Tyndale’s Old Testament: Being the Pentateuch of 1530, Joshua to 2 Chronicles of 1537, and Jonah. Trans. by William Tyndale. In a modern-spelling edition and with an introduction by David Daniell. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992. 643 pp. Cloth, $4o.oo.
Since everything the Grace Evangelical Society believes and practices and this Journal promotes is firmly based on the Holy Bible, and for practical purposes of reaching the masses, on conservative English translations in the Tyndale-KingJames tradition, it is only just that we give an adequate review of this large and elegant volume. It is the companion to the NT edition reviewed in the Spring 1990 issue of JOTGES, also edited by David Daniell.
We can hardly do better than to quote from the concise summary of Tyndale’s contribution to OT scholarship (and evangelical truth) on the front flap of the dust jacket: “Tyndale was the first to translate the Hebrew Bible into English-the first, in fact, to translate anything from Hebrew into English. At the time, that language was virtually unknown in England, and Tyndale had learned his excellent Hebrew while he was exiled to the Low Countries and Germany for political reasons. The publication of Tyndale’s Old Testament, on top of his earlier and later translations of the New Testament, outraged the clerical establishment by giving the people access to the word of God in English. Tyndale was hunted down and subsequently burned at the stake for blasphemy.”
For comparison, here is Gen 3:7-7 in three versions, in the 1539 Tyndale (Tyndale’s original spelling and what little punctuation there is are copied from the frontispiece to this book), in the 1611 King James (the original spelling and punctuation of the 1611 KJV are from the 1982 Thomas Nelson reprint of it), and in the 1985 New King James:
| Tyndale (1539) | KJV (1611) | NKJV (1985) |
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But the serpent was sotyller than all beasts of the felde which the LORde [slc] God had made / and sayd unto the woman. Ah syr / that God hath sayd /ye shall not eate of all manur trees in the garden. |
Now the serpent was more subtill then any beast of the field. which the LORD God had made, and he said vnto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of euery tree of the garden? |
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” |
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And the woman sayd unto the serpent / of the frute of the trees in the garden we may eate / but of the frute of the tree that is in the myddes of the garden (sayd God) se that ye eate not / and se that ye touch it not: lest ye dye. |
2 And the woman said vnto the serpent, Wee may eate of the fruite of the trees of the garden: |
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; |
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Then sayd the serpent unto the woman: tush ye shall not dye: But God doth knowe / that whensoever ye shulde eat of it / youre eyes shuld be opened and ye shulde be as God and know both good and evell. |
3 But of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eate of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. |
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said,’You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” |
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And the woman sawe that it was a good tree to eate of and lustie unto the eyes and a pleasant tre for to make wyse. And toke of the frute of it and ate / and gave unto hir husband also with her / and he ate. And the eyes of both them were opened / that they were naked. Than [sic] they sowed fygge leves togedder and made them apurns. |
4 And the Serpent said vnto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. |
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. |
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5 For God doeth know, that in the day ye eate thereof, then your eyes shalbee opened: and yee shall bee as Gods, knowing good and euill. |
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ |
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6 And when the woman saw, that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she tooke of the fruit thereof, and did eate, and gaue also vnto her husband with her, and hee did eate. |
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. |
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7 And the eyes of them both were opened, & they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge leaues together, and made themselues aprons. |
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. |
Soon we shall be able to celebrate the quincentenary of the translator’s birth (1494) with David Daniell’s biography of Tyndale to be published next year. In the meantime, getting and reading Tyndale’s contribution to OT translation work would be a good way to honor this great scholar and martyr.
Arthur L. Farstad
Editor
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Dallas. TX
