TRANSLATING THE BIBLE
From William Tyndale to King James
By Gerald Bray. The Latimer Trust. 235 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978-0-946307-75-3
How many years since the King James’s Bible first saw the light of day? Any guesses?
It’ll be 400 years next year, and this is the main reason for this book. It is a collection of the prefaces to the main translations of the Bible into English between 1525 and 1611 and it intends to answer the question: ‘What motivated the men who gave us our Bible in English?’ Clearly, there were political constraints (like buttering up the king) but it is hoped that we will be challenged by the ‘spiritual concerns’ of the translators — and these are not hard to find.
The book also has a 27-page introduction which is readable and interesting — and written in modern English! I discovered that even in its own day the Authorised Version was old-fashioned compared to the racier Tyndale translation which became the foundation and standard for all that followed.
This book will not be for everyone. The prefaces can be difficult to read, unless you are good at Old English. ‘Historians’ may be most interested and perhaps those into the debate about translations, though, with perseverance, most Christians will get something out of it.
‘Go to now (most dear reader) and sit thee down at the Lord’s feet and read his words, and as Moses teacheth the Jews, take them into thine heart, and let thy talking and communication be of them when thou sittest in thine house, or goest by thy way, when thou liest down and when thou risest up’. Amen!
