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.
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