The History of Our English Bible

The History of Our English Bible THE HISTORY OF OUR ENGLISH BIBLE
CECIL E. HILL AT THE VERY OUTSET of this lecture I want to express my conviction that God has not only divinely inspired his word but that he has also providentially preserved it. I believe that God intended for people living in the twentieth century to have an accurate revelatio'n of his will the same as the people of the early centuries. Although some minor errors have been made, this one thing is clearly evident: i'n all the different versions the plan of salvation has been made plain. One can learn what to do to be saved in any of them. God’s revelation was made in order to man’s salvation and man’s part in the scheme of redemption is clearly set forth in every version. My subject is “The History of Our English Bible,” and I am happy in the conviction that a careful study of the subject will increase one’s faith in the inspiration of the Bible.

Unfortunately, among the masses very little attention has been given to the history of the Bible and consequently there is a decided prejudice against any (new version. Because the King James Version has been the one Bible of the masses for so many generations, some seem to look upon it as a gift direct from above. When the revised version was put on sale, in 1881, one young American lifted his voice against this new thing. He declared publically that if the authorized version was good enough for St. Paul, it was good enough for him. This is a'n extreme case, but it shows a woeful lack of information as to how the Bible has came down to us. In discussing my subject I shall begin with the fourteenth century, although some very interesting translations and paraphrases were made long before that time. This century was the first stage in the dissolution of the medieval church. The growing spirit of inquiry, together with the corruptions of the higher clergy, favored an appeal from tradition to the written word of God. John Wyclife was the most illustrious figure of the century and to him we are indebted for producing the first complete Bible in English. He was connected with Oxford University where he gained prominence first as a school man and later as a reformer. He protested against the corruptions of the Catholic Church to such an extent that he has been called the morning star of the Reformation. A strong spirit of independence was growing in England and when the Pope issued his demand for the annual tribute, Parliament refused and Wyclife rejoiced. He publicly approved the action of Parliament and denounced the dignitaries of the church and their great wealth. This drew him into the center of the fight against Rome. It was his conviction that the Bible and not the Pope, was the final authority in religion. The Latin Bible was the one used then, and it was used only by the clergy. Wyclife believed that the surest way to defeat the Pope was to give the people the Bible in their own language. He once declared, “The Scriptures are the property of people and one which no one should be allowed to wrest from them.” The translation was begun under his influence although much of the actual work was done by others. About half the Old Testament, it seems, was done by Nicholas of Hereford, and the remainder was done by Wyclife, assisted by his secretary, John Purvey. It was a translation of a translation, being based on inferior Vulgate texts. It w.as a very stiff and literal translation but was later revised, harmonized and greatly improved by John Purvey. This later version was very popular for, even now, in spite of time, neglect and persecution, there are one hundred and fifty known copies extant. Some of the finest copies have been traced to the possession of the royalty of England. It took ten months to write out a copy, and some sold for as such as two hundred dollars in our money. In some instances a load of hay was given for the privilege of reading a few chapters. This Bible rendered a great service to the English language. By combining and crystallizing the different dialects of England, Wyclife practically unified the various related tongues and made them one for the future use of the English world. So great was the opposition to Wyclife’s version that a bill was presented to Parliament to make the circulation of the Bible in England a crime. Wyclife was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and forty-six years after his death his bones were dug up and burned and his ashes scattered on the river, Swift. Hence the poem:

“The Swift into the Severne runs
The Severne to the sea
And so shall Wyclife’s dust be spread,
Wide as these waters be.”

There is an interval of one hundred years before we come to the next great version of the English Bible. During that period a number of things tra'nspired that profoundly influenced the whole course of the Bible’s history.

About the middle of the fifteenth century the printing press was invented and soon books were greatly multiplied and made cheaper. In 1453 the old historic city of Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks and many Greek scholars sought refuge in western Europe. Many of the Greek classics had been rediscovered and soon there was a great revival of interest in the study of the Greek language. This revival of Greek learning was very important to our story. It has been said that, “Greece rose from the grave with a New Testament in her hand.” Erasmus, the great Greek scholar, gave the world his famous Greek New Testament in 1516. This was twenty-four years after the discovery of America and one year before Martin Luther nailed his famous thesis to the church door in Wittenburg. There was also a revival in the study of the Hebrew language.

