HUMA 3424 History of the Bible
June 15: English Bibles Prior to 1611 (No class today)
Read for Today: Wegner, ch. 17 (p. 284-306); Arnold, pp. 34-35, 40-47, 52-63.
Online Resources: take a look inside early English Bibles in this virtual exhibit from
Ohio State University.
1. The Bible before Henry VIII
 John Wycliffe created the first complete Bible in English in 1832; translated from
the Vulgate
 Erasmus created the first Greek New Testament in 1516
 used by Martin Luther (1483-1546) in the creation of his German translation of
the New Testament (1522)
o used Hebrew for his OT in 1534
o moved Apocrypha out of the OT and changed the order of the NT texts
 John Calvin (1509-1564); broke from Catholic church in 1530; eventually became
the leader of the church in Geneva
2. Tyndale’s Bible
 William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536) produced the first printed Bible in English
 during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547)
 needed to get permission to publish his translation; asked Cuthbert Tunstall,
bishop of London but was denied
 moved to Hamburg (outside English law)
 NT smuggled into England in a pocket size version in 1526; improved second
edition in 1534, and a third in 1535
 Tyndale published Jonah (1531) and the Pentateuch (1530), and finished also
Joshua to 2 Chronicles
 executed in 1536 (strangled then burned at stake): his final words were “Lord,
open the king of England’s eyes”
 The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528) advocated that the king of a country
was the head of that country’s church, rather than the pope
 The Practyse of Prelates (1530) opposed Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of
Aragon Anglican Church founded in 1533
 Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540), the chief advisor to Henry VIII
 features: marginal notes influenced by Luther, translation of church offices
controversial (“overseer” for “bishop,” etc.), “free, bold, and idiomatic,” familiar
phrases (e.g. “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”)
3. Coverdale’s Bible
 first complete, printed English Bible produced by Miles Coverdale (1488-1569) in
1535 completed Tyndale’s OT by translating from the Vulgate and Luther’s
German
 separate Apocrypha and Luther’s order of NT books
 dedicated to Henry VIII, a better “defender of the faith” than the pope

Coverdale’s version of the Psalms taken over in the Great Bible of 1539, and then
reproduced in the Bishops Bible of 1568 and remained a part of the Anglican
Book of Common Prayer until revised in the 20th c.
4. Matthew’s Bible
 published in 1537 by John Rogers (1505-1555) under the pseudonym Thomas
Matthew
 came into possession of Tyndale’s unpublished texts (Joshua to 2 Chron.)
 Tyndale’s NT, Tyndale’s OT texts, and Coverdale’s Ezra to Malachi and
Apocrypha, with the addition of the Prayer of Manasseh, from a French Bible
5. The Great Bible
 commissioned by Thomas Cromwell in 1538; essentially a revision of Matthew’s
Bible in the interim
 authorized for public use in churches
 returns to the original order for the NT
 reintroduced numerous phrases and sentences found only in the Vulgate (e.g.,
Acts 23:24–25)
6. Taverner’s Bible
 Henry VIII died in 1547 and was succeeded by his son Edward VI
 Taverner’s Bible, a minor revision of Matthew’s Bible, produced by Richard
Taverner (1505-1575) in 1539
 retranslated the Apocrypha from the Greek; broke 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings into
four books of kings and returned to Luther’s order of the NT books
7. Edmund Becke’s Bibles
 essentially a combination of Taverner’s OT and Tyndale’s NT; two editions in
1549 and 1551
 both editions contain the notorious “wife-beater” note on 1 Peter 3:7
8. Geneva Bible
 England reverted to Catholicism under Mary Tudor (1553-1558), succeeded by
Elizabeth (1558-1603)
 translation was made principally by William Whittingham, a Protestant refugee in
Geneva and brother-in-law of John Calvin
 NT in 1557 and then entire Bible in 1560 (did not appear in England until 15751576)
 NT was primarily Matthew’s revision of Tyndale; the OT was the first full
translation made directly from the Hebrew
 sometimes referred to as the “Breeches Bible”
 first study Bible with numbered verses, maps, tables, woodcuts, chapter
summaries, and running titles
9. Bishops’ Bible
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becomes authorized version in 1568 and placed in all churches in England
no controversial footnotes in it; includes readers’ aids similar to Geneva Bible
multiple translators used but no supervisory editor, so translation varies from
book to book
Psalms considered unsingable, so replaced by translation from Great Bible
10. Douay-Rheims Bible
 William Allen established an English college at Douay France in 1568; moved to
Rheims in 1578, and back to Douay in 1593
 in Rheims Gregory Martin translated the Vulgate into English; published NT in
Rheims in 1582 and the OT in Douay in 1609/1610
 not from original languages; fairly literal translation of the Latin
 marginal notes and had a strong polemical character; Apocrypha placed within the
OT