ENGLISH
VERSIONS
assistance
in
the
OT
from
the
Latin
translation
by
Sebastian
MUnster
pubUshed
in
1634-36
(a
worlc
decidedly
superior
to
the
Zurich
Bible,
which
had
been
his
principal
guide
in
1534),
while
in
the
NT
he
made
considerable
use
of
Erasmus.
With
regard
to
the
use
of
ecclesiastical
terms,
he
followed
his
own
previous
example,
against
Tindale,
in
retaining
the
familiar
Latin
phrases;
and
he
introduced
a
considerable
number
of
words
and
sentences
from
the
Vulgate,
which
do
not
appear
in
the
Hebrew
or
Greek.
The
text
is
divided
into
five
sections—
(
1
)
Pent.
,
(2)
Jos.-Job,
(3)
Psalms-Mai.,
(4)
Apocrypha,
here
entitled
'
Hagiographa,'
though
quite
different
from
the
books
to
which
that
term
is
appUed
in
the
Hebrew
Bible,
(5)
NT,
in
which
the
traditional
order
of
the
books
is
restored
in
place
of
Luther's.
Coverdale
intended
to
add
a
commentary
at
the
end,
and
with
this
view
inserted
various
marks
in
the
margins,
the
purpose
of
which
he
explains
in
the
Prologue;
but
he
was
unable
to
obtain
the
sanction
of
the
Privy
Council
for
these,
and
after
standing
in
the
margin
for
three
editions
the
sign-post
marks
were
withdrawn.
24.
The
first
edition
was
exhausted
within
twelve
months,
and
in
April
1540
a
second
edition
appeared,
this
time
with
a
prologue
by
Cranmer
(from
which
fact
the
Great
Bible
is
sometimes
known
as
Cranmer's
Bible,
though
he
had
no
part
in
the
translation).
Two
more
editions
followed
in
July
and
November,
the
latter
(Cromwell
having
now
been
overthrown
and
executed)
appearing
under
the
nominal
patronage
of
Bishops
Tunstall
and
Heath.
In
1541
three
editions
were
issued.
None
of
these
editions
was
a
simple
reprint.
The
Prophets,
in
particular,
were
carefully
revised
with
the
help
of
MUnster
for
the
second
edition.
The
fourth
edition
(Nov.
1540)
and
its
successors
revert
in
part
to
the
first.
These
seven
editions
spread
the
knowledge
of
the
Bible
in
a
sound,
though
not
perfect,
version
broadcast
through
the
land;
and
one
portion
of
it
has
never
lost
its
place
in
our
Uturgy.
In
the
first
Prayer
Book
of
Edward
vi.
the
Psalter
(like
the
other
Scripture
passages)
was
taken
from
the
Great
Bible.
In
1662,
when
the
other
passages
were
taken
from
the
version
of
1611,
a
special
exception
was
made
of
the
Psalter,
on
account
of
the
familiarity
which
it
had
achieved,
and
consequently
Coverdale's
version
has
held
its
place
in
the
Book
of
Common
Prayer
to
this
day,
and
it
is
in
his
words
that
the
Psalms
have
become
the
familiar
house-hold
treasures
of
the
Enghsh
people.
25.
With
the
appearance
of
the
Great
Bible
comes
the
first
pause
in
the
rapid
sequence
of
vernacular
versions
set
on
foot
by
Tindale.
The
English
Bible
was
now
fully
authorized,
and
accessible
to
every
Englishman
in
his
parish
church;
and
the
translation,
both
in
style
and
in
scholarship,
was
fairly
abreast
of
the
attainments
and
requirements
of
the
age.
We
hear
no
more,
therefore,
at
present
of
further
revisions
of
it.
Another
circum-stance
which
may
have
contributed
to
the
same
result
was
the
reaction
of
Henry
in
his
latter
years
against
Protestantism.
There
was
talk
in
Convocation
about
a
translation
to
be
made
by
the
bishops,
which
antici-pated
the
plan
of
the
Bible
of
1668
;
and
Cranmer
prompted
Henry
to
transfer
the
work
to
the
universities,
which
anticipated
a
vital
part
of
the
plan
of
the
Bible
of
1611;
but
nothing
came
of
either
project.
The
only
practical
steps
taken
were
in
the
direction
of
the
destruction
of
the
earlier
versions.
In
1543
a
proclamation
was
issued
against
Tindale's
versions,
and
requiring
the
obliteration
of
all
notes;
in
1546
Coverdale's
NT
was
likewise
pro-hibited.
The
anti-Protestant
reaction,
however,
was
soon
terminated
by
Henry's
death
(Jan.
1547);
and
during
the
reign
of
Edward'
vi.,
though
no
new
translation
(except
a
small
part
of
the
Gospels
by
Sir
J.
Cheke)
was
attempted,
many
new
editions
of
Tindale,
Cover-
dale,
Matthew,
and
the
Great
Bible
issued
from
the
press.
The
accession
of
Mary
naturally
put
a
stop
to
the
printing
and
circulation
of
vernacular
Bibles
in
England
;
and,
during
the
attempt
to
put
the
clock
back
ENGLISH
VERSIONS
by
force,
Rogers
and
Cranmer
followed
Tindale
to
the
stake,
while
Coverdale
was
imprisoned,
but
was
released,
and
took
refuge
at
Geneva.
