This document summarizes the origin and development of English Bible translations from ancient manuscripts through modern versions. It describes how the earliest translations were made from Greek and Latin sources as the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts were lost. Major English translations are highlighted, from John Wycliffe's in the late 14th century based on the Latin Vulgate, to William Tyndale and the King James Version which built on earlier translations using original languages. The document outlines revisions like the Revised Version and discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls that allowed newer translations to be based more directly on ancient sources. It provides brief descriptions of over a dozen English translations from the 20th century onward.

1. The Origin and Growth of the English Bible
Letters”. 1962, “Living Prophecies”, 1965, “Living Gospels”, 1966, “Living Psalms and Proverbs”, 1967, “Living
Lessons of Life and Love”, 1968, “Living Books of Moses”, 1969, and “Living History of Israel”, 1970. This
paraphrase of the Old and New Testaments is to say as exactly as possible what the writers of the Scriptures meant in
the simplest modern English.
Today’s English Version (Good News Bible). 1976. The New Testament in Today’s English Version entitled
“Good News For Modern Man” was first published in 1966 by the American Bible Society a Translations
Department Committee of Bible scholars was appointed by the American Bible Society in cooperation with the United
Bible Societies to make a similar translation of the Old Testament. The translator’s objective was to provide a faithful
translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts into contemporary English which was natural, clear and simple.
The complete Bible was published in 1976 along with a British edition which had some differences in vocabulary and
form in keeping with British usage.
New International Version. 1978. Under sponsorship of the New York International Bible Society, a Committee
on Bible Translation was formed to oversee a completely new translation from the best Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek
texts. The Committee enlisted the help of Bible scholars from colleges, universities, and seminaries in the United
States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and from various denominations including Anglican, Assemblies
of God, Baptist, Brethren, Christian Reformed, Church of Christ, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Nazarene,
Presbyterian, Wesleyan and other churches in order to avoid any sectarian bias. The translation of each book was
assigned to a team of scholars and several committees checked and rechecked the translation for accuracy, clarity and
literary style. The translators were united in their commitment to the authority and infallibility of the Bible as God’s
Word in written form.
New King James Version. 1982. The New Testament of the New King James Version was published in 1979. One
hundred and nineteen Bible scholars worked on this project which was sponsored by the International Trust for Bible
Studies and Thomas Nelson Publishers. The scholars sought to preserve and improve the purity of the King James
Version of 1611.
Revised English Bible. 1989. Under the auspices of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, a committee of
leading Bible scholars revised and updated the New English Bible. This was the first major revision of the New
English Bible since its release in 1970. Particular attention was paid to archaic words, phrases, and sentence structure.
This re-examination was done by referring to the most current manuscripts, commentaries and exegesis. The REB
provides the reader with fluent, yet dignified English while still maintaining the full intent of the original texts.
New Revised Standard Version. 1990. This Bible was released in late 1990 and culminated 15 years of work by
special committee of scholars. This committee was under the sponsorship of the division of Education and Ministry
of the National Council of Churches. This original Revised Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version
can trace their roots to the King James Version. While maintaining the tradition of the KJV, the New Revised Standard
Version aimed for accuracy rather than simply paraphrasing. It can then be considered a literal translation. The
revision committee was chaired by Professor Bruce Metzger of the Princeton Theological Seminary. Mr. Metzger’s
instructions were “introduce only changes as were warranted on the basis of accuracy, clarity, euphony and current
English language usage.” The New Revised Standard version is available from several publishers.
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, written by Eugene H. Peterson and published in segments
from 1993 to 2002, is a paraphrase of the original languages of the Holy Bible and “crafted to present its tone, rhythm,
events, and ideas in everyday language.” The Message was written in order to recreate the spirit of the original
language of scripture which was written in the street language of the day. Peterson notes that in the course of the
project, he realized that this was exactly what he had been doing in his thirty-five years as a pastor, “always looking
for an English way to make the biblical text relevant to the conditions of the people.” The Message was published
in piecemeal over a nine year period. The New Testament was published in 1993. The Old Testament Wisdom Books
were published in 1998. The Old Testament Prophets were published in 2000. The Old Testament Pentateuch were
released in 2001. The Books of History came out in 2002. The entire Protestant Bible was released the same year.
