P033 Matthew's Bible.

P033 Matthew’s Bible.

It was a compilation of the translations of Coverdale and Tyndale, the whole of the New Testament, and a considerable portion of the Old being Tyndale’s work,(1) and the rest Coverdale’s.

It is a singular fact that King Henry VIII., who, in 1530, forbade the use of Tyndale’s New Testament, should, in 1537, give it his royal sanction under another name.

Matthew’s Bible is specially valuable for matters outside of the text, for Rogers was a fine scholar, and his work shows advanced learning.

It has numerous marginal notes and comments;(2) an "exhortacyon to the study of the Holy Scrypture;" a brief system of theology called the "Summe and content of all the Holy Scripture;" an address to "the Chrysten readers;" and a "Table of the pryncipal matters conteyned in the Byble." This last is a sort of dictionary and concordance combined, one of the earliest in our language, and taken chiefly from the French Bible of Olivetan, The books of the Old Testament are arranged in the following order: Genesis—Ballet of ballets, [Song of Songs;] the Prophets: Isaiah—Malachi; the Apocrypha. The New Testament has the same order of books as Tyndale’s. The title is as follows:— The Byble, | which is all the holy Scrip- | ture : In whych are contayned the | Olde and Newe Testament truly | and purely translated into En- | glysh by Thomas Matthew. Esaye. j.☞[Hearcken to yᵉ heauens and | thou earth geaue eare: For the | Lorde speaketh | M, D, XXXVII, | Set forth with the kynges most gracyous lycēce. | The volume is printed in black letter, and adorned with seventy-eight wood-cuts. The Canticles are printed in red and black. The last edition was issued in 1551, and the Bible remained popular for many years. It became the foundation of the text of the Authorized Version.

------------ (FN1)See a full discussion of this matter in Eadie, vol. i, pp. 315-325.

(FN2)One of these notes is worth reproducing. It is cited by Dore, p.38. In commenting on 1 Pet. iii, 6, Rogers says: "He dwelleth wyth his wyfe according to knowledge, that taketh her as a necessarye healper and not as a bonde seruaunte or bonde slave. And yf she be not obedient, and healpfull unto him endeuoureth to beate the feare of God into her heade, that thereby she maye be compelled to learne her duitie, and do it." Let us charitably hope that the commentator meant a metaphorical, and not a literal, beating.

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