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The English translation of The Bible
The first translation of an English Bible was initiated by The
Venerable Bede toward the end of the 7th century. Bede also gave accounts
of one of the first English poets, Caedmon, writing religious verse. Bede
translated The Gospel according to John and, according to his follower
Cuthbert, translated the last word of John virtually at the moment of his
death. It is thought that Bede also translated other Scripture of the Bible
but none survived. English was much different then, of course; it was the
Anglo-Saxon language, resembling modern German.
While the Anglo-Saxon language developed through the ages, there were
a number of translations. Aldheim (640-709) has been credited with a
complete translation of Psalms, and much of the rest of the Bible into
Anglo-Saxon. King Alfred the Great (849-901) presented the Ten Commandments
and portions of Exodus and Acts in old English. In the 11th century, the
abbot Aelfric translated large portions of the Old Testament.
Middle English
By the late-13th century, Anglo-Saxon had developed in what is known as
Middle English. The modern prose was quickly following by Bible
translations. Richard Rolle of Hampole translated portions of the New
Testament. In 1325, a new style of writing called Secretary script
contributed to the speed with which translations could be made. The new
script style was invented by Jean Froissart while writing his Chronicle
during his travels through Europe. The flowing Secretary script was fast to
write and easy to read.
Perhaps the most distinguished translation of the Bible into Middle
English was initiated by John Wyclif (1320-1384). Wyclif was 29 when the
Black Death plague killed half the population in England. Between 1380 and
1383, Wyclif established an ardent following for translation. Nicolas of
Hereford translated a substantial portion of the Old Testament. The
translators produced the Wyclif Bible. It is not known which portions were
translated by Wyclif himself.
The Wyclif Bible was made from a Latin base and was not true to the
(then) new English language. Soon after its completion, in 1388, John
Purvey and his assistants made a more modern translation in a smoother
writing style. Purvey's translations would be used for more than 100 years.
The printed Bible
In 1525 and 1526, William Tyndale completed an English translation of the
1519 and 1522 editions of the Erasmus Greek New Testament. Johannes
Gutenberg had introduced his printing press in 1454, so now Tyndale's
translations could be printed. It is thought that some 6000 copies were
made of Tyndale's Bible but were destroyed because of official opposition
to it. In 1530, Tyndale published a translation of the Pentateuch. In 1531,
he published Jonah and selections from the Old Testament. In 1534 and 1535,
he printed revised editions of his New Testament translat |