MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/2556298E/bibleorigin.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Origin of English Bible Fairlawn West United Church of Christ Akron = Ohio

The Origin and Development O= f the English Language Bible

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T= he origin of the English Bibles of today can be traced to a time when humans, through the Spirit of God, wrote the books that now make up the Bible (which means “book of books”).  Most of this was first done orally and then led to being written down over a period of approximately 800 years.&= nbsp; As people began to realize how valuable these teachings were, attemp= ts were made to collate these teachings into a single comprehensive book.  This process is called “canonization.”  I= t also took some 100’s of years to come to what we now call the Bible.  Even at that today, there is still= not an unanimous agreement among Catholics and Protestants and Orthodox of the books and their order.

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M= ost of what we now know as the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and= the New Testament largely in common (koine =3D common or street) Greek.  Since no printing press existed un= til 1450 AD, all the original compilations of the Bible were done by hand.  The earliest manuscripts we have t= oday are from the 3rd Century after Jesus. 

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T= he history and development of the English Bible can be divided into 3 sessions; ancient versions in other languages, early English versions, and the New English versions (since 1901).  Brief descriptions of the significant versions in those time periods follow. 

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A= NCIENT VERSIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES

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  • The Septuagint Version = (285 BC) – This was a translation of the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptu= res into Greek.  Probably don= e in Alexandria. =
  • The Samaritan Pentateuch BC?) – A copy of the Hebrew text done in Samaritan characters. <= /o:p>
  • The Peschito or Syriac = (1st or 2nd Century AD) – A common language translation of the entire Bible used in parts of Syria.
  • The Codex Sinia us(330 = AD) – A manuscript that contained the Greek Bible.  It was purchased from Russia in 1933 by Great Britain and is now housed in th= e British Museum.
  • The Codex Vatican us (3= 40 AD) – this manuscript is currently housed in the Vatican library in = Rome.  It originally contained the w= hole Bible, but parts have been lost.
  • The Vulgate (400 AD) &#= 8211; A Roman Catholic scholar in Bethlehem by the name of Jerome translated the entire Bible into Latin.  This Bible became the standar= d in the Catholic church for well over 1,000 years.
  • The Codex Alexandrinus = (425 AD) – This Bible is another Green translation.  It is currently housed in the British museum, complete except 40 leaves.

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E= arly English Versions

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  • All of the earliest att= empts at translating the Bible into English were fragmented.  For example, Bishop Aldhelm of Sherbourne translated the Psalm into Old English around 709.  Venerable Bede, a monk at Jar= row, translated a potion of the Gospel of John.  By 900 AD all the Gospels and= most of the Old Testament had been translated into Old English. =
  • John Wycliffe (1380) &#= 8211; was the first to plan a complete English translation of the Bible from= the Latin.  His translation w= as based on the Latin Vulgate.  He completed the New Testament prior to his death, and his friends comple= ted the work after his death.  He was persecuted and eventually burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English.
  • Printing Press Invented – 1450
  • William Tyndale (1525-3= 0) – Driven from England by persecution, William Tyndale shared Wycliffe’s desire to prod= uce a Bible that the common English speaking person could understand.  Using the Latin Vulgate and o= ther ancient sources, Tyndale was able to translate the New Testament and Pentateuch before he was martyred.
  • Miles Coverdale (1535) – A friend of Tyndale’s Coverdale was able to publish a complete Bible.  It is generally believed Coverdale used Tyndale’s work in producing his New Testament.  This Bibl= e was done to honor King Henry, the VIII.
  • Matthew’s Bible (= 1537) – Despite the name, it is widely accepted that a friend of Tynda= le, John Rogus, did most of the work on this Bible.  Based largely on Tyndale̵= 7;s previous work, it also contains evidences of Coverdale’s work as well.  This might well be considered an updated Tyndale’s Bible.
  • The Great Bible (1539) – This Bible takes its name from its great physical size.  Based on the Tyndale, Coverda= le, and Matthew’s Bibles, it was used mainly in churches.  Often chained to a reading de= sk in a church, people would come to listen as a minister read from the Great Bible.
  • The Geneva Bible (1560) – Produced in Geneva by scholar= s who had fled persecution in England under Queen Mary, this Bible was based not only on the Great Bible, but also on the English translations of that day.  Though very scholarly, it was= a popular Bible because of its small size.
  • The Bishop’s Bible (1568) – This was a revision of the Great Bible and Geneva Bible done under the direction of the Archbishop of Canterbury during the re= ign of Elizabeth<= /st1:City>.
  • Douay-Rheims Bible (1582-1610) – The New Testament was published in Rheims in 1582 and the Old Testament in Douay in 1610.  A Revision of the Latin Vulgate, this has become the generally accepted English Version for the Roman Catholic Church.
  • King James Version, KJV (1611) – The most popular translation ever produced, this Bible = was done during the reign and at the urging of King James the I of England.  Forty-seven (47) scholars, di= vided into 6 groups, worked on this translation.  Based largely on the Bishop&#= 8217;s Bible, many Hebrew and Greek texts were also studies as well as all the other available English translations, to insure the best results.  By choosing men of many diffe= rent theological and educational backgrounds, it was hoped individual prejudices of the translators could be minimized.  Printed in a handy size and in clear type, the KJV was supposed to please clergy and congregations alike.  Despite initial resistance, the KJV became and still is the largest selling translatio= n of the Bible.
  • Revised Version (1881-1= 884) – Designed to be a revision of the KJV, the Revised Version, had= the advantage of being able to access some of the ancient manuscripts.  Although this revision was sponsored by the Church of England, many American scholars were invite= d to participate.