One year after the birth of Martin Luther, William Tyndale was born. (1484) He has been correctly called, the father of the English Bible. He studied at Oxford, where he gained dis.'incbon as a scholar, and at Cambridge where he met Erasmus. It was later written by one of his associates “that Tyndale was so skilled in seven languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French and English that whichever he spoke, you would suppose it to be his native tongue.”

Once in a controversy with a priest Tyndale was told, “We had better be without God’s law than the Pope’s.” He replied, “I defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spare me, I will one day make the plowboy of England know more of the Scriptures than the Pope does.” The fulfillment of this statement became the one objective of his life. After some disappointments, he soon realized that his work could not be accomplished in England. Though he left London practically as an exile, he was assured financial aid in printing his New Testament and that it would be imported and distributed secretly in England. In 1524 he went to the free city of Hamburg and from there to Wittenburg where he was likely encouraged by Luther. His translation was made under persecution and in 1525 he placed his work in the hands of a printer in Cologne. A priest discovered what he had done and warned the authorities. Tyndale fled with his manuscripts to Worms and there he printed the first New Testament in the English language.

Thousands of copies were smuggled into England. There was a rushing demand for it by the common people that they might read it, and the church authorities that they might burn it. Many copies were burned but others took their place. Tyndale even welcomed a large order to be burned by the Bishop of London because he needed funds to bring out a new and better edition. His New Testamet was not a translation of a translation but was based upon the Greek text by Erasmus. This is the first instance in the history of the English Bible that the translation went back to the original language.
The Pentateuch and Jonah were the only portions of the Old Testament published during Tyndale’s lifetime. In 1535 he was betrayed and imprisoned in Belgium. After sixteen months, he was1 strangled to death and his body burned. His last words were, “Lord, open thou the King of England’s eyes.”

Tyndale’s prayer was even then being answered. Miles Coverdale, in 1535, produced the first complete printed English Bible. The four hundredth anniversary of this Bible was celebrated last year. It was translated from the Vulgate and Luther’s German Bible. The New Testament was based on Tyndale’s and Luther’s work. Coverdale was not a great scholar but was essentially an editor who collected the best material in reach and so selected and modified it as to produce a Bible that would meet the approval of both the public and church authorities. He restored many of the beloved ecclesiastical phrases that Tyndale had thrown out in order to give a more accurate translation.

Cromwell, Secretary of State, gave Coverdale his active support in getting his Bible before the public. His second edition was printed in London in 1537 and was “set forth with the Kynge’s moost gracious license.” The moral and financial support of high officials made this a very popular Bible.

Before Tyndale was strangled, he turned over to a friend, John Rogers, his unpublished translation of Joshua to Chronicles, inclusive. Having possession of all that Tyndale had translated, both published and unpublished, Rogers seems to have had a desire to give it to the people in a complete edition. It was completed in 1537 and bore the name, “Matthew’s Bible.” His affiliation with Tyndale and his reform activities made it advisable to suppress his own name so as not to hinder its circulation. This Bible was sixty-five percent Tyndale’s word, the latter part of the Old Testament being taken from Coverdale’s Bible; yet, Archbishop Cranmer, who denounced Tyndale as a heretic said, “I like it better than any translation heretofore made.” It was the best English Bible in print at the time and was dedicated to King Henry VIII, who set it forth with his license. Thus the king, who opposed Tyndale and his translation, within one year after his death, licensed the sale and use of his work though under another name.

Richard Taverner, a brilliant Greek scholar, once imprisoned for reading Tyndale’s New Testament , published a Bible in 1839. It was a slight revision of Matthew’s Bible, though it was the first to use the words parable, passover and other familiar words in our texts. It was never a very popular Bible. The “Great Bible,” printed in 1539, was the first authorized English version. The great rupture between Henry VIII and the Pope had taken place in 1534 and the Reformation was making great progress in England. The opposition to giving the people the Bible had subsided.

