Presented to

Theology and Religious Education Department

De La Salle University – Manila

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Course Requirements
In TREDTRI A56

The Translations of the Bible

Submitted by:
Mariz Angela A. Subagan

Submitted to:
Sr. Auria Arabit

July 6, 2017
Introduction

The story of how we got the English language Bible is, for the most part,
the story of the Protestant Reformation which began in the late 14th Century AD with
John Wycliffe. Indeed, if we go back more than just one thousand years, there is no
language recognizable as “English” that even existed anywhere. The story of the Bible
is much older than that, however. (WWW.GREATSITE.COM)

The following information were acquired to show the different period in line
with the translations of the Bible. Before its current status as of now, the Bible
underwent through issues. The timeline of the Bible is presented in the next part of this
paper.

Most Ancient Translations and Early Antiquity

According to www.greatsite.com, the first ever written Word of God is The

Ten Commandments which was delivered to Moses during 1,400 BC. It was then
followed by the completion of all the 39 books of the Old Testament which were known
as the Original Hebrew Manuscripts during the 500 BC. In 200 BC, Septuagint Greek
Manuscripts were then completed containing the 39 Old Testament Books and 14
Apocrypha Books. Completion of all the Original Greek Manuscripts which were made
up of the 27 books of the New Testament took place in 1st Century AD. Then during the
315 AD, Athenasius, who was the Bishop of Alexandria during the time, identified 27
books of the New Testament, which are today known as the canon of scripture. And
lastly, the Latin Vulgate Manuscripts were produced which contained all of the 80
books, specifically 39 of the Old Testament, 14 of the Apocrypha, and 27 of the New
Testament.

Breed (n.d.), in his article What Are the Earliest Versions and Translations
of the Bible, enumerated important earliest translations of the bible. The first one is the
Masoretic Text. Masoretic text was written without vowels or accents, for the reason of
written Hebrew not representing vowels until the Middle Ages. It was the earliest copy of
the Hebrew Bible. Masoretic Text’s proponent was a group of Jewish scribes known as
the Masoretes, and was believed the best witnesses to the most ancient Hebrew text of
the Old Testament. The next translation is the Old Greek or Septuagint. It was the
earliest translation of the Old Testament that was made in Alexandria, Egypt for the
Jewish community who were that time Greek-speaking. During the 3rd Century BCE, the
Torah was the first to be translated and followed by the rest of the biblical books, the
whole Hebrew Bible was said to be completely translated into ancient Greek during the
middle of the 2nd Century BCE. Breed added, “At the time the Bible was translated into
Greek, there was no MT or any official or authorized Bible in existence. There were
merely multiple editions of many scrolls of various perceived levels of sacredness. In
fact, it seems that there wasn’t an official project to translate “the Bible” into ancient
Greek; instead, many different Greek-speaking Jews in various times and places simply
translated their favorite books into ancient Greek. Some of these books were later
chosen to be included in the Bible, and some were not. It was only many centuries later
that people began to choose the best of these Greek translations and to copy them all
together as if they were one book”. The third translation enumerated was the Aramaic.
Translations were made because of the Jews in Palestine who spoke mostly Aramaic.
An example of the Aramaic translation of the Torah are the Targum Onqelos and
Targum Psalms; “targums” is the Aramaic word for “translation”. The last translation is
the Syriac - because of the Jews in norther Syria who spoke in Syriac language. In the
2nd Century CE, Tatian, who is a Christian, initiated to gather all four canonical Greek
Gospels and translate them into Syriac.

