======================================================================== A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE by Unknown ======================================================================== Freeman's concise history tracing the development of the English Bible from its earliest manuscript translations through the King James Version and subsequent revisions, documenting the key figures, controversies, and milestones in making Scripture available in the English language. Chapters: 78 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. P001 Normal Outline Series Pages (1-5) 2. P006 Prefatory Note. 3. P007 AUTHORITIES 4. P008 Authorities. 5. P009 CONTENTS. 6. P010 Contents. Page 7. P011 A SHORT HISTORY 8. P012 A Short History of the English Bible. 9. P013 Preliminary. 10. P014 A Short History of the English Bible. 11. P015 Preliminary. 12. P016 A Short History of the English Bible. 13. P017 Early Paraphrases and Versions. 14. P018 A Short History of the English Bible. 15. P019 Wycliffe's Bible. 16. P020 A Short History of the English Bible. 17. P021 Wycliffe's Bible. 18. P022 A Short History of the English Bible. 19. P023 Interval of a Century and a Half. 20. P024 A Short History of the English BIBLE. 21. P025 Tyndale's Translations. 22. P026 A Short History of the English Bible. 23. P027 Tyndale's Translations. 24. P028 A Short History of the English Bible. 25. P029 Coverdale's Bible. 26. P030 A Short History of the English Bible. 27. P031 Coverdale's Bible. 28. P032 A Short History of the English Bible. 29. P033 Matthew's Bible. 30. P034 A Short History of the English Bible. 31. P035 Taverner's Bible. 32. P036 A Short History of the English Bible. 33. P037 The Great Bible. 34. P038 A Short History of the English Bible. 35. P039 The Great Bible. 36. P040 A Short History of the English Bible. 37. P041 Whittingham's New Testament. 38. P042 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. 39. P043 The Genevan Bible. 40. P044 A Short History of the English Bible. 41. P045 The Bishops' Bible. 42. P046 A Short History of the English Bible. 43. P047 The Rheims and Douay Version. 44. P048 A Short History of the English Bible. 45. P049 The Authorized Version: 46. P050 A Short History of the English Bible. 47. P051 The Authorized Version. 48. P052 A Short History of the English Bible. 49. P053 The Authorized Version. 50. P054 A Short History of the English Bible. 51. P055 The Authorized Version. 52. P056 A Short History of the English Bible. 53. P057 The Authorized Version. 54. P058 A Short History of the English Bible. 55. P059 The Proposed Revision. 56. P060 A Short History of the English Bible. 57. P061 The Proposed Revision. 58. P062 A Short History of the English Bible. 59. P063 Peculiar Bibles. 60. P064 A Short History of the English Bible. 61. P065 Peculiar Bibles. 62. P066 A Short History of the English Bible. 63. P067 Peculiar Bibles. 64. P068 A Short History of the English Bible. 65. P069 Specimens of the Different Versions. 66. P070 A Short History of the English Bible. 67. P071 Specimens of the Different Versions. 68. P072 A Short History of the English Bible. 69. P073 Specimens of the Different Versions. 70. P074 A Short History of the English Bible. 71. P075 Specimens of the Different Versions. 72. P076 A Short History of the English Bible. 73. P077 Synoptical Statement. 74. P078 A Short History of the English Bible. 75. P079 Synoptical Statement. 76. P080 A Short History of the English Bible. 77. P081 INDEX. 78. P082 Index. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: P001 NORMAL OUTLINE SERIES PAGES (1-5) ======================================================================== P001 Normal Outline Series Pages (1-5) A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE, WITH BRIEF NOTICES OF THE TRANSLATORS. BY J. M. FREEMAN, D.D. "Believers should ascertain for themselves the matters of their faith by having the Scriptures in a language which they fully understand."—Wycliffe. "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than the priests do."—Tyndale. NEW YORK: PHILLIPS & HUNT. CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, 1879. PREFATORY NOTE. THE various efforts made to give to the English people the word of God in their own language make a story of romantic and tragic interest. The narrative is one of toil, trial, persecution, and martyrdom, followed by glorious triumph. Such a narrative ought to be familiar to all who speak the English language. The design of this work is to give, in condensed form, the prominent facts relating to this subject, seeking to point the way to more elaborate works rather than to supersede them. Those who wish to investigate the subject more thoroughly will find in the list of "Authorities" given on page 7 the names of a number of books of this description. As a merely literary production, the English Bible is well worth the attention of the student; while as a faithful exponent of the word of God, which has come down to us from prophets and apostles in other tongues than ours, it has a special interest for all believers in divine revelation. The increasing attention given of late years to the study of the Bible and of collateral subjects is one of the most hopeful signs of the times. Our Sunday-school teachers and advanced scholars, as well as many not engaged in Sunday-school work, are seeking for helps of all kinds to an intelligent and systematic study of the Scriptures. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: P006 PREFATORY NOTE. ======================================================================== P006 Prefatory Note. To aid them somewhat in this laudable effort this book has been written. It is arranged to meet the wants of the student, as well as of the general reader, and therefore takes its place in the "Normal Outline Series." A careful study of the contemporaneous history, to which brief reference is given in various chapters, will help very much to a comprehensive understanding of the subject, revealing hidden influences and agencies which do not appear on a superficial reading. The Synoptical Statement at the close of the book may be found helpful to those who wish to fix in mind the principal features of the history. It is hoped that a study of the subject may result in a higher appreciation of our noble English Bible, and in an increased thankfulness to God for the labors of the honored men through whose efforts and sacrifices its possession has been made possible. Morristown, N. J., June 10, 1879. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: P007 AUTHORITIES ======================================================================== P007 AUTHORITIES CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS WORK. In addition to various histories, biographies, and cyclopedias, the following works have been specially consulted:— Anderson, Christopher—The Annals of the English Bible. Two volumes. London, 1845. Baber, Rev. Henry, M.A.—An Historical Account of the Saxon and English Versions of the Scriptures Previous to the Opening of the Fifteenth Century. [Prefixed to his reprint of Lewis’ edition of Wycliffe’s New Testament] London, 1810. Bagster—An Historical Account of the English Versions of the Scriptures in Connection with the Progress of the Reformation; with Biographical Notices of various Translators. [Preface to Hexapla.] London, 1841. Bible Revision, Anglo-American.—By Members of the American Revision Committee. New York, 1879. Cotton, Rev. Henry, D.C.L.—Editions of the Bible and Parts Thereof in English, from the year MDV to MDCCCL. Oxford, 1852. Dabney, J. P.—[Edition of Tyndale’s New Testament, with Biography.] Andover, 1837. Davidson, Samuel, D.D., LL.D.—English Versions. [Article in Kitto’s "Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature."] Philadelphia, 1866. Dore, J. R.—Old Bibles; or, An Account of the Various Versions of the English Bible. London, 1876. Eadie, John, D.D., LL.D.—The English Bible. Two volumes. London, 1876. Ellicott, C. J., D.D., Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol—Considerations on the Revision of the English Version of the New Testament. New York, 1873. Fry, Francis, F.S.A.—A Description of the Great Bible, 1539, and the six editions of Cranmer’s Bible, 1540 and 1541, printed by Grafton & Whitchurch; also of the editions in large folio of the Authorized Version of the Holy Scriptures, printed in the years 1611, 1613, 1617, 1634, 1640. London, 1865. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: P008 AUTHORITIES. ======================================================================== P008 Authorities. Lewis, John, M.A.—A Complete History of the Several Translations of the Holy Bible and New Testament into English. London, 1739. Lightfoot, J. B., D.D., Canon of St. Paul’s—On a Fresh Revision of the English New Testament. New York, 1873. M’Clintock & Strong—Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Articles, "Authorized Version, and English Versions." New York, 1867, 1870. Moulton, Rev. W. F., M.A., D.D.—The History of the English Bible. London, 1878. Plumptre, Rev. Edward Hayes, M.A.—Version, Authorized. [Article in Smith’s "Dictionary of the Bible."] Boston, 1863. Schaff, Philip, D.D.—On the Revision of the English Bible. [Introduction to Essays by Lightfoot, Trench, and Ellicott.] New York, 1873. Scrivener, Rev. F. A., M.A., LL.D.-The Cambridge Paragraph Bible. [Introduction.] Cambridge, 1873. Stevens, Henry—Bibles in the Caxton Exhibition, MDCCCLXXVII. London, 1878. Stoughton, John, D.D.—Our English Bible: Its Translations and Translators. London, 1878. Townley, Rev. James, D.D.—Illustrations of Biblical Literature. Two volumes. New York, 1852. Trench, Richard Chenevix, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin—On the Authorized Version of the New Testament, in connection with some recent Proposals for its Revision. New York, 1873. Westcott, Brooke Foss, D.D.—A General View of the History of the English Bible. London, 1872. Wycliffe, John—The New Testament in English, translated by John Wycliffe circa MCCCLXXX. Now first printed from a contemporaneous Manuscript, formerly in the Monastery of Sion, Middlesex, late in the collection of Lea Wilson, F.S.A. London, 1848. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: P009 CONTENTS. ======================================================================== P009 CONTENTS. Page I. Preliminary:— 1. Early Christianity in Britain 11 2. Principal versions of the Scriptures previous to the first printed English Testament 11 3. Facilities for studying Hebrew and Greek 13 4. Means of learning scriptural truth 15 II. Early Paraphrases and Versions 17 III. Wycliffe’s Bible 19 IV. An Interval of Nearly a Century and a Half 21 V. Tyndale’s Translations; especially his New Testament. 24 VI. Coverdale’s Bible 28 VII. Matthew’s Bible 31 VIII. Taverner’s Bible 34 IX. The Great Bible:— 1. The Edition of 1539 35 2. The Subsequent Editions 37 X. WHITTINGHAM’S NEW TESTAMENT 40 XI The Genevan Bible 42 XII. The Bishops’ Bible 44 XIII. The Rheims and Douay Version 46 XIV. The Authorized Version 48 XV. The Proposed Revision 58 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: P010 CONTENTS. PAGE ======================================================================== P010 Contents. Page XVI. Peculiar Bibles:— 1. Priority in Publication 62 2. Singular Renderings 63 3. Typographical Errors 65 XVII. Specimens of the Different Versions 67 XVIII. Synoptical Statement 76 Index 81 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: P011 A SHORT HISTORY ======================================================================== P011 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE, ------------------------------------------- I PRELIMINARY. 1. Early Christianity in Britain. Christianity was carried to Britain in the second century, and numerous flourishing Churches were established among the converts from paganism. In the fifth century the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes invaded the island and brought back barbarism and idolatry, though the Christian religion retained its hold in a few places. In the year 596 Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine and other missionaries to Britain, and succeeded in making many converts, among them Ethelbert, the King of Kent, and chief of the Saxon monarchs. Other Saxon kings, also, were converted, and large numbers of the people. The remnant of the British Church which had out-lived persecution and invasion was compelled to submit to the authority of the Church of Rome, which Church retained its supremacy in Britain for a thousand years. 2. Principal versions of the Scriptures previous to the first printed, English Testament. Greek.—The most important Greek translation of the Old Testament, and the oldest in any language, is the Septuagint, made in Alexandria, in Egypt, in the third century before Christ. By whom it was made is not certainly known. In the third century a careful revision of the Septuagint was made by Origen. It was first printed in folio in 1518 at Venice. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: P012 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P012 A Short History of the English Bible. Chaldee, or Aramaic.—By reason of the Babylonish captivity the Jews became more familiar with the Aramaic language than with the Hebrew. About the time of Christ a translation of the Pentateuch was made from Hebrew into Aramaic. Other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures were afterward translated, or, more correctly speaking, paraphrased. These versions or paraphrases are called Targums. They are ten in number, the most important being the Targum, of Onkelos. It was first printed in 1609 at Venice. Latin.—There were early Latin versions of the Bible, the origin of which is involved in mystery. The most celebrated of these is called the Vetus Itala, or Vetus Latina. The Old Testament was translated from the Septuagint. This version is supposed to have been made in Africa in the second century. A collation of the different emendations of the Vetus Itala was made by Sabatier; Remis, 1743, three volumes folio. In the fourth century the Vetus Itala was revised by Jerome; but, being dissatisfied with the translation, he prepared a new one, translating the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. Jerome’s translation is known as the Vulgate. It was several hundred years after his death before its authority was recognized. It has had several revisions by direction of different Popes, and has been for centuries the standard Bible of the Church of Rome. It was first printed in Mentz, by Guttenberg, without date, but somewhere between 1450 and 1455. This is the first book printed with movable types. German.—Portions of the Bible were translated into German as early as the latter part of the ninth century. These translations increased in number until the invention of printing. Five undated editions were issued before 1477, all of them from the Vulgate. The first of these is thought to have been printed as early as 1466 in Strasburg. Between 1477 and 1522 nine other editions followed, besides translations of detached portions. Luther’s New Testament appeared in 1522. It was published at Wittemberg in two folio volumes. In 1524 the whole Bible, with the exception of the prophetical books, was published in three folio volumes at Nuremberg. Luther’s Bible was translated from the original languages. The Zürich Bible was published shortly after Luther’s, and was a combination of his translation with the translations of Leo Judä and other German scholars. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: P013 PRELIMINARY. ======================================================================== P013 Preliminary. Other Languages.—Bibles among other nations were printed for the first time as follows, all being translations from the Vulgate: Italian, 1471, at Venice; Flemish, 1475, at Cologne; Spanish, 1478, at Valencia; French, 1487, at Paris; Bohemian, 1488, at Prague. The Complutensian Polyglot.—This, the first Polyglot Bible published, was projected by Cardinal Ximenes, who employed the most eminent scholars in its preparation. It was begun in 1502, and the six folio volumes were printed between 1514 and 1517, though not actually published until 1522. Only six hundred copies of the work were printed. It was published at Alcala, in Spain, the old Latin name of which place was Complutum. Hence the name of the work. The Old Testament has the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek in three columns, and a Chaldee paraphrase at the bottom of the page. The New Testament has the Greek and the Latin Vulgate in parallel columns. 3. Facilities for studying Hebrew and Greek Before the time of the first printed English Testament. Hebrew 1087-1100. In the reign of William Rufus some Jewish rabbis were permitted to open a school for Hebrew in the University of Oxford. 1290. On the banishment of the Jews from England by Edward I., their Hebrew MSS. fell into the hands of the monks. 1310. At the Council of Vienna, under Clement V., provision was made for teaching Hebrew in the universities of Paris and Oxford. 1320. A Hebrew lectureship was instituted at Oxford, but was not of long continuance. After a time the Hebrew became unknown to even many of the best-read scholars. Toward the close of the fifteenth century the interest in it was greatly revived. 1488. The first complete Hebrew Bible was printed at Soncino, in Italy. Portions of the Bible had been previously printed as follows: Psalter in 1477; Pentateuch in 1482; the Former Prophets in 1485; the Later Prophets in 1486; and the Hagiographa(1) in 1487. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: P014 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P014 A Short History of the English Bible. 1494. A Hebrew Bible was printed at Brescia, in Italy. This was the edition which Luther used for his German translation. 1503. The first Hebrew grammar was published at Basle, Switzerland. It was prepared by Conrad Pellican. 1506. Reuchlin’s Hebrew Lexicon, with a grammar, appeared. 1518. Bomberg’s first Rabbinical Bible was published in Venice. 1522. The Complutensian Polyglot contained a Hebrew Grammar and Lectionary. 1525. The second Rabbinical Bible, also by Bomberg, was published in Venice. GREEK. 1360. At the solicitation of Boccaccio the Republic of Florence founded a chair of Grecian literature. The first lecturer was Leo, or Leontius Pilatus. 1458. Greek was taught in the University of Paris. 1476. The first Greek grammar, that of Lascaris, was published in Milan, Italy. 1478. The first Greek lexicon, by Craston, was published. 1491. Greek was first taught in Oxford University, by William Grocyn, who had studied in Italy. 1509-1514. Erasmus of Rotterdam lectured on Greek in Cambridge. 1516. Erasmus published the first Greek Testament, in folio, at Basle, Switzerland; the second edition was issued in 1510[sic], and the third in 1522. 1517. Bishop Fox founded Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and established a lectureship of Greek. 1519. Cardinal Wolsey founded a chair of Greek in Oxford. 1522. The Complutensian Polyglot contained the Greek Testament. ------------ (FN1) That is, Holy writings. This was one of the three great divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures, and consisted of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Solomon’s Song, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the two Books of Chronicles. It was also called Ketubim, or Writings. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: P015 PRELIMINARY. ======================================================================== P015 Preliminary. 4. Means of learning scriptural truth before the time of the first printed English Testament. For many years there was but little opportunity of learning the contents of the Bible save by the instruction of the priests. Manuscript translations were of necessity costly, and could not be read save by those who understood Latin. As early as the sixth century Saxon monks made copies of the Latin Scriptures. In 1229 the Council of Toulouse prohibited the laity reading the Scriptures,(1) and this prohibition was repeated by subsequent Councils. When, in the latter part of the thirteenth century, paper began to be used for manuscripts, the expense was reduced, but was still very large, and the masses of the people were sunk in ignorance. The religious dramas of the Middle Ages were one means by which the common people obtained crude notions of Bible history and doctrine. Their origin is not definitely known, but they flourished extensively from the eleventh century to the fifteenth.(2) They were known, at different periods, by the names of "Mysteries," "Miracle Plays," and "Moralities." Priests and laymen alike engaged as actors, and immense crowds attended the representations. The Biblia Pauperum, or "Bible of the Poor," was at one time a very popular means of religious instruction. Some writers claim for it an origin as early as the ninth century. All copies of it were in manuscript until the early part of the fifteenth century, when editions were issued printed from wooden blocks. Even after the invention of printing by movable types this work continued to be printed in its old form. It consists of pictures representing scenes in Bible history or narrative, with explanations in Latin. The text needed a teacher, but the pictures spoke for themselves to the common mind. ------------ (FN1)Dr. Townley translates the prohibition as follows: "We also forbid the laity to possess any of the books of the Old or New Testaments, except perhaps some one, out of devotion, wishes to have the Psalter or Breviary for the divine offices, or the Hours of the Blessed Virgin. But we strictly forbid them having any of these books translated into the vulgar tongue."