Lesson 5 - Here Come the Bibles!

• So What's Wrong with Tyndale's Work?
• If not Tyndale, than Who?
• Coverdale's Bibles
• Enter Matthew's Bible
• Great Scott - the Great Bible

The 1530's are wonderful years for the English Bible and terrible years for royal wives, chancellors, and Bible translators. England entered this decade with -

• Henry VIII seeking a divorce from Catherine of Aragon
• Tyndale's English New Testament and Pentateuch flooding into England
• Sir Thomas More emotionally attacking Tyndale's work

When this decade ends

• Henry is married to Jane Seymour, his third wife
• Thomas More has been executed by Henry
• William Tyndale has been executed by the Catholic Church
• Four - count 'em! - four authorized English Bibles are being published in England

While all four English Bibles are based largely on Tyndale's work, none of them are published under his name!

So What's Wrong with Tyndale's Work?

Good question! And I have three good answers -

1. Its obvious connection with Luther's translation
2. The anti-Catholic sentiment of its marginal notes
3. The correct though anti-clerical translation of important words

First - the Lutheran Connection. Remember, Luther was personally blamed for the Peasant's war in Europe (1523-1524), European political upheavals, and the failure of the wine grape harvest five years in a row! So any Lutheran connection was the kiss of death in England. And there was a connection!

If you were to set Tyndale's New Testament next to Luther's New Testament, you'd see it in a minute. They look the same in format and they organize their contents in the same way - neither followed the traditional Vulgate sequence. Clearly Tyndale's work was "Lutheran" to the core, and thus unacceptable.

Second, Tyndale followed Luther in using the marginal notes to do more than explain the text. Consider his note on Numbers 23:8. The verse reads -

How shall I curse whom god curseth not?

Tyndale's marginal note reads -

The Pope can tell how!

Ouch!

If you think that was bad - how about his note on Deuternomy 23:18 which reads - Neither bring the hire of an whore nor the price of a dog in to the house of the Lord thy God. Tyndale's note says - The pope will take tribute of them yet and bishops, and abbots desire no better tenants. Now that's a zinger!

Third, Tyndale correctly translated several Greek terms, and the correct translation undermined the heirarchy of the Catholic Church. Consider -

• He used "repent" instead of "do penance." The former is accurate; the latter describes a detailed Church ritual.
• He used the term "senior" or "elder" when the Greek required it, rather than "priest," which is the translation of an entirely different term.
• He replaced "Charity," another term reflecting an involved Church ritual, with the more accurate "love."

Unfortunately, there was no way Henry could or would officially approve Tyndale's work.

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If not Tyndale, Then Who?

Miles Coverdale, that's who! He was a Tyndale disciple and had worked with him on his translation of the Pentateuch in Hamburg. During Henry's early pro-Catholic years he had stayed abroad "for his health." When the London winds started blowing out of the reformation quarter he returned to London where Thomas Cromwell, Henry's new Lord Chancellor, noticed him.

On December 15,1534 - remember, Tyndale dies on October 6, 1536 - the bishops of London, meeting in official Convocation, urge Henry to authorize the translation and publication of an English Bible. If they cannot stop Tyndale's infernal work from entering England, they can publish an "authorized" English Bible.

Thomas Cranmer, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas Cromwell, the new Chancellor, both urged the King to comply, and he agreed.

Now - who will do this work? Why, of course - Miles! Cromwell knew he had been working on one for a while, so he asked him to undertake the task. In the fall of 1535, when Tyndale is in the Vilvorde Castle awaiting trial, Coverdale finished the first edition of what we now call the Coverdale Bible.

Coverdale's Bibles

Coverdale was not a linguist like Tyndale. Fortunately, he knew this and didn't try to do an original translation. He had, however a poet's ear and an instinct for good English. He took Tynale's work, including some that had not been published, Luther's translation, and various Latin versions, and combined them into one English version.

Technically it was a compilation, not a translation, but it was the first complete English Bible produced in England! Some of his phrases still appear in our current versions -

• "The valley of the shadow of death"
• "Tender mercies"
• "Respect of persons"

Sharp-eyed readers gave his Bible an amusing nickname. Coverdale had translated Psalm 91:5 as - Thou shalt not need to be afraid for any "bugges" by night. Yep - people quickly named his Bible the "Bugs" Bible!

Miles also used the standard, i.e. Vulgate, ordering of the Biblical books, removed most of Tyndale's marginal notes and returned to more "EC" (ecclesiastically correct) terms such as "penance," "priest," and "charity."

Henry and the two Toms approved, as did the current Mrs. Henry. Ann Boleyn placed an open copy of Coverdale's Bible on a desk in court so all could read it, and Henry gave it his blessing for limited disribution.

The Convocation of Bishops, however, did not give its blessing for wide-scale distribution until 1537, two years after it was finished. During this two years, however, Coverdale was hard at work revising his original edition. His revision was also ready, so both recieved the go-ahead.

So, in the fall of 1537 England now had two authorized English versions of the Bible and more on the way!

All this less than one year after Tyndale's death!

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Enter Matthew's Bible

Remember Ann Boleyn and what happened to her? That's right - executed by Henry in 1536! And do you remember that she supported the Coverdale Bible? You've got it - the Coverdale Bible is destined for the museum. Even when the Convocation and Henry authorized it in 1537, it was politically incorrect.