Because of the defects and unpopularity of the existing versions, the King was often persuaded to provide a new and improved Bible to be free from notes. Some of the King’s advisers had their hearts set on having a translation that would really become a national Bible. The King gave his approval, and Cromwell selected Miles Coverdale to take Charge of the work. The work was to be done in Paris to insure a superior quality of material and printing. Coverdale and the King’s printer proceeded to Paris and immediately began the work. The Inquisition stopped them, but after some delays Coverdale succeeded in transporting the press, types and printers themselves to London where the work was completed. It was so elaborately arranged and so large that it was called the “Great Bible.” Because it was so expensive it was chained to the puplit for safe keeping. Hence, it was sometimes called the “Chained Bible.” Because Cranmer wrote the preface to several editions, it was also called “Cran- mer’s Bible.” When the King was asked to authorize it, he asked if it contained any heresies. When assured that it did not, he said, “Then in God’s name let it go forth among our people.” The title page starts, .“This is the Bible appointed to be read in the churches.” Two previous versions had been printed with the King’s permission, but this one was printed with his authority. The “Great Bible” was intended to be a new translation, but it was little more than a reproduction of Matthew’s Bible, which was a revised edition of Tyndale’s word. The glorious triumph of the old martyr is shown by the fact that his Bible was authorized and commended by the very men had denounced him and burned his work. The Bible was now eagerly bought and read. The “Great Bible” was placed in the churches to be read by the people. This was done even at the vexation of preachers, who complained that the people continued their reading through the sermon. During the last days of King Henry a reaction set in and many Bibles were burned by the Catholics. K,ing Edward encouraged the printing of the Bible, but after his short reign Queen Mary came to the throne. She was a Catholic and her persecution of the Bible won for her the name, “Bloody Mary.” Rogers and Cranmer with hundreds of others were put to death.

Many of the reformers sought refuge in Geneva, Switzerland, the home of John Calvin in Beza, the most noted Biblical scholar of the time. This was the center of free thought and the meeting place of scholars from many nations. The English reformers now used their enforced leisure to revise the “Great Bible” and bring it up to the new standards of scholarship. William Whittingham, brother-in-law of John Calvin published a revision of the New Testament in 1557. The work on the Old Testament was done by Whittingham, Gilby, Sampson, and perhaps Coverdale. They were stimulated by other groups in Geneva, at work on Bible translation into French and possibly Italian. The Old Testament was finished in 1560 and with the New Testament of 1557 was called the “Geneva Bible.” It immediately sprang into full- grown popularity and for a time contested the ground with the King James Version, tn less than ninety years one hundred and forty editions were issued. It was the first Bible printed in clear Roman type in contrast to the old black letters of previous versions. It was also the first whole Bible to be divided into verses, the first to omit the Apocrypha, the first to omit the name of Paul from the Hebrew Letter, and the first to set in italics words not in the original but necessary in the English. It was the last English Bible produced under persecution. The Geneva Bible greatly influenced the English nation, for it was many years the Bible of the home. Shakespeare and John Bunyan were familiar with it and many copies were brought to America by the early settler. The Bishops’ Bible was printed in 1568. It was a revision of the “Great Bible” by fifteen theologians, eight of whom were Bishops. Although it had the support of the church authorities, it was an inferior work. When Elizabeth came to the throne, many of the Catholics went to the continent. The popular demand for the English Bible led them to see the necessity of providing a Catholic version. The city of Douai in Flanders was the continental center of English Catholics. They had a college there, but in 1578 it was moved to Rheims. They produced a Bible and the New Testament was published in 1582 at Rheims. Later the college was moved back to Douai where the Old Testament was published i'n 1609-10. This version was called the “Rheims-Douai Bible.” It was based on the Vulgate, was extremely literal, and in some places rather obscure. It is still the Roman Catholic Bible. The colorful sixteenth century came to a close with the death of Elizabeth in 1603. The English Church was now definitely separated from the Roman Church. The sixteenth century literature had given the language a purity, style and beauty that has never been surpassed. Scholarship had achieved a high standard of excellence.

