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{{Short description|none}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2019}}
{{BibleHistory}} {{BibleHistory}}


More than 100 complete translations into ] have been produced.<ref>See ]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ: Why are there so many different translations of the Bible? |url=https://bib.irr.org/faq-why-are-there-so-many-different-translations-of-bible |website=Institute for Religious Research |access-date=29 September 2021 |language=en |date=17 May 2011}}</ref><ref>Taliaferro, Bradford B. ''Encyclopedia of English language Bible versions.'' McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013.</ref>
== Jewish translations ==
], especially passages read in the ] can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into ] and ].


== Old English ==
The first movement to make the Scripture
{{main|Old English Bible translations}}
speak the current tongue appeared nearly three
The Old English language started first from the Angle-Jute-Saxon invaders/settlers in the South and Eastern regions and evolved influenced by Anglo-Danish invaders/settlers in the North and Eastern ], to the extent that an ] around the year 1000 said the language of England was the same as Norway and Denmark.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hellem |first1=Hanna Dorthea |title=The level of Old Norse influence on the development of Middle English (Thesis) |date=2014 |publisher=University of Agder |url=https://uia.brage.unit.no/uia-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/223512/Hanna%20Dorthea%20Hellem%20oppgave.pdf}}</ref> It largely replaced the ] languages and residual Anglo-Latin-using pockets.
centuries before Christ. Most of the ]
then existed in ]. But the ]s had
scattered widely. Many had gathered in ]
where ] had founded the city
that bears his name. At one time a third of the
population of the city was Jewish. Many of
the people were passionately loyal to their religion and its sacred book. But the current
tongue there and through most of the civilized
world was ], and not Hebrew. As always,
there were some who felt that the Book and its
original language were inseparable. Others revealed
the disposition of which we spoke a moment
ago, and set out to make the Book speak
the current tongue. For one hundred and fifty
years the work went on, and what we call the
] was completed.


While there were no complete translations of the Bible in the Old English period, there were many translations of large portions during this time. Parts of the Bible were first translated from the ] by a few monks and scholars. Such translations were generally in the form of prose or as ]es (literal translations above the Latin words).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OnYqAwAAQBAJ|title=Murder of Richard Hunne London in the Early Reign of King Henry Viii|last=Hall|first=M. Clement|date=2011|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9781435791770|pages=60–61|language=en}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}
We owe still more to translation. While there
is accumulating evidence that there was spoken
in ] at that time a colloquial Greek, with
which most people would be familiar, it is yet
probable that ] spoke neither Greek
nor Hebrew currently, but ]. He knew
the Hebrew Scriptures, of course, as any well-
trained lad did; but most of his words have come
down to us in translation. His name, for example,
to his Hebrew mother, was not Jesus, but
Yeshua; and Jesus is the translation of the Hebrew
Yeshua into Greek. We have his words as they
were translated by his disciples into the Greek,
in which the ] was originally written.


Very few complete translations existed during that time. Most of the books of the Bible existed separately and were read as individual texts. Translations of the Bible often included the writer's own commentary on passages in addition to the literal translation.<ref name=":0" />
== Early Christian translations ==


], ] and ] (639–709), is thought to have written an Old English translation of the ].
By the time the writing of the New Testament
was completed, say one hundred years after
Christ, while Greek was still current speech, the
] was so dominant that the common
people were talking ] almost as much
as Greek, and gradually, because political power
was behind it, the Latin gained on the Greek,
and became virtually the speech of the common
people. The movement to make the Bible talk
the language of the time appeared again. It is
impossible to say now when the first translations
into Latin were made. Certainly there were
some within two centuries after Christ, and by
] C.E. a whole ] in ] was in circulation
in the Roman Empire. The translation
of the New Testament was from the Greek, of
course, but so was that of the Old Testament,
and the Latin versions of the Old Testament
were, therefore, translations of a translation. These translations generally came to be known as the '']''


] (''c.'' 672–735) produced a translation of the ] into Old English, which he is said to have prepared shortly before his death. This translation is lost; we know of its existence from Cuthbert of Jarrow's account of Bede's death.{{sfn|Dobbie|1937}}
There were so many of these versions, and
they were so unequal in value, that there was
natural demand for a Latin translation that
should be authoritative. So came into being
what we call the ], whose very name indicates
the desire to get the Bible into the vulgar
or common tongue. ] began by revising
the earlier Latin translations, but ended by going
back of all translations to the original Greek,
and back of the Septuagint to the original Hebrew
wherever he could do so. Fourteen years he
labored, settling himself in ], in Palestine,
to do his work the better. Barely four
hundred years (] C.E.) after the birth of
Christ his Latin version appeared. It met a
storm of protest for its effort to go back of
the Septuagint, so dominant had the translation
become. Jerome fought for it, and his version
won the day, and became the authoritative Latin
translation of the Bible.


In the 10th century an ] translation of the Gospels was made in the ]: a word-for-word gloss inserted between the lines of the Latin text by ], Provost of ].<ref name="sunderland">{{cite web |author=Published on Friday 22 September 2006 16:47 |url=http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/local/let_gospels_come_home_1_1124495 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204053016/http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/local/let_gospels_come_home_1_1124495 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |title=Let Gospels come home – All News |publisher=Sunderland Echo |date=2006-09-22 |access-date=2012-10-31 }}</ref> This is the oldest extant translation of the Gospels into an ].<ref name="sunderland" />
== Mediæval translations ==


The '']'' (also known as the ''West-Saxon Gospels'') are a full translation of the four ] into a West Saxon dialect of Old English. Produced in approximately 990, they are the first translation of all four gospels into English without the ] text.<ref name=":0" />
For seven or eight centuries it held its sway as the current version nearest to the tongue of the people. Latin had become the accepted tongue of the church. There was little general culture, there was little general acquaintance with the Bible except among the educated.


In the 11th century, Abbot ] translated much of the ] into Old English. The '']'' is an ] of the first six books of the Old Testament (the ]).
During all that time there was no real room for a further translation. Medieval ] was quite unripe for a Bible in the mother tongue; while the illiterate majority were in no condition to feel the want of such a book, the educated minority would be averse to so great and revolutionary a change.


== Middle English ==
When a man cannot read any writing it really does not matter to him whether books are in current speech or not, and the majority of the people for those seven or eight centuries could read nothing at all. Those who could read anything were apt to be able to read the Latin.
{{main|Middle English Bible translations}}
There are no known complete translations (]) from early in this period, when ] emerged after ] replaced ] (Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish) as the aristocratic and secular court languages (1066), with Latin still the religious, diplomatic, scientific and ecclesiastical court language, and with parts of the country still speaking Cornish, and perhaps Cumbric.


The ] is in Middle English of the 12th century. Like its Old English precursor from ], an abbot of Eynsham, it includes very little Biblical text, and focuses more on personal commentary. This style was adopted by many of the original English translators. For example, the story of the ] is almost 800 lines long, but fewer than 40 lines are in the actual translation of the text. An unusual characteristic is that the translation mimics Latin verse, and so is similar to the better known and appreciated 14th-century English poem '']''.<ref name=":0" />
These centuries added to the conviction of many that the Bible ought not to become too common, that it should not be read by everybody, that it required a certain amount of learning to make it safe reading. They came to feel that it is as important to have an authoritative interpretation of the Bible as to have the Bible itself. When the movement began to make it speak the new ], it provoked the most violent opposition. Latin had been good enough for a millennium; why cheapen the Bible by a translation? There had grown up a feeling that Jerome himself had been inspired. He had been canonized, and half the references to him in that time speak of him as the inspired translator.


