APPENDIX VIII. APPENDIX The Relation of the Wickliffite to the later Versions. The History of our English Bible begins with the work of Tyndale and not with that of Wycliffe. Every step in the descent of our present Authorised Version from Tyndale's first New Testament and Matthew's composite Old Testament and Apocrypha, is clearly made out; but neither Tyndale's nor Coverdale's translation has any direct filiation on Wycliffe's. As far as Tyndale is concerned, his own explicit statement leaves no room even for raising the question: "Them that ' are learned christianly I beseech, forasmuch as I am sure 'and my conscience beareth me record that of a pure intent, 'singly and faithfully, I have interpreted it [the New Testament] as far forth as God gave me the gift of knowledge and 'understanding, that the rudeness of the work now at the 'first time offend them not; but that they consider how that 'I had no man to counterfeit, neither was helped with English 'of any that had interpreted the same or such like thing in the 'scripture beforetime. And on the other hand Coverdale is equally explicit (see p. 168) as to the sources from which he himself derived help for his first great work. At the same time the words of Tyndale imply that he knew of the Wycliffite versions (nor could it have been otherwise), and admit the supposition that he had used them, though he deliberately decided that he could not (1) 'counterfeit' them, that is follow their general plan, as being a secondary translation only, or (2) adopt their language. It is possible however that some of the earlier renderings may have obtained a traditional currency, and in this way have affected Tyndale's or Coverdale's own work. But coincidences which can be referred to this origin are very rare in Tyndale, and the fact that they are much more frequent in Coverdale's Latin-English Testaments appears to shew that they were really due to the immediate influence of the Vulgate and not to the Wycliffite translation of it. A few specimens will place the relations between the earlier and later works in a clear light. PURVEY. 3 Blessed be poor men in spirit, for the kingdom of heavens is theirs. 5 Blessed be mild men, for they shall wield the earth. 4 Blessed be they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 6 Blessed be they that hunger and thirst righteousness, for they shall be fulfilled. 7 Blessed be merciful men, for they shall get mercy. 8 Blessed be they that be of clean heart, for they shall see GOD. 9 Blessed be peaceable men, for they shall be cleped GOD'S children. 9 Our Father that art in heavens, hallowed be Thy name; 10 Thy kingdom come to; be Thy will done in earth as in heaven; TYNDALE. APPENDIX 3 Blessed are the poor in Matt. v. spirit, for theirs is the kingdom 3-9. of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see GOD. TYNDALE. II Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our trespasses, even as we forgive our trespassers. 13 And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen. 24 Whosoever heareth of me these sayings and doeth the same, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house on a rock; 25 And abundance of rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that same house, and it fell not, because it was grounded on the rock. 26 And whosoever heareth of me these sayings and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand; 27 And abundance of rain descended, and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. In the whole of the Sermon on the Mount I have only noted the following coincidences in which the Wycliffite rendering may have suggested that of Tyndale: In the whole of the first Epistle of St John I have observed only one coincidence in any way remarkable: 3, 15 manslayer W., T., a common rendering which recurs in 1 Tim. i. 9 (so also A. V.), while elsewhere Tyndale uses murderers, and Purvey sometimes manslayer and sometimes mankiller. The differences on the other hand are very striking: PURVEY. The world shall pass, and the covetise of it, but he that doeth the will of GOD dwelleth without end. Each man that dwelleth in Him sinneth not, and each that sinneth seeth not Him, neither knew Him. He that wot that his brother sinneth a sin not to death, ask he and life shall be given to him that sinneth not to death. There is a sin to death, not for it I say that any man pray. TYNDALE. APPENDIX VIII. The world vanisheth away, 1 John ii. 17. As many as bide in Him sin iii. 6. If any man see his brother v. 16. In the Epistles of St Paul the differences between Purvey and Tyndale are even greater. Thus the only two striking phrases common to them in Romans viii., travaileth with pain (v. 22 W., travaileth in pain T.) and tribulation and anguish (v. 35) seem to be due to the Latin parturit (ovvwdive) and tribulatio an angustia. A comparison of the Wycliffite versions of Ps. viii. given in Ap. I. with the same Psalm in the Prayer-Book Psalter will shew the wide difference between the Old Versions and Coverdale's work. N APPENDIX IX. APPENDIX IX. The Revision of the Authorised Version. The question of the revision of the 'Authorised Version' of the Bible was discussed more or less seriously at various times after the abortive attempt under the Commonwealth (see p. 124), but did not take any practical shape till the present generation. It is unnecessary to notice here the different private attempts at revision, which at least kept the way open for a more complete solution of the problem and furnished materials for the work. The question assumed a new character when at length in the year 1870 it was brought before the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury. On Feb. 10th the Bishop of Winchester (S. Wilberforce) submitted the following motion to the Upper House: 'That a Committee of both 'Houses be appointed, with power to confer with any Com'mittee that may be appointed by the Convocation of the 'Northern Province, to report upon the desirableness of a re'vision of the Authorized Version of the New Testament, 'whether by marginal notes or otherwise, in all those passages 'where plain and clear errors, whether in the Hebrew (sic) 'or Greek text originally adopted by the translators, or in the 'translation made from the same, shall, on due investigation, 'be found to exist'.' 1 Chronicles of Convocation, 1870, P. 74. The words' Hebrew or' seem to be either a relic of an original motion of a wider scope, or an anticipation of the motion as afterwards amended. |