William Tyndale: A Translator Tested By Fire
William Tyndale was the father of the English Bible and the first to translate the text from its Hebrew and Greek original. Forced into exile, Tyndale printed his Bibles on the European continent and smuggled them back into England.
Though the authorities burned Tyndale’s Bibles and then Tyndale himself, their fire did not consume his legacy but rather revealed it. As Paul had taught the Corinthians, “The fire shall try every man’s work what it is” (1 Corinthians 3:13, Tyndale).
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Tyndale’s Life
Linguistic Education
When Tyndale was born in the 1490s, both the liturgies and the scriptures were composed in Latin, the learned language of medieval Europe. But Latin was the province of the elite, known only by clergy and the professional class. Consequently, the people in England had little access to the Bible.
In the 1510s, Tyndale attended Oxford and Cambridge, where he combined a life of Christian devotion with deep learning in languages. In addition to Latin and the modern languages, Tyndale learned Biblical Hebrew and Greek. By the time he took his graduate degree, and inspired by Erasmus and Luther, he was already imagining an English translation of the Bible, accessible to the common man.
According to John Foxe, Tyndale got into an altercation with a fellow priest, one who asserted the priority of the laws of the Pope to the laws of God. Tyndale’s choice of words illustrates his passion and his purpose:
I defy the Pope and all his laws; and if God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost! (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Ch. XII)
Translator-in-Exile
Tyndale first thought he would work on his translation in London under the patronage of the scholarly bishop. But Henry VIII had taken a hard line against Luther, and the Bishop turned Tyndale away. Tyndale realized that his project would not be possible in England, so he departed for the European continent.
Beginning in Wittenberg and then subsequently in Cologne, Worms, and Antwerp, Tyndale translated and printed portions of the Biblical text. He was forced to move from city to city, not only because printers were available but also because of persecution. An attempt to print the New Testament in Cologne, for example, ended at the 22nd chapter of Matthew, when authorities raided the print shop.
The New Testament was completed in 1526, the Pentateuch in 1530, and Jonah in 1531. Tyndale also translated the other historical books of the Old Testament but never completed the prophets or the wisdom literature.
A Revelation in English
Tyndale’s translation was a revelation, both of God’s Word and the English language. To illustrate the point, consider Genesis 1:1-3. The only previous English text, John Wycliffe’s 1382 translation from the Latin, felt stiff:
In the beginning God made of nought heaven and earth. Forsooth the earth was idle and void, and darknesses were on the face of depth, and the Spirit of the Lord was born on the waters. And God said, Light be made, and light was made.
Genesis 1:1-3, Wycliffe
Tyndale’s translation, by contrast, was fresh, clear, and dynamic:
In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was void and empty and darkness was upon the deep and the spirit of God moved upon the water. Then God said: let there be light and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3, Tyndale
Most readers will be familiar with this passage from their own Bibles. Notice how Tyndale’s translation supplies the rhythm and cadence that defines nearly all English translations to follow.
A Controversy in the Congregation
Tyndale’s translation was also controversial, and not only because it was in English. Every translation carries a theological inflection, and Tyndale’s translation was decidedly critical of the institutional Roman church. For Tyndale, the Greek word ecclesia was not the “church,” but rather the congregation (Matthew 16:18). The presbyteros was not the “priest,” but rather the elder (Acts 14:23). Interestingly, Tyndale did retain bishop as the translation for episcopos, where later translations sometimes substituted the functional term “overseer” (1 Timothy 3:1).
Tyndale’s translation also emphasized the death of Christ as the essential and sufficient ground for the forgiveness of sins. The Greek epaphax was not “once” but rather once for all (Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:27). Tyndale invented a whole set of words to illustrate how Jesus’ death was the fulfillment of the sacrificial system, including atonement, Passover, scapegoat, and mercy seat. The net effect was to challenge the Roman theology that Jesus was re-sacrificed in every Mass. According to Tyndale’s translation, Jesus was the Passover and scapegoat who had died once and for all, making the final atonement for our sins.
Most significantly, the Greek word metanoia, a repeated command of both Christ and his Apostles, was not translated as “do penance” but instead as repent (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38). Church authorities understood the seismic threat of this translation to the medieval system of confession, penance, and indulgences. If metanoia were actually repentance or a change of heart and mind before God, then the power (and revenue) of the church would be severely undermined.