DEADSEA
SCROLLS
(foundin1947)
AND
NEWLY
DISCOVERED
MANUSCRIPTS
ORIGINALMANUSCRIPTS 1500BC-100AD
EARLYCOPIES
CODEXALEXANDRINUS 425AD
CODEXVATICANUS 430AD
CODEXSINAITICUS 330AD
ANCIENTVERSIONS
VULGATE
WYCLIFFE
TYNDALE
COVERDALE
DOUAY
KINGJAMES
REVISEDVERSION
AMERICANSTANDARD
MATTHEWS
1380
1525
1535
1537
GREAT 1539
GENEVA 1560
BISHOPS 1568 1610
ANCIENTCOPIES
1611
1881
1901
BERKLEY1959
AMPLIFIED1965
JB1966
RSV1952
NEB1970
NASB1971
LB(PARAPHRASED)1971
TEV1976
NIV1978
MESSAGE1993
Modern English Translations
NNIV2010
NKJV1982

2. In the drawing is shown the gradual development of the English Bible as well as the foundation upon which each successive
version rests. We are living in an age of printing. It is hard for us to realize that when the books of the Bible were originally
written, there was no printing press to multiply the copies. Each copy must be made slowly and laboriously by hand. Under
these conditions it was inevitable that many ancient books should be lost. This largely accounts for the fact that all the original
manuscripts of the Bible have perished.
The question arises, what have we then as the literary foundation of our Bible?
(1) We have the most ancient copies made from the original manuscripts. We mention only three principal ones.
(a) The Codex Sinaiticus, originally a codex of the Greek Bible belonging to the fourth century. Purchased from the Soviet
Republic of Russia in 1933 by Great Britain and is now in the British Museum.
(b) The Codex Vaticanus, in the Vatican library at Rome, originally contained the whole Bible but parts are lost. Written
probably about the fourth century.
(c) The Codex Alexandrinus, probably written in the fifth century, now in the British Museum. It contains the whole Greek
Bible with the exception for the forty lost leaves.
THE ANCIENT VERSIONS.
(a) The Septuagint Version. The Translation of the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, made atAlexandria about 285 B.C.
(b) The Samaritan Pentateuch, not strictly speaking a version, but the Hebrew text perpetuated in Samaritan characters.
(c) Pashito or Syriac. The whole Bible, date uncertain (first or second century?) apparently a translation into the common
language of certain portions of Syria.
(d) The Vulgate. The entire Bible translated into the Latin language, by Jerome at Bethlehem. Completed about 400 A.D.
ENGLISH VERSIONS
During the dark ages very little Bible translation was attempted. There were a few minor translations made of portions of the
Bible. The Word of God was locked up in the Latin tongue which was unknown to the common people.
1320-1384. Jno. Wycliffe, a great English scholar and the Bible student, conceived the plan of translating the whole Bible
into common English. He first translated the New Testament about 1380. Exactly how much more he did before his death is
uncertain. His friends completed the work after his death. By consulting the drawing it will be seen that his work rests upon the
Latin Vulgate.
William Tyndale was the next in order of the great English Translators. He was an early and courageous reformer and was
determined that the English common people should have the Bible in their own tongue. Persecution made it impossible for him
to do his work in England, so he crossed over to the continent where his New Testament translation was issued in 1525 and
the Pentateuch in 1530. By referring to the drawing it will be seen that his version does not rest upon the Latin Vulgate as did
Wycliffe’s. Tyndale was a ripe Greek scholar and had access to the Greek text of Erasmus and other helps which Wycliffe did not
possess. Moreover he had a fine command of accurate English which left its impression upon all later versions. He was martyred
before he completed the Old Testament but it is generally thought that he left the material which appeared later in the Matthews’
version.
Miles Coverdale. A friend of Tyndale, prepared and published a Bible dedicated to Henry the VIII in 1535. Coverdale’s New
Testament is largely based on Tyndale’s. He explicitly disclaimed originality but used the Latin, and other versions as helps, as
well as Tyndale’s version.
Matthew’s Bible. 1537. About the same time as the second edition of the Coverdale Bible, another translation appeared. Its
authorship is somewhat uncertain, but although it bears the name of Matthews, it is generally credited to John Rogers, a friend
and companion of Tyndale. This scholar, it is thought, had come into the possession of Tyndale’s unpublished translation of the
historical books of the Bible. It contains Tyndale’s translation in their latest forms but also gives evidence of Coverdale’s work.
The Great Bible. 1539. It will be noted by consulting the drawing, that this translation is based upon the Matthews, Coverdale
and Tyndale Bibles. The first edition was prepared by Miles Coverdale and was ordered to be set up in every parish church. It
was a large-sized volume chained to the reading desk in the churches, where the people flocked to hear the reading of the Word
of God.
The Geneva Bible. 1560. This translation was made at Geneva by scholars who fled from England during the persecution by
Queen Mary. It was a revision of the Great Bible collated with other English translations. A very scholarly version, handy in size,
and for many years a popular Bible in England.
The Bishop’s Bible. 1568. Prepared under the direction of the Archbishop Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth. Mainly a
revision of the Great Bible although somewhat dependent upon the Geneva Version, used chiefly by the clergy, not popular with
the common people.