] (1290–1349) wrote an English Psalter. Many religious works are attributed to Rolle, but it has been questioned how many are genuinely from his hand. Many of his works were concerned with personal devotion, and some were used by the ].<ref>{{Cite CE1913|id=13119a|title=Richard Rolle de Hampole}}</ref>
Criticism of his version was counted as impious and profane as criticisms of the original text could possibly have been. It is one of the ironies of history that the version for which Jerome had to fight, and which was counted a piece of impiety itself, actually became the ground on which men stood when they fought against another version, counting anything else but this very version an impious intrusion!


Theologian ] (c. 1320s–1384) is popularly credited with translating what is now known as Wycliffe's Bible, though it is not clear how much of the translation he himself did.<ref>Paul, William. 2003. "Wycliffe, John". ''English Language Bible Translators'', p.&nbsp;264. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland and Company</ref> Released in 1382, this was the first known complete translation of the Bible into English. This translation came out in two different versions. The earlier version ("EV") is characterised by a strong adherence to the word order of Latin, and is more difficult for native English speakers to comprehend. The later version ("LV") made more concessions to the native grammar of English.
How early the movement for an English Bible began, it is impossible now to say. Yet the fact is that until the last quarter of the fourteenth century there was no complete prose version of the Bible in the ]. Indeed, there was only coming to be an English language. It was gradually emerging, taking definite shape and form, so that it could be distinguished from the earlier ], ], and ], in which so much of it is rooted.


Around the same period there were several other translations, which partially survive, such as the ] ''Fortheenth Century Middle English New Testament''.
As soon as the language grew definite enough, it was inevitable that two things should come to pass. First, that some men would attempt to make a colloquial version of the Bible; and, secondly, that others would oppose it.


== John Wycliffe's Middle English translation == == Early Modern and Modern English ==
{{main|Early Modern English Bible translations|Modern English Bible translations}}


] in ] was where the first modern English ] was printed in England. (Note the error in the inscription: ]'s Bible, 1535 pre-dated this).]]
We are more concerned with the men who made the versions; but we must think a moment of the others. One of his contemporaries, Knighton, may speak for all in his saying of ], that he had, to be sure, translated the Gospel into the Anglic tongue, but that it had thereby been made vulgar by him, and more open to the reading of laymen and women than it usually is to the knowledge of lettered and intelligent clergy, and ''thus the pearl is cast abroad and trodden under the feet of swine''; and, that we may not be in doubt who are the swine, he adds: ''The jewel of the Church is turned into the common sport of the people.''


=== Early Modern English ===
But two strong impulses drive thoughtful men to any effort that will secure wide knowledge of the Bible. One is their love of the Bible and their belief in it; but the other, dominant then and now, is a sense of the need of their own time. Wiclif was impressed with the chasm that was growing between the church and the people, and felt that a wider and fuller knowledge of the Bible would be helpful for the closing of the chasm. It is a familiar remark that the cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy. Wiclif believed that the cure for the evils of religion is more religion, more intelligent religion. He found a considerable feeling that the best things in religion ought to be kept from most people, since they could not be trusted to understand them. His own feeling was that the best things in religion are exactly the things most people ought to know most about; that people had better handle the Bible carelessly, mistakenly, than be shut out from it by any means whatever. We owe the first English translation to a faith that the Bible is a book of emancipation for the mind and for the political life.
Early Modern English Bible translations are of between about 1500 and 1800, the period of ]. This was the first major period of Bible translation into the English language.


This period began with the introduction of the ].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxN1wn_fO5YC|title=God: Trail of Evidence: The Quest for the Truth|last=Outlaw|first=D. W.|date=2011|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=9781450294300|pages=139–140|language=en}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} The first complete edition of his New Testament was in 1526. ] used the Greek and Hebrew texts of the New Testament (NT) and Old Testament (OT) in addition to ]'s Latin translation. He was the first translator to use the ] – this enabled the distribution of several thousand copies of his New Testament translation throughout England. Tyndale did not complete his Old Testament translation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bible.org/seriespage/1-wycliffe-king-james-period-challenge|title=1. From Wycliffe to King James (The Period of Challenge)|website=Bible.org|language=en|others=William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536) and his New Testament (1525–1536)|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>
Wiclif set out to give the common people the full text of the Bible for their common use, and to encourage them not only in reading it, if already they could read, but in learning to read that they might read it. Tennyson compares the village of Lutterworth to that of Bethlehem, on the ground that if Christ, the Word of God, was born at Bethlehem, the Word of Life was born again at Lutterworth. The translation was from the Vulgate, and Wiclif probably did little of the actual work himself, yet it is all his work. And in 1382, more than five centuries ago, there appeared the first complete English version of the Bible. Wiclif made it the people's Book, and the English people were the first of the modern nations to whom the Bible as a whole was given in their own familiar tongue. Once it got into their hands they have never let it be taken entirely away.


The first printed English translation of the whole Bible was produced by ] in 1535, using Tyndale's work together with his own translations from the Latin Vulgate or German text. After much scholarly debate it is concluded that this was printed in Antwerp and the colophon gives the date as 4 October 1535. This first edition was adapted by Coverdale for his first "authorised version", known as the ], of 1539.
This work of Wiclif deserves the time we have given it because it asserted a principle for the English people. There was much yet to be done before entire freedom was gained. At Oxford, in the Convocation of 1408, it was solemnly voted: ''We decree and ordain that no man hereafter by his own authority translate any text of the Scripture into English, or any other tongue, by way of a book, pamphlet, or other treatise; but that no man read any such book, pamphlet, or treatise now lately composed in the time of John Wiclif ... until the said translation be approved by the orderly of
the place.'' But it was too late. It was already too late, twenty years after Wiclif's version was available, to stop the English people in their search for religious truth.


Other early printed versions were the ] published by ] in 1560.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzxfAAAAcAAJ&dq=sir+rowland+hill+bible+geneva+bible&pg=PP27 |title=The Holy Bible ... With a General Introduction and Short Explanatory Notes, by B. Boothroyd |date=1836 |publisher=James Duncan |language=en}}</ref> This version is notable for being the first Bible divided into verses and which negated the Divine Right of Kings; the ] (1568), which was an attempt by ] to create a new authorised version; and the ] of 1611.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/King-James-Version|title=King James Version {{!}} History & Background|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>
== Impact of humanist scholarship ==


The first complete ] Bible in English was the ], of which the New Testament portion was published in ] in 1582 and the Old Testament somewhat later in ] in ]. The Old Testament was completed by the time the New Testament was published but, due to extenuating circumstances and financial issues, it was not published until nearly three decades later, in two editions: the first released in 1609, and the rest of the OT in 1610. In this version, the seven ] are amongst the other books, as in the Latin ], rather than kept separate in an appendix.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Douai-Reims-Bible|title=Douai-Reims Bible {{!}} Roman Catholic Bible|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>
In the century just after the Wiclif translation,
two great events occurred which bore
heavily on the spread of the Bible. One was
the revival of learning, which made popular
again the study of the classics and the classical
languages. Critical and exact Greek scholarship
became again a possibility. Under the influence of
] and his kind, with their new insistence
on classical learning, there came necessarily a
new appraisal of the Vulgate as a translation
of the original Bible. For a thousand years
there had been no new study of the original
Bible languages in Europe. The Latin of the
Vulgate had become as sacred as the Book itself.
But the revival of learning threw scholarship
back on the sources of the text. Erasmus
and others published versions of the Greek
Testament which were disturbing to the Vulgate
as a final version.


