William Tyndale: A BiographyYale University Press, 2001 M01 1 - 429 pages William Tyndale (1494-1536) was the first person to translate the Bible into English from its original Greek and Hebrew and the first to print the Bible in English, which he did in exile. Giving the laity access to the word of God outraged the clerical establishment in England: he was condemned, hunted, and eventually murdered. However, his masterly translation formed the basis of all English bibles--including the "King James Bible," many of whose finest passages were taken unchanged, though unacknowledged, from Tyndale's work. This important book, published in the quincentenary year of his birth, is the first major biography of Tyndale in sixty years. It sets the story of his life in the intellectual and literary contexts of his immense achievement and explores his influence on the theology, literature, and humanism of Renaissance and Reformation Europe. David Daniell, editor of Tyndale's New Testament and Tyndale's Old Testament, eloquently describes the dramatic turns in Tyndale's life. Born in England and educated at Oxford, Tyndale was ordained as a priest. When he decided to translate the Bible into English, he realized that it was impossible to do that work in England and moved to Germany, living in exile there and in the Low Countries while he translated and printed first the New Testament and then half of the Old Testament. These were widely circulated--and denounced--in England. Yet Tyndale continued to write from abroad, publishing polemics in defense of the principles of the English reformation. He was seized in Antwerp, imprisoned in Vilvoorde Castle near Brussels, and burnt at the stake for heresy in 1536. Daniell discusses Tyndale's achievement as biblical translator and expositor, analyzes his writing, examines his stylistic influence on writers from Shakespeare to those of the twentieth century, and explores the reasons why he has not been more highly regarded. His book brings to life one of the great geniuses of the age. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
THE MAKING OF THE TRANSLATOR | 7 |
Gloucestershire | 9 |
Tyndales Oxford | 22 |
Cambridge and Gloucestershire Again | 49 |
GREEK INTO ENGLISH | 81 |
To London | 83 |
Cologne 1525 | 108 |
HEBREW AND THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS | 279 |
Tyndales Pentateuch | 281 |
The 1534 New Testament | 314 |
Matthews Bible | 331 |
MARTYR | 357 |
Enter Henry Phillips | 359 |
Trial and Execution | 372 |
The Scheme of The Parable of the Wicked Mammon 1528 | 383 |
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Common terms and phrases
Antwerp Authorised Version Bishop of London burned called Cambridge century chapter Christ Christian Church Colet Cologne copies Coverdale Cromwell Cuthbert Tunstall Dialogue doctrine edition Enchiridion England English Epistle Erasmus Erasmus's example faith Foxe Genesis George Joye German gives Gloucestershire God's word Gospel grace Greek hath heart Hebrew Henry heresy heretic holy Ibid Isocrates Jesus John John Frith Joye King King's language later Latin learned letter Little Sodbury Lollard Lord Luther Lutheran Magdalen marginal notes Master Tyndale Matthew Matthew's Bible More's Mozley Obedience Old Testament Oxford paragraph passage Paul Paul's Pentateuch Peter phrase Pope Poyntz preached prelates priest printed printers prologue reader reform rhetoric Romans Roye scholar Scripture sense sentence Septuagint sermon Sir Thomas Stokesley story thee theology things thou tion translation Tunstall Tyndale's unto verb Vulgate Wicked Mammon William Tyndale Wittenberg Wolsey writing wrote Wyclif