The Douay Bible. A Roman Catholic Version made from the Latin Vulgate. The New Testament published at Rheims, 1582.
The Old Testament at Douay, 1609-10. It contains controversial notes. ItisthegenerallyacceptedEnglishVersionoftheRomanChurch.
The King James or Authorized Version. 1611. The translation now generally used by the English-speaking people. Made by
forty-seven scholars under the authorization of King James I of England.
The Bishop’s Bible was the basis of the new version, but the Hebrew and Greek texts were studied and other English
translations consulted with the view of obtaining the best results. It has held the first place throughout the English-speaking
world for over three centuries.
The Revised Version. 1881-1884. Made by a company of England and American Scholars. It will be noted by glancing at the
drawing, that the Revised Version, while it was supposed to be a revision of the Authorized Version, has one distinct advantage
over all its predecessors. It reaches down and touches the most ancient copies of the original scriptures. Some of these ancient
copies were not available at the time of the translation of the Authorized Version.
The American Standard Version. 1900-1901. This version incorporates into the text, the readings preferred by the American
members of the Revision Committee of 1881-1885.
ENGLISH VERSIONS SINCE 1901
As shown on the Chart, there has been ten Modern English Translations of the Bible produced since 1952. In the 20th Century,
there have been numerous archaeological discoveries in the Holy Land, plus the discovery in 1947 of the Dead Sea Scrolls
which included ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts, some of which are older by
more than 1000 years than the hitherto known Old Testament manuscripts. Thus, Bible scholars were able to study and compare
the many available manuscripts including the more recent discoveries and arrive at a Bible text which is much closer to what the
inspired writers actually wrote. In addition to going back to the most ancient copies of the original Scriptures and to the Dead
Sea Scrolls according to the Chart, the modern translators for the most part used the text arrangement of the King James Version,
the English Revised Version, and the American Standard Version of 1901. Although many new translations are now on the
American, Canadian and British market, the King James Version is still more widely used than any of the new versions.
The Revised Standard Version. 1952. It is an authorized revision of the American Standard Version of 1901 which was
copyrighted and in 1928 the copyright was acquired by the International Council of Religious Education. Thirty-two Bible
scholars served on the committee making the revision, the New Testament being published in 1946 and the complete Bible
in 1952. It is copyrighted by the Division of Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States
of America. The Revised Standard Version Bible Committee is a continuing body which is both ecumenical and international
with active Protestant and Catholic members from Great Britain, Canada and the Unites States, meeting at regular intervals.
Additional revisions were made in the New Testament in 1971.
The Berkley Version. 1959. The New Testament of this version was originally translated into modern English from the Greek
by Gerrit Verkuyl. A staff of 20 translators including professors from various Bible schools and seminars worked on the Old
Testament under the direction of Dr. Verkuyl. They were faithful to the original Scriptures and to the preserving the Messanic
Prophecies. Numerous footnotes assist on difficult passages throughout the Bible.
The Amplified Bible. 1965. A modern English Version sponsored by the Lockman Foundation, a California Corporation,
not for profit. An Editorial Committee of Hebrew and Greek scholars gave particular attention to the true translation from the
original Greek text. It has bracketed explanatory words and phrases following places in the text where difficulty might arise and
footnotes to explain more complicated passages.
The Jerusalem Bible. 1966. A Roman Catholic work produced originally in French at the Dominican Biblical School in
Jerusalem in 1956, known as “La Bible de Jerusalem”. The English version was translated from the original Hebrew and Greek
texts but was supported strongly by the French version on matters of questionable interpretations. The Divine name Yahweh is
used. The Apocrypha has been placed between Malachi and Matthew.
New English Bible. 1970. A joint Committee of Bible Scholars from leading denominations in England, Scotland, Wales and
Ireland, assisted by experienced counsel from the University Presses of Oxford and Cambridge, worked some twenty-two years
in compiling this new translation from the Hebrew and Greek texts. The New Testament of the New English Bible was published
in 1961. The Books of the Apocrypha are included between Malachi and Matthew. The text is a new modern English translation
printed in a paragraph single column format with verse numbers on the outside margin of the page.
New American Standard Bible. 1971. This is a revision of the American Standard Version of 1901 which itself was a revision
of the English Revised Version of 1881-1885. The Lockman Foundation of La Habra, California, a non-profit Corporation,
sponsored a group of Bible scholars who worked for ten years translating from the best original Hebrew and Greek texts and
endeavoring to render the grammar and terminology of the American Standard Version in contemporary English. The New
Testament was published in 1963.
The Living Bible. 1971. It is a compilation of Scripture paraphrases by Kenneth N. Taylor, previously published as “Living