English Versions
It appears that the first complete English Bible, based on the
Latin, was due to John Wycliffe (c. 1330-84) through his students
in 1382 and 1388. In 1415 it was condemned and burned. The strong
English opposition was due to Roman Catholic pressure.
Tyndale
William Tyndale later intended to publish a new English version
of the Bible based on the original languages. He left England
in 1524 to pursue that work, and the New Testament was completed
in 1525. He published the Pentateuch in 1530 and Jonah in 1531.
After imprisonment he probably completed the work through Chronicles.
When he was executed in 1536, a complete English Bible was in
circulation based on his work in the New Testament and Pentateuch.
It was openly being read in England having been published in 1535
by the priest Miles Coverdale with King Henry's permission. Coverdale
had graciously dedicated the volume to the king and queen. Tyndale's
work became foundational for all English Bibles through the Revised
Version with as much as 80 percent or more of the portions he
had completed still in use. The Tyndale Bible used the Vulgate
order of books and separated out the Apocrypha into an appendix.
Other Versions
Other versions include Matthew's Bible (1537), Taverner's Bible
(1539, the Great Bible (first authorized version 1539-41) and
the Geneva Bible (1560). The Geneva Bible was the first to use
numbered verses, and it also introduced italicized English words
to represent words not in the original text. This Bible had immediate
and widespread acceptance, and new editions were printed every
year from 1560 to 1616. It was used by Shakespeare, John Bunyan,
the Puritan pilgrims to the New World and even King James. Still
other versions include the Bishops' Bible (second authorized version,
based on the Great Bible-1568) and the Rheims-Douay Bible, a Catholic
rendition (1582-1610).
Next page --> King James Version
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