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N= ew English Versions (1901 to Present)

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  • American Standard Versi= on, ASV (1901) – This revision of the Revised Version incorporates m= any of the readings first suggested by the American members of the Revision committee of 1881 – 1885.

 

  • Complete Bible: An Amer= ican Translation (1939) – Often referred to as the Goodspeed Version, this translation was done by Edgar J. Goodspeed and J.M. Povis Smith.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Using as many ancient texts as possible, Smith and Goodspeed produced a very readable and yet accurat= e translation.  Also included in this transla= tion was the Apocrypha.

 

  • Revised Standard Versio= n, RSV (1952) – The National Council of Churches of Christ procured the copyright to the 1901 ASV Bible in the 1920’s.  Work began on a revision to t= he ASV, but was abandoned in favor of an entirely new translation.  Since many more Hebrew and Gr= eek manuscripts were available to these scholars than were available in 19= 01, the RSV is considered to be much more accurate.  A very readable translation, = the RSV is used in many Protestant denominations today.  The revision committee contin= ued to meet at regular intervals and in 1971 a new release was made of the RSV.  This has been dibbe= d the RSV II edition.

 

  • New Testament in Modern English (1958) – First published in 1958 and revised in 1973, th= is translation, done by British writer J.B. Phillips, is one of the best readings of the New Testament.  It is published today by MacMillan Publishers of New York.=

 

  • Berkley Version (1959) – This modern English version was done under the direction of Dr. Gerrit Verkuyl.  Dr. Verkuyl translated the New Testament from the Greek himself.&nbs= p; The Old Testament was translated by a committee of 20 scholars = with Dr. Verkuyl overseeing the project.&n= bsp; Although this was a very good translation, it never has been wi= dely accepted or used.

 

  • Amplified Bible (1965) – this modern English Version was sponsored by the non-profit Lockman Foundation of Ca= lifornia.  Committees of Hebrew and Greek scholars tried to pay particular attention to the true translation of = key words in the ancient texts.  By bracketing explanatory words or phrases directly in the text, they eliminated the need to look elsewhere on the page for the other helps.  A very popular Bi= ble, the bracketing poses a problem for simple reading of the text.  Currently this Bible is avail= able in either KJV or in a parallel with other translations and is published by Zondervan Corporation of = Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

  • Jerusalem Bible (1966) – Basically a Roman Catholic translation, this Bible was origina= lly a multi-volume translation done in French at the Ecole Biblique et Archeologuque in Jerusale= m.  Using all available sources including the Dead Sea Scrolls, this translation also included extensi= ve scholarly notes.  In the English translation, the original documents were again used with references made to the original French translation.  The Jerusalem Bible also incl= udes the Apocrypha.  Although = the notes are strongly Roman Catholic, the translation is relatively non-sectarian.  The Jerus= alem Bible is published by Doubleday Publishers of Garden City, New York.