Middle Ages

In www.greatsite.com, it was cited that during 382 AD, Father Jerome translated
the New Testament from its original Greek into Latin, which was then known as the
“Latin Vulgate” meaning “vulgar” or “common”. And by 500 AD, the Bible was translated
into over 500 languages. After 100 years, the bible has been restricted to only one
language, which is the Latin Vulgate. The only recognized Church during that time was
the Catholic Church of Rome, and they did not allow the scripture to be in any language
other than Latin, and those who have non-Latin translation would be persecuted.
Princeton University Library identified Latin Vulgate as the Latin translation of the Bible
written by St. Jerome and this translation became the Latin version of the Bible for the
Western Latin-speaking Church. Brigham Young University summarized that “The
Vulgate Bible was itself a translation, undertaken just decades after the Roman Empire
legalized Christianity. Several different Latin versions of biblical texts had been
produced during the early Christian period, but they were inconsistent in quality and
accuracy. In 382, Pope Damasus asked Eusebius Hieronymus—better known as Saint
Jerome—to revise the biblical text into a standard version using the everyday language
of the Roman Empire: Latin. Jerome spent 23 years translating the text of the Bible from
Greek and Hebrew. Jerome's translation gradually was adopted by all of Western
Christianity. During the Middle Ages, the Vulgate was the Bible used throughout all of
Western Europe, including England”. So basically, during the middle ages, translation
of the Bible, specifically the Old Testament was prohibited so at the time, Latin
translated Bible (Vulgate) was the one being used. Since few people, including the
priests, were the only one who could understand Latin, nobody could question the
biblical teachings of the Church, wherein forced-ignorance reigned through 1,000 years,
specifically from 400 AD to 1,400 AD known as the Dark and Middle Ages
(www.greatsite.com).
Reformation Period

Reformation period of the Bible took place during 1380’s AD when the first hand-
written English language Bible manuscripts were produced by John Wycliffe. Wycliffe,
also spelled as Wycliff or Wyclif, was a well-known Oxford professor, scholar, and
theologian in Europe. He was famous because of his contradiction to the teaching of the
Church during the Dark Ages because he believed that it was contrary to the Bible.
John Wycliffe lead the world out of the Dark Ages, so he has been called as the
“Morning Star of the Reformation”. The Protestant Reformation was about one agenda,
and it was to put the Word of God back into the hands of the own native language of the
majority of the people, “so that the corrupt church would be exposed and the message
of salvation in Christ alone, by scripture alone, through faith alone would be proclaimed
again” (www.greatsite.com). Luther, Tyndale, and the Printing Press caused the
explosion of Scripture Translation. Gabriel (2017) in his article Reformation, Bible
Translation, and Modern Missionary Movement said that the Reformation greatly
benefited from the recent invention of the printing press. While Luther led the way,
issuing a translation of the New Testament in German during the 1522’s, 43 editions of
the Bible within 3 years with a total printing of over 100,000 copies was accomplished.
Greatsite.com mentioned details about Johann Gutenberg, William Tyndale, and Martin
Luther. Johann Gutenberg was the one who invented the printing press, and the first
book to be printed was a Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany. William
Tyndale was the Captain of the Army of Reformers, and he was their spiritual leader. He
was also known for being the one who ever printed the New Testament in the English
Language. In support with this, Historyworld.net also discussed about how Erasmus,
Luther, and Tyndale promoted reformation in the translation of the bible. It mentioned
that by the 16th century, what ordinary people most need for their own spiritual good was
the personal knowledge of a scripture. In line with this, Erasmus, though he translated
the New Testament only from Greek into Latin, wished that the holy text should be in
every language, not just in Latin, so even the Scots and Irishmen could read it. After a
decade, this wish became the central demand of the Reformation. This was when
Luther and Tyndale, who were the notable writers during that time, came into the
picture.
Early Modern and Modern Translations

