I’m sure most of us have more than one copy of the Bible in our home – many of us in more than one translation. It’s a common thing these days.
But in the scale of things, it wasn’t so long ago that this would have been impossible. That changed, at least partly, because of a man who died 443 years ago today. In 1535, Bible Translator Myles Coverdale produced the first complete printed Bible into English. The Coverdale Bible made use of other translations of portions of the His Word, including that of Tyndale. It was, however, the first English translation of the entire Bible.
As you likely know, people didn’t have copies of His Word in their homes at that time. Many had never seen His Word (can you even imagine?). Henry VIII had a Coverdale Bible put into every English Church, chained to a bookstand, so that every citizen would have access to a Bible. Of course, there are still countries, and people, on earth who are not allowed to have God’s Word – and/or where having even one translation is not yet a reality. But we English speakers have Coverdale to thank.
Myles Coverdale died on January 20, 1569, at the age of 80. But his legacy lived on. Whenever you pull out your Bible to add a verse to the devotional you’re writing, for inspiration for your writing, or just to study and/or read, thank the Lord – and Myles Coverdale.
How much of a role does the Bible play in your writing? What if it had never been translated into English?
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3 Comments until now.
I am so grateful and blessed to have unlimited access to God’s Word. Unfortunately, it’s easy to take it for granted. It’s all I’ve ever known. Thank you for reminding me to be continually thankful. I was not encouraged to read the Bible for myself until I was 17. Until then, I thought it was only for the church leaders.
In all of my writings, my goal is to turn the focus to God. It’s only through his grace that I have this ability.
Since I am in the midst of writing a historical novel based on the life of Jesus’ mother, I refer back to Old Testament writings (the only Bible they had) quite often. What a wealth of insight comes out of the Hebrew Scriptures! When we take the time to study it in depth.
As a young girl, growing up in a Christian home, I took the Bible for granted. When my father took his old, well-thumbed bible off the coffee table after supper, I often groaned. I’d much rather be going outside to play with my friends. But my parents were faithful to make sure we read from the Bible every evening – as a family.
Today I appreciate the pattern they set for me. Today, I love the Word of God and go eagerly to it for answers.
I now possess my (deceased) father’s bible, with all his eye-opening margin notes. What a treasure!
Thank you, Joanne, for recognizing the outstanding contribution Bishop Coverdale made to Biblical translations, by printing the first complete English version, October 5, 1535. Unfortunate that we do not know the date when this remarkable figure was born. Perhaps, its a little stretch to ascribe the first English translation of the entire Bible to him, though. I believe that honour belongs to John Wycliffe.
As substantial as the variety of English translations are, we are well advised to consult a swath of commentaries.
I read that translating “crown of thorns” and “sea,” into an African language was particularly daunting, given that the concept of both did not exist in that language [so, “crown of thorns” became hat, and “sea” became liquid].
It begs the question of how much of our English translations are of hat-and-liquid modification, from the original.