Monday, December 25, 2023

How the First English Bible Originated (Vos on Wycliffe)

"He [John Wycliffe] also engaged in Bible translation, and it was largely through his influence that the first English version was produced. Though he personally translated or supervised translation of parts of the Bible, his version was not completed until after his death, by Nicholas of Hereford and John Purvey. Without doubt, its widespread use had an influence on the development of the English language" (Howard Vos, Exploring Church History, page 78).



6 comments:

Duncan said...

https://catholicexchange.com/the-untold-story-of-how-catholics-first-translated-scripture-into-english/

Duncan said...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_Hexateuch

Edgar Foster said...

That Wikipedia page was interesting, Duncan. Thanks. One thing that makes Wycliffe different from others is that he evidently was behind producing the first complete English Bible.

"The first translation of the whole Bible into English is associated with the name of John Wycliffe (c. 1330-1384), the most eminent Oxford theologian of his day" (F.F. Bruce, The English Bible, p. 12).

Duncan said...

https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/8bb9aff1-d6ab-4b6b-8322-09fa694d890f/

I can read some lines but not others. There seems to be more than one translator.

Edgar Foster said...

In the quote from Vos, he points out there was more than one translator. But the primary one who did the work was Wycliffe.

Duncan said...

Sorry, I meant the old English manuscript.