy of the day” – 80% of KJV NT is the work of Tyndale

Tyndale’s NT Gospel of John

Early Modern English Miles Coverdale (1535) – first complete English Bible (both OT and NT) published in print – first officially approved Bible translation in English (simply permitted, not authorized) – Coverdale was not proficient in Hebrew or Greek, not the scholar that Tyndale was – based his New Testament on Tyndale’s translation; used Tyndale’s published Pentateuch and Jonah – translated the remaining books of the OT and the Apocrypha from German and Latin

Coverdale Bible Book of Genesis

Matthew Bible (1537) – based on work of Tyndale & Coverdale – compiled by John Rogers who added the Apocryphal Prayer of Manasses he translated from French – published under the pseudonym “Thomas Matthew” to conceal Tyndale’s participation from Henry VIII – "this version, which welds together the best work of Tyndale and Coverdale, is generally considered to be the real primary version of our English Bible” Early Modern English

Matthew Bible

The Great Bible (1539) – a revision of Matthew Bible – edited by Coverdale to hide the influence of Tyndale on the Matthew Bible – contrary to Tyndale, reinstated and introduced familiar Latin terminology – 1st English Bible authorized to be read in English churches – Henry VIII had copy put in every church – people flocked to the churches to read it – marked the 1 st pause in rapid sequence of English versions set on foot by Tyndale Early Modern English

The beginning of Matthew in the Great Bible

The Great Bible – Open to Jeremiah

The Great Bible

Geneva Bible ( 1560) – printed in Geneva in Queen Mary’s reign – used Great Bible as OT basis & Matthew Bible (i.e. Tyndale) as NT basis – included commentary and illustrations – printed each verse as a paragraph – italicized English words not in Greek text – families wanted this Bible, while the Great Bible stayed in the churches – over 160 editions printed over its life – the bible of William Shakespeare and pilgrims of Jamestown & Plymouth Early Modern English

The Geneva Bible

Intro to Bible and NT The Geneva Bible

The Geneva Bible – Matthew

The Geneva Bible – Ephesians 5

Exodus The Red Sea Geneva Bible

Bishop’s Bible ( 1568) – Church of England opposed Geneva Bible on basis of Calvinistic teaching and strong tie to rigid Puritanism – called for revision of Great Bible which was of uncontested inferiority to Geneva – work divided among several revisers, resulting in unequal quality – superseded Great Bible as official version but never attained the popularity and influence of the Geneva Bible – remained official Bible until 1611 Early Modern English

Rheims-Douai Bible ( 1582) – English Roman Catholics in exile in France wanted a translation to serve as a counter to the Protestant ones flooding England – Translated from the Vulgate, not the original languages – NT started at Douai, finished at Rheims in 1582; OT finally published at Douai in 1610 – retrogression in scholarship, not popular – primary importance is that it’s one of the versions of which King James' translators made use Early Modern English

Rheims-Douai NT 1582 Edition Title Page

For Further Reading