26.
The
Geneva
Bible
(1557-1560).
Geneva
was
the
place
at
which
the
next
link
in
the
chain
was
to
be
forged.
Already
famous,
through
the
work
of
Beza,
as
a
centre
of
Biblical
scholarship,
it
became
the
rallying
place
of
the
more
advanced
members
of
the
Protestant
party
in
exile,
and
under
the
strong
rule
of
Calvin
it
was
identified
with
Puritanism
in
its
most
rigid
form.
Puritanism,
in
fact,
was
here
consolidated
into
a
living
and
active
principle,
and
demonstrated
its
strength
as
a
motive
power
in
the
religious
and
social
life
of
Europe.
It
was
by
a
relative
of
Calvin,
and
under
his
own
patronage,
that
the
work
of
improving
the
English
translation
of
the
Bible
was
once
more
taken
in
hand.
This
was
W.
Whittingham,
a
Fellow
of
All
Souls'
College,
Oxford,
and
subsequently
dean
of
Durham,
who
in
1657
published
the
NT
at
Geneva
in
a
small
octavo
volume,
the
handiest
form
in
which
the
English
Scriptures
had
yet
been
given
to
the
world.
In
two
other
respects
also
this
marked
an
epoch
in
the
history
of
the
Enghsh
Bible.
It
was
the
first
version
to
be
printed
in
Roman
type,
and
the
first
in
which
the
division
of
the
text
into
numbered
verses
(originally
made
by
R.
Stephanus
for
his
Grseco-Latin
Bibleof
1551)
was
introduced.
A
preface
was
contributed
by
Calvin
himself.
The
translator
claims
to
have
made
constant
use
of
the
original
Greek
and
of
translations
in
other
tongues,
and
he
added
a
full
marginal
com-mentary.
If
the
matter
had
ended
there,
as
the
work
of
a
single
scholar
on
one
part
of
the
Bible,
it
would
probably
have
left
little
mark;
but
it
was
at
once
made
the
basis
of
a
revised
version
of
both
Testaments
by
a
group
of
Puritan
scholars.
The
details
of
the
work
are
not
recorded,
but
the
principal
workers,
apart
from
Whittingham
himself,
appear
to
have
been
Thomas
Sampson,
formerly
dean
of
Chichester,
and
afterwards
dean
of
Christ
Church,
and
A.
Gilby,
of
Christ's
College,
Cambridge.
A
version
of
the
Psalter
was
issued
in
1559
[the
only
two
extant
copies
of
it
belong
to
the
Earl
of
EUesmere
and
Mr.
Aldis
Wright],
and
in
1560
the
com-plete
Bible
was
given
to
the
world,
with
the
imprint
of
Rowland
Hall,
at
Geneva.
The
Psalter
in
this
was
the
same
as
that
of
1559;
but
the
NT
had
been
largely
revised
since
1667.
The
book
was
a
moderate-sized
quarto,
and
contained
a
dedication
to
Elizabeth,
an
address
to
the
brethren
at
home,
the
books
of
the
OT
(including
Apocrypha)
and
NT
in
the
same
order
as
in
the
Great
Bible
and
our
modern
Bibles,
copious
marginal
notes
(those
to
the
NT
taken
from
Whittingham
with
some
additions),
and
an
apparatus
of
maps
and
woodcuts.
In
type
and
verse-division
it
followed
the
example
of
Whittingham's
NT.
27.
The
Genevan
revisers
took
the
Great
Bible
as
their
basis
in
the
OT,
and
Matthew's
Bible
(i.e.
Tindale)
in
the
NT.
For
the
former
they
had
the
assistance
of
the
Latin
Bible
of
Leo
Juda
(1544),
in
addition
to
Pagninus
(1527),
and
they
were
in
consultation
with
the
scholars
(including
Calvin
and
Beza)
who
were
then
engaged
at
Geneva
in
a
similar
work
of
revision
of
the
French
Bible.
In
the
NT
their
principal
guide
was
Beza,
whose
repu-tation
stood
highest
among
all
the
Biblical
scholars
of'
the
age.
The
result
was
a
version
which
completely
distanced
its
predecessors
in
scholarship,
while
in
style
and
vocabulary
it
worthily
carried
on
the
great
tradition
established
by
Tindale.
Its
success
was
as
decisive
as
it
was
well
deserved;
and
in
one
respect
it
met
a
want
which
none
of
its
predecessors
(except
perhaps
Tindale's)
had
attempted
to
meet.
Coverdale's,
Matthew's,
and
the
Great
Bible
were
all
large
folios,
suitable
for
use
in
church,
but
unsuited
both
in
size
and
in
price
for
private
possession
and
domestic
study.
The
peneva
Bible,
on
the
contrary,
was
moderate
in
both
respects,
and
achieved
instant
and
long-enduring
popularity
as
the
Bible
for.
personal
use.
For
a
full
century
it
con-tinued
to
be
the
Bible
of
the
people,
and
it
was
upon