Bible Smuggler & Martyr
The demand for Tyndale’s translations was immediate and constant, but selling these Bibles was a difficult and dangerous business. They had to be shipped to England and passed through the ports without discovery. To this end, Tyndale printed them in a small octavo format, roughly 4.5in x 6.5in, so they could be smuggled in bales of cloth.
English authorities quickly prohibited Tyndale’s Bibles, taking ever more vigorous efforts to root them out. The Bishop of London preached against Tyndale’s Bible, and then Thomas Wolsey and Thomas More oversaw the persecution. What began with the burning of Bibles quickly turned into the burning of everyone involved, including unrepentant readers, merchants, and collaborators of Tyndale. Thomas More commissioned spies to search for Tyndale, and Roman authorities put a bounty on his head.
In 1535, Tyndale was finally found and betrayed by Henry Phillips, a young English student in debt. Phillips tracked Tyndale’s network until he met Tyndale, ingratiated himself, and, on the pretext of going out for lunch, delivered Tyndale to Roman soldiers. On October 6, 1536, Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake, with his famous final words: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”
Tyndale’s Legacy
An Authorized Bible
Miraculously, God answered Tyndale’s prayer. By the time of Tyndale’s martyrdom, Henry VIII was separating England from the Roman Church to secure his annulment. In the process, Tyndale’s antagonist, Thomas More, went to his own death.
Three years later, under the influence of Thomas Cranmer, King Henry authorized the publication of an English Bible. This edition, called the Great Bible, combined Tyndale’s translations with the missing books translated by his assistant, Myles Coverdale. Though most of Coverdale’s translations were later eclipsed, his translation of the Psalms became the standard psalter for the Book of Common Prayer.
A Memorable Bible
Tyndale translated not only in the language of the people but also in their style, which was designed to be memorable. He used short words, organized them with clean and clear syntax, and drew especially from Anglo-Saxon vocabulary.
To illustrate the point, consider Matthew 5:8-10, from the Sermon on the Mount. As above, we start with Wycliffe’s translation from the Latin:
Blessed be they that be of clean heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:8-10, Wycliffe
Blessed be peaceable men, for they shall be called God’s children.
Blessed be they that suffer persecution for rightfulness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Now consider Tyndale’s version:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:8-10, Tyndale
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Tyndale’s improvements are manifold. First, note the consistency of the opening and closing of each verse. Second, note the efficiency in the phrasing as “they that be of clean heart” becomes simply “the pure in heart.” Third, note the alliteration across pure, peacemakers, and persecution. Fourth, note the spiritual depth of Tyndale’s terms. A peaceable man is shy of conflict, but the peacemaker is one who, like Christ, endures conflict to establish peace.
Taken together, these elements made the Bible memorable in a style that both reflected and shaped the English vernacular. By the time King James commissioned a new edition of the Bible in 1604, Tyndale’s translation had become the national standard, and the editors began with his text. Tyndale’s original translation comprises around 83% of the King James Version’s New Testament and 76% of its Pentateuch.
Honoring Tyndale
William Tyndale is a brilliant example of piety, scholarship, literature, and boldness, all in the cause of Christ. On October 6, the date of his martyrdom, we remember and repeat the story of his life and witness. As a fun way to mark the occasion, try reading a few chapters of Tyndale’s translation!
Moreover, many individuals and organizations have been inspired by Tyndale to advance the work of Biblical translation, not only in English but into every language around the globe. For example, Tyndale Bible Translators is a group of American missionaries in Papua New Guinea, who actively work to translate the Bible into multiple indigenous languages.
Perhaps the best way to honor Tyndale is to make use of his work, to dwell deeply in the scriptures for which he died. As he articulates so well in his translation, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you plenteously”(Colossians 3:16, Tyndale). And finally, let us rejoice. For in these precious scriptures, we find the gospel of Christ, the great hope for Tyndale and us:
Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice. Let your softness be known unto all men. The Lord is even at hand. Be not carefull: but in all things show your petition unto God in prayer and supplication with giving of thanks. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7, Tyndale
Image: Portrait of Tyndale from a 1836 printing, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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