=== Modern English ===
The other great event of that same century
While early English Bibles were generally based on a small number of Greek texts, or on Latin translations, modern English translations of the Bible are based on a wider variety of manuscripts in the original languages, mostly Greek and Hebrew.
was the invention of ] with movable
type. It was in ] that ] printed
his first book, an edition of the Vulgate, now
called the Mazarin Bible. One can see instantly
how printing affected the use of the Bible. It made it
worth while to learn to read--there would be
something to read. It made it worth while to
write--there would be some one to read what
was written.


The translators put much scholarly effort into cross-checking the various sources such as the ], ], and ]. Relatively recent discoveries such as the ] provide additional reference information. Some controversy has existed over which texts should be used as a basis for translation, as some of the alternate sources do not include phrases (or sometimes entire verses) which are found only in the Textus Receptus.<ref name="ReferenceA">See the ''New International Version'', the ''Revised Standard Version'', The ''New King James Version'' and the ''New American Standard Version'' of the Bible.</ref>
== William Tyndale ==


Some<ref name=":1" /> say the alternate sources were poorly representative of the texts used in their time, whereas others<ref name=":1" /> claim the Textus Receptus includes passages that were added to the alternate texts improperly. These controversial passages are not the basis for disputed issues of doctrine: they tend to be additional stories or snippets of phrases.<ref name=":1" /> Many modern English translations, such as the ], contain limited text notes indicating where differences occur in original sources.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
One hundred years exactly after the death of
Wiclif, ] was born. He was
eight years old when Columbus discovered
America. He had already taken a degree at
Oxford, and was a student in Cambridge when
Luther posted his theses at Wittenburg.


A somewhat greater number of textual differences are noted in the ], indicating hundreds of New Testament differences between the ], the ], and the Hodges edition of the ]. The differences in the Old Testament are less well documented, but they do contain some references to differences between consonantal interpretations in the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint. Even with these hundreds of differences, however, a more complete listing is beyond the scope of most single-volume Bibles.
But he came at a troubled time. The new
learning had no power to deepen or strengthen
the moral life of the people. It could not make
religion a vital thing. Morality and religion
were far separated. The priests and curates
were densely ignorant. And, as a century before, Wiclif had felt the
social need for a popular version of the Bible,
so William Tindale felt it now. In one of his writings he
says: ''If you will not let the layman have the
word of God in his mother tongue, yet let the
priests have it, which for the great part of
them do understand no Latin at all, but sing
and patter all day with the lips only that which
the heart understandeth not.'' So bad was
the case that it was not corrected within a whole
generation. Forty years after Tindale's version
was published, the Bishop of Gloucester,
Hooper by name, made an examination of the
clergy of his diocese. There were 311 of them.
He found 168, more than half, unable to repeat
the Ten Commandments; 31 who did not even
know where they could be found; 40 who could
not repeat the Lord's Prayer; and nearly as
many who did not know where it originated;
yet they were all in regular standing as clergy
in the diocese of Gloucester. The need was
keen enough.


=== Individual translations ===
About ] Tindale began to cast the Scriptures
{{Bible related}}
into the current English. He set out to
London fully expecting to find support and
encouragement there, but he found neither. He
found, as he once said, that there was no room
in the palace of the Bishop of London to translate
the New Testament; indeed, that there was
no place to do it in all England. A wealthy
London merchant subsidized him with the munificent
gift of ten pounds, with which he went
across the Channel to Hamburg; and there and
elsewhere on the Continent, where he could be hid,
he brought his translation to completion. Printing
facilities were greater on the Continent than
in England; but there was such opposition to
his work that very few copies of the several
editions of which we know can still be found.
Tindale was compelled to flee at one time with
a few printed sheets and complete his work on
another press. Several times copies of his books
were solemnly burned, and his own life was frequently
in danger.


While most Bible translations are made by committees of scholars in order to avoid bias or idiosyncrasy, translations are sometimes made by individuals. The following, selected translations are largely the work of individual translators:
There is one amusing story which tells how
* Noah ] (1833),
money came to free Tindale from heavy debt
* ] (1862),
and prepare the way for more Bibles. The
* ] by Benjamin Wilson (1864),
Bishop of London, Tunstall, was set on destroying
* ] (1876), "''Translated Literally''",
copies of the English New Testament. He
* J.N. Darby's ] (1890),
therefore made a bargain with a merchant of
* Five Pauline Epistles, New Translation (1900) by William Gunion Rutherford,
Antwerp, Packington, to secure them for him.
* Bryant Rotherham's ] (1902),
Packington was a friend of Tindale, and went
* Modern Reader's Bible (1914) by ] (1918)
to him forthwith, saying: "William, I know
* ]'s ''The Centenary Translation'' (1924)
thou art a poor man, and I have gotten thee a
* ] translated ] (1933)
merchant for thy books." "Who?" asked Tindale.
* S. H. Hooke's The ] (1949),
"The Bishop of London." "Ah, but
* ] (1950),
he will burn them." "So he will, but you will
* ] (1958),
have the money." And it all came out as it
* Verkuyl's ] (1959),
was planned; the Bishop of London had the
* Holy Name Bible containing the Holy Name Version of the Old and New Testaments (1963) by ],
books, Packington had the thanks, Tindale had
* ] (1971) by Kenneth N. Taylor,
the money, the debt was paid, and the new
* ] (1972) by Stephen T. Byington,
edition was soon ready. The Bishop
* Jay P. ] (1985),
thought he had God by the toe when, indeed,
* ] (1989),
he found afterward that he had the devil by
* The ] (1998) by Dr. ],
the fist.
* American King James Version (1999) by Michael Engelbrite,
* ]'s ] (2002),
* The Original Aramaic Bible in Plain English (2010) by David Bauscher,
* Father Nicholas King's translation of the Greek Bible into English.
* (2017, 2023) by ]
* ] (2018) by ]


Others, such as ], have translated portions of the Bible.
The final revision of the Tindale translations
was published in ], and that becomes the
notable year of his life. In two years he was
put to death by strangling, and his body was
burned. When we remember that this was
done with the joint power of Church and State,
we realize some of the odds against which he
worked.


=== Jewish translations ===
Spite of his odds, however, Tindale is the real
{{main|Jewish English Bible translations}}
father of our ]. About eighty
Jewish English Bible translations are ] that include the books of the ] (]) according to the ], and according to the traditional division and order of ], ], and ].
per cent. of his Old Testament and ninety per
cent. of his New Testament have been transferred
to our version. In the Beatitudes, for
example, five are word for word in the two versions,
while the other three are only slightly
changed. The peculiar genius which breathes
through it, the mingled tenderness and majesty,
the Saxon simplicity, the preternatural grandeur,
unequaled, unapproached, in the attempted
improvements of modern scholars, all are here,
and bear the impress of the mind of one man,
William Tindale.


Jewish translations often also reflect traditional Jewish interpretations of the Bible, as opposed to the Christian understanding that is often reflected in non-Jewish translations. For example, Jewish translations translate עלמה ''‘almâh'' in ] as ''young woman'', while many Christian translations render the word as ''virgin''.
The revisers of ] declared that while the
KJV was the work of many hands, the foundation
of it was laid by Tindale, and that the versions that
followed it were substantially reproductions of
Tindale's, or revisions of versions which were
themselves almost entirely based on it.