James I, came to the throne in 1603 and was immediately confronted with the task of reconciling the various religious parties in his kingdom. The different versions of the Bible was one of the main sources of strife. The King called a conference of the Bishops and Clergy to meet at Hampton Court Palace “to consider certain grievences of the Puritans.” A discussion of the merits of different Bibles was unexpectedly brought up. None of them were likely to be accepted as a national Bible. The Great Bible was antiquated and cumbersome. The Geneva Bible was a good translation and convenient for use, but had become the Bible of a party because of the Puritan character of its notes. The Bishops’ Bible was a very inferior production, neither commanding the respect of the scholars nor suiting the wants of the people.

Dr. John Reynolds, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, spokesman for the Puritans, proposed a new translation that would have the approval of all the parties. No decision was reached at the conference, but the King, who presided over the meeting, looked with special favor on the proposal. He seems to have regarded it as the opportunity of his life to do a popular and permanent piece of work on the Bible. A Bible produced under his direction would greatly add to the glory of his reign. If a further motive was needed, it was found in his personal dislike for the Geneva Bible. His learning, Bible knowledge, and theological turn of mind made the whole enterprise congenial to him. He took the initiative and entered the work with enthusiasm and determination. Much wisdom is shown in his plan for executing the work. The appointment of the revisers was a great responsibility and it was five months before the list was completed. Fifty- four scholars were selected impartially as to religious views. Some were selected that were not connected with any religious party. They were authorized to invite the cooperation of every Bible scholar of note in the kingdom. Due to the death and resignation only forty-seven served. They were organized into six groups; two at Westminister; two at Oxford and two at Cambridge. Each group was assigned a definite portion to revise. The scholars secured were notably competent and when they sat down to their task, they had before them a very admirable set of rules. It contained a scheme of revision as well as general directions. Some of the most important things were: The Bishops’ Bible was to be the basis; the division of chapters was to be changed as little as possible; marginal references were to be given from one scripture to another; the old ecclesiastical terms were to be retained; there were to be no marginal notes except to explain the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words. This rule probably did more than anything else to make this version acceptable to all classes. If it had contained notes, we likely would have today Bibles of different religious bodies, each reflecting the view of its party. Another important requirement was that every man of each company was to take the same portion, and after individual work, the committee was to meet and make comparisons and decide as to the final reading. When each book was complete, a copy was to be sent to each of the other five companies for review and suggestions. The final reading was to be decided at the general meeting of the group of leaders. Thus, everyone of the forty-seven men was to pass on the work of every other man. No record has been left as to how the rules were observed but there must have been harmony as the work sped on at a commendable rate until completed. When it was finished, two men from each group were chosen to prepare the final revision for the press. Three copies of the whole Bible were sent to the final committee, one each from the colleges where the groups worked. In producing this version, the actual group work was not begun until 1607 and continued two years and nine months. Nine months were spent by the committee of twelve on the final revision and preparation for the press. It was published in London in 1611. Never before had such labor and care been expended on the English Bible. The Hebrew and Greek texts were carefully studied and the best commentaries of of European scholars were used. Bibles in German, French Spanish and Italian were examined and when the sense was determined, no effort was spared to express it in clear, vigorous idiomatic English.

All the excellencies of other versions were noted and even the Rheims New Testament was laid under tribute for some of its expressive phrases. The Geneva Bible likely influenced it more than any other single version. In the preface Dr. Smith says, “Neither did we disdain to revise that which we had done and to bring back to the anvil that which we had hammered.” The title page says, “Newly translated out of the original tongues and with former translations diligently compared.” When we consider that it was based on the Bishop’s Bible and greatly influenced by the Geneva Version, both of which were largely the work of Tyndale, we begin to appreciate his influence on this version. The Old Testament far surpassed any previous translation in its faithful representation of tjbe Hebrew text, and did it in language representative of the Elizabethan age. The New Testament is so chaste and expressive in language and form that it is said to surpass the original Greek as a piece of literature. The King James Bible is said to be the greatest literary- production in the world.