Back in 1536 Thomas Cromwell realized that he'd need another translation fairly soon, one that was free from the taint of Ann's support. He also knew that another one was well underway. John Rogers, another of William Tyndale's disciples, was in Antwerp working on his own translation/compilation of Tyndale's work.

Tyndale never finished translating the complete Bible. He was only up to 2 Chronicles when he was executed. Rogers had access to his final translations and other unpublished works. He took these and combined them with the best of Coverdale and other versions. By the summer of 1537 he was finished.

He also added numerous marginal notes from a popular French Bible published in Geneva in 1533. While many of these helped English readers get through the difficult parts of the text, some of them clearly reflected Protestant viewpoints.

Cromwell knew about this project and fully supported it as an alternative to Coverdale's "approved by Ann" Bible. In July, 1537 Rogers sent Cromwell an advance copy. Although Rogers had Cromwell's support, he chose to publish the Bible under the pseudonym of "Matthew."

Yes - it was quickly known as "Matthew's" Bible

In August, 1537, Henry authorized it as well. Think of it! Less than one year after Tyndale's death, his translation is reproduced almost verbatim in, not one, but two complete English Bibles. Both of these, Coverdale's and Matthew's, are published under the protection of a license from the King himself!

1537 was a great year for Bibles and heirs! Henry authorizes two editions of Coverdale's Bible and the Matthew's Bible. Then, on October 12 of that year Jane Seymour presents Henry with Edward, his only son. Sadly, she dies in childbirth.

God may not have opened the King of England's eyes, as Tyndale prayed, but He certainly opened England to the light of God's word!

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Great Scott - the Great Bible!

How far had things swung toward the concept of the Bible in English?

Consider this - on September 3, 1538, less than two years after Tyndale dies, Henry charged the clergy of the church -

That ye shall provide, on this side of the feast of All Saints next coming, one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume in English, and the same set up in some convenient place within the said church that ye have cure of, whereas your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it.

The reference to the "largest volume" was to a folio edition - about 18 by 12 inches. This sounded like an official acceptance of Matthew's Bible as the standard, for Rogers printed it as a folio edition. Coverdale had opted for a quarto edition, about 12 by 8 inches.

Unfortunately Rogers, like Tyndale and Coverdale, included marginal notes to guide the readers through the Biblical narrative. These notes that reflected a Protestant viewpoint, something that really did not sit will with the ecclesiastical Powers-that-Be.

Nope - Roger's Protestant-oriented marginal notes made the Matthew's Bible unacceptable to the Church heirarchy and thus incapable of fulfilling Henry's decree. Thomas Cromwell realized that yet another version would be needed to meet this decree. So where to begin?

Why, with Miles Coverdale, of course!

Cromwell asked Coverdale to revise the Matthew's Bible so that it would meet the approval of the ecclesiastical Powers-that-Be. He also directed Coverdale to base his text on the Matthew's Bible (primarily Tyndale's work), consulting specific Latin texts as necessary.

Oh, yes, and no marginal notes!

In April, 1539, the "Great" Bible rolled off the presses to almost instant acclaim. It included both canonical and apocryphal books. It's sequence of content set the pattern for the Geneva and the King James Bible that would follow. The absence of marginal notes made it "ecclesiastically-neutral" enough for all concerned. Because Coverdale followed Tyndale's excellent translations its language was superb!

By royal injunction the "Great" Bible was the basis for the formal Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, and other standard liturgical recitations, including official church "lessons" and sermons.

Finally the English Bible achieved the kind of official, formal status that Tyndale envisioned when he began his work almost 20 years ago.

Check out the picture below me for a fascinating bit of politics - 16th century style! It's the wood cut that made the title page of the Great Bible and it tells an interesting political story. This is in McGrath, p. 96

Click on the thumbnail picture on the left to view a larger (100K) image. Before you do, look at the white circle on the right about half-way down. Rememer that place! First of all, picture people spoke in ribbons back then, not balloons like today. You'll see lots of ribbons, but may not be able to read the text - no matter, it's in Latin! In the larger image you'll see Henry VIII delivering the Bible to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer on the left who (middle left) hands it to the priests to deliver to the people. In the circle below Cranmer is his coat-of-arms for easy identification - by them, not you! On the top right Henry hands the Bible to Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Chancellor. He, in turn (middle right) hands it to the secular authorities. Below Cranmer and Cromwell are the people, happily crying "Viviat Rex" - Long live the king! The empty circle in the middle right? Well, Cromwell fell from Henry's grace and was executed in 1540, just a year after the king licensed the Great Bible. Rather than do a new wood cut, the printer simply removed Cromwell's coat-of-arms! This edition (1540) also came with a new title page that said - Oversene and perused at the commaundment of the Kynge's Hyghnes, by the ryghte reuerende fathers in God Cuthbert Bysshop of Duresme, and Nicholas Bisshop of Rochester. (Bruce, p. 71) Cuthbert? Yes- the same Cuthbert Tunstall whom Tyndale visited in 1524 to get permission to translate the Bible into English. Sixteen years later he, probably through gritted teeth, give his official blessing to the end result of Tyndale's efforts!

Lesson 6 - Still More Bibles!

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