 

  • New Testament:  A New Translation (1968-69) &= #8211; Translated by William Barclay of England, this translatio= n is neither technical nor difficult.  The problem with this Bible is the extensive intrusion of Mr. Barclay’s own personal views in the text.  To properly use this translat= ion, another Bible should be available for comparison.

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  • New English Bible, NEB = (1970) – A committee of scholars from the leading denominations of Engl= and, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, cooperating with the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, was to produce a new translation from the Hebrew= and Greek.  This Bible was to= be used as an authoritative version along side the KJV.  Due the NEB’s rather free use of the English language, many verses of scripture became almost paraphrases rather than translations.  The Apocrypha is included in the NEB.&nbs= p; Since the NEB often uses unfamiliar British expressions, this Bible has not received wide acceptance in A= merica.  The NE= B is jointly published by C= ambridge and Oxford University Presses.

 

  • New American Bible, NAB (1970) – This Roman Catholic translation originally came directly from the Latin Vulgate.  = The Catholic Biblical Association of America compared this translation to = the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts then available.  The three volumes Old Testame= nt and single volume New Testament were then combined into a single volume.  Although some Protestant translators helped on this project, this is still basically a Roman Catholic Bible.

 

  • New American Standard, = NAS (1971) – The Lockman Foundation f La Habra, California (see Amplified Bible) set out to produce the “Most technically accura= te translation of the Bible possible.”  Partially because of their dissatisfaction with the RSV’s revision of the 1901 American Standard version, the Lockman foundation chose to use the best Greek a= nd Hebrew texts available to revise the ASV.  Though many conservative scho= lars consider this to be the most accurate translation available, because of the NAS’s desire for technical accuracy, it is not the most read= able of the modern translations.

 

  • Living Bible, LNB (1974= ) - This is the work of one man, Kenneth N. Taylor.  Not a translation in the true sense, Mr. Taylor set out to produce a paraphrase of the ASV Bible usi= ng the words and terms his children could readily understand.  After founding Tyndale House Publishing, Mr. Taylor then expanded the availability of the LNB to include study Bible and cassettes.&nb= sp; The current Bible entitled “The Book” is essentially the LNB version.

 

  • Today’s English Version, TEV (1976) – Often referred to as the “Good News Bible,” this was a project sponsored by the American Bible Socie= ty to produce a Bible in English for people whose primary language was not English.  Mr. Robert G. Bratcher did the work on the New Testament, and it was published in 1966.  The Society then continued the work to include the Old Testament.  Although particular attention= was directed toward accuracy, the translators sometimes sacrificed this accuracy for readability.  Due to the TEV’s very up-to-date language and in many cases some mod= ern pop art illustrations, it has become a popular edition for teenagers.<= o:p>

 

  • New International Versi= on, NIV (1978) – The New York Bible Society sponsored this translati= on of the Bible.  A committe= e was formed to search worldwide for Bible scholars from colleges, universit= ies and seminaries that would represent varied backgrounds and denominations.  Each book= of the Bible was assigned to a different team of scholars, who then used = the best available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts to do the actual translation.  Additional committees checked and re-checked the translations for accuracy as wel= l as understandability.  This combination of accuracy and readability has propelled the NIV to the Number 2 spot in Bible sales behind the KJV.  Zondervan Publishing of Grand Rapids, Michigan owns the rights to the NIV Bible.

 

  • New King James Version,= NKJV (1982) – Thomas Nelson Bible Publishers and the International Tr= ust for Bible Studies co-sponsored this update of the 1611 KJV Bible.  119 scholars worked on this p= roject to make the KJV version more accurate and readable and yet maintain the grace and beauty of the original KJV text.  Generally, the translators us= ed the best available texts in  = their work, but rather than assuming the oldest was the most accurate, they chose to use the texts found most often in the ancient writings.  While not as popular as the o= ld KJV or NIV versions, the KNJV consistently remains in the top 5 best selli= ng versions in the United States.

 

  • Revised English Bible R= EB (1989) – Under the auspices of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, a committee of leading Bible scholars revised and updated the New English Bible.  This was the first major revision of the New English Bible since its release in 1970.  Particular attention was paid= to archaic words, phrases, and sentence structure.  This re-examination was done = by referring to the most current manuscripts, commentaries and exegesis.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  The REB provides the reader w= ith fluent, yet dignified English while still maintaining the full intent = of the original texts.

