What is the Tyndale Bible?

Answer

William Tyndale (c. 1494 – 1536) was a 16th-century Protestant reformer and scholar who was influenced by the works of Erasmus and Martin Luther. Similar to Luther, Tyndale believed that the path to God lay through His Word and that Scripture should be accessible even to ordinary people. Confronting the same opposition from the Catholic Church as Luther, Tyndale boldly proclaimed, “I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, I will ensure that the boy who plows the fields knows more of the Scriptures than the Pope himself!” Tyndale’s translations faced condemnation from both the Catholic Church and the king of England. Following the release of Tyndale’s New Testament, Catholic Cardinal Wolsey branded Tyndale a heretic, and Tyndale was publicly accused of heresy in January 1529. After years of exile and laboring on his translation, he was eventually captured, tried for heresy in 1536, sentenced to death, and then executed by burning at the stake. His final words, spoken loudly and fervently, were “Lord! Open the eyes of the king of England.”

Tyndale’s Bible is recognized as the first English translation directly from Hebrew and Greek texts and the initial English biblical translation to be mass-produced due to advancements in printing technology. In 1522, Tyndale illicitly obtained a copy of Martin Luther’s New Testament in German. Following Luther’s example, but in English, the first complete edition of his New Testament was published in 1526, with subsequent revisions in 1534 and 1536. Since Tyndale’s passing in 1536, his work has undergone multiple revisions and reprints.

Tyndale Bible – Translation method

Tyndale utilized various sources in his translations of both the New and Old Testaments. For the New Testament, he referenced Erasmus’s Greek and Latin New Testament, Luther’s German version, and also incorporated Erasmus’s Latin translation of the Old Testament.d the Vulgate. The sources Tyndale used for his translation of the Pentateuch, however, are not known for sure.

Tyndale Bible – Sample Verses

John 1:1, 14 – “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 8:58 – “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’”

Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Titus 2:13 – “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”