Wycliffe and Tyndale initiated the reformation for the translating of the Bible. This
reformation resulted to the printing of the first complete Bible in the English language.
There were different versions of the Bible during the early modern period, namely
Tyndale’s Bible, Coverdale’s Bible, Matthew’s Bible, Taverner’s Bible, Great Bible,
Geneva Bible, Bishops’ Bible, Douay-Rheims Version, and King James Version.
Greatsite.com identified the first ever complete Bible in the English language as the
Coverdale Bible which was printed on October 4, 1535 and was finished by Myles
Coverdale and John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers who were loyal disciples of Tyndale,
and the ones who carried the English Bible project forward. Coverdale used Luther’s
German text and the Latin as his sources. The New Testament was then completed in
1557, and the complete Bible was first published in 1560 – known as the Geneva Bible.
It was also referred to as the Breeches Bible, and the first English study Bible. During
the time, the only way to obtain this bible is to either purchase an original printed copy,
or a facsimile reproduction of the original. It had won the hearts of the crowd because of
its excellent, scholarship, accuracy, and exhaustive commentary. Greatsite.com also
tackled about the inclusion of the Bishop’s Bible which was introduced in 1568 as a
revision of the Great Bible. It was said to be the rough draft of the King James Version.
And by 1580’s, the Church of Rome surrendered their fight for a Latin only Bible and
thought that if they produced the Bible in English only, they would at least have an
official Roman Catholic English translation. So using the Latin Vulgate which was
considered as corrupt and inaccurate, they published an English Bible with all the
corruptions revealed by Erasmus. This translation was made at the Roman Catholic
College in the city of Rheims, so it was also known as the Rheims New Testament; and
the Douay Old Testament was translated at the College in the City of Douay; and this
combined product of translation was then referred to as Douay-Rheims Version. King
James I of England then came into the picture. He lead the “translation to end all
translations” using the help of about fifty scholars, and took into consideration the
previous Bibles. Other translations were then made after the King James Version.
These translations are as follows: New American Standard Version Bible, New
International Version, New King James Version, and English Standard Version.

WWW.GREATSITE.COM showed the differences between the mentioned Bible

versions through the following textual comparison of the Earliest English translations of
John 3:16:

 1st Ed. King James (1611): "For God so loued the world, that he gaue his only
begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue
euerlasting life."
 Rheims (1582): "For so God loued the vvorld, that he gaue his only-begotten
sonne: that euery one that beleeueth in him, perish not, but may haue life
euerlasting"
 Geneva (1560): "For God so loueth the world, that he hath geuen his only
begotten Sonne: that none that beleue in him, should peryshe, but haue
euerlasting lyfe."
 Great Bible (1539): "For God so loued the worlde, that he gaue his only begotten
sonne, that whosoeuer beleueth in him, shulde not perisshe, but haue
euerlasting lyfe."
 Tyndale (1534): "For God so loveth the worlde, that he hath geven his only
sonne, that none that beleve in him, shuld perisshe: but shuld have everlastinge
lyfe."
 Wycliff (1380): "for god loued so the world; that he gaf his oon bigetun sone, that
eche man that bileueth in him perisch not: but haue euerlastynge liif,"
 Anglo-Saxon Proto-English Manuscripts (995 AD): “God lufode middan-eard swa,
dat he seade his an-cennedan sunu, dat nan ne forweorde de on hine gely ac
habbe dat ece lif."
Summary

The timeline of the Bible Translation History presented below was prepared by
John L. Jeffcoat in WWW.GREATSITE.COM:

1,400 BC: The first written Word of God: The Ten Commandments delivered to Moses.

500 BC: Completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up The 39 Books
of the Old Testament.

200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old
Testament Books AND 14 Apocrypha Books.

1st Century AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up The 27
Books of the New Testament.

315 AD: Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New
Testament which are today recognized as the canon of scripture.

382 AD: Jerome's Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books (39
Old Test. + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test).

500 AD: Scriptures have been Translated into Over 500 Languages.

600 AD: LATIN was the Only Language Allowed for Scripture.

995 AD: Anglo-Saxon (Early Roots of English Language) Translations of The New

Testament Produced.

1384 AD: Wycliffe is the First Person to Produce a (Hand-Written) manuscript Copy of

the Complete Bible; All 80 Books.

1455 AD: Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press; Books May Now be mass-Produced
Instead of Individually Hand-Written. The First Book Ever Printed is Gutenberg's Bible in
Latin.