While modern biblical scholarship is similar for both Christians and Jews, there are distinctive features of Jewish translations, even those created by academic scholars. These include the avoidance of Christological interpretations, adherence to the ] (at least in the main body of the text, as in the new ] (JPS) translation) and greater use of classical Jewish exegesis. Some translations prefer names transliterated from the Hebrew, though the majority of Jewish translations use the Anglicized forms of biblical names.
There was every reason why it should be a
worthy version. For one thing, it was the first
translation into English from the original ]
and ]. Wiclif's had been from the
Latin. For Tindale there were available two
new and critical Greek Testaments, that of
Erasmus and the so-called Complutensian,
though he used that of Erasmus chiefly. There
was also available a carefully prepared Hebrew
Old Testament. For another thing, it was the
first version which could be printed, and so be
subject to easy and immediate correction and
revision. Then also, Tindale himself was a
great scholar in the languages. Nor was his spirit
in the work controversial. I say his "spirit in
the work" with care. They were controversial
times, and Tindale took his share in the verbal
warfare. When, for example, there was objection
to making any English version because
"the language was so rude that the Bible could
not be intelligently translated into it," Tindale
replied: "It is not so rude as they are false
liars. For the Greek tongue agreeth more with
the English than with the Latin, a thousand
parts better may it be translated into the English
than into the Latin." And when a high
church dignitary protested to Tindale against
making the Bible so common, he replied: "If
God spare my life, ere many years I will cause
a boy that driveth a plow shall know more of
the Scriptures than thou dost." And while that
was not saying much for the plowboy, it was
saying a good deal to the dignitary. In language,
Tindale was controversial enough, but
in his spirit, in making his version, there was no
element of controversy. For such reasons as
these we might expect the version to be valuable.


The first English Jewish translation of the Bible into English was by ] in the 19th century.
All this while, and especially between the time
when Tindale first published his New Testament
and the time they burned him for doing so, an
interesting change was going on in England.
The King was Henry VIII., who was by no means
a willing Protestant. As Luther's work appeared,
it was this same Henry who wrote the
pamphlet against him during the Diet of Worms,
and on the ground of this pamphlet, with its
loyal support of the Church against Luther, he
received from the Roman pontiff the title "Defender
of the Faith," which the kings of England
still wear. And yet under this king this
strange succession of dates can be given. Notice
them closely. In ] Tindale's New Testament
was burned at St. Paul's by the Bishop of
London; ten years later, ], Tindale himself
was burned with the knowledge and connivance
of the English government; and yet, one year
later, ], two versions of the Bible in English,
three-quarters of which were the work of Tindale,
were licensed for public use by the King
of England, and were required to be made available
for the people! What brought this about?


The JPS produced two of the most popular Jewish translations, namely the ] and the ] (first printed in a single volume in 1985, second edition in 1999).
Three facts help to explain it. First, thoughtful
opinion wanted the Bible made available,
and at a convention of bishops and university
men the King was requested to secure the issuance
of a proper translation. Secondly, the
people wanted it, the more because it would
gratify their English instinct of independent
judgment in matters of religion. Thirdly, the
King granted it without yielding his personal
religious position, in assertion of his human
sovereignty within his own realm.


Since the 1980s there have been multiple efforts among Orthodox publishers to produce translations that are not only Jewish, but also adhere to Orthodox norms. Among these are ] by ] and others, the ] and other portions in an ongoing project by ], and the ] Tanakh.
== The Great Bible: the first "authorised version" ==


== Approaches to translation ==
There appeared what is known as the ] in ]. It was made by ], and
{{See also|Dynamic and formal equivalence}}
much influenced by Tindale.


Modern translations take different approaches to the rendering of the original languages of approaches. The approaches can usually be considered to be somewhere on a scale between the two extremes:
The Great Bible was issued to meet a decree that each
* ] (sometimes called ]) in which the greatest effort is made to preserve the meaning of individual words and phrases in the original, with relatively less regard for its understandability by modern readers. Examples include the ], ], ], ], ] and ].
church should make available in some convenient
* ] (or functional equivalence, sometimes ] translation) in which the translator attempts to render the sense and intent of the original. Examples include ] and ].
place the largest possible copy of the
whole Bible, where all the parishioners could
have access to it and read it at their will. The
version gets its name solely from the size of
the volume. That decree dates ], twelve
years after Tindale's books were burned, and
two years after he was burned! The installation
of these great books caused tremendous
excitement--crowds gathered everywhere. Bishop
Bonner caused six copies of the great volume
to be located wisely throughout St. Paul's. He
found it difficult to make people leave them
during the sermons. He was so often interrupted
by voices reading to a group, and by the
discussions that ensued, that he threatened to
have them taken out during the service if people
would not be quiet. The Great Bible appeared
in seven editions in two years, and
continued in recognized power for thirty years.
Much of the present English prayer-book is
taken from it.


Some translations have been motivated by a strong theological distinctive. In the ] the conviction that God's name be preserved in a Semitic form is followed. The ] promotes the idea that Jesus and early Christians drink grape juice not wine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.biblecollectors.org/reviews/purified_translation.htm|title=The New Testament: A Purified Translation|website=www.biblecollectors.org|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref> The ]' '']'' renders the ] as ''Jehovah'' throughout the Old Testament, and it uses the form ''Jehovah'' in the New Testament including — but not limited to — passages quoting the Old Testament even though it does not appear in the Greek text.
But this liberty was so sudden that the people
naturally abused it. Henry became vexed
because the sacred words "were disputed, rimed,
sung, and jangled in every ale-house." There
had grown up a series of wild ballads and ribald
songs in contempt of "the old faith,"
while it was not really the old faith which was
in dispute, but only foreign control of English
faith. They had mistaken Henry's meaning.
So Henry began to put restrictions on the use
of the Bible. There were to be no notes or
annotations in any versions, and those that
existed were to be blacked out. Only the upper
classes were to be allowed to possess a Bible.
Finally, the year before his death, all versions
were prohibited except the Great Bible, whose
cost and size precluded secret use. The decree
led to another great burning of Bibles in ] --
Tindale, Coverdale, Matthew--all but the Great
Bible. The leading religious reformers took
flight and fled to European Protestant towns
like Frankfort and Strassburg. But the Bible
remained. Henry VIII. died. The Bible lived on.


=== Single source translations ===
Under ], the regency cast off all
While most translations attempt to synthesize the various texts in the original languages, some translations also translate one specific textual source, generally for scholarly reasons. A single volume example for the Old Testament is ''The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible'' ({{ISBN|0-06-060064-0}}) by Martin Abegg, Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich.
restrictions on translation and publication of the Bible.
The order for a Great Bible in every church was
renewed, and there was to be added to it a copy
of Erasmus's paraphrase of the four gospels.
Nearly fifty editions of the Bible, in whole or in part,
appeared in those six years.


''The Comprehensive New Testament'' ({{ISBN|978-0-9778737-1-5}}) by T. E. Clontz and J. Clontz presents a scholarly view of the New Testament text by conforming to the Nestle-Aland 27th edition and extensively annotating the translation to fully explain different textual sources and possible alternative translations.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rice |first=Joyce |title=The Comprehensive New Testament |date= 9 January 2009 |publisher=Forewordreviews.com |type=Book review |url=https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-comprehensive-new-testament/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317033704/https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-comprehensive-new-testament/ |archive-date=2014-03-17 |access-date=2012-10-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Haines |first= Alastair |title=The Comprehensive New Testament, Clontz, T. E. and J. Clontz, editors |url=http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6583&CodePage=6583 |format=PDF |date=17 October 2009 |publisher=Review of Biblical Literature |type=Book review |access-date=2012-10-31}}</ref>
== The Geneva Bible ==


''A Comparative Psalter'' ({{ISBN|0-19-529760-1}}) edited by John Kohlenberger presents a comparative diglot translation of the Psalms of the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint, using the Revised Standard Version and the New English Translation of the Septuagint.
And that was fortunate, for then came Mary
--and the deluge. Of course, she again gave in
the nominal allegiance of England to the Roman
control. But she utterly missed the spirit of
the people. They were weary with the excesses
of rabid Protestantism; but they were by no
means ready to admit the principle of foreign
control in religious matters.