 

  • New Revised Standard Ve= rsion NSRV (1990) – This Bible was released in late 1990 and culminate= d 15 years of work by special committee of scholars.  This committee was under the sponsorship of the division of Education and Ministry of the National Council of Churches.  This original Revised Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version= can trance their roots to the King James Version.  While maintaining the traditi= on of the KJV, the New Revised Standard Version aimed for accuracy rather th= an simply paraphrasing.  It = can then be considered a literal translation.  The revision committee was ch= aired by Professor Bruce Metzger of the Princeton Theological Seminary.  Mr. Metzger’s instructi= ons were “introduce only changes as were warranted on the basis of accuracy, clarity, euphony and current English language usage.”<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  The New Revised Standard vers= ion is available from several publishers.&nb= sp;

 

  • The Message (2002) R= 11; Dr. Eugene H. Peterson, born in 19= 32, is a pa= stor, sc= holar, au= thor, and po= et. He has written nearly thirty books, but is best known for The Message (2002), a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible. Eugene Peterson was educated at Seattle Pacific College, New York Theological Seminar= y, and Johns Hopkins University. In 1962, Peterson was a founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church = in Bel Air, Maryland, where he served for 29 years before retiring. He is Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Th= eology at Regent College in Va= ncouver, British Columbia.            &= nbsp;   -In his writing, Peterson often shares his own interpretation of scripture, rather than using a translation. This has caused some controversy about The Message, which is an interpretatio= n of the entire bible. He draws from academic work towards a Ph. D. in Semi= tic Studies. Much of his writing is directed to pastors, whom he views as being underprepared and overtempted, as he was when he began his pastorate. One of his recurring themes for laity and pastors is that o= ne must pursue Jesus' work in Jesus' way... the means matter more than the = ends.       &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;                &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;     -Why was The Message written? The b= est answer to that question comes from Eugene Peterson (who translated and wrote it) himself: "While I was teaching a class on Galatians, I began to realize that the adults in my class weren't feeling the vital= ity and directness that I sensed as I read and studied the New Testament in its original Greek. Writing straight from the original text, I began to attempt to bring into English the rhythms and idioms of the original language. I knew that the early readers of the New Testament were capt= ured and engaged by these writings and I wanted my congregation to be impac= ted in the same way. I hoped to bring the New Testament to life for two different types of people: those who hadn't read the Bible because it seemed too distant and irrelevant and those who had read the Bible so = much that it had become 'old hat.'"
    -Peterson's parishioners simply weren't connecting with the real meani= ng of the words and the relevance of the New Testament for their own live= s. So he began to bring into English the rhythms and idioms of the origin= al ancient Greek—writing straight out of the Greek text without loo= king at other English translations. As he shared his version of Galatians w= ith them, they quit stirring their coffee and started catching Paul's pass= ion and excitement as he wrote to a group of Christians whom he was guidin= g in the ways of Jesus Christ. For more than two years, Peterson devoted all his efforts to The Message = New Testament. His primary goal was to capture the tone of the text= and the original conversational feel of the Greek, in contemporary English= .
    -Language changes. New words are formed. Old words take on new meaning. There is a need in every generation to keep the language of the gospel message current, fresh, and understandable—the way it was for its very first readers. That is what The Message seeks to accomplish for contemporary readers. It is a version for our time—designed to be read by contemporary people = in the same way as the original koinei> Greek and Hebrew manuscripts were sa= vored by people thousands of years ago.
    -That's why Peterson felt the time was right for a new version. When we hear something over and over again in the same way, we can become so familiar with it that the text loses its impact. The Message strives to help readers hear the living Word of God—the Bible—in a way that engages and intrigues us right where we are.
    -Some people like to read the Bible in Elizabethan English. Others wan= t to read a version that gives a close word-for-word correspondence between= the original languages and English. Eugene Peterson recognized that the original sentence structure is very different from that of contemporary English. He decided to strive for the spirit of the original manuscrip= ts—to express the rhythm of the voices, the flavor of the idiomatic expressi= ons, the subtle connotations of meaning that are often lost in English translations.
    -The goal of The Message is to engage people in the reading process and help them understand what they read. This is not a study Bible, but ra= ther "a reading Bible." The verse numbers, which are not in the original documents, have been left out of the print version to facilit= ate easy and enjoyable reading. The original books of the Bible were not written in formal language. The Message tries to recapture the Word in= the words we use today.

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