Two editions were issued in 1611 and within three years fourteen editions had been issued. After that, several edition., were issued each year. It was forty years before it won out over the popularity of the Geneva Bible, but character and merit won the contest, and since the middle of the seventeenth century, it has become the Bible of the English speaking peo- ple.With spelling modernized and some minor corrections from the edition of 1611, more copies of the authorized version have been printed than of any other book in the world. In a little more than a century the English and American Bible societies, alone, have sold 72,000,000 copies of the whole Bible, 84,000,000 copies of the New Testament and some 77,000,000 Gospels and other portions. An edition of the authorized version, published in 1701 by Bishop Loyd, was the first English Bible to make use of the system of chronology worked out by Archbishop Ussher, who died in 1656. This system places the beginning of the race 4004 B. C. Recent discoveries of chronological material show that practically all his dates before 722 B. C. were wrong, although many people have supposed the dates in their Bibles a part of the inspired message. The revisers of 1881 say of the authorized version, “We have had to study this great version carefully and minutely, line by line, and the longer we have engaged upon it, the more we have learned to admire its simplicity, its dignity, its power, its happy turn of expression, its general accuracy and we must not fail to add, the music of its cadences and the felicites of its rhythm.” The authorized version held undisputed sway in the English speaking world for more than two centuries. Although there were various attempts at revision, nothing of importance was done until the English Revision of 1881. During the nineteenth century scholarship had advanced far beyond that of the sixteenth century. Some very old manuscripts had been discovered and carefully compared. Valuable discoveries in archaeology had shed much new light on the life of the past, giving help particularly in understanding the Old Testament. Moreover, in two and one half centuries the English language, itself, had undergone great changes. The science of textual criticism, which teaches the value and best method of dealing with ancient documents, had entirely sprung up since 1611. The original languages were much better understood than in the days of King James. Delicate shades of meaning and construction in Hebrew and Greek grammar were appreciated as never since the days when the ancient manuscripts were first written. In view of these developments there was a natural and persistent demand for revision of the English Bible. In 1859, Dr. Tischendorf, a German scholar, discovered in St. Catherine’s Convent at the foot of Mt. Sinai, a very valuable ancient manuscript of practically the entire Bible. The Sinaitic manuscript aroused great interest and greatly intensified the demand for revision. Accordingly, in 1870, the Convocation of Canterbury adopted a proposal for a revision. The church of England took the lead and sixteen men were appointed to carry out the resolution. The committee was increased to fifty- four and represented nearly all the evangelical bodies in England. It was decided to follow the King James version as closely as possible and the alterations were to be indicated in the margin. The general committee was divided equally into the Old and New Testaments Committees and each was to work through its portion twice. The work was begun in 1870 in Westminister Abbey, where the two committees held joint sessions at stated intervals. In 1870 Dr. Angus visited America to confer with American scholars on the possibility of cooperation with the British committee. A general plan was framed and a committee selected and approved. This committee of thirty was selected and organized after the pattern of the British Committees. They began in 1872 in the Old Bible house in New York. The details of the plan of cooperation were not concluded until 1875. The work of the English revisers was regularly submitted to the Americans for consideration, whose comments were carefully considered and largely adopted, and their differences from the version finally adopted were printed in an American Appendix to the published work. The American Committee pledged moral support to the anticipated version and promised not to sanction the publication of an American edition of the Revised version for fourteen years after the completion of the Revision. Of course this was to give the business to the English presses. The travel and printing expenses of the Committees were paid by Oxford and Cambridge University Presses in return for the exclusive copyright on the Revision. The New Testament Committee finished their work In 1880 and in May 1881, it was put on sale in England and the United States. Nearly two million copies were ordered before it came from the press and about three million copies were sold within a year. The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Times published the entire New Testament in their issues of May 22, Matthew through Romans being telegraphed from New York. There was an eagerness to see what had been done to the old Bible. Some were offended to find familiar phrases dropped and words changed, while others were disappointed because there were no greater changes made. The Old Testament appeared in 1885 and an edition of the whole Bible, with improved marginal references, was published in 1898. There were good reasons for its claim to preeminence. The arbitrary chapter and verse divisions were placed in the margin with the result that the text reads continuously like any other book. The narrative is broken up into paragraphs according to grammatical rules. Chapter summaries, chronological material and antiquated marginal references, so prominent in the version of 1611, were omitted. These “help” became hindrances and led to much misunderstanding and misinterpretations. In the Authorized version, at the end of the Hebrew letter, it says, “Written to the Hebrews from Italy by Timothy.” Of course this was not a part of the text but was added by some one who did not know very much about it. The printing of the Poetical books in proper metrical form has a decided advantage. With respect to the different religious views of the translators, this Revision was brought forth in fairness. One of the committee says, “Whatever other charges may be brought against it, that of bias, even unconscious bias, toward any set of theological views, is quite out of the question, where Baptist and Methodist and Presbyterians and Churchmen sat side by side in the selected company of revisers. And, as if to make this assurance doubly sure, across the Atlantic a similarly constituted company was preparing to cooperate with these, to criticize the work and suggest emendations.” From the standpoint of the number of translators, this is the outstanding revision of the English Bible. This is also true as to the available source material. Among the valuable manuscripts, to which they had access, not available in 1611, were the Vatican, the Alexandrian and the Sinaitic. They are the most valuable of the early manuscripts and were used to great advantage by the committees. This Revision was the first Bible whose translators made careful use of all three of the valuable sources: ancient versions, ancient manuscripts, and the writings of the early church fathers.