—Illustrations, vol. i, p. 352. (FN2)They have, indeed, continued quite down to our own times, as witness the celebrated "Passion Play," performed once in every ten years, at Ober-Ammergau, in Bavaria. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: P016 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P016 A Short History of the English Bible. Resembling the "Bible of the Poor" was the Speculum Salvationis, or "Mirror of Salvation." There are manuscript copies which are said to have been written in the twelfth century. Many copies were printed in the fifteenth century. The work consists of engravings of Scripture-scenes and explanatory texts in Latin. Though printed in Holland, some copies of it found their way to England. There was, also, the Legenda Aurea, or "Golden Legend," written in 1292 by James de Voragine, a Dominican friar, who afterward became Archbishop of Genoa. Originally written in Latin, it was translated into French in the fourteenth century, and into English in the fifteenth. Mingled with many legendary absurdities concerning the lives of the saints, there are translations of portions of the Pentateuch and of the Gospels. Caxton printed the first English edition as early as 1483. The work, whether in manuscript or printed, was very popular for many years. Stevens says: "It was, no doubt, read in churches, and, though the text is mixed with much priestly gloss and dross, it nevertheless contains, in almost a literal translation, a great portion of the Bible."(1) A number of Saxon and English versions of portions of Scripture were prepared at different times, and circulated in manuscript form. These will be especially noticed in the next chapter, and the manuscript translation of the Bible by Wycliffe in the chapter following. The art of printing reduced materially the cost of Bibles. Printed Bibles were sold in England as early as 1480, but they were in Latin, and were of no service to the common people. It will thus be seen how meager were the opportunities of studying the word of God. For nearly eight hundred years after the preaching of Augustine the people had no complete Bible in their own tongue, and for about a hundred and fifty years more they were dependent on a manuscript Bible, copies of which were necessarily expensive. ------------ (FN1)The Bible, etc., p. 58. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: P017 EARLY PARAPHRASES AND VERSIONS. ======================================================================== P017 Early Paraphrases and Versions. ------------------------------------------- II. EARLY PARAPHRASES AND VERSIONS. The earliest recorded attempt at rendering any part of the Bible into the vernacular was made by Cӕdmon, a Benedictine monk, who lived in the seventh century, at Whitby. He paraphrased, in Anglo-Saxon verse, different portions of Scripture. Cӕdmon died about 680. Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, (b. 656, d. 709,) translated the Psalms into Anglo-Saxon. Guthlac, a hermit of Croyland, near Peterborough, (b. 667, d. 714,) also rendered the Psalms into Anglo-Saxon. The Venerable Bede, of Jarrow, (b. 675, d. 735,) translated the Gospel of St. John into Anglo-Saxon.(1) He finished the translation while dying. He then began to chant the Gloria Patri, and expired while uttering the last words of this ancient doxology. Alfred the Great (b. 849, d. 901) made a paraphrase of some parts of the Bible, notably of the Ten Commandments, which he called "Alfred’s Dooms." He was engaged on an Anglo-Saxon version of the Psalter at the time of his death. Another Anglo-Saxon Psalter, by an unknown translator, was written in the ninth century. About the year 680 Eadfrith, Bishop of Landisfarne, wrote the four Gospels in Latin. About 950 a priest named Aldred made an interlinear translation of it, word for word, in Anglo-Saxon. This work is known as the "Durham Book," as it once belonged to the dean and chapter of Durham. It is also sometimes called the "Cuthbert Gospels," because the manuscript is said to have been used by St. Cuthbert; and it has likewise been called the "Landisfarne Gospels," from the see of the bishop who wrote the Latin. About the same time appeared a similar interlinear translation, now known as the "Rushworth Gloss," from the name of one of its owners in the seventeenth century. The Latin text was written by an Irishman named Mac Regol; hence the work is sometimes called the "Gospel of Mac Regol." The gloss, or interlinear translation, was written by two priests of Harewood, named Farmen and Owen. ------------ (FN1)Bede probably translated other portions of the Bible, but of this there is no positive proof. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: P018 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P018 A Short History of the English Bible. The book is said to be, to a considerable extent, a copy of the "Durham Book." Ælfric,(1) near the close of the tenth century, made paraphrases and translations of many portions of the Bible. Parts of the books from which he translated, however, he omitted, and other parts he abridged. In the twelfth century there was an Anglo-Norman version of the Psalms written. Later in the twelfth, or early in the thirteenth century, an Augustine monk named Orm, or Ormin, wrote a versified paraphrase of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, which he called the "Ormulum."(2) About the same time a metrical paraphrase of the Old and New Testaments was written by an unknown author. It bears the name of Salus Animɶ, or Sowlehele, [Soul-health.] There is, also, a metrical version of Genesis and Exodus, Which was probably written about the middle of the thirteenth century. About 1325 William de Schorham, vicar of Chart-Sutton, in Kent, made a prose translation of the Psalms. Another version of the Psalms was written about the same time, or a few years later, by Richard Rolle, a chantry priest, who lived in seclusion near Hampole, where he died in 1349. He wrote also a metrical paraphrase of the Book of Job and of the Lord’s Prayer. Referring to his Psalms, he says, "In this werke I seke no strange ynglys, but lightest and communest, and swilk is most like unto the Latyne, so that thai that knowes noght the Latyne be the ynglys may come to many Latyne wordis." ------------ (FN1)There were two eminent ecclesiastics and scholars of this name, who were contemporaries. Authorities differ as to their identity and writings. (FN2)The reason for the name is thus given: "Thiss boc iss nemmnedd Orrmulum Forrthi thatt Ormm itt wrohhte." — White’s Ormulum. Preface, lines 1 and 2. The orthography is very peculiar throughout the work. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: P019 WYCLIFFE'S BIBLE. ======================================================================== P019 Wycliffe’s Bible. ------------------------------------------- III. WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE. John Wycliffe,(1) Born 1324; Died 1384. Contemporaneous with the following:— Popes: John XXII., 1316-1334; Benedict XII., 1334-1342; Clement VI., 1342-1352; Innocent VI., 1352-1362; Urban V., 1362-1370;Gregory XI., 1370-1378. At the great "Schism of the West," in 1378, Urban VI. was acknowledged in England, and Clement VII. in France, Spain, and Scotland. Kings of England: Edward III., 1327-1377; Richard II., 1377-1399. Kings of Scotland: David II., 1329-1371; Robert II., 1371-1390. Literary Celebrities: Barbour, b. 1326, d. 1396; Chaucer, b. 1328, d. 1400; Gower, b. 1327, d. 1408. Concerning the early life of Wycliffe we have no certain information. The year 1324 is given as the probable time of his birth, and a little village in Yorkshire as the place. He was one of the first students in Queen’s College, Oxford, on its foundation by Queen Philippa, in 1340, and afterward held a number of important offices in connection with the University of Oxford. He took orders as a priest, and soon became popular. About 1360 he opposed the mendicant friars, who were overrunning the land.(2) He also, in his preaching, insisted on the superior authority of Scripture. He was appointed one of the chaplains to Edward III., and frequently lectured on divinity to the students at Oxford. In 1365 he opposed Pope Urban V. in his demand for tribute from the English crown, the arrears being for thirty-three years at a thousand marks a year. In 1374 he was one of six commissioners sent by Edward III. to Bruges in Netherlands to confer with delegates from Pope Gregory XL, concerning questions of ecclesiastical authority in England. ------------ (FN1)Also spelled Wickliffe, Wicliffe, Wyclif, Wiclif. There are said to be about twenty different forms of the word. Sometimes the prefix de is added. (FN2)There were four orders of these: 1. Dominicans, or Black Friars; 2. Franciscans, or Gray Friars; 3. Carmelites, or White Friars; 4. Augustine, or Austin Friars. They roamed at large, subsisted by begging, and in many instances led scandalous lives. Chaucer and Gower both denounced them in their poems. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: P020 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P020 A Short History of the English Bible. By reason of his frequent attacks on the pretensions of the papacy he was, in February, 1377, tried for heresy before a convocation of the clergy called by Archbishop Courtney, in St. Paul’s, London, where he was defended by John of Gaunt and Henry Percy. In May, of the same year, Pope Gregory XL issued four bulls, by which he was cited to appear before a synod in Lambeth, in 1378. He escaped condemnation, however, by the intervention of the queen-mother, and by the distractions resulting from the great papal schism. He became very influential, and sent his disciples all over the country, preaching his doctrines. He had for a long time advocated the translation of the Scriptures into English, and, after the labor of years,(1) in 1380 he completed his translation of the New Testament, and copies were soon multiplied and circulated. A version of the Old Testament followed about two years later. In 1381 he lectured in Oxford against transubstantiation. For this he was condemned by a synod of twelve doctors, and forbidden by the king, Richard II., to lecture any further in Oxford. He retired to his living at Lutterworth, where he preached and wrote until the close of 1384, when he was struck with paralysis while performing divine service, and after two days’ illness he died. Wycliffe’s Bible was the first translation of the entire Bible into English. It was rendered from the Latin Vulgate, and prepared for the common people, and not for the educated few. He began with the Apocalypse, then took the Gospels, and afterward the remaining books of the New Testament. The Old Testament was not entirely his work. It was begun by an intimate friend, Nicholas de Hereford, who proceeded as far as the middle of Baruch,(2) and then stopped, as is supposed, because he was cited to appear before Archbishop Arundel to answer a charge of heresy. Wycliffe probably began the work where his friend left off, and completed it. ------------ (FN1)There are said to be indications of his having worked at this translation thirty years before his death. See Geike, "The English Reformation," p. 44. (FN2)This apocryphal book was, in Wycliffe’s Bible, immediately before Ezekiel. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: P021 WYCLIFFE'S BIBLE. ======================================================================== P021 Wycliffe’s Bible. Copies of this Bible were multiplied as rapidly as the pens of scriveners could do the work. They were eagerly sought by all classes of people. Some were written in folio, some in quarto, and many in smaller size, for greater convenience in daily use. Though printing was invented less than a hundred years after Wycliffe’s death, no part of his translation was printed until Dr. Clarke, in 1823, published his comments on Solomon’s Song, to which he prefixed Wycliffe’s translation of that book. Wycliffe’s New Testament was published by Lea Wilson in 1848, and the entire Bible in four quarto volumes by Forshall & Madden, Oxford, 1850, nearly five hundred years after the translation was made. A revised translation was completed about the year 1388, the work of John Purvey, a friend of Wycliffe, assisted by Nicholas de Hereford and others. It was an improvement on Wycliffe’s version. It was first printed by Lewis, in 1731; then by Baber, in 1810; in Bagster’s Hexapla in 1841; and in Forshall & Madden’s Wycliffe’s Bible, in 1850. For many years Purvey’s revision was supposed to be Wycliffe’s original translation, and is so noted in three of the works just mentioned. The fourth, however, has both translation and revision. ------------------------------------------- IV. AN INTERVAL OF NEARLY A CENTURY AND A HALF. During the long interval between the death of Wycliffe and the publication of Tyndale’s New Testament the English people were mainly dependent on copies of Wycliffe’s Bible for their knowledge of Scripture. It was a period of history crowded with events too numerous to be detailed here. A rapid glance at some of the most important is all that can be given. Of kings, Scotland had Robert III., and James I., II., III, IV., and V. England had Henry IV., V., VI.; Edward IV. and V.; Richard III., and Henry VII. and VIII. From 1450 to 1471 the country was convulsed with the "Wars of the Roses." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: P022 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P022 A Short History of the English Bible. Two of the greatest events in this period are the invention of printing, in the middle of the fifteenth century, and the discovery of America in 1492. Of Popes there were more than twenty, sometimes two at a time, and in one instance there were three different claimants for the tiara. The great "Schism of the West" ended in 1429, after lasting for fifty years. There were two important ecumenical councils held. At the Council of Constance, 1414-1418, John Huss and Jerome of Prague were condemned to be burned to death. The doctrines of Wycliffe were also condemned by this council, and he was formally declared a heretic. It was ordered that his bones be taken from the place of burial, cast upon a dung-hill, and then, with his writings, be burned. His bones, however, remained undisturbed for thirteen years more, when, by command of Pope Martin V., they were taken from the grave where they had quietly lain for forty-four years, and were burned, and the ashes thrown into the Swift, a neighboring brook. In 1431-1443 the Council of Basle was held. This council declared that a "general council is superior to a Pope," a proposition which had been previously discussed in the Council of Constance. In England, after Wycliffe’s death, his doctrines became more popular. The "Lollards,"(1) as his disciples were called, went everywhere, teaching the Scriptures and denouncing the superstitions of Rome. They met, however, with much opposition. In 1390 an attempt was made to suppress the manuscript Bible by act of Parliament, but it was defeated through the influence of John of Gaunt. In 1395 the Lollards petitioned Parliament for a general reform from the corruptions of the Romish Church, but they failed. Persecution followed. In March, 1401, William Sawtre, a priest, was burned alive. He had dared to say, "Instead of adoring the cross on which Christ suffered, I adore Christ, who suffered on it." He was really the first martyr to Protestantism, though he suffered more than a hundred years before that word became famous. ------------ (FN1)The etymology of this word is uncertain; some deriving it from the low-German lollen or lullen, to sing softly, and others from the Old English loller, a vagabond. See an interesting article in M’Clintook & Strong’s "Cyclopædia," s. v. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: P023 INTERVAL OF A CENTURY AND A HALF. ======================================================================== P023 Interval of a Century and a Half. In 1408, at a Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, held in Oxford, under Archbishop Arundel, a decree was passed forbidding the translation or the use of "any books of this kind composed lately in the time of John Wycliffe, or since his death." In the Parliament of 1414 a law was passed prohibiting every one from reading the Scriptures in English under penalty of forfeiting "land, catel, lif, and goods, from theyr heyres for ever." In spite of these restrictions copies were multiplied and read. Some bought, others borrowed. Sometimes(1) poor people united their means and purchased a book, which they owned in common. The entire manuscript Bible cost five marks, equal to over two hundred dollars of our money, so that many had to be satisfied with small portions of the book. They were ready to suffer persecution and even death for the possession of God’s word. This, opposition to the reading of the Bible was especially violent in the early part of the fifteenth century. The years 1509 to 1517, and above them all the year 1521, were particularly noted for bitter persecution. Still the people read. There were reading associations called "Brothers in Christ," meeting chiefly in London, but also at different places in the Counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Buckingham. They owned various parts of the manuscript Bible, which they read at their meetings. During the interval we are considering Bibles were printed in German and in other languages,(1) so that other nations had the Scriptures in print years before the English people. Caxton printed the "Golden Legend" in 1483, but the Scripture it contained was mingled with romance.(2) The first portion of the Bible ever printed in English consisted of the penitential psalms, on which Bishop Fisher prepared seven sermons in 1505. It was called, "The Fruytful Saynges of Davide in the seven penitential Psalmes; devyded in seven sermons." As we get nearer to the time for the appearing of the first printed English Testament we find on every side tokens of the coming Reformation, of which Wycliffe has been very appropriately called "the Morning Star." ------------ (FN1)See pp. 12, 13. (FN2)See p. 16. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: P024 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P024 A Short History of the English BIBLE. In 1517 Luther published his ninety-five theses; and in 1521 he was summoned to the Diet of Worms. Melanchthon, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Ulric Zwingle, Farel, and other reformers were in the field. ------------------------------------------- V. TYNDALE’S TRANSLATIONS; ESPECIALLY HIS NEW TESTAMENT. William Tyndale, Born 1484,(1) Died 1536. Principal Contemporaries: (Some have already been named in the preceding chapter, and are not repeated here.) Popes: Innocent VIII., 1484-1492; Alexander VI., 1492-1503; Pius III., 1503; Julius II., 1503-1513; Leo X., 1513-1522; Adrian VI., 1522; Clement VII., 1523-1534; Paul III., 1534-1550. Cardinal: Wolsey, 1515-1529. Kings of England: Henry VII., 1485-1509; Henry VIII., 1509-1547. Kings of Scotland: James IV., 1487-1513; James V., 1513-1542. Reformers: In Germany, Luther, b. 1483, d. 1546; Melanchthon, b. 1497, d. 1560; in Switzerland, Zwingle, b. 1484, d. 1531; Farel, b. 1489, d. 1565; in France, Lefever, b. 1455, d. 1536; in England, Bilney, b. 1500, d. 1531; Cranmer, b. 1489, d. 1556; Latimer, b. 1470, d. 1555; Ridley, b. 1500, d. 1555. Literary Celebrities: Colet, b. 1466. d. 1519; Erasmus, b. 1467, d. 1536; More, b. 1480, d. 1535; Warham, b. 1450, d. 1532; Linacre, b. 1460, d. 1524; Lilley, b. 1466, d. 1523; Grocyn, d. 1519. Tyndale was born either at North Nibley, or at Slymbridge, near Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, 1484. About 1500 he went to the University at Oxford, in 1510 to Cambridge, drawn thither, as some suppose, to hear lectures on Greek from Erasmus. In 1521 he became a tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh, of Sodbury, in Gloucestershire. It was while here that, in controversy with a learned divine, he uttered his famous prediction: "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than the priests do." ------------ (FN1)This is the date given as probable by the best authorities, though the precise year is not known. Some place it as early as 1477. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: P025 TYNDALE'S TRANSLATIONS. ======================================================================== P025 Tyndale’s Translations. The date of his ordination to the priesthood is not known. He came to London probably in 1523. Receiving no encouragement from Bishop Tunstall, to whom he applied for employment, he found a home in the family of Humphrey Monmouth, a friendly merchant, with whom he remained a year. In May, 1524, he went to Hamburgh. It is maintained by some writers that he spent a part of this year with Luther at Wittenberg, but of this there is no positive evidence. The most that can be said is, that it might have been. He visited different cities on the continent, Worms, Cologne, Antwerp, and probably learned Hebrew of the Jews in some of these towns. To translate the Bible into English had long been his great desire. In 1525 the New Testament was ready for the press. He began to print secretly a quarto edition in Cologne, at the press of Peter Quentel, but, being accidentally discovered by Cochlӕus, a Romish priest, he and William Roye, his amanuensis, fled up the Rhine to Worms, carrying with them the sheets already printed. In Worms an edition in octavo was printed by Peter Shoeffer, in the early part of 1526, and, shortly after, the quarto edition, which had been begun at Cologne, was finished at the same press. Of each of these editions three thousand copies were printed. Tyndale was not at first known as the translator, as his name did not appear on the title.