R. A. ] into English is another example of a single source translation.
So the secret use of the Bible increased. Martyr
fires were kindled, but by the light of them the
people read their Bibles more eagerly. And this
very persecution led to one of the best of the
early versions of the Bible, indirectly even to
the King James version.


=== Alternative approaches ===
The flower of English Protestant scholarship
Most translations make the translators' best attempt at a single rendering of the original, relying on footnotes where there might be alternative translations or textual variants. An alternative is taken by the ]. In cases where a word or phrase admits of more than one meaning the Amplified Bible presents all the possible interpretations, allowing the reader to choose one. For example, the first two verses of the Amplified Bible read:
was driven into exile, and found its way to
<blockquote>
Frankfort and Geneva again. There the spirit
In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void ''or'' a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep . The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=1&version=45 |title=Genesis 1 AMP - In the beginning God (prepared, formed |publisher=Bible Gateway |access-date=2012-10-31}}</ref>
of scholarship was untrammeled; there they
</blockquote>
found material for scholarly study of the Bible,
and there they made and published a new version
of the Bible in English, by all means the
best that had been made. In later years, under
Elizabeth, it drove the Great Bible off the field
by sheer power of excellence. During her reign
sixty editions of it appeared. This was the version
called the ]. It made several
changes that are familiar to us. For one thing,
in the Genevan edition of ] first appeared
our familiar division into verses. The chapter
division was made three centuries earlier; but
the verses belong to the Genevan version, and
are divided to make the Book suitable for
responsive use and for readier reference. It was
taken in large part from the work of Robert
Stephens, who had divided the Greek Testament
into verses, ten years earlier, during a journey
which he was compelled to make between Paris
and Lyons. The Genevan version also abandoned
the old black letter, and used the Roman
type with which we are familiar. It had full
notes on hard passages, which notes, as we shall
see, helped to produce the King James version.
The work itself was completed after the accession
of Elizabeth, when most of the religious leaders
had returned to England from their exile under Mary.


== Elizabeth I == == Popularity in US ==
The ] release monthly and annual statistics regarding the popularity of different Bibles sold by their members in the United States. In 2023, the top 10 best-selling translations were the following:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Translations Bestsellers, Best of 2023 |url=https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=BO23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124054309/https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=BO23 |archive-date=January 24, 2024 |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=Christian Book Expo}}</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=35em|
# ]
# ]
# ]
# ]
# ]
# ]
# ] (Spanish)
# ]
# ]
# ]
}}
Sales are affected by denomination and religious affiliation. For example, the most popular ] would not compete with rankings of a larger audience. Sales data can be affected by the method of marketing. Some translations are directly marketed to particular denominations or local churches, and many Christian booksellers only offer ]s, so books in other ]s (such as ] and ] Bibles) may not appear as high on the CBA rank.


A study published in 2014 by The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University and Purdue University found that Americans read versions of the Bible as follows:<ref>Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra for Christianity Today. March 13, 2014 </ref><ref>Philip Goff, Arthur E. Farnsley II, ]. March 6, 2014 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530005014/http://www.raac.iupui.edu/files/2713/9413/8354/Bible_in_American_Life_Report_March_6_2014.pdf |date=2014-05-30 }}</ref>{{rp|12–15}}
] herself was not an ardent Protestant,
not ardent at all religiously, but an ardent
Englishwoman. She understood her people, and
while she prided herself on being the "Guardian
of the Middle Way," she did not make the
mistake of submitting her sovereignty to foreign
supervision. She had no wish to offend other
Catholic powers; but she was determined to
develop a strong national spirit and to allow
religious differences to exist if they would be peaceful.


# ] (55%)
Presently it was found that two versions of
# ] (19%)
the Bible were taking the field, the old Great
# ] (7%)
Bible and the new Genevan Bible. On all
# ] (6%)
accounts the Genevan was the better and was
# ] (5%)
driving out its rival. Yet there could be no
# All other translations (8%)
hope of gaining the approval of Elizabeth for
the Genevan Bible. For one thing, John Knox
had been a party to its preparation; so had
Calvin. Elizabeth detested them both, especially
Knox. For another thing, its notes were not
favorable to royal sovereignty, but smacked so
much of popular government as to
be offensive. For another thing, though it had been
made in a foreign land, and was under suspicion
on that account.


== The Bishops' Bible == == See also ==
* ]


== References ==
The result was that Elizabeth's
{{Reflist}}
archbishop, Parker, set out to have an authorized
version made, selected a revision committee,
with instructions to follow wherever
possible the Great Bible, to avoid bitter notes,
and to make such a version that it might be
freely, easily, and naturally read. The result
is known as the ]. It was issued
in Elizabeth's tenth year (]), but there is
no record that she ever noticed it, though Parker
sent her a copy from his sick-bed. The Bishops'
Bible shows the influence of the Genevan
Bible in many ways, though it gives no credit
for that. It is not of equal merit; it was expensive,
too cumbersome, and often unscholarly.
Only its official standing gave it life, and after
forty years, in nineteen editions, it was no longer
published.


== The Douai-Rheims Version == == Further reading ==
* Esposito, Raffaele. . ''Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics''. Ed. by Geoffrey Khan. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2013, vol. 3, pp.&nbsp;847–850 {{ISBN|978-9004176423}}.
* Daniell, David. ''The Bible in English: Its History and Influence''. Yale University Press, 2003 {{ISBN|0-300-09930-4}}.
* {{citation |last=Dobbie |first=E. Van Kirk |title=The Manuscripts of Caedmon's Hymn and Bede's Death Song with a Critical Text of the Epistola Cuthberti de obitu Bedae |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1937 |oclc=188505}}
* Fowler, David C. ''The Bible in Early English Literature''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976.
* Grabois, Aryeh. "Bible: Biblical Impact on Daily Life." ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Vol 2''. Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983.
* Lawton, David. “Englishing the Bible, 1066–1549.” ''The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature''. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999, pp.&nbsp;454–482.
* Levy, Bernard S. Preface. ''The Bible in the Middle Ages: Its Influence on Literature and Art''. Ed. Bernard S. Levy. New York: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1992.
* Maas, A.J.. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.
* Paul, William. "Wycliffe, John.” ''English Language Bible Translators''. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland and Company, 2003, pp.&nbsp;263–264.
* Muir, Laurence. "Translations and Paraphrases of the Bible and Commentaries." ''A Manual of the Writings in Middle English: 1050–1500''. Ed. J. Burke Severs. Connecticut: The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1970, vol 2, pp.&nbsp;381–409.
* ''The New Testament Octapla: Eight English Versions of the New Testament, in the Tyndale-King James Tradition'', ed. by ]. New York: T. Nelson & Sons, 1962. ''N.B''.: The eight English translations of the entire N.T. included (on quarter portions of facing pages) are those of the Bibles in English known as Tyndale's, Great Bible, Geneva Bible, Bishops' Bible, Douay-Rheims (the original Rheims N.T. thereof being included), Great Bible, Authorized "King James", Revised Version, and Revised Standard Version.
* Spencer, Nick. ''Freedom and Order: History, politics and the English Bible''. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2011.
* Taliaferro, Bradford B. ''Bible Version Encyclopedia''. Lulu Enterprises, 2006–2007.
* ], "A Wild and Indecent Book" (review of ], ''The New Testament: A Translation'', ], 577 pp.), '']'', vol. LXV, no. 2 (8 February 2018), pp.&nbsp;34–35. Discusses some pitfalls in interpreting and translating the ].
*Kunst, RC. “The Structure of Translation and Hermeneutics” (Oxford Articles 2015).{{full citation needed|date=March 2020}}


