Your Bible you use today probably cost less than $50. That’s about the cost of a single meal on the town with my family of six. And you can read God’s holy, sufficient, powerful word for that low price!
God’s word in the English language was not always so accessible. The translation of the Bible into English comprises many men and events, including danger, heartache, and bloodshed along the way.
Here are some short and simple notes on versions leading up to the 1611 printing of the King James Version. Did you know the KJV was not the first or the second but the third “authorized” translation?
Date | Bible | Translator / Editor | Notes |
1380s | Wycliffe Bible | John Wycliffe | Translated from the Jerome’s Latin version of the day (a translation of a translation). |
1388 | Purvey Bible | John Purvey | Purvey was an assistant to Wycliffe and printed this revision of Wycliffe’s work. |
1520-30s | Tyndale Bible | William Tyndale | Started to be accepted at first but was officially banned in 1528 by Henry VIII. Tyndale was burned at the stake in 1536, and his last words were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” |
1535 | Coverdale Bible | Miles Coverdale | Used much of Tyndale’s work. |
1537 | Matthew’s Bible | John Rogers | Matthew was a pseudonym, as Rogers did not want to be burned at the stake like Tyndale had been the previous year. This was the first “licensed” Bible, since Henry VIII initially put his stamp of approval on it. However, he later banned it in 1543, when he discovered it contained much of Tyndale’s work. Rogers became the first martyr in 1555 under Mary Tudor’s bloody reign. |
1539 | Taverner’s Bible | Richard Taverner | Taverner was the only layman to translate a version of the English Bible, but it was a short-lived version. |
1539 | Great Bible | Miles Coverdale | First Authorized Version – authorized by Henry VIII. Financially backed by Thomas Cromwell. Called the “Great” Bible because of its size: pages roughly 16½” x 11”. Archbishop Cranmer wrote the preface. |
1560 | Geneva Bible | William Whittingham | Whittingham was brother-in-law to John Calvin. This was the first English version to be broken into separate verses and to use italics to indicate words which had been added to help the English reader understand the meaning. ‘Twas dignified, scholarly, simple type, readable. It became extremely popular. |
1568 | Bishop’s Bible | Archbishop Parker | Second Authorized Version – authorized by Elizabeth I. Eleven bishops worked to produce this version under the leadership of Archbishop Matthew Parker. Though the Church of England leadership tried to make it the Bible of the people, it did not overtake the Geneva Bible in popularity. |
1611 | King James Version | James I | Third Authorized Version – authorized by James I. Began with 54 men assigned from three different colleges: Oxford, Westminster, and Cambridge. Was a multi-year effort spanning 1604 to 1611, using 47 of England’s best translators. By the 1640s it had replaced the Geneva Bible as the household version of choice. |
* Thanks in large part to Harold L. Phillip’s Translators and Translations: A Brief History of the Making of the English Bible for these notes.
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