(1) The authorities in England had been warned by Cochlӕus and others of the probable attempt to circulate the book, and endeavored to prevent it. In this, however, they failed, for in the spring or early summer of 1526 the precious volumes were brought over to London concealed in grain and other merchandise consigned to pious merchants, and were sold as stealthily as they had been imported. The way for their reception and use had been prepared by the "Brothers in Christ" mentioned in the preceding chapter.(2) The common people welcomed these volumes, though the price of one was equal to two weeks’ wages of a laboring man; but those in authority opposed their circulation. In the fall of 1526 Bishop Tunstall issued his orders forbidding the use or the possession of the book, and directing all copies to be delivered within thirty days to his vicar-general for destruction. ------------ (FN1)There is only one small fragment of the 4to. edition of 1525 now known to be in existence. There are but two copies of the 12mo. edition, and neither of them perfect. (FN2)See page 23. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: P026 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P026 A Short History of the English Bible. In 1526, 1527, and 1528, three surreptitious editions were issued at Antwerp. Bishop Tunstall, through an agent, bought up all of these he could, and on the 4th of May, 1530, publicly burned them in St. Paul’s church-yard. Three weeks later a Convocation of the king and bishops issued an order forbidding the use of the "pernicious books." This document manifested the same spirit shown thirteen years later, when the Parliament, in 1543, passed an act directing "that all manner of bokes of the olde and newe Testament, in English, of this [Tyndale’s] translation, should be by authoritie of this act cleerly and utterly abolished, extinguished and forbidden to be kept and used in this realme, or els where in anie the king’s dominions."(1) In 1527 Tyndale left Worms and went to Marburg, in Hesse Cassel, where he stayed nearly four years. Here, in 1530, he issued, in an octavo volume, the Pentateuch, in English, each of the five books having a separate title-page. In the year following he published, probably at Antwerp, a translation of Jonah. It was about this time, also, that he is supposed to have translated the Old Testament from Joshua to 2 Chronicles inclusive, though this part of his work was not published during his lifetime. In 1534 he issued in Antwerp his revised edition of the New Testament, with certain selections from the Old Testament, called "Epistles." In May, 1535, Tyndale, betrayed by one whom he had benefited, was arrested at Antwerp, on a charge of heresy, no doubt at the instigation of his enemies in England, and conveyed to Vilvorde, a castle about eighteen miles from Brussels. Here he remained until October 6, 1536, when he was strangled, and his corpse burned. At the moment before his death he prayed, "Lord, open the eyes of the King of England!" Tyndale’s qualifications for his work are beyond question. ------------ (FN1)Cited by Townley, vol. ii, p. 107. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: P027 TYNDALE'S TRANSLATIONS. ======================================================================== P027 Tyndale’s Translations. The oft-repeated story that he translated the New Testament from Luther’s German version, or from the Vulgate, is untrue.(1) As his Old Testament translations were directly from the Hebrew, so he translated the New Testament directly from the Greek, using the second and third editions of Erasmus’ Greek Testament, though he doubtless consulted the Vulgate, the Latin translations of Erasmus, and the German of Luther. His English is idiomatic and racy. His diction differs from that of the literature of his day, even from his own controversial works, and equally differs from the ordinary style of colloquial discourse, though by its simplicity admirably adapted for popular use. It stands by itself, peculiar to the sacred volume. The best features of our present version are derived from it, and "thus that remarkable work has exerted, directly and indirectly, a more powerful influence on the English language than any other single production between the ages of Richard II. and Queen Elizabeth."(2) In Tyndale’s New Testament there were no divisions, excepting those of chapters and paragraphs. The edition of 1535 added to these for the first time headings to the chapters. Before the year of his death there were in all fifteen editions issued, seven of them, however, being surreptitious. In 1536, the year of his death, there were eight editions printed, one of them being remarkable as the first English Testament printed on English soil. It was published in London by Thomas Berthelet. After 1538, when one edition was published, there was no edition of his New Testament printed for six years. Nineteen editions were issued between 1544 and 1566, after which it ceased to be printed. There were altogether more than forty different editions published. The arrangement of the books in Tyndale’s Testament differs somewhat from that of our present version, being an exact copy of Luther’s German Testament. As far as the Epistle to Philemon the order is the same as that of the present version; after that it is as follows: 1 and 2 Peter; 1, 2, and 3 John; Hebrews; James; Jude; Revelation. ------------ (FN1)For a thorough discussion of this subject, see Eadie’s "English Bible," chaps. viii and ix. (FN2)Marsh’s "Lectures on the English’ Language," p. 118. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: P028 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P028 A Short History of the English Bible. ------------------------------------------- VI. COVERDALE’S BIBLE. Miles Coverdale, Born about 1488, Died 1569. Principal Contemporaries. See under Tyndale, p. 24, and add: Popes: Julius III., 1550-1555; Marcellus II., 1555; Paul IV., 1555-1559; Pius IV., 1559-1566; Pius V., 1566-1572. Sovereigns of England: Edward VI., 1547-1553; Jane Grey, 1553; Mary, 1553-1558; Elizabeth, 1558-1603. Sovereigns of Scotland: Mary, 1542-1567; James VI., 1567-1603. In the latter year the English and Scottish crowns were united. Secretary of State: Thomas Cromwell, 1534-1540. Archbishops of Canterbury: Cranmer, 1533-1556; Pole, 1556-1559; Parker, 1559-1576. Reformers: In England, Rogers, b. 1500, d. 1555; Hooper, b. 1495, d. 1555; and many others. In Scotland, Knox, b. 1505, d. 1572. In Switzerland, Calvin, b. 1509, d. 1564; Beza, b. 1519, d. 1601. Literary Celebrities: Gascoigne, b. 1535, d. 1577; Sidney, b. 1554, d.1586; Stowe, b. 1527, d. 1605; Ascham, b. 1515, d. 1568. 1540, Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, organized. 1545-1563, Council of Trent. Coverdale was born about the year 1488 in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated at Cambridge, being attached to the convent of Augustinian monks there, and in 1514 was admitted to priest’s orders. As early as 1527 he enjoyed the favor of Cromwell and More. About this time he left the convent, and commenced preaching against the mass, the confessional, and image-worship. In 1529 he went to the Continent, probably to escape persecution. Some suppose that while here he helped Tyndale translate the Pentateuch, but, though possible, it is not proven. His residence between the years 1529 and 1535 is unknown, but he was probably, at least during the latter part of this period, at Antwerp, working on his translation. In 1535 this Bible was printed. The place of its printing was for many years a mystery, a half dozen different continental cities being mentioned by as many different writers. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: P029 COVERDALE'S BIBLE. ======================================================================== P029 Coverdale’s Bible. Mr. Stevens, however, makes out a clear case in favor of Antwerp as the place, and Jacob Van Meteren as the printer.(1) The sheets, type, etc., were afterward sold to Nicholson, of Southwark, England. In 1538 Coverdale aided in bringing out the "Great Bible," of which an account will be given in a succeeding chapter. In 1540 he went to Germany, where he remained for eight years teaching and preaching. On his return to England, in 1548, he was made one of the chaplains to Edward VI. In 1551 he was appointed Bishop of Exeter, but on the accession of Mary, in 1553, he was deprived of his see, and probably would have suffered martyrdom but for the persistent intercession of the King of Denmark, Christian III., who asked his release as a personal favor. Coverdale, on his release, in 1555, went to the Continent, where he remained until the accession of Elizabeth, when he returned to England. He died in 1569, at the age of eighty-one years. It is an interesting fact that this long lifetime covered the period of greatest activity in translating the Bible into English. Coverdale lived long enough to see all of the versions, from Tyndale’s New Testament to the Bishops’ Bible; in all of them his influence is more or less manifest, and his name deserves to be honorably mentioned for his labors. In 1530, after Tyndale’s New Testament had been proscribed, King Henry VIII., to soothe the people, had promised that he would have the New Testament faithfully translated. In December of the same year Latimer boldly reminded Henry of his promise. In 1534 a Convocation, over which Cranmer presided, petitioned the king to have the Bible translated into English. While these acts did not originate Coverdale’s Bible, they doubtless helped prepare the way for its favorable reception. The idea of an English translation also found favor, because of the rupture between the king and the Pope. Thus Coverdale felt free to dedicate his translation to the king,(2) and in the quarto edition of 1537 he had the privilege of placing on the title-page, "Set forth with the kynges moost gracious licence." In his preface "Vnto the Christen reader," Coverdale gives the reason for his work: "It greued me yᵗ other nacyōs shulde be more plenteously prouyded for with yᵉ Scripture in theyr mother tongue than we." Thus, moved by patriotism and religion, he began his labors. ------------ (FN1)See his interesting statement in his Bibles, etc., pp.36-42, and 68-72. (FN2)Stevens, however, thinks this dedication was added after Nicholson purchased the edition.— Bibles, etc., p.69. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: P030 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P030 A Short History of the English Bible. It is a point in controversy whether Coverdale made his translation directly from the Hebrew and Greek, or from other translations. The weight of evidence is in favor of the latter opinion. In the title he states that it was "translated out of Douche and Latyn." In his dedication to the king he says that he has "with a clear conscience purely and faithfully translated out of five sundry interpreters." He alludes to the same fact in his preface. These five "interpreters" were, probably, Luther’s German Bible, the Vulgate, the Latin of Pagninus, the English translations of Tyndale, and the Zürich Bible. This last appears to have been the principal dependence for the Old Testament, while his New Testament is mainly based on Tyndale’s.(1) In three quarters of the Old Testament Coverdale’s was the first printed English version, and the entire work is remarkable for being the first collection of the sacred writings in English published in a single volume. It included the Apocrypha. The first edition was in folio, with the following title:— Biblia | The Bible, that | is, the holy Scripture of the | Olde and New Testament, faith- | fully and truly translated out | of Douche and Latyn | in to Englishe | M.DXXXV. | The colophon is:— "Prynted in the yeare of oure Lorde M.D.XXXV. | and fynished the fourthe daye of October. | " The books are arranged into five parts:(2) 1. The Pentateuch; 2. The second part of the Old Testament, [from "Josua" to "Salomons Balettes;"] 3. All the prophets in English; 4. Apocrypha; 5. The New Testament, [in the order of Luther and Tyndale.] There are no headings to the chapters, and no verses, the various divisions of the chapters being designated by capital letters in the margin. There are numerous wood-cuts in the text, and at the end of Deuteronomy there is a rude map representing "the lande of promes, called Palestina, Canaan, or the holy lande." ------------ (FN1)On this whole subject, see Westcott, pp. 168-176: Eadie, vol. i. pp. 279-297. (FN2)Westcott, p. 174. Eadie (vol. i, p. 268) gives six parts. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: P031 COVERDALE'S BIBLE. ======================================================================== P031 Coverdale’s Bible. Though the first edition was published without royal sanction, it was not suppressed, and in 1537, as already noticed, the regal license was obtained. In the same year another edition was printed in folio. In 1538 three editions of a Latin-English New Testament were published, the Latin being the Vulgate, and the English Coverdale’s. Two editions of his Testament, in English only, were published the same year, and two others in 1539. After this there was no issue for ten years, when an edition of the Testament was published; in 1550 two of the Testament and one of the Bible; in 1553 one edition of the Bible, the last printed. In 1546 Coverdale’s Bible was prohibited by a stringent law, and all copies of it were ordered to be delivered and burned; but one of the first acts of Edward VI. was an abolition of all restrictions on the Bible. ------------------------------------------- VII. MATTHEW’S BIBLE. John Rogers, Born (?) 1500, Died 1555. For principal contemporaries, see under Coverdale, page 28. John Rogers, the real editor of the Bible commonly known as Matthew’s, was born about the year 1500, in a hamlet which has long since been absorbed by the city of Birmingham. He was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, where he was graduated in 1525. About the same time he entered into holy orders. In 1532 he became rector of a Church in London. In 1534 he left England and went to Antwerp, where he was appointed chaplain to the "Merchant Adventurers," an old corporation of that city. Here he became acquainted with Tyndale, and, probably, with Coverdale. Here, also, his reformatory opinions were developed, and, as evidence of his entire breaking off from Rome, he married, probably about the year 1537. It was in this year that the Bible of "Thomas Matthew" appeared. There is no question that Rogers was the real editor, but why the name of Thomas Matthew should be placed on the title is one of the mysteries of literature. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: P032 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P032 A Short History of the English Bible. Conjectures are various, but it is useless to repeat them. To add to the mystery, the initials "I. R." are boldly placed in large capitals at the bottom of "An exhortacyon to the study of the holy Scrypture," showing that "Iohn" Rogers had no wish to conceal his identity. It was probably printed, in part, at least, at Antwerp by the printer of Coverdale’s Bible, Jacob Van Meteren, who was related to Rogers by marriage.(1) When the work had advanced as far as Isaiah, Grafton and Whitechurch, the London printers, seem to have become interested in the matter, and to have purchased the material, either finishing the work in Antwerp, or transferring it to London for completion. When the book was printed the English printers gave copies to Cranmer, and, also, to Cromwell, through whose influence the royal sanction was obtained. This, it will be noticed, was in the same year that the license was given to Coverdale’s Bible. Which received the royal sanction first is not definitely known. Orders were likewise issued directing the public reading of the Bible in the churches. Shortly after the publication of this Bible Rogers went to Wittenberg, where he took charge of a German congregation. On the accession of Edward VI. he returned to England, where he was appointed successively to several ecclesiastical positions. On the accession of Mary, in 1553, Rogers was one of the first to feel the change. He was arrested, and, after an imprisonment of two years, steadily refusing to acknowledge the papal creed and authority, he was condemned to death, and was burned at Smithfield, on February 4, 1555, being the first of the many martyrs(2) of the Marian persecution. The work was not so much a translation as a revision of the translations of others. ------------ (FN1)Stevens, pp. 39, 75. (FN2)In four years two hundred and eighty-six were burned, and sixty-eight perished in prison. See table in Perry’s "History of the Church of England," p. 251. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: 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. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: P034 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P034 A Short History of the English Bible. ------------------------------------------- VIII. TAVERNER’S BIBLE. Richard Taverner, BORN 1505, DIED 1575. For principal contemporaries see under Coverdale, p. 28. Taverner was born in Brisley, Norfolk, in 1505, and was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was one of the young men who were imprisoned in the cellar of one of the college buildings in Oxford for reading Tyndale’s New Testament. He studied law, and was admitted to the Inner Temple. In 1534 he obtained, through the influence of Cromwell, an official position in the service of the Government. In 1539 he published his edition of the Bible. After the fall of Cromwell, in 1540, he was imprisoned for a short time because of his labors on the Scriptures. Taverner was really a learned man, though very pedantic. He was fond of quoting Greek, even in his legal pleadings. In 1552 Edward VI. licensed him to preach, though a layman; the reason of the license being the scarcity of preachers.(1) He was peculiar in dress as in every thing else, sometimes appearing in the pulpit dressed in a damask gown, velvet bonnet, and gold chain, with a sword by his side! In 1569 he was made high-sheriff of the county of Oxford, and still continued his preaching. It is said that on one occasion, while preaching to students, this high-sheriff began his discourse by saying: "I have brought you some fine biscuits, baked in the oven of charity, carefully conserved for the chickens of the Church, the sparrows of the Spirit, and the sweet swallows of salvation!" This learned and eccentric lay preacher died July 14, 1575 at the age of seventy. In spite of his oddities his Bible gives evidence of sound scholarship, though it bears marks of his mental peculiarities. He aimed at vigorous and idiomatic language. His Old Testament is that of Matthew, with some variations; his New Testament is Tyndale’s, with numerous changes in the translation. ------------ (FN1)The license begins: "Whereas yᵉ people are ignorant through the slackness of pastors."—Bagster’s Hexapla,p. 95. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: P035 TAVERNER'S BIBLE. ======================================================================== P035 Taverner’s Bible. He retained many of the notes in Matthew’s Bible, and added some valuable original comments. Under the patronage of Lord Cromwell, and dedicated to the king, three editions were sold in the first year of issue, 1539, and two editions of the Testament. One of the Bibles was in folio and two in 4to.; one of the Testaments was 4to., and the other 12mo. In 1549 an edition was published in 12mo. in five volumes or parts, especially for the poor. The title of the first ’folio edition is as follows:— The Most | Sacred Bible, | Which is the holy scripture, con- | teyning the old and new testament, | translated, into English, and newly | recognized with great diligence | after most faythful exem- | plars. By Rychard | Tavener. | Prynted at London [etc.] M.D. XXXIX. The arrangement of the books is the same as in Matthew’s Bible. ------------------------------------------- IX. THE GREAT BIBLE. 1. The Edition of 1539. Thomas Cromwell,(1) Born 1490, Died 1540. For principal contemporaries see under Coverdale, page 28. Cromwell, though neither translator nor editor, deserves mention here because he was the prime mover in the preparation and publication of this work. He was born at Putney about 1490, of humble parentage. He was employed by Cardinal Wolsey, and, after the fall of that official, Henry VIII. took him into his service, and from that time his promotion was rapid. In 1531 he was knighted; in 1532 appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer; 1534, principal Secretary of State; 1535, vicegerent; 1536, a baron, and Master of the Rolls; 1537, the garter and the Deanery of Wells were given to him; April 17, 1540, created Earl of Essex; July 28, of the same year, beheaded for treason. ------------ (FN1)Sometimes spelled Crumwell. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: P036 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P036 A Short History of the English Bible. Though not noted for piety, Cromwell was a friend of the Reformation. He broke up the monasteries, which had become nests of corruption. He persistently opposed the papal supremacy, working, however, for political, rather than religious, ends. He was shrewd, ambitious, proud, unprincipled, and a man of great courage and firmness. With all his worldliness, he professed a deep veneration for the Scriptures. He was the early friend and patron of Coverdale, and used his influence for him when he published his translation of the Bible. He interceded with the king for the royal permission to publish Matthew’s Bible, and patronized Taverner in his publication. When at his highest position he was the most powerful subject in the kingdom. Vicar-general and vicegerent, he represented the king as the head of the Church, and presided in convocation, much to the disgust of the learned bishops, who looked upon him as "an ignorant layman." Living in bloody times, he was a man of blood, and at last went to the ax, where he had sent so many others. Though sometimes called Cranmer’s Bible, the edition of 1539 was Cromwell’s sole enterprise, Cranmer having nothing to do with it. It was a revision of Matthew’s Bible, which, in turn, was a compilation of the translations of Coverdale and Tyndale. In 1538 Cromwell directed Coverdale and Grafton to put the work through the press, the former as editor, the latter as printer. Coverdale had previously prepared the work in England, but the printing was to be done in Paris, because better materials and workmanship could be obtained there than in England. For this purpose Henry VIII. obtained permission from Francis I. After the work was partly completed an order came from the Inquisition, forbidding its prosecution, and commanding that all copies be seized and destroyed. Two thousand five hundred copies were accordingly burned, but, through the cupidity of the official who had charge of the burning, "four great dry vats" of them were sold to a haberdasher to lay caps in. These were afterward bought for Grafton, and, with the types, presses, and workmen, were safely taken to England. In April, 1539, the Bible was published. It was called "great," because of its size, the pages being fifteen inches by nine, and larger than those of any other Bible. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: P037 THE GREAT BIBLE. ======================================================================== P037 The Great Bible. It had no dedication, unless the remarkable wood-cut surrounding the title can be considered such. In this the king is represented as sitting on his throne, and giving the Bible to Cromwell and Cranmer, and they, in turn, giving it to clergy and laity, who surround them. At the bottom is a preacher addressing a crowd. From the mouths of the chief personages are labels with various brief speeches, while from many in the crowd comes the shout,"Vivat Rex." Above the king is a representation of the Almighty speaking from the clouds. This cut is said to have been designed by the celebrated Hans Holbein. In the center of this engraving is the title, as follows:— The Byble in | Englyshe, that is to say the con- | tent of all the holy Scrypture, bothe | of yᵉ olde and newe testament truly | translated after the veryte of the | Hebrue and Greke textes, by yᵉ dy- | lygent studye of dyuerse excellent | learned men expert in the forsayde | tongues. | Prynted by Rychard Grafton & | Edward Whitehurch. | Cum priuilegio ad imprimen- | dum solum. | 1539. | The books are arranged in the order to which we are accustomed in the "Authorized Version." It was originally intended to have notes, or "certen godly annotacyons," in an appendix, and the texts thus to be annotated were indicated by a ☞; but as there was not time for the "oversyght and correccyon of the sayde annotacyons," they were omitted until "more convenient leysour" was found for their preparation; but the "leysour" never came. To denote words which were rendered from the Vulgate, but which were not in the original, smaller type was used. By the authority of the king an injunction was issued to the clergy requiring that each parish should be provided with a copy of the Bible to be set up in a convenient place within the church, and the people were to be urged to read it. 2. The Subsequent Editions. Thomas Cranmer, Born 1489, Died 1556. For principal contemporaries seeunder Coverdale, page 28. Cranmer was born in Aslacton, Nottinghamshire, July 2 1489. He was educated at Oxford, where he stood high in scholarship, and in 1510 was made a Fellow. In 1523 he took the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and became a lecturer in the college. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: P038 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P038 A Short History of the English Bible. In 1528 an opinion which he had expressed concerning the proposed divorce between Henry VIII. and Catherine of Arragon came to the ears of the king, who sent for him and made him write it down, as it suggested a plan by which the desired divorce might be obtained. He was appointed chaplain to the king, and in 1529 was one of the embassadors from the king to the Pope. He attached himself closely to the fortunes of the king, and in 1533 was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury. He seems to have coincided with the royal views in reference to the numerous matrimonial alliances in which the king indulged. He took a prominent part in all the movements which culminated in the separation of England from the Church of Rome. At the death of Henry, in 1547, Cranmer was made one of the regents. In 1548 he was at the head of a commission of twelve divines who were appointed to prepare a liturgy for the Church of England. The work was finished in 1552. On the death of King Edward VI, in 1553, Cranmer swore allegiance to Lady Jane Grey, as queen, and when Mary attained to the throne he was arraigned, with many other prelates and ministers, on charges of treason and heresy. Refusing to subscribe to the papal dogmas, he was excommunicated in November, 1554, and in February, 1555, was formally degraded. His courage failing him in view of certain death he wrote six recantations, but these did not save his life. On the day of his execution, March 21, 1555, his fortitude returned to him, and in the presence of an immense crowd he expressed regret for his recantations, and reaffirmed his opposition to the papacy. He was led to the stake, where he displayed remarkable firmness, holding out his right hand for the flames to consume, because with that he had written what was contrary to his heart. He cried out, "This unworthy hand! Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Cranmer has been called the Melanchthon of the English Reformation. He was learned, mild, and amiable, but lacked firmness and courage to keep him steadfast in the midst of opposition and of danger. Cranmer early identified himself with movements for the translation of the Scriptures. In December, 1534, nearly a year before the appearance of Coverdale’s Bible, he proposed to Convocation a plan for the translation of the Bible, and the work was actually divided among nine or ten of the bishops and other learned men, but the project for some reason was never pushed to completion. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: P039 THE GREAT BIBLE. ======================================================================== P039 The Great Bible. As soon as Matthew’s Bible came into the country, in 1537, he showed a deep interest in it. No wonder, then, that he exhibited a similar interest in the Great Bible issued under the patronage of Cromwell. In April, 1540, there appeared a second edition of the Great Bible, with this title:— The Byble | in Englyshe, that is to saye, the con- | tēt of al the holy scryptures, both | of yᵉ olde and newe testamēt, with | a prologe therinto, made by | the reverende father in | God, Thomas, archbysshop of Cantor- | bury. | This is the Byble apoynted | to the vse of the churches. This Bible was printed in London by Parisian workmen, and with Parisian type. It was merely a revision of the first edition, Coverdale still being editor. The prologue was written by Cranmer, and, through Cromwell, received the approbation of the king. Hence this Bible and the five subsequent editions are known by the name of "Cranmer’s Bibles." These editions were severally issued April, 1540, July, 1540, November, 1540, May, 1541, November, 1541, December, 1541. In the edition of November, 1540, the arms of Cromwell, which had appeared under his figure in the engraving on the title-page, were removed, and a suggestive blank space tells the story of his fall. The index hands, which had been intended to refer to the notes, had they been written, were also seen no more. The editions of November, 1540, and November, 1541, have on the title-page the names of Bishops Tunstall and Heath, who were appointed by the king to oversee the work, because they belonged to the party opposed to Cromwell. Thus the credit of the book was supposed to be confirmed.(1) In May, 1540, the king, by proclamation, again commanded that Bibles should be provided for public reading, since many parish churches were still destitute of them. Bonner, who had lately been appointed Bishop of London, and who afterward became so infamously known in the persecutions under Mary, set up six Bibles in St. Paul’s, chaining them to the pillars that were by the desks on which the books were placed. ------------ (FN1)See Westcott, p. 79. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: P040 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P040 A Short History of the English Bible. The joy of the people at this opportunity of reading the Bible was very great. In May, 1541, another similar proclamation was issued, and in 1542 the curates of the parish churches were directed to read the Bible in English, publicly, in course. The Great Bible became very popular. "From 1539 to 1541 so large was the demand that it is supposed not fewer than twenty-one thousand copies were printed."(1) In 1543 the disposition of the king seemed to waver, for at his suggestion Parliament passed an act prohibiting the use of Tyndale’s translations, ordering the destruction of all annotations and preambles, and forbidding certain classes, such as apprentices, mechanics, farmers, servants, and laborers, to read any part of the Bible, either in public or in private. Cranmer’s Bible was not issued after 1541 until 1549. It was issued, at intervals, for twenty years after, sometimes in folio, sometimes in 4to., and in one instance (1566) an edition was printed in 8vo., and was very popular because of its convenient size. In 1569 the last edition was published, in quarto form.(2) ------------------------------------------- X. WHITTINGHAM’S NEW TESTAMENT. William Whittingham, Born 1524, Died 1579. For principal contemporaries see under Coverdale, page 28. Whittingham was born in 1524, in Lanchester, near Durham. He was educated in Oxford, and afterward spent many years in foreign travel. He returned home in 1553, only a few weeks before the death of Edward VI., but soon left again for the Continent. In 1554 he preached to an English congregation in Frankfort. In 1555 he married Catherine Jaque-mayne, of Orleans, the sister of Calvin’s wife. In 1556 he was appointed to succeed John Knox as pastor of the English refugees in Geneva. In 1557 his New Testament was published by Conrad Badius in Geneva. ------------ (FN1)Fry: "A Description of the Great Bible," etc. P. 1. (FN2)See Cotton, under the various dates. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: P041 WHITTINGHAM'S NEW TESTAMENT. ======================================================================== P041 Whittingham’s New Testament. In 1558 on the accession of Queen Elizabeth, he returned to England, and in 1563 was made Dean of Durham, which position he held until his death in 1579. He was a man of great learning and ability, and strongly devoted to the Protestant cause. Whittingham’s Testament was the only one published during the reign of Mary, and necessity compelled its publication in a foreign land. During the reign of Edward (1547-1553) the restrictions which Henry had placed on Bible reading in the latter part of his reign were all removed. Cotton enumerates fifteen editions of the Bible and thirty-two of the New Testament, besides numerous fragments of Scripture which were published during the reign of Edward VI. But Mary prohibited the printing and circulating of the Scriptures. Many Protestants, some of them very eminent, who saw the storm of persecution coming, escaped to various continental towns.(1) Among these was Whittingham, and it was during his voluntary exile, and while he was pastor of the English Church in Geneva, that he prepared this Testament. This has sometimes been called the Genevan Testament, and has been represented as a part of the Genevan Bible, published in 1560. This, however, is an error. The Testament in the Genevan Bible was not Whittingham’s, his being an independent work. After the issue of the Genevan Bible no edition of Whittingham’s Testament was published. The Testament issued in 1560 and properly called the Genevan Testament was taken from the Genevan Bible. Whittingham’s Testament was a revision of other translations, especially of Tyndale’s, collated with the Great Bible. It had a large number of marginal notes, explanatory of the text. It was the first English Testament in which Italic type was used to designate words not rendered from the originals. Sebastian Munster, in his Latin version of the Old Testament, published in 1534, is said to have been the first to employ this device. Theodore Beza, also, made use of it in his Latin New Testament of 1556. Whittingham was, also, the first to break up the text into verses, and to use numerals to distinguish them. Before this our English Bibles had in the margin capital letters from A to G, to facilitate the finding of passages. ------------ (FN1)Eadie, vol. ii, p. 3, places the number of these refugees at eight hundred. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: P042 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P042 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. Instead of referring to chapter and verse, it was chapter and letter, each letter taking in about as much space as six of our verses. Robert Stephens introduced numerals instead of letters in his Greek and Latin Testament published at Geneva in 1551, but he placed the numerals in the margin. Whittingham changed this to the plan we now have.(1) Whittingham’s Testament is beautifully printed in Roman type instead of black letter, in 12mo., with this title:— The | Nevve Testa- | ment of ovr Lord Ie- | sus Christ. | Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best ap- | proued translations. | VVith the arguments, aswel before the chapters, as for euery Boke | & Epistle, also diversities of readings, and moste proffitable | annotations of all harde places : whereunto is added a copi- | ous Table | At Geneva | Printed By Conrad Badius | M. D. LVII. | ------------------------------------------- XI THE GENEVAN BIBLE. Three years after Whittingham’s Testament appeared the Genevan Bible, a beautiful small 4to. volume in Roman type. This Bible was the joint production of a number of the scholarly and pious English refugees in Geneva, among whom was their pastor, Whittingham, already noticed. John Bodleigh, Miles Coverdale, Thomas Cole, Anthony Gilby, Christopher Goodman, John Knox, John Pullain, Thomas Sampson, and William Whittingham have been named as the co-laborers in this work; but some of them could have had very little, if any thing, to do with it. ------------ (FN1)The books of the Hebrew Bible have, from an unknown period, been divided into verses as at present, but in former times these were not numbered. The division into chapters in both Old and New Testaments was made about the year 1250, by Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro, to help him in the preparation of a concordance to the Vulgate Bible. He also, for the same purpose, subdivided the chapters into parts designated by marginal letters from A to G. About 1430 Rabbi Nathan, in preparing a Hebrew concordance, marked every fifth verse in the Hebrew Bible by a Hebrew numeral, and adopted the cardinal’s divisions into chapters. In 1528 Pagnino’s Latin Bible, published at Lyons, was arranged after the cardinal’s manner, both in chapters and in verses; Stephens changed the plan by shortening the verses, and substituting numerals for letters. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: P043 THE GENEVAN BIBLE. ======================================================================== P043 The Genevan Bible. The work seems mainly to have devolved, especially in the finishing, on Whittingham, Gilby, and Sampson, all of them able scholars and divines. They are supposed to have had help from a number of French scholars, among them Calvin and Beza. The work was begun in January, 1558, and in April, 1560, the Bible was published, with the following title:— The Bible | and | Holy Scriptvres | Conteyned in | the Olde and Newe | Testament, | Translated Accor- | ding to the Ebrue and Greeke, and conferred With | the best translations in diuors langages. | With moste profitable Annota- | tions vpon all the hard places, and other things of great | importance as may appeare in the Epistle to the Reader. | At Geneva. | Printed by Rovland Hall. | M.D.LX. | The basis of the Genevan Bible was, in the Old Testament, the Great Bible, and in the New Testament, Tyndale’s translation, with the help of Beza.(1) As the result of the scholarly labor bestowed upon it the Genevan Bible is more correct than any of its predecessors. It is enriched with notes, many of them original, and some of them translations from the writings of Calvin and of Beza. The greater part of the marginal notes in Whittingham’s Testament were transferred to the Genevan Testament. This was the first English Bible printed in Roman type; the first broken up into verses, after the plan of our present version; the first to use Italics to represent words supplied by the translators; the first to omit the Apocrypha, although it was retained in some of its editions; and the first printed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to whom it was dedicated. It was also the first Bible ever printed in Scotland, the New Testament being printed in 1576, though not published until the Old Testament was completed, in 1579. The first edition of the Genevan Bible printed in England was in 1576, after which frequent editions were issued.(2) ------------ (FN1)See this subject fully discussed in Westcott, p. 231, et seq. (FN2)Moulton (p. 157) says,"more than one hundred and thirty editions;" Eadie, (vol. ii, p. 52,) "about one hundred and sixty editions." These numbers include those printed on the Continent. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: P044 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P044 A Short History of the English Bible. From the time the edition of 1560 appeared in England it became popular, and this popularity lasted many years. Its small size was in its favor, and its notes and comments, many of them deeply spiritual, gave it increased value with the Puritans. It outlived its contemporaries, the Great Bible and the Bishops’ Bible, and for a long time was a powerful rival of the Authorized Version of King James. During the reign of Charles I. it gradually sank into disuse. Cotton gives 1644 as the date of the last Genevan Bible published; yet even long after this its notes occasionally appeared in connection with the text of the Authorized Version. ------------------------------------------- XII. THE BISHOPS’ BIBLE. Matthew Parker, Born 1504, Died 1575. For principal contemporaries see under Coverdale, page 28. Parker was born at Norwich, August 6, 1504.- He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was noted for his studious habits. In 1527 he was ordained priest; 1533, appointed chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn; 1535, Dean of the monastic college of Stoke-Clare, in Suffolk; 1537, Chaplain to Henry VIII.; 1538, made Doctor of Divinity; 1541, Prebend in Cathedral of Ely; 1542, Rector of Ashen, in Essex; 1544, Rector of Birmingham, in Norfolk, and Master of Corpus Christi College, in Cambridge; 1545, Vice-Chancellor of the College, and Rector of Landbeach, in Cambridgeshire; 1547, married the daughter of a Norfolk gentleman, and wrote "De Conjugio Sacerdotum," in defense of clerical marriages; 1552, Dean of Lincoln by appointment of Edward VI.; 1553, deprived of all his preferments by Queen Mary; 1559, appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Queen Elizabeth, and consecrated Dec. 17 without the usual popish ceremonies; 1568, issued the "Bishops’ Bible," which has sometimes been called "Parker’s Bible," because of his prominence in its preparation; 1575, May 17, died. The two principal Bibles in use during the early part of Elizabeth’s reign were the Great Bible and the Genevan. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: P045 THE BISHOPS' BIBLE. ======================================================================== P045 The Bishops’ Bible. Archbishop Parker, desiring a more satisfactory version, divided the work among twelve or fifteen learned men; and, as most of the revisers were bishops, the book, on its completion, received the name of the "Bishops’ Bible." Neither the actual number nor the names of all the revisers are known, though many of them are recognized by their initials attached to the books they revised. The archbishop took upon himself, besides the prefaces and other miscellaneous matter, the books of Genesis and Exodus, the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and all of the Pauline Epistles, excepting First Corinthians. In addition to this he exercised an editorial supervision over the work of the others, though from his numerous other duties he could not give the work that careful consideration which its importance demanded and for which his scholarship amply qualified him. Hence the great fault of the Bishops’ Bible is affirmed by critics to be a want of homogeneity in the work, such as an editor, careful as well as competent, might have given to it. After three or four years’ labor the work was completed, and a copy presented to the queen on October 5, 1568. The title is brief and simple:— The | holie | Bible | conteyning the Olde Testament and the newe. | These words are in a narrow border, the rest of the page being occupied with a copperplate engraving, in the center of which is an oval, containing a half-length portrait of Queen Elizabeth. There is no formal dedication, perhaps the portrait of the queen being intended to suggest one. There are, including maps and portraits, one hundred and forty-three engravings. The system of verses in the Genevan Bible is followed, but with this is united the old system of alphabetical divisions in the margin. The Bishops’ Bible is mainly a revision of the Great Bible, though in the New Testament are many original and vigorous renderings from the hand of Lawrence, one of the best Greek scholars of his day.(1) The volume is enriched with numerous notes, many of them from the Genevan version, which the archbishop affected to despise. The books of the Bible are strangely classified into "legal," "historical," "sapiential," and "prophetic." Passages not considered suitable for reading in public are marked, so that they may be omitted. ------------ (FN1)Westcott gives illustrations of these, p. 247, et seq. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 42: P046 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P046 A Short History of the English Bible. The Bishops’ Bible never received the royal sanction. It was not until 1677, two years after Parker’s death, that an edition was printed "set forth by anthoritie," and then it was episcopal, not royal, authority. Convocation, however, made special enactments in its favor. In 1571 it was ordered that a copy should be placed in every cathedral, and, as far as possible, in every church. Every archbishop and every bishop was also directed to have one in the hall or dining-room of his house, so as to be accessible to servants and strangers. Though provision was thus made for its use, it never became popular. For many years it was read in public service, but it never replaced the Genevan for family and private use. The last edition was issued in 1606, while the Genevan continued to be published many years later, competing, indeed, for a time, with the Authorized Version. It is estimated that more than four times as many Genevan Bibles were printed as of the Bishops’. The majority of the editions of the former were in quarto and octavo, while those of the latter were mainly, like the first edition, in folio. ------------------------------------------- XIII. THE RHEIMS AND DOUAY VERSION. In 1568 a seminary was established by English Roman Catholics, at Douay, in Flanders, for the education of young Englishmen for the priesthood, that they might do missionary work in their native land. In 1578 this seminary was removed to Rheims, but returned to Douay in 1593. The chief founder of the institution was William Allen, or Allan, afterward made cardinal, in 1587, and archbishop, in 1588. One of the instructors in this school was Gregory Martin, who, educated in St. John’s College, Oxford, was a distinguished Hebrew and Greek scholar. While thus engaged he translated the Bible into English from the Vulgate. Though he was the principal translator, he had a number of assistants, among them Dr. Allen, Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Bristow, or Bristol, and Dr. Worthington. The two last mentioned are supposed to have written the notes, which were bitterly controversial. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 43: P047 THE RHEIMS AND DOUAY VERSION. ======================================================================== P047 The Rheims and Douay Version. This version was prepared to check the influence of the English versions then in use, especially the Genevan. In the preface the translators avow, among other reasons, that they have done their work, not because they believe, "1 of necessitie, that the holy Scriptures should alwaies be in our mother tongue, or 2 that they ought, or were ordained by God, to be read indifferently of al, or 3 could be easily vnderstood of euery one, that readeth or heareth them in a knowen language." They admit that their work is a special one, forced upon them by "the present time, state and condition of our countrie, vnto which, diuers things are either necessarie, or profitable, or medicinable now, that otherwise in the peace of the Church were neither much requisite, nor perchance wholy tolerable."(1) They further speak of the other English versions as "heretical translations of the Scriptures, poisoning the people vnder color of diuine authoritie." The New Testament was published at Rheims in 1582, in one volume, 4to., with the following title:— The New Testament of Jesus Christ, translated faithfully into English out of the Authentical Latin, according to the best corrected copies of the same, diligently conferred with the Greek and other editions in diuers languages, with Argvments of bookes and chapters, Annotations and other necessarie helpes, for the better vnderstanding of the text, and specially for the discoverie of the Corruptions of diuers late translations, and for cleering the controuersies in religion of these daies: In the English College of Rhemes. [A verse from the Psalms, and a long quotation from Augustine, each of them in both Latin and in English, follow.] Printed at Rhemes, by John Fogny, 1582, Cvm Privlegio. The Old Testament was afterward published at Douay, in two volumes, 4to., but not until 1609, about thirty years after it was translated. Want of means is assigned by the editors, who were not the translators, for this long delay. The title is similar to that of the New Testament. The complete work was reprinted at Rouen in 1635, and then not again for one hundred and fifteen years, when Dr. Challoner, in 1750, published in London a revised edition in four octavo volumes. ------------ (FN1)Cited by Eadie, vol. ii, p. 118, where see long and interesting extracts from this Preface. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 44: P048 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P048 A Short History of the English Bible. This is the basis of the later editions. The style of the Rheims and Douay Version is remarkable for its use of Latinized English, and of some words which the translators have not attempted to render into English. The student of our language will be interested in noticing that many of the words which on their first appearance were denounced as barbarous and intolerable, have long since found a place among recognized English words. Among these are abstracted, acquisition, allegory, calumniate, catechize, co-operate, condign, evangelize, gratis, issue, prescience, resuscitate, victims. There can be no question that the translators of our Authorized Version derived a number of their renderings from this Version. On the other hand, there are words in the Rheims and Douay Version which have never been naturalized, such as dominical, donary, pasche, azymes, odible, coinquination, acception, correption, exprobate, obsecration, scenopegia, impudicity, exinamite, contristate, agnitition, and many others. ------------------------------------------- XIV. THE AUTHORIZED VERSION. October 24, 1603, James I. ordered a conference of certain bishops and clergy, and other prominent men in the Church, to be held in Hampton Court Palace, "forbearing and for the determining things pretended to be amiss in the Church." This conference was called in answer to a petition from the Puritan party of the Church. It was held January 16-18, 1604. So far as the special object of its gathering was concerned it amounted to nothing; but in reference to another matter, which was introduced in a merely incidental way, its results were most momentous, for in this Hampton Court Conference originated the Authorized Version of the English Bible. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 45: P049 THE AUTHORIZED VERSION: ======================================================================== P049 The Authorized Version: Among the bishops, deans, ecclesiastical lawyers and learned divines assembled to harmonize the divisions in the Church was Dr. John Reynolds,(1) President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, one of the most learned men of his time, and a recognized leader among the Puritan party in the Church. During the second day, the conversation having turned on some disputed passage in the Apocrypha, Reynolds suggested to the king that there ought to be a new translation of the Bible, because of the errors in existing translations. The suggestion did not meet with any special notice from those present, and the subject was soon dropped; but it had entered deeply into the thoughts of the king, who was fond of theological matters, and the result was that in a few months the monarch had matured his plans for the work. He appointed fifty-four of the most learned men of the realm to make the revision, among whom, very properly, was Dr. Reynolds. The names of only forty-seven of these are now known. They were to meet in various companies in Westminster, Oxford, and Cambridge, under the presidency of the Dean of Westminster and the two Hebrew professors of the universities. Three years, however, passed before the translators began their work. The precise cause of this delay is not known. In the interval some changes in the list were made necessary by death and other causes. The translators were divided into six companies, two of which met at each of the above-named places. To the first company at Westminster (ten in number) were assigned the Old Testament as far as 2 Kings; the second company (seven in number) had the Epistles. The first company at Cambridge (numbering eight) had 2 Chronicles to Ecclesiastes; the second company (numbering seven) had the Apocryphal books. To the first Oxford company (seven in number) were assigned the prophetical books, from Isaiah to Malachi; to the second (eight in number) were given the four Gospels, the Acts, and the Apocalypse. We notice a few of the principal men among these learned translators:— ------------ (FN1)Variously spelled Rainolds, Reinolds, Raynolds. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 46: P050 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P050 A Short History of the English Bible. Dr. Launcelot Andrewes, Dean of Westminster, presided over the Westminster company. Fuller says of him: "The world wanted learning to know how learned this man was, so skilled in all (especially Oriental) languages, that some conceive he might, if then living, almost have served as an interpreter-general at the confusion of tongues."(1) He became successively Bishop of Chichester, Ely, and Winchester. Born 1555, died 1626. Dr. Edward Lively, Regius Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge, and thus at the head of the Cambridge company, was eminent for his knowledge of Oriental languages, especially of Hebrew. He died in 1605, having been professor of Hebrew for twenty-five years. His death was a great loss to the work which he had helped to begin. Dr. John Overall was made professor of divinity at Cambridge in 1596, and in 1604 was Dean of St. Paul’s, London. He was considered by some the best scholastic divine in England. In 1614 he was made Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry. He was transferred to the see of Norwich in 1618. Born 1559, died 1619. Dr. Adrian de Saravia is said to have been the only foreigner employed on the work. He was born in Artois, France; his father was a Spaniard, and his mother a Belgian. In 1582 he was professor of divinity at Leyden; in 1587 came to England. He became prebend of Canterbury, and afterward Canon of Westminster. He was noted for his knowledge of Hebrew. Born 1531, died 1612. William Bedwell, or Beadwell, was one of the greatest Arabic scholars of his day. At his death he left unfinished MSS. of an Arabic Lexicon and also of a Persian Dictionary. Dr. Laurence Chadderton was for thirty-eight years master of Emanuel College, Cambridge, and well versed in Rabbinical lore. He was one of the Puritan divines among the translators. Born 1537; died 1640, at the advanced age of one hundred and three. Dr. John Reynolds, of whom mention has been already made, was a man of great attainments in Hebrew and Greek, and of an extraordinary memory. He died before the revision was completed, but worked at it during his sickness as long as his strength permitted. Born 1549, died 1607. ------------ (FN1)Cit. by Townley, vol. ii, p. 397. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 47: P051 THE AUTHORIZED VERSION. ======================================================================== P051 The Authorized Version. Dr. Richard Kilbye, Oxford Professor of Hebrew, was reckoned among the first Hebraists of his day. Died 1620.(1) Dr. Miles Smith had been a student of classic authors from his youth, was well acquainted with the rabbinical glosses and commentators, and well versed in Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. He was called a "walking library." Born about 1568, died 1624. John Boyse, or Bois, at six years old could write Hebrew elegantly. He was for twelve years chief lecturer in Greek at St. John’s College, Cambridge. Bishop Andrewes, of Ely, made him a prebend in his church in 1615. He was one of the most laborious of all the revisers. Born 1560, died 1643. Sir Henry Saville was warden of Merton College, Oxford, for thirty-six years. He devoted his fortune to the encouragement of learning, and was himself a fine Greek scholar. Born 1549, died 1622. Dr. Thomas Holland was Regius Professor of Divinity in Exeter College, Oxford, and also master of his college. He was considered a prodigy in all branches of literature. Born 1539, died 1612. To guide the revisers in their work the following rules were drawn up, probably by Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, at command of the king. 1. The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops’ Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the truth of the original will permit. 2. The names of the prophets and the holy writers, with the other names of the text, to be retained, as nigh as may be, accordingly as they were vulgarly used. 3. The old ecclesiastical words to be kept, namely, the word church not to be translated congregation, etc. 4. When a word hath divers significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most of the ancient fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the place, and the analogy of the faith. ------------ (FN1)Shortly after the new translation appeared, Dr. Kilbye, on a visit to Derbyshire, went to the parish church on Sunday, and heard the young clergyman give a long discourse containing three reasons why a certain word should have been differently translated. Afterward, on being introduced to the preacher, Dr. Kilbye told him that while he had three reasons against the translation of this word, the translators had considered them all, and had found thirteen stronger reasons for the rendering they had adopted. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 48: P052 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P052 A Short History of the English Bible. 5. The division of the chapters to be altered either not at all, or as little as may be, if necessity so require. 6. No marginal notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek words, which cannot without some circumlocution so briefly and fitly be expressed in the text. 7. Such quotations of places to be marginally set down as shall serve for the fit reference of one Scripture to another. 8. Every particular man of each company to take the same chapter or chapters; and, having translated or amended them severally by himself where he thinketh good, all to meet together, confer what they have done, and agree for their parts what shall stand. 9. As any one company hath dispatched any one book in this manner, they shall send it to the rest, to be considered of seriously and judiciously; for his Majesty is very careful in this point. 10. If any company, upon a review of the book so sent, doubt or differ upon any place, to send them word thereof, note the place, and withall send the reasons; to which if they consent not, the difference to be compounded at the general meeting which is to be of the chief persons of each company, at the end of the work. 11. When any place of special obscurity is doubted of, letters to be directed by authority to send to any learned man in the land for his judgment of such a place. 12. Letters to be sent from every bishop to the rest of his clergy, admonishing them of this translation in hand, and to move and charge as many as, being skillful in the tongues, and having taken pains in that kind, to send his particular observations to the company either at Westminster, Cambridge, or Oxford. 13. The directors in each company to be the deanes of Westminster and Chester, for that place, and the king’s professors in the Hebrew or Greek in either university. 14. These translations to be used, when they agree better with the text than the Bishops’ Bible: Tyndale’s, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s, Whitchurch’s,(1) Geneva. 15. Besides the said directors before mentioned, three or four of the most ancient and grave divines in either of the universities, not employed in translating, to be assigned by the vice-chancellor upon conference with the rest of the heads, to be overseers of the translations, as well Hebrew as Greek, for the better observation of the fourth rule above specified. Some authorities give but fourteen rules, and add the fifteenth as a by-law, while others assert that the number was finally reduced to seven. ------------ (FN1)By this was meant the Great Bible, Whitchurch being one of the printers. He married the widow of Archbishop Cranmer. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 49: P053 THE AUTHORIZED VERSION. ======================================================================== P053 The Authorized Version. How far these rules were observed it is impossible now to say. They were, doubtless, followed in the main, but there is reason to believe that some latitude was allowed. When the translators had done their work a copy each was sent from Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster to London, where two from each place, six in all, gave another revision, and Dr. Miles Smith, and Bishop Bilson, whose name does not appear among the forty-seven, superintended the work as it passed through the press. The former wrote the Preface, which is entitled "The Translators to the Reader." The expenses of the work were borne, not by the king, who pleaded poverty, and apparently with good reason, but by voluntary contributions from bishops and others who had fat livings; at least such was his majesty’s desire, as expressed in a circular issued by his order, though it seems that the responses were not very generous. The king, however, rewarded the translators by bestowing good livings on them when vacancies occurred, and by ecclesiastical promotion. The work was given to the public in 1611, in a folio volume, printed in black letter, and with the title as follows:— The | HOLY | BIBLE, | Conteyning the Old Testament, | AND THE NEW, | Newly Translated out of the Originall | tongues : & with the former Translations | diligently compared and revised by his | Maiesties speciall Comandement. | Appointed to be read in Churches | Imprinted at London by Robert | Barker, Printer to the Kinge | most excellent Maiestie | Anno Dom. 1611. The same year the New Testament, in 12mo.,was issued, and in 1612 the entire Bible, in 8vo., and in Roman type. The printing of the Bishops’ Bible, an edition of which had appeared in 1606, was never resumed, though the New Testament of that Bible continued to be printed as late as 1619. The Genevan Bible, however, had a firmer hold on the popular favor, and it required the life-time of a whole generation to displace it. A very singular fact about this "Authorized Version" is, that it never was authorized by royal proclamation, by order of Council, by act of Parliament, or by vote of Convocation. Whether the words "appointed to be read in churches" were used by order of the editors, or by the will of the printer, is now unknown. The popularity which the version so soon achieved is, however, sufficient proof that it was "authorized" in the best sense of the term. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 50: P054 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P054 A Short History of the English Bible. The original manuscript of this version is supposed to be lost, no traces of it having been seen since 1655. This great work is not strictly a translation, but a revision of all the English Bibles which preceded it, so that one who should read Tyndale’s Testament of 1525, or Coverdale’s Bible of 1535, would find a substantial agreement with our own, though, of course, frequent verbal differences. The original Scriptures used by the revisers were not so varied in their sources as those now at hand. It is hard to tell what Hebrew text they followed, as the differences between early printed Bibles are not numerous. Bomberg’s Rabbinical Bible was most likely used. In the New Testament they are supposed to have depended mainly on Beza’s Greek Testament, fourth edition, 1589. Besides this they had the Greek Testaments of the Complutensian Polyglot, of Erasmus and of Stephens.(1) They also made use of the Rhemish version, and of the Spanish, French, Italian, and German translations. The employment of italic words(2) by our translators is worthy of notice. Dr. Scrivener(3) arranges the instances of their use under six general heads:— 1. When words to complete the sense are introduced from parallel passages. 2. When the extreme conciseness of the Hebrew requires an additional word in English to express the meaning. 3. Where words are necessary to clear up the use of the grammatical figure known as the zeugma. 4. Where a word or two is necessary to mark the abrupt transition from the oblique to the direct form of speech 5. Where it is necessary to indicate that a word or a clause is of doubtful authority as a matter of textual criticism. This, however, is extremely rare. 6. Where words supplied are essential to the English sense, though not necessary to the Hebrew or the Greek. Dr. Scrivener further gives fourteen rules, which seem to have guided the translators in the use of italics. ------------ (FN1)Bishop Ellicott, in speaking of the dependence of both Beza and Stephens on Erasmus, says: "In the fourth edition of Erasmus we really have the mother-text of our own Authorized Version."—Considerations, etc., p. 35. (FN2)In the early editions the words now in italics were designated by Roman letters of a smaller size than the type in the body of the book. (FN3)The "Cambridge Paragraph Bible."—Int. § iii. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 51: P055 THE AUTHORIZED VERSION. ======================================================================== P055 The Authorized Version. Though the rules are well enough, there seems to have been in their application a want of system, which has led, in some instances, to confusion,(1) The punctuation of our version was at first very scanty, affording but little help to one who wished to read aloud. The edition of 1611 abounds in parentheses, which have since been supplanted by commas. The note of exclamation is rare, the interrogation point usually standing in its place. The marginal notes are intended to give a more literal rendering, or an alternative rendering, or to explain proper names, or to give various readings. In the original edition these numbered in the Old Testament 6,637, and in the New Testament 765; 473 have since been added. While in some of these notes the reading suggested may be better than in the text, in many it is not so good, and in some there are serious errors. Dr. Scrivener(2) affirms that the most of these errors in the Old Testament are to be traced to the influence of the Latin Old Testament of Tremellius and Junius, which the translators, no doubt, used; while those in the New Testament plainly show the influence of the Latin version of Beza. The translators did not make any historical or chronological notes. These have been added since their day. The marginal references to parallel passages at first were comparatively scanty. In the Old Testament there were 6,588, and in the New, 1517, making a total of 8,105. Later editions have added to these, until they are numbered by tens of thousands, and there is one edition which claims to have half a million! The chapter headings are said to have been prepared by one of the forty-seven translators and one other person. As originally made there were many errors in them, and many mistaken notions. They have been materially changed by different editors since then, and in some of the best Bibles now printed are entirely left out. ------------ (FN1)Dr. Eadie (vol. ii, p. 280, et seq.) gives numerous illustrations. (FN2) "Cambridge Paragraph Bible."—Int., pp. xxvi and xxxi. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 52: P056 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P056 A Short History of the English Bible. One singular and interesting fact has been brought to light within a few years, and that is, that in the year 1611 there were two distinct folio editions of this Bible published, having marked differences. There are some copies extant where the sheets from the two are combined; and some, where the title-page of 1611 is prefixed to later editions. The two editions of 1611 had distinctive titles, though it is said that in some cases these were interchanged; one being a wood-cut which had been used before in the Bishops’ Bible, edition of 1602, and the other an elegant copperplate. The wood-cut initials are frequently different in the two. Each of them has also errors and readings peculiar to itself. One edition has, for instance, "Judas" instead of "Jesus" in Matt, xxvi, 36; the other has a part of the verse repeated in Exod. xiv, 10, making what printers call "a doublet." In Gen. x, 16, one copy reads the "Emorite," and the other the "Amorite." One has in Ruth iii, 15,"He went into the city;" the other has,"She went into the city." This has led Mr. Stevens(1) to designate them, somewhat humorously, as THE GREAT HE BIBLE, and THE GREAT SHE BIBLE. Which of these two editions is really the earlier is a question in dispute. Mr. Stevens and Mr. Francis Fry, both of whom have given great attention to the subject, maintain that the He Bible is the original, while Dr. Scrivener, equally good authority, as stoutly affirms the reverse. Into this discussion it is beyond the province of this work to enter. The style of the version is peculiar. The translators did not give the English of their day, either written or spoken. Indeed, one distinguished writer asserts that the dialect used was not at any period "the actual current book language nor the colloquial speech of the English people."(2) Be that as it may, we must go back of the time of the translators to find the origin of the style of our present version. We can trace it through all the various versions up to Tyndale’s, and then, coming down from one to another, we can see how each succeeding reviser has improved by the labors of his predecessors, until our own version combines many of the excellencies of them all.(3) ------------ (FN1)"The Bibles," etc, p. 109. (FN2)"Lectures on the English Language." By George P. Marsh. Lecture 28. (FN3) On Tyndale’s style, see page 27. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 53: P057 THE AUTHORIZED VERSION. ======================================================================== P057 The Authorized Version. Several of the most important editions of the Authorized Version may properly claim a brief attention. In 1629 there was published at Cambridge an edition of great beauty, and revised with great care. In it some of the errors in the Italic words were rectified, and additions were for the first time made to the parallel texts, which were, also, greatly improved in accuracy. The editors did not append their names, and who they were is now unknown. In 1638 another Cambridge Bible was issued having still greater accuracy. The editors were Dr. Goad, of Hadley, Dr. Ward, Mr. Boyse, Mr. Mead, and other learned men, who are said to have performed their work at the command of King Charles I. Dr. Cotton(1) says this was, probably, the Bible concerning which the whole of Cambridge was challenged "to find any literal fault in it." Yet it was not perfect, as will be seen in a subsequent chapter.(2) In 1701 was issued the first Bible containing dates and chronological notes. These were taken from the Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti, published in 1660-1664, by Archbishop Usher. Their introduction is due to Bishop Lloyd, who supervised this edition of the Bible. He increased the number of marginal references to 39,466. In 1762 a Cambridge Bible was published, edited by Dr. Paris. In this the marginal notes, and, also, the chronological notes, were greatly increased. This was the first Bible in which the apostrophe was used to denote the possessive case. In 1769 appeared at Oxford, under the editorial care of Dr. Blayney, an edition of the Bible in which the greatest care was taken to secure accuracy. Errors of former editions were carefully corrected, and additional notes and references were made, the latter to the number of 64,983. Though not entirely free from errors, it was so much better than any of its predecessors that it was long regarded as a standard. In 1847 the American Bible Society appointed a committee of seven to prepare a collated edition of the Bible, which should be as nearly accurate as it could be made in every respect. They finished their work in 1851, and the Board of Managers adopted it, and began using it as their standard; but in 1852 they rescinded their action on the ground of want of constitutional authority. ------------ (FN1)"Editions of the Bible," etc., page 69. (FN2)See page 65. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 54: P058 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P058 A Short History of the English Bible. Probably the most accurate edition, in all respects, of the Authorized Version ever published is the one issued at Cambridge in 1873, under the careful editorship of the Rev. F. H. Scrivener, LL.D. Its Introduction is especially valuable for the information it gives on various important points concerning the early editions of this version. ------------------------------------------- XV. THE PROPOSED REVISION. Schemes for revisions and for new translations have been presented from time to time since our Authorized Version appeared, but we have not space even to mention them here.(1) They have been of all degrees of merit, from the scholarly suggestions of eminent linguists to the farcical attempts of such men as Harwood, who in his "Liberal Translation of the New Testament," London, 1768, begins the parable of the prodigal son with, "A gentleman of splendid family and opulent fortune had two sons." Liberal, indeed! Imagine the entire Testament in such stilted style. During the last twenty-five years the attention of biblical scholars has been more than ever called to the importance of a revision of the Authorized Version. In 1856 the subject was brought before the Lower House of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury by Prof. Selwyn, but with no result. An effort was also made to have a Royal Commission appointed by the House of Commons, but this likewise failed. In February, 1870, both Houses of Convocation of Canterbury unanimously passed a resolution appointing a committee to confer with a similar committee to be appointed by the Convocation of York to report on the desirableness of a revision of the Authorized Version of the Bible. The Northern Province declining to co-operate, the Committee appointed by the Convocation of Canterbury acted by themselves, and in May presented a report recommending a revision on the principle of departing as little as possible from the general style and language of the existing version. Acting on this report the Convocation appointed a committee of eight members of each house to undertake the work of revision, with the privilege of inviting "the co-operation of any eminent for scholarship, to whatever nation or religious body they belong." ------------ (FN1)Professor Plumptre has an account of them in his article on the Authorized Version, in Smith’s "Dictionary of the Bible," vol. iii, pp. 1678-1680. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 55: P059 THE PROPOSED REVISION. ======================================================================== P059 The Proposed Revision. The following are the members of the Commission at the present time:— Old Testament Company.—The Right Rev. E. H. Browne, D.D., Bishop of Winchester; The Right Rev. Lord A. C. Hervey, D.D., Bishop of Bath and Wells; The Right Rev. A. Ollivant, D.D., Bishop of Llandaff; The Very Rev. R. P. Smith, D.D., Dean of Canterbury; The Ven. B. Harrison, M. A., Archdeacon of Maidstone, Canon of Canterbury; Dr. W. L. Alexander, Edinburgh; R. L. Bensly, Esq., Cambridge; Rev. J. Birrell, St. Andrews, Scotland; Frank Chance, M.D., London; Thomas Chenery, Esq., London; Rev. T. K. Cheyne, Oxford; Dr. A. B. Davidson, Edinburgh; Dr. G. Douglass, Glasgow; S. R. Driver, Esq., Oxford; Rev. C. J. Eliott, Windsor; Dr. F. Field, Norwich; Rev. J. D. Geden, Manchester; Dr. C. D. Ginsburg, Berks; Dr. F. W. Gotch, Bristol; Dr. W. Kay, Chelmsford; Rev. S. Leathes, B.D., London; Rev. J. R. Lumby, B.D., Cambridge; The Rev. J. J. S. Perowne, D.D., Dean of Peterborough; Rev. A. H. Sayce, Oxford; Rev. W. R. Smith, Aberdeen; William Wright, Cambridge; William Aldis Wright, Esq., Cambridge. New Testament Company.—The Right Rev. C. J. Ellicott, D.D., Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol; The Right Rev. G. Moberly, D.C.L., Bishop of Salisbury; The Very Rev. E. H. Bickersteth, D.D., Prolocutor, Dean of Litchfield; The Very Rev. A. P. Stanley, D.D., Dean of Westminster; The Very Rev. R. Scott, D.D., Dean of Rochester; The Very Rev. J. W. Blakesley, B.D., Dean of Lincoln; The Most Rev. R. C. Trench, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin; The Right Rev. C. Wordsworth, D.C.L., Bishop of St. Andrews; Dr. J. Angus, London; Dr. D. Brown, Aberdeen; Rev. F. J. A. Hort, Cambridge; Rev. W. G. Humphry, London; Dr. B. H. Kennedy, Canon of Ely; The Ven. W. Lee, D.D., Archdeacon of Dublin; The Right Rev. J. B. Lightfoot, D.D., Bishop of Durham; Dr. W. Milligan, Aberdeen; Dr. W. F. Moulton, Cambridge; Dr. S. Newth, London; The Ven. E. Palmer, D.D., Archdeacon of Oxford; Dr. A. Roberts, St. Andrew’s; Dr. F. H. Scrivener, London; Dr. G. V. Smith, Carmarthen; Dr. C. J. Vaughan, London; Dr. B. F. Westcott, Canon of Peterborough; Rev. J. Troutbeck, Westminster. Some prominent scholars whose names were originally on the list do not appear here, having died since the work began. Among these, in the Old Testament Company, are The Right Rev. C. Thirlwall, D.D., Bishop of St. Davids; The Ven. H. J. Rose, Archdeacon of Bedford; Dr. W. Selwyn, Canon of Ely, and Dr. P. Fairbairn, Glasgow; and in the New Testament Company, The Right Rev. S. Wilberforce, D.D., Bishop of Winchester; The Very Rev. H. Alford, D.D., Dean of Canterbury; Dr. John Eadie, Glasgow; and S. P. Tregelles, LL.D. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 56: P060 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P060 A Short History of the English Bible. The first meeting of the English New Testament Company took place June 22, 1870. Before entering on their work they joined in the Holy Communion in Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey. The Old Testament Company met for the first time on the 30th of June, 1870. Both these companies hold sessions four days every month, in the Deanery of Westminster, one company occupying the celebrated Jerusalem Chamber. Soon after beginning their work the Committee invited the co-operation of distinguished American scholars, by the aid of Dr. Philip Schaff, of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. In 1872 the American company was formed. At the present time it consists of the following members:— Old Testament Company.—Dr. W. H. Green, Princeton, N. J.; Dr. G. E. Day, New Haven, Conn.; Dr. C A. Aiken, Princeton, N. J.; Dr. T. W. Chambers, New York; Dr. T. J. Conant, Brooklyn; Dr. J. De Witt, New Brunswick, N. J.; Dr. G. E. Hare, Philadelphia, Pa.; Dr. C. P. Krauth, Philadelphia; Pa.; Dr. C. M. Mead, Andover, Mass.; Dr. H. Osgood, Rochester, N. Y.; Dr. J. Packard, Alexandria, Va.; Dr. C. E. Stowe, Hartford, Conn.; Dr. J. Strong, Madison, N. J.; Dr. C. V. A. Van Dyck, Beirut, Syria. New Testament Company.—Dr. T. D. Woolsey, New Haven, Conn.; Dr. J. H. Thayer, Andover, Mass.; Dr. E. Abbott, Cambridge, Mass. ; Dr. J. K. Burr, Trenton, N. J.; Dr. T. Chase, Haverford, Pa.; Dr. H. Crosby, New York; Dr. T. Dwight, New Haven, Conn.; Dr. A. C. Kendrick, Rochester, N. Y.; the Right Rev. A. Lee, D.D., Delaware; Dr. M. B. Riddle, Hartford, Conn.; Dr. P. Schaff, New York; Dr. C. Short, New York; Dr. E. A. Washburn, New York. The Old Testament Company has lost by death Dr. Tayler Lewis, and the New Testament Company Dr. J. Hadley, Dr. H. B. Smith, Dr. H. B. Hackett, and Dr. C. Hodge; Dr. G. R. Crooks, and Dr. W. F. Warren, resigned. The first meeting of the American Committee was held October 4, 1872,(1) in one of the rooms of the Bible House, New York, where the meetings have since been held monthly. ------------ (FN1)This was the first meeting for active work. A meeting for temporary organization, and for adopting a constitution, had been previously held, December 7, 1871, in Dr. Schaff’s Study, Room No. 40 Bible House, New York. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 57: P061 THE PROPOSED REVISION. ======================================================================== P061 The Proposed Revision. It must be borne in mind that this is not to be a new translation, but only a careful revision of the present version. Judging from the misquotations of Scripture we frequently hear, the difference between the revised version and the present will scarcely be noticeable to ordinary hearers, for it will not be so great as the difference between many passages as they are printed and as they are commonly quoted. The following general principles were laid down at the outset to direct the revisers, both English and American:— 1. To introduce as few alterations as possible into the text of the Authorized Version consistently with faithfulness. 2. To limit, as far as possible, the expression of such alterations to the language of the authorized and earlier English versions. 3. Each company to go twice over the portion to be revised, once provisionally, the second time finally, and on principles of voting as hereinafter is provided. 4. That the text to be adopted be that for which the evidence is decidedly preponderating, and that when the text so adopted differs from that from which the Authorized Version was made, the alteration be indicated in the margin. 5. To make or retain no change in the text, on the second final revision by each company, except two thirds of those present approve of the same; but on the first revision to decide by simple majorities. 6. In every case of proposed alteration that may have given rise to discussion, to defer the voting thereupon till the next meeting, whensoever the same shall be required by one third of those present at the meeting, such intended vote to be announced in the notice for the next meeting. 7. To revise the headings of chapters, pages, paragraphs, italics, and punctuation. 8. To refer on the part of each company, when considered desirable, to divines, scholars, and literary men, whether at home or abroad, for their opinions.(1) The reasons assigned for the necessity of a revision are numerous and weighty. ------------ (FN1)"The Revision of the English Version," etc. Int., p. xi. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 58: P062 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P062 A Short History of the English Bible. The present version, though unquestionably the best English version ever made, has many defects which the advanced scholarship of the present day is abundantly able to remedy. Among these are, doubtful renderings of words; incorrect renderings; unnecessary distinctions made; real distinctions effaced; faults of grammar; faults of lexicography; treatment of proper names, official titles, etc.; archaisms; defects in English; errors of the press.(1) What the revisers propose to do in their work is, to use a more correct Greek text than it was possible for the revisers of 1611 to obtain; to correct errors, typographical and grammatical; to correct mistranslations and inexact renderings; to introduce consistency and uniformity in translations of words and phrases; to remove obsolete words; to introduce uniformity in spelling proper names; to revise orthography, punctuation, use of capitals, italics, marginal references, chronology, and headings of chapters and of columns; to combine, with the present division into chapters and verses, an arrangement of the prose in paragraphs, and of the poetry in meter. All lovers of the Bible will await with interest the publication of this revised version. ------------------------------------------- XVI. PECULIAR BIBLES. It may interest our readers to learn something of English Bibles, or parts of Bibles, which have become more or less famous because of priority in publication, or by reason of certain peculiarities either in the translation or in typographical errors. A volume might be filled with an account of these; we give a few specimens. 1. Priority in Publication. The first manuscript English New Testament was that of Wycliffe, 1380, followed about two years later by the first manuscript Old Testament. The first printed New Testament was that of Tyndale, Cologne and Worms, 1525, 1526. ------------ (FN1)It is impossible, within the space allotted to this work, to give a list of these defects here. They are treated at length by Eadie, vol. ii, pp. 336-480; by Lightfoot, Trench, Ellicott, and Schaff in their essays mentioned in the List of Authorities on page 7 of this book, and in "Anglo-American Bible Revision." ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 59: P063 PECULIAR BIBLES. ======================================================================== P063 Peculiar Bibles. The first printed Bible was that of Coverdale, Antwerp, 1535. The first portion of Scripture printed in England was the Seven Penitential Psalms, by Bishop Fysher, London, 1505.(1) The first New Testament printed in England was Tyndale’s, London, 1536. The first Bible printed in England was Coverdale’s, Southwark, 1537. The first New Testament printed in Scotland was the Genevan, Edinburgh, 1576. It was not published until 1579, when the Old Testament was issued with it. The first New Testament of the Authorized Version printed in Scotland was in Edinburgh, 1628. The first complete Bible of the Authorized Version printed in Scotland was in Edinburgh, 1633. The first Bible printed in Ireland was the Authorized Version, Dublin, 1714. The first portion of Scripture printed in America, and the first book of any kind, was what is usually called The Bay Psalm Book, being a metrical version of the Psalms. Cambridge, Mass., 1640. The first New Testament printed in America was the Authorized Version, Boston, 1742. (This book has a London imprint.) The first Bible printed in America was the Authorized Version, Boston, 1752. (This, also, has falsely a London imprint.) The first Bible printed in America and having an American imprint was the Authorized Version, Philadelphia, 1782. The first English translation from the Septuagint was by Charles Thompson, Philadelphia, 1808. 2. Singular Renderings. The Bug Bible. This is Matthew’s Bible, 1551, and is so called because of the rendering of Psalm xci, 5. Instead of, "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night," as in our version, it has, "So that thou shalt not nede to be afrayed (cont.next page) ------------ (FN1)Bishop Fysher’s Psalms was the first portion of Scripture printed as such; though, as noted on page 16, The Golden Legend, which was printed in 1483, had scriptural translations mingled with its lives of the saints. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 60: P064 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P064 A Short History of the English Bible. for any Bugges by night." Dore suggests(1) that the translator may have meant bogies, which, perhaps, is a little nearer than bugs to the idea of terror, though there might be a difference of opinion on that subject. Coverdale and Taverner’s Bibles likewise have the word bugs. The Breeches Bible. The Genevan Bible, 1560, renders Gen. iii, 7, "They sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves breeches." Wycliffe, 1382, had the same; so there was a "Breeches Bible" before the Genevan. The Golden Legend, 1483, also made the same rendering. The Treacle Bible. This is the Bishops’ Bible, 1568. It has, in Jer. viii, 22, "Is there no tryacle in Gilead?" The Rosin Bible. The Douay Version, 1610, has, in Jer. viii, 22, "Is there no rosin in Gilead?" An Improved Version. In 1754 there was published in London, Genesis, the first Chapter by way of Essay towards an Interpretation of the whole Pentateuch, Cotton(2) quotes from the "Gentleman’s Magazine" for August, 1754, the following as a specimen: 1. "Ælohim, beginning, created lucide and illucide matter. 2. And the illucide, void of co-adjunct cohesion, was unmodified, and distinguishableness was nowhere upon the face of the chaos: And the Ruach of ÆLOHIM emanated over the periphery of the fluctuation. 3, Until Ælohim said that Æther should coallesce to the production of light. 4. And Ælohim saw the light was good, when it was become a separation from obscurity. 5. And Ælohim deemed this daylight, and the obscurity was yet as night, which was light, and obscuration the consummation of the first day." This is truly a very "lucide" rendering. The Knave Bible. —A popular writer,(2) who has brought to light many hidden literary treasures, says, "In an old version of the Bible we read, ’Paul, a knave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,’ etc., Rom. i, 1." This statement has been made by various writers at different times for two hundred years at least, but no one has yet found the "old version." The Duke of Lauderdale, a prominent nobleman in the days of Charles II., had heard the story, and offered a reward for a copy of the book. A certain Captain Thornton, famous for knavish tricks, took a copy of Matthew’s Bible of the date of 1537, and pasted a piece of paper over the words "the servant" in the text named. ------------ (FN1)"Old Bibles," p.86. (FN2)"Editions," etc., p. 94, note. (FN3)Dr. Brewer, "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," s. v. Knave. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 61: P065 PECULIAR BIBLES. ======================================================================== P065 Peculiar Bibles. He then cut from different parts of the book the letters a,K,n,e,a,w,e, and pasted them on the paper, thus making the text read "Paul, a Kneawe," etc. The date in the title-page being MDXXXVII, he erased XVII. leaving the date MDXX. He had the volume rebound, and lettered on the back "Holy Bible, 1520." He took it to the old duke, who was delighted with his prize, and gave the captain seventeen guineas for it. This is the only "Knave Bible" of which there is any authentic account.(1) Where the knave was, is easily seen. 3. Typographical Errors. Cotton Mather tells of a Bible printed before 1702 in which David is made to say in Psalm cxix, 161, "Printers have persecuted me without a cause."(2) Probably every modern writer can affirm the truth of this. The printers have made sad havoc with the Bible, as witness the following:— The beautiful Cambridge Bible, of 1629, already referred to,(3) has, in spite of the care bestowed on it, at least one error, which ran through many subsequent editions. In 1 Tim. iv, 16, Paul says, "Take heed unto thyself and to the doctrine." This book has, instead, "thy doctrine." The edition of 1638, though more correct even than the former, has in it one famous error, which was serious in its day because of the disputes between the Independents and the Episcopalians. In Acts vi, 3 it has "whom ye may appoint," instead of "whom we may appoint," which latter is correct. In 1653 an edition of the Authorized Version was printed in London, in which 1 Cor. vi, 9 was made to read, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God?" Another example of the omission of the negative is found in an Oxford Bible of 1711, in which we read in Isaiah lvii, 12, "I will declare thy righteousness and thy works, for they shall profit thee." In an Oxford Bible of 1792, in Luke xxii, 34, the Saviour is represented as telling Philip that he should deny him thrice before cock-crowing. ------------ (FN1)See "Account of Lord Oxford’s Bibles," cit. by Lewis, in "A Complete History," etc., p. 47. (FN2)Stevens, p. 115. (FN3)See p. 57. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 62: P066 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P066 A Short History of the English Bible. Another Oxford Bible of 1804 makes Paul say in Gal. v, 17, "For the flesh lusteth after the Spirit." Still another Oxford Bible of 1807, has in Heb. ix, 14, "Purge your conscience from good works," instead of dead, works. A Genevan Bible, published in 1562, has two singular errors. In the chapter heading of Luke xxi are the words, "Christ condemneth the poor widow," instead of commendeth. In Matt, v, 9, instead of "Blessed are the peace-makers" it has, "Blessed are the place-makers" which rendering would, doubtless, find acceptance with office-seekers. The famous Vinegar Bible is an edition of the Authorized Version published in Oxford in 1717, by J. Baskett. In the running title of Luke xx, instead of The Parable of the Vineyard, it has The Parable of the Vinegar. This Bible, issued in two folio volumes, is remarkable for its beautiful typographical appearance, but so numerous are the mistakes in it that a punster of the day declared that it was "a Baskett-full of printer’s errors." Another famous Bible is called the to remain Bible. It is a Cambridge Bible of 1805. In examining the proof-sheet containing Gal. iv, 29, in which are the words "persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now," the proof-reader is said to have had a doubt about leaving the comma after the word Spirit. He sent a query to the editor, who wrote on the margin of the proof the words "to remain," meaning that the comma was to be retained. The compositor, in correcting the proof, found these words written in the margin, and, mistaking them for a correction, deliberately took out the comma, and substituted the intrusive words, so that it reads "persecuted him that was born after the Spirit to remain even so it is now." This strange error was repeated in at least two subsequent editions. But the worst of all errors is found in the celebrated Wicked Bible. This is an edition of the Authorized Version printed in London, by Barker & Lucas, in 1631. In Exod. xx, 14 the negative particle is left out of the seventh commandment, making it read, "Thou shalt commit adultery." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 63: P067 PECULIAR BIBLES. ======================================================================== P067 Peculiar Bibles. Archbishop Laud having informed King Charles I. of this serious blunder, the king directed that the whole edition of one thousand copies be called in, and the printers fined three hundred pounds. The fine, or a part of it, was appropriated to the purchase of a font of Greek type, to be used for such purposes as the Government might direct. There are said to be only four copies of this unique volume now in existence. Strange to say, exactly one hundred years after this, in 1731, a German Bible was printed in Halle, containing the same error, so that there is a German "Wicked Bible," as well as an English one. Copies of these rare, remarkable, and remarkably wicked Bibles may be seen, side by side, in the Lenox Library, New York. ------------------------------------------- XVII. SPECIMENS OF THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS. 1. The Durham Book, about 950. See page 17. We give the Lord’s Prayer from this book:(1) Fader uren thu arth in heofnum, sie gehalgud noma thin; to cymeth ric thin; sie willo thin suæls in heofne & in eortho; hlaf userne ofer wistlie sel us todsæg: & forgef us scylda usna suæ uæ forgefon scyldgum usum: & ne inlæd usih in eostunge uh gefrig usich from yfle. 2. The Ormulum, about 1225. See page 18. John i, 35-37. Thæraffterr onn an otherr dagg [day] Stod Sannt Johan Bapptisste, Tweggen [two] stodenn thær withth himm Off hise Leorninngenihhtess, [disciples] He sahh ure Laferrd [Lord] than, And seggde [said] thuss withth worde; Loc here, thiss iss Godess Lamb. Ta [those] twa Leorninngenihhtess, Herrdenn [heard] thatt word, and gedenn [went] forth Affterrwarrd [behind] ure Laferrd.(2) ------------ (FN1)Cited by Stoughton, p. 14 (FN2)White’s Ormulum, Vol. 2, p.88. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 64: P068 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P068 A Short History of the English Bible. 3. Salus Animɶ, or "Sowlehele," about 1225. See page 18. Mary at the Cross. Our ladi and hire sustur stoden under the roode, And seint John, and Marie Magdeleyn with wel sori moode Ur Ladi biheold hire sweete son ibrouht in gret pyne, For monnes gultes nouthen her and nothing for myne. Marie weop wel sore, and bitter teres leet, The teres fullen uppon the ston doun at hire feet.(1) 4. Richard Rolle, of Hampole, about 1325. See page 18. The Twenty-third Psalm. Our lord gouerneth me ud nothynge to me shal wante; stede of pasture thar he me sette. In the water of the hetyng forth he me brougte; my soule he turnyde. He ladde me on the stretis of rygtwisuesse: for his name. For win gif I hadde goo in myddil of the shadewe of deeth; I shal not dreede yueles, for thou art with me. Thi geerde and thi staf; thei haue coumfortid me. Thou hast greythid in my sygt a bord; agens hem that angryn me. Thou fattide myn heued in oyle; and my chalys drunken-gug what is cleer. And thi mercy shal folewe me; in alle the days of my lyf. And that I wone in the hous of oure lord in the lengthe of dayes.(2) 5. Wycliffe, 1380. See page 19. Matt, vi, 24-25. No man may serue to two lordis, forsothe outher he schal hate the toon and loue the tother, outher he schal susteyne the toon, and dispise the tother. Yee mowne not serve to god and richessis. Therefore I seye to you, that yee be not bisie to your liif what yee schulen ete, other to youre body with what yee schulen be clothide. Wher youre liif is not more than mete, and youre body more than clooth?(3) ------------ (FN1)Stroughton, p. 12. (FN2)Baber,"Historical Account," etc., in his Wycliffe’s New Testament, Preface, p. lxvii. (FN3)Lea Wilson’s "Wycliffe’s Testament," in loco. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 65: P069 SPECIMENS OF THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS. ======================================================================== P069 Specimens of the Different Versions. 6. Purvey, 1388. See page 21. Matt, vi, 24, 25. No man may serve twey Lordis for either he schall hate the toon and love the tother: either he schal susteyne the toon, and despise the tother; ye moun not serve god and richesse. Therfore I sey to you that ye be not besy to youre lyf, what ye schull ete neither to youre bodi with what ye schul be clothid. whether lyf is not more than mete, and the body more than the cloth?(1) 7. Tyndale’s Pentateuch, 1530.(2) Gen. xliii, 11, 12. Than their father Israel sayde unto thē. yf it must nedes be so now: than do thus, take of the best frutes of the lande in youre vesselles, and brynge the man a present, a curtesie bawlme, and a curtesie of hony spyces and myrre, dates and almondes. And take as moch money more with you. And the money that was brought agayne in youre sackes, take it agayne with you in youre handes, peradventure it was some oversyghte. 8. Coverdale’s Bible, 1535. Then sayde Israel their father unto thē: yf it must nedes be so, then do this: take of the best frutes of the lande in youre sackes and brynge the man a present: a curtesy balme, and hony, and spyces, and myrre, and dates, and almondes. Take other money with you also, and the money that was brought agayne in youre sacke mouthes, cary it agayne with you: peradventure it was an oversight. 9. Matthew’s Bible, 1537. Than their father Israel sayd unto them: Yf it must ned be so now: than do thus, take of the best frutes of the lande in youre vesselles and brynge the mā a present, a curtesye bawlme, and a curtesye of hony, spices & myrre, dates and almōdes. And take as moche money more with you. And the money that was brought agayne in youre sackes, take it agayne wyth you, peradventure it was some oversyghte. ------------ (FN1)Baber’s "Wycliffe’s [Purvey’s] Testament," in loco. (FN2)The rest of these "specimens" we have copied from Cotton’s "Editions of the Bible," etc., page 235, et seq. ------------ ======================================================================== CHAPTER 66: P070 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P070 A Short History of the English Bible. 10. The Great Bible, 1539. And their father Israel sayd Unto thē: If it must nedis be so now: than do thus. Take of the best frutes of the lāde in youre vesselles and brynge the man a present, a curtesye bawlme, and a curtesye of hony, spices and myrre, nottes & almondes. And take dubble money in youre hande. And the money that was brought agayne in youre sackes, take it agayne with you lest peradventure it was some oversyghte. 11. Taverner’s Bible, 1539. Then theyr father Israel said unto them. Yf it must nedes be so now, then do thus, take of the best frutes of the lande in your vessels, and carry the man a present, a quantitie of bawlme and a porcion of hony, spyces and myrre, dates and almondes. And take as moch money more with you. And the money that was brought agayn in your sackes, take it agayn with you, peradventure it was some oversygt. 12. Genevan Bible, 1560. 11 Then their father Israel said unto them, If it must nedes be so nowe, do thus: take of the best frutes of the land in your vessels, and bring the man a present, a little rosen and a little honie, spices and myrre, nuttes and almondes: 12 And take double money in youre hand, and the money that was brought againe in your sackes mouthes: carie it againe in your hand, lest it were some ouersight. 13. The Bishops’ Bible, 1568. 11 And their father Israel sayde unto them: if it must nedes be so, nowe then do thus. Take of the best fruites of the lande in your vesselles, and bryng yᵉ man a present, a curtsie of bawme, and a curtsie of hony, spyces and mirre, nuttes and almondes. 12 And take double money in your hande, & the money that was brought agayne in your sackes, take it agayne with you, peradventure it was some oversight. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 67: P071 SPECIMENS OF THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS. ======================================================================== P071 Specimens of the Different Versions. 14. Douay Bible, 1609. 11 Therefore Israel their father said to them: If it must nedes be so, do that you wil: take of the best fruites of the land in your vessels, and carie to the man for presents, a courtesie of rosen, and of honey, and of incense, of mirhe, of terebinth, and of almondes. 12 Duble money also carie with you: and recarie that you founde in your sackes, lest perhaps it was done by an errour. 15. Tyndale, 1525. Mark xiv, 1-3. After two dayes folowed ester and the dayes of swetebreed. And the hye prest and scryb sought meanes howe they myght take hym by crafte and putt hym to deeth. Butt they sayde: nott on the feaste daye, leest eny busynes aryse amonge the people. When he was in bethania in the housse off Simon the leper, even as he sate att meate, there cam a womā with an alablaster boxe of oyntment, called narde, that was pure and costly, and she brake the boxe ād powred it on his heed. 16. Coverdale, 1535. And after two dayes was Easter and the daies of swete bred. And yᵉ hye prestes & scrybes sought how they might take him with disceate, & put him to death. But they sayde: Not in the feast daye, lest there be an uproure in the people. And when he was at Bethanye, in the house of Symon the leper, and sat at the table, there came a woman, which had a boxe of pure and costly Nardus oyntment. And she brake yᵉ boxe & poured it upō his heade. 17. The Great Bible, 1539. After two dayes was Easter, and the dayes of swete breed. And the hye Prestes and the Scribes sought, how they myghte take him by crafte, & put him to deeth. But they sayde: not in the feast daye, leest any busynes aryse amōge the people. And whan he was at Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, even as he sate at meate, ther cam a womā hauyng an alabaster boxe of oyntmēt, called Narde, that was pure and costly: & she brake the boxe, & powred it on his heed. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 68: P072 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P072 A Short History of the English Bible. 18. Taverner, 1539. After two dayes folowed Ester, and the dayes of swete breed. And the hygh preestes and the Scrybes sought howe to take hym by gyle and put hym to deth. But they sayd: not in the feest daye, leest any rore aryse amonge the people. When he was in Bethani, in the house of Symon the leper, as he sate at meate, there came a woman, havynge an alabaster boxe of oyntmente called narde, that was pure and costly, and she brake the boxe and powred it on his heed. 19. Whittingham, 1557. And after two dayes folowed the feast of Easter, and of unlevened bread: and the hie Priestes, & Scribes soght how they myght take hym by craft, and put him to death. 2. And they sayd, Not in the feast day, lest any busynes aryse among the people. 3. And when he was in Bethanie, in the house of Simon the leper, even as he sate at meat, there came a woman hauing an alabaster boxe of oyntment called spikenarde, that was verie costly, & she brake the boxe and powred it on his head. 20. Geneva, 1560. 1. And two dayes after followed the feast of the Passeover, and of unleavened bread: and the hie Priests, and Scribes soght how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. 2. But they said, Not in the feast day, lest there be any tumult among the people. 3. And when he was in Bethania in the house of Simon the leper, as he sate at table, there came a womā having a boxe of ointment of spikenarde, verie costlie, and she brake the boxe, and powred it on his head. 21. Bishops’, 1568. 1. After two dayes was [the feaste] of the Passeover & of unlevened bread. And the hye priestes and the scribes, sought how they myght take him by craft, and put hym to death. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 69: P073 SPECIMENS OF THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS. ======================================================================== P073 Specimens of the Different Versions. 2. But they sayde: not in the feast day, lest any busines arise among the people. 