IN regard to the Bible as we have it now, it should be remembered that the languages of the world—especially of the Roman world—have frequently changed during the last two thousand years—i.e. since the whole Bible was completed. Consequently, from time to time, God’s living oracles have been translated by reverent and devout students into the ruling languages of the time—the earlier translators having had the advantage of doing their work from documents of very early date, some of which are now lost; while the more recent translators had on the other hand the benefit of more numerous documents recently discovered, which were apparently not available to some of their predecessors.
We will now briefly trace the many interesting stages in the history of these various translations from earliest times down to the present.
The Septuagint Version (the oldest existing document)
About 277 B.C.—i.e. a little over one hundred years after the close of the Old Testament Canon—a Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures was made, or in any case, was commenced about that time—Greek being the language then generally spoken throughout the Roman world. This translation is referred to by Gibbon, the great historian. It was probably made for the sake of those Jews who had been scattered abroad during the dispersion and had adopted the Greek language in place of the Hebrew, which they had then almost entirely forgotten. It is known as the Septuagint or Alexandrian version, Septuagint being a Latin word meaning seventy. It was said to have been the work of seventy scholars at Alexandria; hence its title.
A measure of uncertainty exists as to its true origin. If it was the work of Alexandrian Jewish scholars, they were anything but good scholars either of Hebrew or Greek. And, moreover, the work is quite unlike any other Jewish work connected with the Scriptures, for the following reasons:
1. The whole nature of an orthodox Jew would shrink from the mere thought of having their Scriptures—i.e. the Old Testament—in any other language at all than the sacred Hebrew. Dr. Ginsburg tells how, soon after the publication of the Septuagint, the Jewish authorities declared that the day on which it was made was as calamitous to Israel as the day on which the golden calf was substituted for the true God.
2. This Greek translation is a very free one, departing in many cases from the original Hebrew text, to which the Jew held so tenaciously and with such reverent awe.
We can only, therefore, conclude that these Alexandrian Jews must have become extraordinarily loose and unorthodox in their views, or such things could never have happened.
The fact, however, that while in Egypt at this time, they appear to have used a heathen temple in which to worship, is an indication of marked decline in their religious ideas, and may sufficiently account for this Greek translation.
It is said that it was in this version the now familiar titles, by which the various books of the Bible are known, were first adopted; while the order in which they were arranged, and which, strangely enough, appears to have been followed ever since, is quite different from that of the original Hebrew Scriptures.
This Greek translation, which is faulty in many respects as compared with the original Hebrew, was no doubt in existence in the time of our Lord; but there is no evidence whatever that either He or the apostles ever made use of it. On the contrary, there is every reason to believe that our Lord absolutely ignored it.
It is true that Greek was then the common language of the Roman world in general; but the Jews still continued to use the Aramaic language in all their dealings with one another, except in the synagogues, where the rabbis invariably spoke and read in Hebrew—an interpreter standing by to translate what was said into Aramaic when there were any Jews present who did not understand pure Hebrew.
It is most probable that our Lord, like other Jews, spoke Aramaic, except, perhaps, when He addressed the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7:2626The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. (Mark 7:26)), when He would probably have spoken in Greek, otherwise she would not have understood Him. Indeed, those few words of His which have come down to us untranslated—i.e. exactly as he spoke them—are Aramaic—viz. “Talitha cumi” (Mark 5:4141And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. (Mark 5:41)) and Eloi, Eloi, lama Sabachthani” (Mark 15:3434And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mark 15:34)).
This Septuagint version of the Old Testament, however, formed the basis for many future translations. The copies in our possession are also accompanied by Greek copies of the New Testament.
The originals are lost, but it is an interesting fact that the three oldest and best copies of this version—viz. the Vatican and the Sinaitic versions, dating from about the fourth century, and the Alexandrian version dating from about the fifth century—have been distributed, in the providence of God, among the three great sections of the professing Christian Church, as follows:
1. The Vatican manuscript, said to be the oldest of all existing documents, is, as its name implies, at the Vatican, Rome, in the keeping of the head of the Roman Catholic faith, where it has been for the last five hundred years. It is written in the most beautiful style, but is not quite perfect—parts of Genesis, some of the Psalms, and part of the New Testament being missing.
2. The Sinaitic manuscript derives its name from the fact that it was rescued from some monks on Mount Sinai by Dr. Tischendorf, through the influence of the Emperor of Russia, in 1859. These documents were found heaped together with other parchments, which were being used as fuel, owing to the ignorance of the monks as to their nature and contents. This also is written most beautifully and carefully on the skins of a hundred antelopes. The New Testament is perfect; not a leaf is missing. This is said to be the second oldest document in existence, and is in the possession of the head of the Greek Church, at St. Petersburg. Dr. Tischendorf believed that this and the Vatican manuscript were two of the fifty copies of the Bible which were made in Greek by command of the Emperor Constantine, about the year A.D. 331, under the supervision of Bishop Eusebius, the historian of Caesarea. If that be so, then these are without doubt the oldest existing manuscripts.
3. The Alexandrian manuscript is in the British Museum, London, the center of Protestant Christianity. Ten leaves are missing from the Old Testament, and several from the New. It was said to have been written by one “Thekla, the Martyr,” about the fifth century, and was presented to King Charles I. in 1628 by Cyril Lucar, a Greek patriarch of Alexandria; hence its name. This is the third oldest document known to exist.
Copies of all these can be seen in our principal public libraries.
The Vulgate Version—England’s First Bible
In the second century of the Christian era Latin superseded Greek and remained for many years the diplomatic language of Europe. At this time a Latin translation was made in North Africa from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament and the original Greek of the New, so that all Latin-speaking people might be able to read the Word of God. It is known as the “Vulgate,” which itself is a Latin word, meaning “to make common or public.” Hence our word “vulgar.”
This Latin version appears to have been England’s first Bible. It was brought into this then pagan land by the early Christian missionaries and was destined to replace the ignorant superstition of the Druids, with their human sacrifices, etc., by the knowledge and worship of the true God and ultimately to make this land the mighty power that it is today, sending forth Bibles and missionaries to all parts of the earth.
In the fourth century this Vulgate version was revised by the saintly scholar Jerome, who had access to ancient Hebrew manuscripts; and so important was this revision of Jerome’s that, like the Septuagint, it has influenced all future translations. It is from this version that the English translation of the Psalms as in our Prayer Book and in the Roman Catholic Douay Bible was made.
Introduction of the Anglo-Saxon Language
In A.D. 450 the Teutonic invaders introduced the Anglo-Saxon language into England. Meantime, this Latin translation remained the only Bible in the country for centuries; and as that was only in handwriting, it will be readily seen that the Word of God, without which no man can really live (Deut. 8:33And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3)), was only available to the very few—viz. the learned and the rich.
The innate power, however, of the Word of God—although only in Latin—wrought great changes in the land, so that in course of time paganism died out.
First Anglo-Saxon Writing
In the seventh century a curious attempt was made to give the people the substance of the Scriptures in their own tongue—viz. Anglo-Saxon—by a poor untutored man (afterward educated) named Cædmon, who seems to have had a vision during which he was inspired to paraphrase certain parts of the Bible in a kind of blank verse, remnants of which exist to this day. Here is a specimen in English of that remarkable work taken from Thorpe’s Cædmon’s Paraphrase, referring to the Crucifixion:
He on the tree ascended
And shed His blood,
God on the Cross
Through His Spirit’s power.
Wherefore we should
At all times
Give to the Lord thanks
In deeds and works,
For that He from thralldom
Led Home
Up to Heaven,
Where we may share
The greatness of God.
This is the earliest trace we have of writing in the Anglo-Saxon tongue.
Cædmon died about A.D. 680. A cross to his memory may be seen at Whitby, erected as recently as 1898.
First Anglo-Saxon Testament
In the eighth century the Venerable Bede—one of England’s greatest literary men of ancient times—translated the Psalms and the Gospels into Anglo-Saxon, hoping no doubt to translate the whole Bible; but death intervened on May 26th, A.D. 735.
The most beautiful Anglican Cross ever reared in Great Britain was unveiled to Bede’s memory as recently as October 5th, 1904, at Roker Point, Sunderland.
A Royal Translator
In A.D. 871, Alfred the Great, who was a man of prayer and a lover of the Bible, was crowned King of the West Saxons at the age of twenty-two. In 893 he became nominally King of all England. He instituted great reforms for the education and enlightenment of the people and expressed a desire that every youth should be able to read the Scriptures before studying any other subject. He accordingly ordered a translation of the whole Bible to be made into Anglo-Saxon, himself taking part in it; but, like Bede, he did not live to see its completion.
Introduction of the English Language
Nothing more of importance seems to have been done for the next five hundred years or so, during which time the Norman Conquest took place under William the Conqueror, in 1066 after which the Anglo-Saxon language soon gave place to English. The whole land also became priest ridden.
The Bible Divided Into Chapters
Prior to this date no translated copies of the Scriptures contained any divisions into chapters or verses. But in 1250, one Cardinal Hugo was the first to divide up the Bible into chapters; this he did for the purposes of a Latin concordance. The divisions, although very convenient for reference, are sometimes far from happily arranged. They have, however, been followed in every future translation. The division into verses was not made until three hundred years later.
The First English Bible
About the year 1320, John Wycliffe, the great Reformer, was born. He was the first to translate the whole Bible into the English language. This translation, which occupied about twenty-two years, was made from the Latin Vulgate; the Hebrew and Greek originals being then practically unknown. It was divided into chapters according to Cardinal Hugo’s arrangement, and although only in handwriting, very many copies were made, several of which exist today. Each copy took about ten months to write out, and cost 440 in our money to buy. Those who could not afford to buy it would pay a considerable sum to be allowed to read it one hour a day; and it is said that a load of hay was sometimes given for a few pages of it. Truly the Word of God was precious in those days.
Wycliffe had been much opposed in this work by the Roman Catholics, who eventually forbade the reading of this English Bible under penalty of death; and history relates a long list of martyrs who died at the stake rather than give up the blessed book. Wycliffe died of paralysis at Lutterworth, December 31St, 1384. Forty years after his death, the Roman Catholic authorities dug up his bones and burned them, scattering the ashes on the River Swift.
This Bible of Wycliffe’s was printed in four volumes in 1850.
In 1388, one Richard Purvey, with the aid of other scholars, made a revision of Wycliffe’s Bible; several copies of this also remain to this day.
The Invention of Printing
The art of printing appears to have been known in China as early as the twelfth or thirteenth century. It was invented in Europe about A.D. 1450, by Gutenberg, of Mainz, who is said to have printed a Bible about that time. It was, however, introduced into England by Caxton in 1476, about which time parts of the Old Testament were printed in Hebrew.
In 1516, Desiderius Erasmus, a very learned Greek scholar, published at Basel a Greek New Testament direct from ancient manuscripts, which was of immense value to future translators, as for some centuries previous to this nothing but Latin translations were known.
The First Printed English Testament
In 1525, William Tyndale, one of the great Protestant Reformers and a contemporary of Luther, made another English translation from Erasmus’s Greek above referred to and was the first to publish an English New Testament in print. This was done under great difficulties, partly at Cologne and partly at Worms, in exile, poverty, and distress, as he found it impossible to carry out this work in England, owing to Romish opposition. Several editions were printed. In all at least fifteen thousand copies were issued, which were secretly imported into England in bales of cloth, sacks of flour, etc. Every effort was, however, made by the Roman Catholics to prevent this Testament from getting into the hands of the people; and with this object in view, all that were found were seized and destroyed—thousands being burnt at St. Paul’s Cross.
His translation was marvelously accurate. He wisely and beautifully used the word “love” in 1 Corinthians 13 instead of our somewhat misleading word “charity.”
Tyndale also translated the Pentateuch and Jonah into English.
His first printed Testament is now in the British Museum.
In 1535 he issued a revised version of the New Testament from the original Greek; and to this is primarily due the beauty of the language of our Authorized Version.
On October 6th, 1536, Tyndale, who had done this great work for England, was first strangled and then burnt at the stake by those who have ever been the unchanging enemies of an open Bible—viz. the Roman Catholic authorities. His last words were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”
His statue may now be seen on the Thames Embankment, in the very city in which he was not allowed to live.
The First Printed English Bible
Prayer Book Version of the Psalms
In 1535 the whole Bible, Old Testament and New, was for the first time printed in English by Miles Coverdale, who made his translation from the German and Latin. This contained also the apocryphal books. It is Coverdale’s version of the Psalms, translated from Jerome’s revision of the Vulgate, which is now used in the Church of England Prayer Book.
Coverdale died in 1568.
A very curious printer’s mistake was made in one of the early printed Bibles—viz. Psalm 119:161161SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. (Psalm 119:161) was made to read, “Printers have persecuted me without a cause!”
While quite recently in a Gospel of Matthew printed in Micmac for the Indians of Nova Scotia, chap. 24:7 instead of reading “Nation shall rise against nation” was, owing to the misprint of only one letter, made to read— “A pair of snowshoes shall rise up against a pair of snowshoes!”
The First Authorized Version
In 1536, Henry VIII., although remaining a Romanist to the last, was induced by his Lord Chancellor, Thomas Cromwell, to grant a royal license for the issue of the Bible in the English language. This was carried out by John Rogers (who was afterward burnt at the stake in Queen Mary’s reign). He made use of Coverdale’s translation and issued his Bible in 1537 under the title of “Matthew’s Bible.” It contained several caustic comments in the margin against Romanism, and was never very popular.
In 1538, instructions were given to the clergy to have a large volume of the Bible placed in a convenient position in every church, so that the reading of God’s blessed Book might be available to all.
Accordingly, in 1539, what was practically a reprint of Matthew’s Bible was brought out by Miles Coverdale and others, but without the unpopular marginal comments. The preparation of this version was greatly hindered owing to the Inquisition then raging in France, where the work was commenced, so that it had to be completed in England. When the King saw it he said, “In God’s name, let it go forth among our people!” Thus Tyndale’s dying prayer was, at least, in part answered.
This, therefore, was the first really Authorized Version of the Bible, “and appointed to be used” in public worship.
It is known as the “Great Bible,” owing to its size. It is also called the “Chained Bible,” because it used to be chained to the desks of churches for safe keeping. And it has been called the “Treacle Bible,” because Jeremiah 8:2222Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? (Jeremiah 8:22) was rendered, “Is there no treacle in Gilead?”
Alas, however, for the poor, changeable heart of man! Henry VIII. afterward, unhappily, ceased to encourage the circulation of the Scriptures. The destruction of Bibles by the Roman Catholics about that time was, in consequence, very great.
The Prayer Book in English
In 1547 King Edward VI. came to the throne at the tender age of ten, and, as an indication of his attitude towards the Bible, it is related of him that, seeing the three swords of state being borne before him, he asked where was the fourth sword—the sword of the Spirit? Whereupon a Bible was handed to him. This simple and touching incident made such an impression upon the nation that ever since that time the presentation of a Bible to the sovereign has formed a prominent part of the English coronation ceremony. It appears, however, to have been a custom among the early Jews, not only to present the new King with a copy of the testimony (2 Chron. 23:22And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 23:2).) but also that he should himself write out a copy of it with his own hand, and read therein all the days of his life (Deut. 17:18,1918And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: (Deuteronomy 17:18‑19)). Would that all modern kings acted upon this old Jewish law!
During Edward VI.’s short reign of only seven years, the Bible was again allowed to be printed and read freely. In his reign, also, the Book of Common Prayer, formerly only in Latin, was published in English.
The New Testament Divided Into Verses
In 1551 Sir Robert Stephens was the first to divide any part of the Bible into verses; this he did in a Greek New Testament which he brought out just three hundred years after the division into chapters by Cardinal Hugo. As we have seen, however, an arrangement of division into verses—not the same as ours—was made by the Jews in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament Scriptures at a very early date.
In 1553, Queen Mary—whom the historian Hume described as violent, cruel, and revengeful—came to the throne, when the printing, importation, and circulation of the Bible were once more prohibited. During her short reign of four and a half years, Ridley, Latimer, Cranmer, and over three hundred other Bible-loving men were burnt at the stake. One Bible, partly burnt at that time, is still preserved as a relic of those dark and bloody days.
One version of the New Testament was, however, published during her reign, in spite of the fiery persecution that existed; and this was the first English edition which was divided into verses, as arranged a few years previously in Sir R. Stephens’ Greek Testament.
In 1558, a great change took place, when Queen Elizabeth came to the throne at the age of twenty-five. At her public entry into London she inaugurated her long and prosperous reign by pressing to her lips and heart a copy of the Bible, which was presented to her amid the rejoicings of the populace, who realized that the days of tyranny and oppression were past.