== External links ==
Naming one other English version will complete
{{EB1911 poster|Bible, English}}
the series of facts necessary for the consideration
*
of the forming of the ].
* '''' digital collection, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
It will be remembered that all the
* in ]
English versions of the Bible thus far mentioned
* A collection of links on , mainly from a perspective opposing Gender-Neutral translations.
were the work of men either already out of favor
* "", an article comparing literal and dynamically equivalent translations from a retailer of and with a bias for the ]
with the Roman pontiff, or speedily put out of
* , with links to historic bibles
favor on that account. That fact
*
seemed to many loyal Roman churchmen to
* {{cite book|title=Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of Holy Scripture (Vol. I, English editions)|author1=Darlow, T. H.|author2=Moule, H. F.|location=London|publisher=The Bible House|year=1903|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalcatal01librgoog}}
put the Church in a false light. So there came about the
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Bible, Curious Editions of|year=1905 |short=x}}
Douai version, instigated by Gregory Martin,
and prepared in some sense as an answer to the
Genevan version and its strongly anti-papal
notes. It was the work of English scholars connected
with the University of Douai. The New
Testament was issued at Rheims in ], and
the whole Bible in ], just before the King
James version. It is made, not from the Hebrew
and the Greek, though it refers to both,
but from the Vulgate. The result is that the
Old Testament of the Douai version is a translation
into English from the Latin, which in
large part is a translation into Latin from the
Greek Septuagint, which in turn is a translation
into Greek from the Hebrew. Yet scholars are
scholars, and it shows marked influence of the
Genevan version, and, indeed, of other English
versions. Its notes were strongly anti-Protestant,
and in its preface it explains its existence
by saying that Protestants have been guilty
of "casting the holy to dogs and pearls to hogs."


{{English Bible translation navbox}}
The version is not in the direct line of the
{{Books of the Bible}}
ascent of the familiar version, and needs no
elaborate description. Its purpose was controversial;
it did not go to available sources;
its English was not colloquial, but ecclesiastical.
For example, in the Lord's Prayer we read:
"Give us this day our supersubstantial bread,"
instead of "our daily bread." In Hebrews xiii:
17, the version reads, "Obey your prelates and
be subject unto them." In Luke iii:3, John
came "preaching the baptism of penance." In
Psalm xxiii:5, where we read, "My cup runneth
over," the Douai version reads, "My chalice
which inebriateth me, how goodly it is."
There is a careful retention of ecclesiastical
terms, and an explanation of the passages on
which Protestants had come to differ rather
sharply from their Roman brethren, as in the
matter of the taking of the cup by the people,
and elsewhere.


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bible translations into English}}
Yet it is only fair to remember that this much
]
answer was made to the versions which were
]
preparing the way for the greatest version of
them all, and when the time came for the making
of that version, and the helps were gathered
together, the Douai was frankly placed among
them. It is a peculiar irony of fate that while
the purpose of Gregory Martin was to check
the translation of the Bible by the Protestants,
the only effect of his work was to advance and
improve that translation.

== The King James Bible ==

At last, the way was cleared for a free and open setting of
the Bible into English. The way had been
beset with struggle, marked with blood, lighted
by martyr fires. Wiclif and Purvey, Tindale
and Coverdale, the refugees at Geneva and the
Bishops at London, all had trod that way.
Kings had fought them or had favored them;
it was all one; they had gone on. Loyal zest
for their Book and loving zeal for the common
people had held them to the path. Now it
had become a highway open to all men. And
right worthy were the feet which were soon
treading it.

==Editorial note: status and critique of the above article==
<small>
This article originated as an excerpt from "The Study of the ] by ] (1866-1944), first published 1912. McAfee's whole text is available online at http://www.gutenberg.org/index/by-author/mc0.html . The present text is now being edited for compatibility with Misplaced Pages's standards and other articles, and will come to differ from McAfee's original; some notes about difficulties with McAfee's text will be found at the end of the article.

There are '''factual errors''' in this account, which presents an early ] ] view of the history of bible translation.

1. There were vernacular translations of parts of the Bible in England prior to Wycliffe; these were into both ] and ].

2. The Church objected to the Wycliffe and Tyndale translations because in their belief purposeful mistranslations had been introduced to the works in order to promote ] and heretical views.] accused Tyndale of evil purpose in corrupting and changing the words and sense of Scripture &#8220;from the good and holsom doctryne of Criste to the deuylysh heresyes of theyr own.&#8221; Specifically, he charged Tyndale with mischief in changing three key words throughout the whole of his Testament, such that &#8220;priest,&#8221; &#8220;church,&#8221; and &#8220;charity&#8221; of customary Roman Catholic usage became in Tindale&#8217;s translation &#8220;elder,&#8221; &#8220;congregation,&#8221; and &#8220;love.&#8221;

3. The Church also objected to Wycliffe and Tyndale's translations because they included notes and commentaries promoting antagonism to the Catholic Church and heretical doctrines, particularly, in Tyndale's case, ].

4. Translation of the bible into the vernacular was never forbidden by the Catholic Church. However 'unauthorised' translations were forbidden.

5. Tyndale was executed in the Netherlands, and he was not executed for his translation of the bible, as this article alleges. He was executed on unrelated charges of teaching Lutheranism.

6. Tyndale did not have copies of "original" Hebrew texts. In fact the quality of the Hebrew documents was poor, since no original Hebrew sources earlier than the 10th Century had survived
</small>

Latest revision as of 03:42, 30 November 2024

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The Bible in English
Main category: Bible translations into English Bible portal

More than 100 complete translations into English languages have been produced. Translations of Biblical books, especially passages read in the Liturgy can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English.

Old English

Main article: Old English Bible translations

The Old English language started first from the Angle-Jute-Saxon invaders/settlers in the South and Eastern regions and evolved influenced by Anglo-Danish invaders/settlers in the North and Eastern Danelaw, to the extent that an Icelandic saga around the year 1000 said the language of England was the same as Norway and Denmark. It largely replaced the Neo-Brittonic languages and residual Anglo-Latin-using pockets.

While there were no complete translations of the Bible in the Old English period, there were many translations of large portions during this time. Parts of the Bible were first translated from the Latin Vulgate by a few monks and scholars. Such translations were generally in the form of prose or as interlinear glosses (literal translations above the Latin words).

Very few complete translations existed during that time. Most of the books of the Bible existed separately and were read as individual texts. Translations of the Bible often included the writer's own commentary on passages in addition to the literal translation.

Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne and Abbot of Malmesbury (639–709), is thought to have written an Old English translation of the Psalms.

Bede (c. 672–735) produced a translation of the Gospel of John into Old English, which he is said to have prepared shortly before his death. This translation is lost; we know of its existence from Cuthbert of Jarrow's account of Bede's death.