3. And when he was at Bethanie, in the house of Simon the leper, even as he sate at meate, there came a woman havyng an alabaster boxe of very precious oyntment, [called] Narde pistike, and she brake the boxe and powred it on his head. 22. Rhemish, 1582. And the Pasche was and the Azymes after two daies: and the cheefe Priests and the Scribes sought how they might by some wile lay hands on him and kil him. For they said, Not on the festival day, lest there might be a tumult of the people. And when he was at Bethania in the house of Simon the Leper, and sate at meate, there came a woman having an alabaster-boxe of ointment, of pretious spike-narde: and breaking the alabaster-boxe she powred it out upon his head. 23. Tyndale, 1525. 1 Cor. xv, 29. Other els what do they which are baptised over the deed, if the deed ryse not at all? why are they baptised over the deed? And why stōde we ī ieoperdy every houre? by oure reioysynge which I have in Christ Jesu oure lorde, I deye dayly. That I have fought with beastes att Ephesus after the maner of mē, what avantageth it me, yf the deed ryse not agayne? Lett us eate ād drynke, to morowe we shall deye. 24. Coverdale, 1535. Or els what do they which are baptised over yᵉ deed, yf the deed aryse not at all? Why are they then baptysed over the deed? And why stonde we in ioperdy every houre? By oure reioysinge which I have in Christ Jesu ō Lorde, I dye dailye. That I have foughte with beestes at Ephesus after yᵉ maner of men, what helpeth it me yf the deed ryse not agayne: Let us eate and drynke, for tomorow we shal dye. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 70: P074 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P074 A Short History of the English Bible. 25. The Great Bible, 1539. Els what do they, which are baptised over the deed, yf the deed ryse not at all? Why are they thē baptised over thē? Yee and why stōde we all waye then in ieoperdy? By oure rejoysinge which I have in Christ Jesu our Lorde, I dye dayly. That I have fought with beastes at Ephesus after yᵉ maner of mē, what avauntageth it me, yf the deed ryse not agayne: Lett us eate and dryncke, for to morrow we shall dye. 26. Taverner, 1539, Either els what do they whiche are baptised over the deed, yf the deed ryse not at all? Why are they then baptized over the deed? ye, and why stande we in ieoperdye every houre? —That I have fought with beestes at Ephesus, after the maner of men, what avauntageth it me, yf the deed ryse not agayne? Let us eate and drynke, to morow we shall dye. 27. Whittingham, 1557. 29 Els what shal they do which are baptized for dead? yf the dead ryse not at all, why are they then baptized for dead? 30 Why are we in ieoperdy every houre? 32 If I have foght with beastes at Ephesus after the maner of men; what avantageth it me, yf the dead be not raised up? let us eat and dryncke: for to morow we shal dye. 28. Genevan, 1560. 29 Els what shal they do which are baptized for dead? if the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for dead? 30 Why are we also in ieoperdie everie houre? 32 If I have foght with beastes at Ephesus after the maner of men, what avātageth it me, if the dead be not raised up? let us eat & drinke: for to morowe we shall dye. 29. Bishops’, 1568. 29 Els what shall they do, which are baptized for the dead, yf the dead ryse not at all? 30 Why are they then baptized for them? and why stande we in ieopardie every houre? 32 If I have fought with beastes at Ephesus after the maner of men, what avauntageth it me, yf the dead ryse not agayne? Let us eate and drynke, for to morowe we shall dye. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 71: P075 SPECIMENS OF THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS. ======================================================================== P075 Specimens of the Different Versions. 30. Rhemish, 1582. 29 Otherwise what shal they do that are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not againe at al? 30 Why also are they baptized for them? why also are we in danger every houre? 32 If (according to man) I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me, if the dead rise not againe? 33 Let us eate and drinke, for to morow we shal die. 31. The "Bay Psalm Book,"(1) 1640. See p. 63. PSALM xix. 1 The heavens doe declare the majesty of God: Also the firmament shews forth his handy-work abroad. 2 Day speaks to day, knowledge night hath to night declar’d. There neither speach nor language is where their voyce is not heard. 3 Through all the earth their line is gone forth, and unto the utmost end of all the world their speaches reach also: 4 A Tabernacle hee in them pitcht for the Sun, Who Bridegroom like from’s chamber goes glad Giant’s-race to run. 5 From heaven’s utmost end, his course and compassing; to ends of it, and from the heat thereof is hid nothing. ------------ (FN1)This version was at first commonly called "The Bay Psalm Book;" but afterward "The New England Version of the Psalms." Its title is, "The VVhole | Booke of Psalmes | Faithfully Translated into English | Metre. | Whereunto is prefixed a discourse de- | claring not only the lawfulness, but also | the necessity of the Heavenly Ordinance | of singing Scripture Psalmes in | the Churches of | God. | [Then follow quotations from Col. iii, 16, and James v, 13.] Imprinted | 1640. | ======================================================================== CHAPTER 72: P076 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P076 A Short History of the English Bible. ------------------------------------------- XVIII. SYNOPTICAL STATEMENT. [This is added to aid the memory of those who may wish to use this work as a Text-Book.] 1. Preliminary. 1. Early Christianity in Britain. 2. Principal versions previous to first printed Testament: 1.) Greek—Septuagint. 2.) Chaldee or Aramaic—the Targums. 3.) Latin—Vetus Itala; Vulgate. 4.) German—Latter part of ninth century; five undated printed editions before 1477; nine others between 1477 and 1522; 1522, Luther’s New Testament; 1524, Luther’s Bible; Zürich Bible, shortly after. 5.) Other Languages. 6.) 1502 to 1522. Complutensian Polyglot. 3. Early facilities for studying Hebrew and Greek. 1.) Hebrew—1087-1100, Hebrew in Oxford. 1290, Hebrew MSS. among the monks. 1310, Hebrew in Paris and Oxford. 1320, Hebrew lectureship in Oxford. 1488, First Hebrew Bible printed at Soncino, Italy. 1494, Hebrew Bible printed at Brescia, Italy. 1503, First Hebrew Grammar at Basle. Switzerland. 1506, Reuchlin’s Hebrew Lexicon. 1518, Bomberg’s first Rabbinical. 1522, Complutensian Polyglot. 1525, Bomberg’s second Rabbinical. 2.) Greek—1360, Greek chair in Florence. 1458, Greek in Paris. 1476, First Greek Grammar. 1478, First Greek Lexicon. 1491, Greek in Oxford. 1509-1514, Erasmus in Cambridge. 1516, Erasmus’ first Greek Testament.1517, Greek lectureship in Oxford. 1519, Wolsey’s chair in Oxford. 1522, Complutensian Polyglot. 4. Early means of learning scriptural truth. 1.) Manuscripts, on parchment, and then on paper. 2.) Religions dramas. 3.) "Bible of the Poor." 4.) "Mirror of Salvation." 5.) "Golden Legend." Pp. 11-16. 2. Early Paraphrases and Versions. 1. Cӕdmon. 2. Aldhelm. 3. Guthlac. 4. Bede. 5. Alfred the Great. 6. Anglo-Saxon Psalter. 7. Durham Book. 8. Rushworth Gloss. 9. Ælfric. 10. Anglo-Norman Psalter. 11. The "Ormulum." 12. "Sowlehele." 13. Metrical version of Genesis and Exodus. 14. De Schorham’s Psalter. 15. Rolle’s Psalter. [All the above before the middle of the fourteenth century.] Pp. 17, 18. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 73: P077 SYNOPTICAL STATEMENT. ======================================================================== P077 Synoptical Statement. 3. Wycliffe’s Bible. 1. The translator an early Reformer, b. 1324, d. 1384. 2. Translated from the Vulgate. 3. The labor of many years. 4. Assisted by Nicholas de Hereford. 5. The first translation of the entire Bible into English. 6. New Testament finished in 1380. 7. Old Testament about two years later. 8. This entirely a manuscript Bible. 9. Not printed until the nineteenth century: Solomon’s Song, 1823; New Testament, 1848; entire Bible, 1850. 10. A revised translation made by John Purvey about 1388, and first printed in 1731. Pp. 19-21. 4. The Interval. 1. People mainly dependent on Wycliffe’s Manuscript Bible. 2. Council of Constance, 1414-1418. Wycliffe’s doctrines condemned and his bones ordered to be burned. 3. Council of Basle, 1431-1443. Supremacy of General Council asserted. 4. The Lollards, laboring and persecuted. 5. Scripture translation and use prohibited by Convocation. 6. The Bible still read. 7. Persecutions. 8. "Brothers in Christ." Pp. 21-24. 5. Tyndale’s Translations. 1. William Tyndale, b. 1484, d. 1536. 2. His work done chiefly on the Continent. 3. New Testament printed in part at Cologne, 1525. 4. Tyndale compelled to leave Cologne. 5. Went to Worms, where, in 1526, the work was finished. 6. In the same year the volumes secretly sent to England. 7. Their use forbidden by Bishop Tunstall. 8. Public burning May 4, 1530, in St. Paul’s Church-yard. 9. Use forbidden by king and bishops. 10. Pentateuch published in 1530. 11. Jonah in 1531. 12. Translations from Joshua to 2 Chronicles probably made about the same time. 13. Revised edition of New Testament in 1534. 14. Tyndale’s translations were all from the original Hebrew and Greek. 15. Tyndale a martyr; strangled and burned at Vilvorde, near Brussels, Oct. 6, 1536. Pp. 24-27. 6. Coverdale’s Bible. 1. Miles Coverdale, b. 1488, d. 1569. 2. Bible printed, in 1535, at Antwerp. 3. A controverted point, whether translated from Hebrew and Greek, or from other languages. 4. The latter probably the fact. 5. His five "interpreters." 6. The Zürich Bible his main dependence for the Old Testament. 7. The New Testament chiefly based on Tyndale’s. 8. The first printed English Bible. 9. Royal license given in 1537. 10. Prohibited in 1546, and all copies ordered burned. 11. Restriction removed by Edward VI., 1547. Pp. 27-31. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 74: P078 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P078 A Short History of the English Bible. 7. Matthew’s Bible. 1. John Rogers, the editor, b. 1500, d. 1555. 2. Why called "Matthew’s" not known. 3. Printed in 1537. 4. Begun at Antwerp, and finished either there or in London. 5. Royal license given. 6. A revision of other translations. 7. Especially valuable for matters outside the text. 8. Directed to be publicly read in the churches. 9. Rogers burned February 4, 1555. Pp. 31-33. 8. Taverner’s Bible. 1. Richard Taverner, b. 1505, d. 1575. 2. A lawyer and a lay preacher of eccentric habits. 3. His Old Testament a revision of Matthew’s. 4. His New Testament a revision of Tyndale’s. 5. The notes a combination of Matthew’s and his own. 6. The Bible issued under the patronage of Lord Cromwell, and dedicated to the king. Pp. 34, 35. 9. The Great Bible. Edition of 1539.— 1. Issued by direction of. Thomas Cromwell, Secretary of State, b. 1490, d. 1540. 2. A revision of Matthew’s under the editorial supervision of Coverdale. 3. Begun in Paris, but interrupted by order of Inquisition. 4. Many copies burned, but others saved and taken to London, where the work was finished. 5. Called "Great" because of its size. 6. Remarkable wood-cut on title-page. 7. Notes originally intended, but never inserted. 8. Its public use ordered by the king. Pp. 35-37. Subsequent Editions. — 1. By direction of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, b. 1489, d. (burned) 1556. 2. In 1540 issued a revised edition of the Great Bible. 3. Printed in London by Parisian workmen, and with Parisian type. 4. Coverdale still editor. 5. Prologue written by Cranmer. 6. Hence this and the five subsequent editions known as "Cranmer’s Bibles." 7. In 1540 royal proclamation commanding that Bibles be provided for public reading. 8. Similar proclamations in 1541 and 1542. 9. In 1543 these proclamations modified, 10. The Great Bible very popular. Pp. 37-40. 10. Whittingham’s New Testament. 1. William Whittingham, b. 1524, d. 1579. 2. One of numerous refugees from England to the Continent during the Marian persecution. 3. His New Testament published in Geneva in 1557. 4. The only portion of Scripture published in English during the reign of Queen Mary. 5. Sometimes incorrectly called the "Genevan Testament." 6. A revision of other translations, especially of Tyndale’s, and collated with the New Testament of the Great Bible. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 75: P079 SYNOPTICAL STATEMENT. ======================================================================== P079 Synoptical Statement. 7. Had many marginal notes. 8. The first English Testament in which italic type was used. 9. The first in which the text was broken up into verses, distinguished by numerals, as at present. Pp. 40-42. 11. The Genevan Bible. 1. Issued in Geneva, 1560. 2. The joint production of a number of English refugees, 3. Supervised by Whittingham, Gilby, and Sampson. 4. Based on the Old Testament of the Great Bible, and on Tyndale’s New Testament. 5. More correct than any of its predecessors. 6. Enriched with numerous notes and comments. 7. The first English Bible printed in Roman type, the first broken into verses, and the first to use italics. 8. Very popular for many years. Pp. 42-44. 12. The Bishops’ Bible. 1. Under supervision of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, b. 1504, d. 1575. 2. Published in 1568. 3. Sometimes called "Parker’s Bible." 4. The work of twelve or fifteen learned men, most of them bishops. 5. Mainly a revision of the Great Bible. 6. Numerous notes, many of them from the Genevan. 7. Never received the royal sanction. 8. In 1571 copies ordered by Convocation to be placed in churches and in halls of bishops. 9. Though in public use, it never became popular. Pp. 44-46. 13. The Rheims and Douay Version. 1. Seminary of English Roman Catholics at Douay and at Rheims. 2. Gregory Martin, one of the instructors, assisted by a number of learned Catholics, translated the Bible into English from the Vulgate. 3. Prepared to check the influence of other English versions, especially the Genevan. 4. Accompanied by numerous notes of a controversial character. 5. The New Testament published at Rheims in 1582. 6. The Old Testament at Douay in 1609. 7. The complete work reprinted at Rouen in 1635. 8. A revised edition by Dr. Challoner, in London in 1750. 9. The style of the version remarkable for use of Latinized English. Pp. 46-48. 14. The Authorized Version. 1. Conference at Hampton Court Palace January 16-18, 1604. 2. Suggestion of Dr. Reynolds, which led King James I. to arrange for a revised version of the Bible. 3. Fifty-four translators, divided into six companies. 4. Fifteen rules for their guidance. 5. Expense of the work borne by voluntary contributions. 6. The version never officially "authorized." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 76: P080 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. ======================================================================== P080 A Short History of the English Bible. 7. The manuscript now lost. 8. The work a revision of all preceding English Bibles. 9. The Hebrew text used by them not known, probably Bomberg’s Rabbinical Bible. 10. The Greek text they followed mainly, is supposed to have been Beza’s. 11. Italic words were used for several purposes. 12. Punctuation, at first, very scanty. 13. Four uses for marginal notes. 14. No historical or chronological notes. These have been added since. 15. Marginal references not so numerous as now. 16. Two distinct editions in 1611. 17. The style peculiar. 18. Various important editions since 1611. Pp. 48-58. 15. The Proposed Revision. 1. Fruitless efforts of 1856. 2. Resolution of Convocation of Canterbury, February, 1870. 3. Committee of sixteen appointed with power to add. 4. The whole number, fifty-two. 5. First meeting of the New Testament Company, June 22, 1870. 6. First meeting of the Old Testament Company, June 30, 1870. 7. Co-operation of American scholars through Dr. Schaff. 8. The American Company formed in 1872, and its first meeting held October 4. 9. Not designed to make a new translation, but a revision of the present. 10. General principles for the guidance of the revisers. 11. Numerous reasons for a revision. Pp. 58-62. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 77: P081 INDEX. ======================================================================== P081 INDEX. ÆLFRIC, 18. Aldhelm, 17. Aldred, 17. Alfred the Great, 17. Allen, Dr. William, 46. Andrewes, Dr. Launcelot, 50. Badius, Conrad, 40. Bancroft, Archbishop, 51. Bay Psalm Book, 63, 75. Bede, The Venerable, 17. Bedwell, William, 50. Beza, Theodore, 41, 43, 54. Bible: A.V.(1), 44, 46, 48, 58. Bishops’, 44, 51, 52, 53, 56, 64, 70, 72, 74. Bomberg’s Rabbinical, 14, 54. Chaldee, 12. Coverdale’s, 28, 29, 36, 52, 54, 69, 71, 73. Genevan, 42, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53, 64, 66, 70, 72, 74. German, 12. Great, 29, 35, 37, 41, 43, 44, 52, 70, 71, 74. Hebrew, 13, 14. Latin, 12. Matthew’s, 31, 35, 36, 39, 52, 63, 64, 69. Rheims and Douay, 46, 64, 71, 73, 75. Taverner’s, 34, 36, 70, 72, 74. Wycliffe’s, 19, 68. Bible-reading encouraged, 31, 32, 37, 39, 40, 46. Bibles: Cambridge, 57, 58, 65, 66. First printed, 62, 63. Manuscript, 15, 16, 21, 23, 62. Oxford, 57, 65, 66. Peculiar, 62. Biblia Pauperum, 15. Bilson, Bishop, 53. Bodleigh, John, 42. Bonner, Bishop, 39. Boyse, John, 51. "Breeches" Bible, 64. Bristow, Dr., 46. "Brothers in Christ," 23, 25. "Bug" Bible, 63. CÆDMON, 17. Calvin, John, 43. Cambridge University, 24, 31, 34, 44, 49, 50, 51, 53. Chadderton, Dr. Laurence, 50. Chapter-headings, 55. Christianity, Early, in Britain, 11. Cochlӕus, 25. ww Cole, Thomas, 42. Committees on Proposed Revision, 59, 60. Conference, Hampton Court Palace, 48. Convocation: 1408, 23. 1534, 29, 39. 1571, 46. 1856, 58. 1870, 58. Cost of Bibles, 23, 25. Council of Basle, 22. Constance, 22. Toulouse, 15. Coverdale, Miles, 28, 36, 42. Cranmer, Archbishop, 32, 37, 39. Cromwell, Thomas, 32, 35, 37, 39. Cuthbert Gospels, 17. Dramas, Religious, 15. Durham Book, 17, 67. Eadfrith, 17. Editions of A. V., Important, 57. Edward VI., 31, 32, 34, 41, 44. Elizabeth, Queen, 43, 44, 45. Erasmus, 14, 24, 54. Errors, Typographical, 65. Expenses of A. V., how provided, 53. Fisher, Bishop, 23. Francis I., 36. Friars, Mendicant, 19. Gilby, Anthony, 42. Goodman, Christopher, 42. Gospel of Mac Regol, 17. Grafton, 32, 36, 37. Grammar, First Hebrew, 14. Greek, 14. Greek. Study of, 14. Grey, Lady Jane, 38. Guthlac, 17. "HE" Bible, 56. Heath, Bishop, 39. Hebrew, Study of, 13. Henry VIII., 29, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44. (FN1) Authorized Version. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 78: P082 INDEX. ======================================================================== P082 Index. Holbein, Hans, 37. Holland, Dr. Thomas, 51. Huss, John, 22. JAMES I., 48, 49, 51, 53. Jerome, 12. Jerome of Prague, 22. Kilbye, Dr. Richard, 51. "Knave" Bible, 64. Knox, John, 41, 42. Landisfarne Gospels, 17. Legend, Golden, 16, 23. Lexicon, first Hebrew, 14 Greek, 14. Lively, Dr. Edward, 50. Lollards, 22. Martin, Gregory, 46. Martyrs: Cranmer, 38. During reign of Mary, 32. Rogers, 32. Sawtre, 22. Tyndale, 26. Mary, Queen, 32, 38, 44. Matthew, Thomas, 31. "Mirror of Salvation," 16. Monasteries broken up, 36. Munster, Sebastian, 41. Notes in A. V.: Chronological, 55, 57. Historical, 55, 57. Marginal, 55. Opposition to the English Bible, 15, 22, 23, 25, 26, 40. "Ormulum," 18, 67. Overall, Dr. John, 50. Oxford University, 19, 24, 34, 37, 40, 46, 49, 51, 53. Parker, Archbishop, 44. Persecutions, Papal, 22, 25, 26, 29, 34, 38, 41. Polyglot, Complutensian, 13, 14, 54. Popery, Opposition to, 19, 20, 22, 28, 31, 36. Prohibition of Scriptures, 15, 23, 31, 41 Psalms, Anglo-Norman, 18. Psaltery, Anglo-Saxon, 17. Pullain, John, 42. Punctuation of A. V., 55. Purvey, John, 21, 69. Quentel, Peter, 25. References, Marginal, 55. Reformation, Protestant, 24, 31, 36. Refugees, English, In Geneva, 41, 43. Revision, Proposed, 58. Committees on, 59, 60. Reasons for, 61. Rules for, 61. Reynolds, Dr., 46. Reynolds, Dr. John, 49, 50. Rogers, John, 31. Rolle, Richard, 18, 68. "Rosin" Bible, 64. Roye, William, 25. Rules for preparing A. V., 51. Rushworth Gloss, 17. Sampson, Thomas, 42. Saravia, Dr. Adrian de, 50. Saville, Sir Henry, 51. Sawtre, William, 22. Schorham, William de, 18. Scriptures, Original, that were used in A. V., 54. Seminary, Roman Catholic, In Flanders, 46. Septuagint, 11. "She" Bible, 56. Shoeffer, Peter, 25. Smith, Dr. Miles, 51, 53. "Sowlehele," 18, 68. Specimens of different Versions, 67. Statement, Synoptical, 76. Stephens’ Greek Testament, 42, 54. Style of A. V., 56. Tyndale, 27. Targums, 12. Taverner, Richard, 34. Testament, New: Genevan, 41. Greek, 14, 42, 54. Latin, 41, 42. Rheims, 47, 73, 75. Tyndale’s, 26, 30, 36, 41, 52, 54, 71, 73. Whittingham’s, 40, 43, 72, 74. Testament, Old: Douay, 47, 71. "To remain" Bible, 66. Translation, "Liberal," 58. Translations, Early, 16, 17, 67, 68. in other languages, 11, 12, 13. Tyndale’s O. T., 26, 36, 52, 69. Translators of A. V., 49. "Treacle" Bible, 64. Tunstall, Bishop, 25, 26, 39. Tyndale, William, 24. Type, Italic, Use of, 41, 54. Van Meteren, Jacob, 29, 32. Verses, distinguished by letters, 42. Numerals, 42. Version, Authorized, 48. Improved, 54. Vetus Itala, 12. "Vinegar" Bible, 66. Vulgate, 12, 46. Westminster, 49, 53. Whitchurch, 32, 37, 52. Whittingham, William, 40, 43. "Wicked" Bibles, 66, 67. Wolsey, Cardinal, 14, 35. Worthington, Dr., 46. Wycliffe, John, 19, 22, 24. ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/a-short-history-of-the-english-bible/ ========================================================================