Tyndale’s Bible
Last Week…
John Wycliffe: Unauthorized and rejected at
the Oxford Convocation of 1408
This Week…
William Tyndale: Work inspired and
infused into the King James Bible.
William Tyndale
• c. 1494 – 1536, born in Dursley, Gloucestershire
• English Protestant Reformer, scholar, and priest.
• Educated at Oxford and possibly studied under
Erasmus.
• Gifted linguist: fluent in French, Greek, Hebrew, German,
Italian, Latin, Spanish, in addition to his native English.
• Tyndale's translation was the first English translation to
draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts.
• Also, the first to take advantage of the new medium of
print, which allowed for its wide distribution.
• In 1535 Tyndale was arrested, jailed in a castle outside
of Brussels for over a year, tried for heresy and burnt at
the stake.
Tyndale’s Legacy
• In translating the Bible, Tyndale introduced new words into the
English Language, and many were subsequently used in the King
James Bible:
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Jehovah
Passover (as the name for the Jewish holiday, Pesach or Pesah)
Atonement
Scapegoat
• He also coined such familiar phrases as:
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let there be light
the powers that be
my brother's keeper
the salt of the earth
a law unto themselves
it came to pass
gave up the ghost
the signs of the times
the spirit is willing
fight the good fight
Ye Olde Wedding Crashers
Priest: And now, for our next reading, I'd like to ask the bride's sister
Gloria up to the lectern.
John: 20 bucks, First Corinthians.
Jeremy: Double or nothing, Colossians 3:12.
Gloria: And now a reading from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians
First Corinthians 13. 4-8
Modern English
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious
or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does
not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or
resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but
rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things. {Love never ends (fails). But as for
prophecies, they will come to an end; as for
tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will
come to an end.}”
-The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd ed.
First Corinthians 13. 4-8
Tyndale’s English
“Love suffreth longe / & is corteous. Love
envieth not. Love doth not frowardly swelleth /
not dealeth not dishonestly / seketh not her
awne / is not provoked to anger / thynketh not
evyll / reioyseth not in iniquite: but reioyseth in
ye trueth / suffreth all thynge / beleveth all
thynges / hopeth all thynges / endureth in all
thynges. {Though that prophesyinge fayle /
other tonges shall cease or knowledge
vanysshe awaye / yet love falleth never
awaye.}”
Vocabulary
“Love suffreth longe / & is corteous. Love
envieth not. Love doth not frowardly swelleth /
not dealeth not dishonestly / seketh not her
awne / is not provoked to anger / thynketh not
evyll / reioyseth not in iniquite: but reioyseth in
ye trueth / suffreth all thynge / beleveth all
thynges / hopeth all thynges / endureth in all
thynges. {Though that prophesyinge fayle /
other tonges shall cease or knowledge
vanysshe awaye / yet love falleth never
awaye.}” Orange: Noteworthy word
Blue: Different Spelling
Green: Archaic Word
Morphology
“Love suffreth longe / & is corteous. Love
envieth not. Love doth not frowardly swelleth /
not dealeth not dishonestly / seketh not her
awne / is not provoked to anger / thynketh not
evyll / reioyseth not in iniquite: but reioyseth
in ye trueth / suffreth all thynge / beleveth all
thynges / hopeth all thynges / endureth in all
thynges. {Though that prophesyinge fayle /
other tonges shall cease or knowledge
vanysshe awaye / yet love falleth never
awaye.}”
Syntax
“Love suffreth longe / & is corteous. Love
envieth not. Love doth not frowardly swelleth /
not dealeth not dishonestly / seketh not her
awne / is not provoked to anger / thynketh not
evyll / reioyseth not in iniquite: but reioyseth in
ye trueth / suffreth all thynge / beleveth all
thynges / hopeth all thynges / endureth in all
thynges. {Though that prophesyinge fayle /
other tonges shall cease or knowledge
vanysshe awaye / yet love falleth never
awaye.}”