The Bible in English From Hebrew and Greek to the Great Bible Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English The Bible was originally in Hebrew and Greek. Creating a Bible in English involved being able to read Hebrew and Greek. Hebrew writing looks like this: Greek writing looks like this:

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English In the 5 th century the Bible was translated into Latin which was a language many people spoke. After a while people stopped speaking Latin, but the Bible was still in Latin and people could not read it any more. The beginning of the gospel of John in Latin

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English In the 10 th century parts of the Bible were translated into Old English. Can you work out what this says? Roll over the text to hear it. John 3:16 God lufode middaneard swa þæt he sealde his ancennedan Sunu, þæt nan ne forwurðe þe on hine gelyfð, ac hæbbe þæt ece lif.

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English Before printing, books were expensive as they had to be written by hand. Not many people could read. There were few schools as most children had to work. Illuminated manuscript 15 th century

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English John Wycliffe and his friends translated the Bible into English between The Bibles had to be written by hand so there were very few of them. It was against the law to translate the Bible into English. Wycliffe giving ‘The poor priests’ a copy of his translation. F W Yeames

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English Printing came to Britain in 1476 and books became cheaper. There was no printed Bible in English. It was still against the law. Caxton showing the First Specimen of His Printing to King Edward IV at the Almonry, Westminster. By Daniel Maclise

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English William Tyndale ( ) was a Christian scholar who spoke seven languages, including Greek and Hebrew. As a Christian he believed the Bible was inspired by God and it was important that ordinary Christians should be able to read it. Statue by Laurence Holofcener. Photograph by David Cooling.

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English Tyndale went into hiding in Germany. He translated the New Testament into English by 1525 and some of the Old Testament by The Bibles had to be smuggled into England. Image from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English Tyndale was caught and put in prison. When he died he prayed that King Henry would change his mind and let people have the Bible in English. Image from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs ‘Lord open the King of England’s eyes’

Route A Bible Age 7-11 The Bible in English The King, Henry VIII, did change his mind. In 1539 Henry had a ‘Great Bible’ published in English. It was placed in every church. Those who could read, read out loud to others. This Great Bible used Tyndale’s work. Henry VIII after Hans Holbein the Younger Great Bibles were often chained. A chained Bible from Cumnor Church Oxfordshire