In the 10th century an Old English translation of the Gospels was made in the Lindisfarne Gospels: a word-for-word gloss inserted between the lines of the Latin text by Aldred, Provost of Chester-le-Street. This is the oldest extant translation of the Gospels into an English language.

The Wessex Gospels (also known as the West-Saxon Gospels) are a full translation of the four gospels into a West Saxon dialect of Old English. Produced in approximately 990, they are the first translation of all four gospels into English without the Latin text.

In the 11th century, Abbot Ælfric translated much of the Old Testament into Old English. The Old English Hexateuch is an illuminated manuscript of the first six books of the Old Testament (the Hexateuch).

Middle English

Main article: Middle English Bible translations

There are no known complete translations (pandects) from early in this period, when Middle English emerged after Anglo-Norman replaced Old English (Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish) as the aristocratic and secular court languages (1066), with Latin still the religious, diplomatic, scientific and ecclesiastical court language, and with parts of the country still speaking Cornish, and perhaps Cumbric.

The Ormulum is in Middle English of the 12th century. Like its Old English precursor from Ælfric, an abbot of Eynsham, it includes very little Biblical text, and focuses more on personal commentary. This style was adopted by many of the original English translators. For example, the story of the Wedding at Cana is almost 800 lines long, but fewer than 40 lines are in the actual translation of the text. An unusual characteristic is that the translation mimics Latin verse, and so is similar to the better known and appreciated 14th-century English poem Cursor Mundi.

Richard Rolle (1290–1349) wrote an English Psalter. Many religious works are attributed to Rolle, but it has been questioned how many are genuinely from his hand. Many of his works were concerned with personal devotion, and some were used by the Lollards.

Theologian John Wycliffe (c. 1320s–1384) is popularly credited with translating what is now known as Wycliffe's Bible, though it is not clear how much of the translation he himself did. Released in 1382, this was the first known complete translation of the Bible into English. This translation came out in two different versions. The earlier version ("EV") is characterised by a strong adherence to the word order of Latin, and is more difficult for native English speakers to comprehend. The later version ("LV") made more concessions to the native grammar of English.

Around the same period there were several other translations, which partially survive, such as the Paues Fortheenth Century Middle English New Testament.

Early Modern and Modern English

Main articles: Early Modern English Bible translations and Modern English Bible translations
The site of St Thomas' Hospital in London was where the first modern English Bible was printed in England. (Note the error in the inscription: Miles Coverdale's Bible, 1535 pre-dated this).

Early Modern English

Early Modern English Bible translations are of between about 1500 and 1800, the period of Early Modern English. This was the first major period of Bible translation into the English language.

This period began with the introduction of the Tyndale Bible. The first complete edition of his New Testament was in 1526. William Tyndale used the Greek and Hebrew texts of the New Testament (NT) and Old Testament (OT) in addition to Jerome's Latin translation. He was the first translator to use the printing press – this enabled the distribution of several thousand copies of his New Testament translation throughout England. Tyndale did not complete his Old Testament translation.

The first printed English translation of the whole Bible was produced by Miles Coverdale in 1535, using Tyndale's work together with his own translations from the Latin Vulgate or German text. After much scholarly debate it is concluded that this was printed in Antwerp and the colophon gives the date as 4 October 1535. This first edition was adapted by Coverdale for his first "authorised version", known as the Great Bible, of 1539.

Other early printed versions were the Geneva Bible published by Sir Rowland Hill in 1560. This version is notable for being the first Bible divided into verses and which negated the Divine Right of Kings; the Bishop's Bible (1568), which was an attempt by Elizabeth I to create a new authorised version; and the Authorized King James Version of 1611.

The first complete Catholic Bible in English was the Douay–Rheims Bible, of which the New Testament portion was published in Rheims in 1582 and the Old Testament somewhat later in Douay in Gallicant Flanders. The Old Testament was completed by the time the New Testament was published but, due to extenuating circumstances and financial issues, it was not published until nearly three decades later, in two editions: the first released in 1609, and the rest of the OT in 1610. In this version, the seven deuterocanonical books are amongst the other books, as in the Latin Vulgate, rather than kept separate in an appendix.

Modern English

While early English Bibles were generally based on a small number of Greek texts, or on Latin translations, modern English translations of the Bible are based on a wider variety of manuscripts in the original languages, mostly Greek and Hebrew.

The translators put much scholarly effort into cross-checking the various sources such as the Septuagint, Textus Receptus, and Masoretic Text. Relatively recent discoveries such as the Dead Sea scrolls provide additional reference information. Some controversy has existed over which texts should be used as a basis for translation, as some of the alternate sources do not include phrases (or sometimes entire verses) which are found only in the Textus Receptus.

Some say the alternate sources were poorly representative of the texts used in their time, whereas others claim the Textus Receptus includes passages that were added to the alternate texts improperly. These controversial passages are not the basis for disputed issues of doctrine: they tend to be additional stories or snippets of phrases. Many modern English translations, such as the New International Version, contain limited text notes indicating where differences occur in original sources.

A somewhat greater number of textual differences are noted in the New King James Bible, indicating hundreds of New Testament differences between the Nestle-Aland, the Textus Receptus, and the Hodges edition of the Majority Text. The differences in the Old Testament are less well documented, but they do contain some references to differences between consonantal interpretations in the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint. Even with these hundreds of differences, however, a more complete listing is beyond the scope of most single-volume Bibles.

Individual translations

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While most Bible translations are made by committees of scholars in order to avoid bias or idiosyncrasy, translations are sometimes made by individuals. The following, selected translations are largely the work of individual translators:

Others, such as N. T. Wright, have translated portions of the Bible.

Jewish translations

Main article: Jewish English Bible translations

Jewish English Bible translations are modern English Bible translations that include the books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) according to the Masoretic Text, and according to the traditional division and order of Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim.

Jewish translations often also reflect traditional Jewish interpretations of the Bible, as opposed to the Christian understanding that is often reflected in non-Jewish translations. For example, Jewish translations translate עלמה ‘almâh in Isaiah 7:14 as young woman, while many Christian translations render the word as virgin.

While modern biblical scholarship is similar for both Christians and Jews, there are distinctive features of Jewish translations, even those created by academic scholars. These include the avoidance of Christological interpretations, adherence to the Masoretic Text (at least in the main body of the text, as in the new Jewish Publication Society (JPS) translation) and greater use of classical Jewish exegesis. Some translations prefer names transliterated from the Hebrew, though the majority of Jewish translations use the Anglicized forms of biblical names.

The first English Jewish translation of the Bible into English was by Isaac Leeser in the 19th century.

The JPS produced two of the most popular Jewish translations, namely the JPS The Holy Scriptures of 1917 and the NJPS Tanakh (first printed in a single volume in 1985, second edition in 1999).

Since the 1980s there have been multiple efforts among Orthodox publishers to produce translations that are not only Jewish, but also adhere to Orthodox norms. Among these are The Living Torah and Nach by Aryeh Kaplan and others, the Torah and other portions in an ongoing project by Everett Fox, and the ArtScroll Tanakh.

Approaches to translation

See also: Dynamic and formal equivalence

Modern translations take different approaches to the rendering of the original languages of approaches. The approaches can usually be considered to be somewhere on a scale between the two extremes:

Some translations have been motivated by a strong theological distinctive. In the Sacred Name Bibles the conviction that God's name be preserved in a Semitic form is followed. The Purified Translation of the Bible promotes the idea that Jesus and early Christians drink grape juice not wine. The Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures renders the tetragrammaton as Jehovah throughout the Old Testament, and it uses the form Jehovah in the New Testament including — but not limited to — passages quoting the Old Testament even though it does not appear in the Greek text.

Single source translations

While most translations attempt to synthesize the various texts in the original languages, some translations also translate one specific textual source, generally for scholarly reasons. A single volume example for the Old Testament is The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (ISBN 0-06-060064-0) by Martin Abegg, Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich.

The Comprehensive New Testament (ISBN 978-0-9778737-1-5) by T. E. Clontz and J. Clontz presents a scholarly view of the New Testament text by conforming to the Nestle-Aland 27th edition and extensively annotating the translation to fully explain different textual sources and possible alternative translations.

A Comparative Psalter (ISBN 0-19-529760-1) edited by John Kohlenberger presents a comparative diglot translation of the Psalms of the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint, using the Revised Standard Version and the New English Translation of the Septuagint.

R. A. Knox's Translation of the Vulgate into English is another example of a single source translation.

Alternative approaches

Most translations make the translators' best attempt at a single rendering of the original, relying on footnotes where there might be alternative translations or textual variants. An alternative is taken by the Amplified Bible. In cases where a word or phrase admits of more than one meaning the Amplified Bible presents all the possible interpretations, allowing the reader to choose one. For example, the first two verses of the Amplified Bible read:

In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep . The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

Popularity in US

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association release monthly and annual statistics regarding the popularity of different Bibles sold by their members in the United States. In 2023, the top 10 best-selling translations were the following:

  1. New International Version
  2. King James Version
  3. English Standard Version
  4. New Living Translation
  5. Christian Standard Bible
  6. New King James Version
  7. Reina-Valera (Spanish)
  8. New International Reader's Version
  9. New American Standard Bible
  10. New Revised Standard Version

Sales are affected by denomination and religious affiliation. For example, the most popular Jewish version would not compete with rankings of a larger audience. Sales data can be affected by the method of marketing. Some translations are directly marketed to particular denominations or local churches, and many Christian booksellers only offer Protestant Bibles, so books in other biblical canons (such as Catholic and Orthodox Bibles) may not appear as high on the CBA rank.

A study published in 2014 by The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University and Purdue University found that Americans read versions of the Bible as follows:

  1. King James Version (55%)
  2. New International Version (19%)
  3. New Revised Standard Version (7%)
  4. New American Bible (6%)
  5. The Living Bible (5%)
  6. All other translations (8%)

See also

References

  1. See List of English Bible translations#Complete Bibles
  2. "FAQ: Why are there so many different translations of the Bible?". Institute for Religious Research. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  3. Taliaferro, Bradford B. Encyclopedia of English language Bible versions. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013.
  4. Hellem, Hanna Dorthea (2014). The level of Old Norse influence on the development of Middle English (Thesis) (PDF). University of Agder.
  5. ^ Hall, M. Clement (2011). Murder of Richard Hunne London in the Early Reign of King Henry Viii. Lulu.com. pp. 60–61. ISBN 9781435791770.
  6. Dobbie 1937.
  7. ^ Published on Friday 22 September 2006 16:47 (2006-09-22). "Let Gospels come home – All News". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved 2012-10-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. Public Domain Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Richard Rolle de Hampole". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  9. Paul, William. 2003. "Wycliffe, John". English Language Bible Translators, p. 264. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland and Company
  10. ^ Outlaw, D. W. (2011). God: Trail of Evidence: The Quest for the Truth. iUniverse. pp. 139–140. ISBN 9781450294300.
  11. "1. From Wycliffe to King James (The Period of Challenge)". Bible.org. William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536) and his New Testament (1525–1536). Retrieved 2019-01-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. The Holy Bible ... With a General Introduction and Short Explanatory Notes, by B. Boothroyd. James Duncan. 1836.
  13. "King James Version | History & Background". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  14. "Douai-Reims Bible | Roman Catholic Bible". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  15. ^ See the New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, The New King James Version and the New American Standard Version of the Bible.
  16. "The New Testament: A Purified Translation". www.biblecollectors.org. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  17. Rice, Joyce (9 January 2009). "The Comprehensive New Testament" (Book review). Forewordreviews.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  18. Haines, Alastair (17 October 2009). "The Comprehensive New Testament, Clontz, T. E. and J. Clontz, editors" (PDF) (Book review). Review of Biblical Literature. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  19. "Genesis 1 AMP - In the beginning God (prepared, formed". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  20. "Bible Translations Bestsellers, Best of 2023". Christian Book Expo. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  21. Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra for Christianity Today. March 13, 2014 The Most Popular and Fastest Growing Bible Translation Isn't What You Think It Is: NIV vs. KJV: Surveys and searches suggest the translation that most Americans are reading is actually not the bookstore bestseller.
  22. Philip Goff, Arthur E. Farnsley II, Peter J. Thuesen. March 6, 2014 The Bible in American Life: A National Study by The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Archived 2014-05-30 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

  • Esposito, Raffaele. “Translation of Hebrew in English Bible versions”. Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics. Ed. by Geoffrey Khan. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2013, vol. 3, pp. 847–850 ISBN 978-9004176423.
  • Daniell, David. The Bible in English: Its History and Influence. Yale University Press, 2003 ISBN 0-300-09930-4.
  • Dobbie, E. Van Kirk (1937), The Manuscripts of Caedmon's Hymn and Bede's Death Song with a Critical Text of the Epistola Cuthberti de obitu Bedae, New York: Columbia University Press, OCLC 188505
  • Fowler, David C. The Bible in Early English Literature. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976.
  • Grabois, Aryeh. "Bible: Biblical Impact on Daily Life." Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Vol 2. Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983.
  • Lawton, David. “Englishing the Bible, 1066–1549.” The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999, pp. 454–482.
  • Levy, Bernard S. Preface. The Bible in the Middle Ages: Its Influence on Literature and Art. Ed. Bernard S. Levy. New York: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1992.
  • Maas, A.J.. "Versions of the Bible: English Versions" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.
  • Paul, William. "Wycliffe, John.” English Language Bible Translators. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland and Company, 2003, pp. 263–264.
  • Muir, Laurence. "Translations and Paraphrases of the Bible and Commentaries." A Manual of the Writings in Middle English: 1050–1500. Ed. J. Burke Severs. Connecticut: The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1970, vol 2, pp. 381–409.
  • The New Testament Octapla: Eight English Versions of the New Testament, in the Tyndale-King James Tradition, ed. by Luther A. Weigle. New York: T. Nelson & Sons, 1962. N.B.: The eight English translations of the entire N.T. included (on quarter portions of facing pages) are those of the Bibles in English known as Tyndale's, Great Bible, Geneva Bible, Bishops' Bible, Douay-Rheims (the original Rheims N.T. thereof being included), Great Bible, Authorized "King James", Revised Version, and Revised Standard Version.
  • Spencer, Nick. Freedom and Order: History, politics and the English Bible. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2011.
  • Taliaferro, Bradford B. Bible Version Encyclopedia. Lulu Enterprises, 2006–2007.
  • Wills, Garry, "A Wild and Indecent Book" (review of David Bentley Hart, The New Testament: A Translation, Yale University Press, 577 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXV, no. 2 (8 February 2018), pp. 34–35. Discusses some pitfalls in interpreting and translating the New Testament.
  • Kunst, RC. “The Structure of Translation and Hermeneutics” (Oxford Articles 2015).

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