It has been charged that the English of the new Revision is not as smooth and graceful as that of the Old Version. That is likely a just criticism, but, as J. Patterson Smyth says, “What we have lost in smoothness and beauty of diction, we have greatly gained in point of accuracy.” The English Committee disbanded soon after 1885, but the American Committee continued its organization with the view of bringing out an American Revision. Due to the differences in the language of England and America the English Revision contained many words and anglicisms that were puzzling to the American readers. The need for an American Revision was clearly evident but the promise of the American Committee tied their hands until 1899. They began the preparation, however, so as to have it ready for the press by that time.

They freely revised the translation of 1881-1885 in language, phrases and thought where it appeared necessary; they made preparation to issue a complete edition and therefore prepared a full set of new marginal references; they printed at the top of each page, in brief form, the contents of that page; they reparagraphed the whole Bible and sought to remove inconsistencies of punctuation. In 1897 the American Revision Committee entered into an agreement with Thomas Nelson and Sons cf New York City, by which that firm was authorized to publish the American Standard Edition of the Revised Version. The copyright in 1929 passed to the International Council of Religious Education.

Just a short time before the expiration of the fourteen years the English presses issued an American Revised Version. The American Appendix had been incorporated into the body of the text. The English presses were taking unfair advantage of supplying the market while the American Committee was still restrained by their pledges to those presses. Naturally, a storm of protest arose which gradually subsided when the American Standard Edition of the Revised Version came from the press in 1901. The excellencies of the English Version were improved on. The American Stardard Revised Version is the most perfect English Bible in existence and is a fitting climax to the great advances made in Biblical learning during the last half of the nineteenth century. In addition to the foregoing versions there have been many individual and some denominational translations and revisions. Among the private translations might be mentioned: The Bible Union, Rotherhams1, Ellicotts, Andersons, The Emphatic Diaglott, Living Oracles, published by Alexander Campbell, Baptist Translation (1883-1912) Twentieth Century Version, Coptic Version and Syriac Version. Goodspeed’s Modern Speech New Testament was published in ;1923, and the Old Testament by a group of scholars under the editorship of J. N. P. Smith was published in 1927.

Charles Thomson, for eight years the Secretary of the Continental Congress, was the first American to make an English. Translation of the Bible. He obtained a Greek Septuagint and made a translation of the whole Bible and published it in 1808. It was the first English translation of the Old Testament direct from the Septuagint. A college instructor recently asked this question, “How long will it be before another great translation of the Bible be made?” Translations and revisions will be necessary as generations come and go. Language is a living thing, the meaning of words shift gradually. To new generations the vocabulary of the past loses some of its force.

It is not without purpose that God has so wonderfully inspired and preserved his word, and may we have humble hearts to hear that word, obey its commands, and by its power bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.