The Bible in English

1. The Bible in English A History

2. The Bible in English • 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

3. 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.

4. The Latin Vulgate • 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

5. Pre 850 A.D. Early Biblical Translation in Anglo-Saxon England

6. The Ruthwell Cross • 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.”

7. Lindisfarne Gospels • 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

8. The Venerable Bede • 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

9. Anglo-Saxon Biblical Texts850 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

10. AElfric • 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

11. The Exeter Book • 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

12. The Vercelli 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”

13. 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.

14. 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

15. Thomas Wyclif(1320-1384) • 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

16. Wyclif’s Bibles • 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 hereticocomburendo) and declared that making holy text legible to the common class was “casting pearls before swine.”

17. The Lollards • 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

18. Early Modern English1476-1700 The first printed Bibles in English

19. William Caxton • 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

20. William Tyndale1494-1536 • 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!)

21. Tyndale • 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

22. Tyndale’s Reward • 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.”

23. Myles Coverdale • 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

24. Matthew’s Bible • 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.

25. The Great 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

26. The Geneva Bible of 1560 • 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

27. King James Version of 1611 • 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.