1516 AD: Erasmus Produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament.

1522 AD: Martin Luther's German New Testament.

1526 AD: William Tyndale's New Testament; The First New Testament printed in the
English Language.
1535 AD: Myles Coverdale's Bible; The First Complete Bible printed in the English
Language (80 Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha).
1537 AD: Tyndale-Matthews Bible; The Second Complete Bible printed in English.
Done by John "Thomas Matthew" Rogers (80 Books).

1539 AD: The "Great Bible" Printed; The First English Language Bible Authorized for
Public Use (80 Books).

1560 AD: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add
Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books).

1568 AD: The Bishops Bible Printed; The Bible of which the King James was a Revision
(80 Books).

1609 AD: The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament (of 1582)
Making the First Complete English Catholic Bible; Translated from the Latin Vulgate (80
Books).

1611 AD: The King James Bible Printed; Originally with All 80 Books. The Apocrypha
was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books.

1782 AD: Robert Aitken's Bible; The First English Language Bible (KJV) Printed in
America.

1791 AD: Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas Respectively Produce the First Family Bible
and First Illustrated Bible Printed in America. Both were King James Versions, with All
80 Books.

1808 AD: Jane Aitken's Bible (Daughter of Robert Aitken); The First Bible to be Printed
by a Woman.

1833 AD: Noah Webster's Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster
Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible.

1841 AD: English Hexapla New Testament; an Early Textual Comparison showing the
Greek and 6 Famous English Translations in Parallel Columns.

1846 AD: The Illuminated Bible; The Most Lavishly Illustrated Bible printed in America.
A King James Version, with All 80 Books.

1863 AD: Robert Young's "Literal" Translation; often criticized for being so literal that it
sometimes obscures the contextual English meaning.

1885 AD: The "English Revised Version" Bible; The First Major English Revision of the
KJV.
1901 AD: The "American Standard Version"; The First Major American Revision of the
KJV.
1952 AD: The "Revised Standard Version" (RSV); said to be a Revision of the 1901
American Standard Version, though more highly criticized. 

1971 AD: The "New American Standard Bible" (NASB) is Published as a "Modern and
Accurate Word for Word English Translation" of the Bible.

1973 AD: The "New International Version" (NIV) is Published as a "Modern and

Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation" of the Bible.

1982 AD: The "New King James Version" (NKJV) is Published as a "Modern English
Version Maintaining the Original Style of the King James."

1990 AD: The "New Revised Standard Version" (NRSV); further revision of 1952 RSV,
(itself a revision of 1901 ASV), criticized for "gender inclusiveness".

2002 AD: The English Standard Version (ESV) is Published as a translation to bridge

the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV.
Conclusion

Based on what I have found, I realized that our Bible really went through a lot.
Actually, while I was searching for sources, I was somehow overwhelmed because of
numerous results of the versions/ translations that were available during the
enumerated periods. I cannot point out what is the most significant period because each
of them was relevant and played an important role in the development of the Bible
today. The Early Antiquity period was important because it was the foundation of the
Modern Bibles today; it was the roots of any other versions as of today. Middle Ages
period was also significant because it triggered the reformation period wherein the Bible
started to be translated into English language, from being an only Latin version. My
findings satisfied my curiosity about why and how does the Bible have different
translation.
References:

WWW.GREATSITE.COM (2017). English Bible History. Retrieved from:

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/#timeline

Breed (n.d.). What Are the Earliest Versions and Translations of the Bible?. Retrieved
from: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/tools/bible-basics/what-are-the-earliest-versions-
and-translations-of-the-bible

Princeton University Library (n.d.). Cataloging Biblical Materials. Retrieved from:

http://library.princeton.edu/departments/tsd/katmandu/bible/versions.html

Brigham Young University (2011). The Bible in the Middle Ages. Retrieved from:
http://exhibits.lib.byu.edu/kingjamesbible/middle-ages.html

Michael Gabriel (2017). Reformation, Bible Translation, and the Modern Missionary
Movement. Retrieved from: https://www.imb.org/2017/02/27/reformation-bible-
translation-missionary-movement/

Historyworld.net (n.d.). History of Bible Translations. Retrieved from:

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac66