Why So Many Translations?
As the Gospel spread and churches multiplied across the early centuries of Christianity, believers in different countries naturally wanted Scripture in their own language—leading to translations into multiple languages as early as the second century.
Early Anglo-Saxon Translations
The Gospel reached England in the sixth century, carried by missionaries from Rome who brought Jerome's Latin Vulgate (c. AD 400). English translation work followed centuries later: ● Caedmon (seventh century) produced the earliest known English translation—a metrical rendering of parts of the Old and New Testaments. ● Bede, by tradition, was translating the Gospel of John into English on his deathbed in 735. ● Alfred the Great (reigned 871-899), a notably literate king, included the Ten Commandments in his law code and translated portions of the Psalms. ● The Lindisfarne Gospels (c. 950) represent this period's most famous translation.
Middle English Translations
The Wycliffe Bible stands out as the first complete English Bible translation. John Wycliffe and associates completed the New Testament around 1380 and the Old Testament by 1382; his associate Nicholas of Hereford handled much of the Old Testament work, and John Purvey later revised the whole translation by 1388. Because Wycliffe and his circle lacked knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, this was a translation of a translation—made from the Latin Vulgate rather than the original biblical languages. Modern English TranslationsWilliam Tyndale (graduated Oxford, 1515) committed his life to translating Scripture directly from Hebrew and Greek.
He completed the New Testament in 1525, working under harassment from church authorities who opposed placing the Bible in ordinary people's hands. Fifteen thousand copies were smuggled into England across six editions. Tyndale was eventually arrested and executed in 1536—but not before laying the foundation nearly every English translation since has built upon. Miles Coverdale, an associate of Tyndale, completed the first full printed English Bible in 1535, based heavily on Tyndale's unfinished work. The Coverdale Bible (1537) received King Henry VIII's approval—the same king who had earlier condemned Tyndale.
The Matthew Bible (1537), published under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew" (actually John Rogers), combined Tyndale's and Coverdale's work and also received royal approval. The Great Bible (1538) became the first English Bible authorized for public use in churches, though its use later fluctuated under Mary I. The Geneva Bible, produced by English exiles in Geneva and strongly shaped by Calvinist theology, became hugely popular for its small size, affordable price, and study notes—though its Calvinist annotations kept it out of favor with some Church of England leaders.
The Bishops' Bible (1568) was commissioned as a corrective revision of the Great Bible, intended to be less doctrinally partisan than the Geneva Bible. The King James Version (1611) was commissioned by King James I at John Reynolds' request, who wanted a translation more accurate than those available. More than fifty scholars worked over several years, instructed to consult Tyndale, Matthew, Coverdale, and the Great and Geneva Bibles wherever they offered more accurate renderings of the original languages.
The translators described their goal not as making an entirely new translation but as making "a good one better." The result—later called the "Authorized Version" because of royal sanction—drew on all preceding English translations' best elements and, in Comfort's words, has had a greater influence on English literature than any other translation, continuing into the present day.