Product Description

The greatest of the earlier translators of the Bible into English, William Tyndale, died in 1536 as a martyr for his work. Immediately after him, however, translations proliferated: the Bible has now been translated into English from its original Greek and Hebrew more than 3000 times. This is the extraordinary story of the Bible in England from approximately the fourth century, and its later translation into English in Britain and America to the 21st century. Biblical scholar David Daniell charts the profound impact successive versions of the Bible have had on the people and communities that read them. He explains the work of major translators, the history of influential translations including Coverdale's, the Geneva Bibles and the King James Bible, and how greatly Americans have contributed in the late-20th century, especially after the American Revised Standard Version. Encompassing centuries of change - from a time when no-one except priests had knowledge of the Bible beyond traditional stories mixed with saints' lives, through later years when ordinary people were steeped in Biblical doctrine and language, to the present when popular knowledge of the Bible, we are told, has disappeared - this text reveals how the endeavour of translating the Bible into English has changed religious practice, the arts, society and even the English language itself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #810322 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 962 pages

Chris Moss, BBC History Magazine, November 2003
‘formidable...Encyclopaedic in scope’

Parish News, November 2003
‘This is a laudatory book, which approaches both Tyndale and the scriptures he knew so well in a reverential spirit...illuminating’

Theology Magazine, September 1 2004
'...its welcome competitive pricing will hopefully make it a wealth of information available to a wider public.'

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive and Outstanding
This book was an enormous benefit to me in doing some research on the development of the English Bible. I do not know of anything more comprehensive, thorough, well-researched and well written. I found it exactly what I needed, covering the earliest times of the English Bible to the modern translations of the twentieth century. I knew nothing of the details of the Wycliffe Bible, except its existence. Daniell covers it admirably. Tyndale (rightly Daniell's hero as the seminal English translator) comes to life and his importance cannot be overestimated. How many different translations into English were there between Tyndale's New
Testament in 1526 and the year 2000? I had no idea. In fact there were 3,000 - an amazing figure. Daniell covers well the complexities of the English Bible in America, most useful to those like me whose knowledge of that topic was scanty. This book will give you all you need - and probably more! 800 pages of text never flag. The writing is careful, never going beyond the evidence, passionate, vivid and engaging - as befits a Shakespeare scholar. This work is worth every penny and has filled a gap in the field magnificently, challenging false assumptions and providing what must now be the standard work on this vast subject. Indispensable!

A fascinating and helpful history of the Bible
I bought this book with the intention of keeping it on the shelf for reference. After dipping into it, however, I could scarcely put it down, being drawn with interest to more and more chapters. As a lover of the Bible, I find it an invaluable addition to my resources, being both fascinating and very easy to read.

The only thing I would have liked to find which is not there, is a section dedicated specifically to the popular New American Standard Version.

I highly recommend it.