The Tyndale Bible – 500 Years Since the First Printed English Bible
500 years ago, in 1526, William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536) published a New Testament in English. He also translated large portions of the Old Testament from Hebrew, and the full Bible was published in 1535 by his friend, Miles Coverdale, who translated the remaining portions.
Tyndale was not the first to translate the Bible into English – that accolade goes to John Wycliffe (c. 1328–1384). However, the only source material available to Wycliffe was the Latin Vulgate approved by the church, while Tyndale was able to draw directly from the Greek and Hebrew texts which had become available in Europe by his day. Despite it being a capital offence in England to translate the Bible into another language, both men risked their lives to do this work because they were strongly convicted that God’s Word should be accessible to all in their vernacular language.
Wycliffe was fortunate in being declared a heretic only 31 years after his death, but his remains were exhumed, burned and the ashes tossed into a river. Tyndale was declared a heretic while still living, and sentenced to be strangled to death, then his body burned. His final words, spoken at the stake, were reported to be: “Lord! Open the King of England's eyes!” Just two years later, his prayer was answered: King Henry VIII authorised the use of vernacular scripture in England.
Bible Translation – Once and Done?
You may ask: if the Bible had been translated into English already, was there a need for Tyndale to produce a new translation?
One strong reason was the value of having a translation directly from the Greek and Hebrew texts instead of one based on the Latin text. Another was the ability to take advantage of a modern invention – the printing press – to print and distribute a larger numbers of copies; Wycliffe’s bible had been laboriously hand-copied for distribution. Also, changes in the English language over the 150 years since Wycliffe’s translation made the older version difficult for the ordinary person to understand.
Here’s an example of Matthew 5:21 in three versions of the English Bible:
Date | Version | Text |
1382 | Wycliffe (Middle English) | Ye han herd that it was seid to elde men, Thou schalt not slee; and he that sleeth, schal be gilti to doom. |
1534 | Tyndale (Early Modern English) | Ye have herde howe it was sayd vnto the of ye olde tyme: Thou shalt not kyll. For whoso ever kylleth shall be in daunger of iudgemet. |
216 | KJV (Modern English) | You have heard that it was said by those of old times, “You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.” |
Tyndale’s Legacy
Both Wycliffe and Tyndale employed a literal theory of translation. When encountering words that did not have an equivalent in English, Wycliffe made use of Latin loanwords, though later versions were made more idiomatic. Tyndale, on the other hand, invented new words or phrases (e.g., fisherman, peacemakers, salt of the earth, filthy lucre). Tyndale has been credited with adding about the same number of words to the English language as Shakespeare did! The translators who began work on the King James version in 1604 incorporated 83% percent of Tyndale’s New Testament verbatim, and nearly as much of the Old Testament, cementing Tyndale’s influence on the English language today.
Why Remember Wycliffe and Tyndale?
Modern English-speaking Christians certainly owe a great debt of gratitude to men like Wycliffe and Tyndale who were willing to risk all to give ordinary people the Word of God in the language they understand best. Bible translators today continue this work, some in equally dangerous situations, in order to do the same.
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