The Whole Bible Divided Into Verses
First Use of Italics—Apocrypha omitted
1560 a very important edition of the Bible appeared, known as the “Geneva Bible,” because it had been prepared by the Reformers in Geneva, whither they had fled during the persecutions under Queen Mary. It was translated direct from the original Hebrew and Greek, and is also known as the “Breeches Bible,” because Genesis 3:77And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:7) is rendered, “They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves breeches.”
This was the first Bible in which italics were used to indicate words which are not in the original. It was also the first whole Bible which was divided into verses; and it was the first to omit the apocryphal books since their introduction into the Septuagint about the fourth century.
Unlike the Great Bible, this was small, portable, and cheap, and was the most popular Bible England had ever had up to that time.
In 1568 what is known as the “Bishops’ Bible” was issued, having been brought out by a committee of bishops. This was a very expensive edition, each copy costing about 416 in our money. It was by no means a good translation, was never popular, and practically fell out of use by 1606.
The Douay Bible
In 1582, what is known as the Rhenish version of the New Testament was issued by the Roman Catholics—that is, not until sixty years after Tyndale’s Protestant New Testament.
In 1610 the Roman Catholics issued the whole Douay-Rhenish Bible—so called because the Old Testament was translated at Douay, and the New Testament at Rheims. It includes the apocryphal books. These translations were made from the Latin Vulgate, and contain some gross errors which cannot possibly be supported by the original Hebrew and Greek.
The Authorized Version
First Use of Marginal References
At the beginning of the seventeenth century there were three versions of the Bible in existence in England—viz. the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva Bible of 1560, and the Bishops’ Bible of 1568. But, valuable as at least two of these versions were for the times in which they were made, they could not, in the nature of things, remain in permanent use. For, apart from the fact that these translations were by no means perfect, as time went on the meaning of many English words became quite changed, so that there grew up a general desire for a fresh translation, which should embody all that was good in existing translations while avoiding their faults. Accordingly, under the patronage of that strange character, King James I., fifty-four translators, including High Churchmen, Puritans, and the best scholars in the land, undertook the task, sitting in sections at Westminster, Oxford, and Cambridge. They had the Hebrew and Greek originals to refer to, besides many other ancient documents of great value. Indeed, never before had such an amount of careful labor been expended on the English Bible.
In 1611, after about five years of close study, what we call the Authorized Version was published. In this version the marginal references from one passage to another, so useful to Bible students, were adopted; although similar references on a small scale appear to have been first introduced in a Bible printed by the same firm in 1599.
In 1866 a very important and accurate translation, or rather revision, of the New Testament was made by Dean Alford, a very learned Greek scholar. This translation is regarded as a standard work to this day.
The beautiful and stately language, however, of the Authorized Version, so endeared itself to English-speaking people all over the world, that it remained the Bible of the people for nearly three centuries.
The Revised New Testament
Paragraphs adopted
During the Victorian era many valuable ancient documents which were not available to former translators were unearthed, while scholarship had greatly increased. It was, therefore, decided to revise the Authorized translation; and accordingly, in June, 1870, nearly one hundred learned men of different denominations—the best scholars to be found in England and America, among whom were Trench, Lightfoot, Westcott, Alford, and Stanley—met at Westminster and for over ten years labored at this work until, in 1881, the Revised New Testament was published.
The demand for this version was so great that no less than two million copies were ordered before it was published. One hundred pounds was offered in America for a single copy in advance; while every word from the beginning of Matthew to the end of Romans—118,000 words—was telegraphed from New York to Chicago—the longest telegraphic message ever sent.
The Revised Bible
In 1885 the Revised Version of the whole Bible was issued. The work on the Old Testament was also commenced in June, 1870, by a similar, but separate, committee sitting at Westminster—these revisers having been engaged for fifteen years.
This, although a decided improvement in some respects, as a translation, on the Authorized Version, it is nevertheless far from perfect, and contains some very unfortunate renderings and unnecessary alterations. It has, moreover, never obtained the hold on the hearts of the people that the Authorized won from the first, and has maintained, in spite of this later revision, to this day.
In this version, while the numbers of chapters and verses have been retained for reference, the revisers have wisely adopted the system of paragraphs, which is of great use—although even this has been carried somewhat too far—and of metrical form for the poetical books, which is a distinct advantage.
Thus the Bible, which was originally written in Hebrew, Chaldean, and Greek, has been translated and retranslated until, today, the very phraseology of its stately language has become familiar to English-speaking people all over the world.