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The New Testament 1526: The Text of the Worms Edition of 1526 in Original Spelling

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This is the British Library edition of the William Tyndale New Testament of 1526, original spelling Worms edition, in small but easy to read modern type. This older freer form of spelling takes a little to get used to but is worth it. The English is clear, often clearer than the authorized version, although similar since the AV is essentially a revision of Tyndale. The volume is small and easy to carry around, much as was the intent of the volume of nearly 500 years ago. It contains no notes or cross references, it has chapter headings. There is no verse numbering, since these did not appear in English for the first time until the 1558 Geneva New Testament. It has a brief preface by Tyndale's biographer David Daniell, and a helpful historical introduction by the editor W. R. Cooper.

These men have done a great service to the modern English reader in increasing the accessibility of William Tyndale's works.

Not only is this an important book to own for historical reasons, it also is useful for the message it contains: the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"For yf when we were enemys, we were reconciled to God by the deeth of hys sonne: moche more, seynge we are reconciled, we shalbe preservyd by his life. Not only so, but we also ioye in God by the meanes off oure lorde Jesus Christ, by whom we have receavyd this attonment," Romayns v.

I was very impressed by the quality of the binding of this book, as well as the paper. It has been very difficult putting this little book down. Now I am enjoying reading this New Testament, and it really isn't difficult to understand, even with the original spelling. I highly recommend this book.

This wee 12-mo of the 1526 Tyndale New Testament from the press of the British Library is the closest most will come to the genesis of the English-speaking bible which was to appear 85 years later in the guise of the familiar King James Version of 1611.

The prefacist, David Daniell, is known for his modern language version published by Yale University Press, but this is the original Tyndale-spelling edition for us purists. The introducer, W R Cooper of Oxford, employs his eight pages so profitably as to leave the reader edified and stocked with a trove of bibliophilic lore and conversation from the dawn of the Reformation.

Here begins the second chapter of Matthew:

"When Jesus was borne in Bethleem a toune of Jury, in the tyme of kynge Herode. Beholde, there cam wyse men from the est to Jerusalem saynge: where is he that is borne kynge of the Jues? we have sene his star in the est, and are come to worship hym. Herode the kynge, after he hadd herde thys, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with hym..."

This is the English language in the swaddling clothes of its very infancy. Its rustic power thrills us, even unto these very days...

The worst thing that ever happened to the Bible was division into chapter and verse notation. When that happened it ceased to be so much a holy book as it became a law book. Prior to such notation one had to read the scriptures as a whole. One had to absorb the Spirit of the whole, instead of using a pick-and-choose study approach of those specific lines (usually taken out of context) that supported one's specific agenda. Indeed, text and verse division did not come into being until the 16th century- long after the end of high point of traditional Christiandom and the start of the age of the profane. The Tyndale is a wholistic work uncorrupted by artificial text and verse division. No doubt this was why the ruling class of the day considered it to be so dangerous.

Tyndale translated this work, alone, from the original Greek. This is not the work of a committee with an ax to grind. Actually, this is the translation that all English Bibles, including the King James, was based on until the 20th century. It seems no one else even attempted to translate the whole book from scratch into English from Greek until the modern age. Unless you can read Koine Greek yourself, it is still the best alternative.

I have heard various experts state that the King James version "eliminated" biases in the Tyndale. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The King James is in fact an edited and censored version of the Tyndale. If there was intensional bias involved it was in the minds of the rich and powerful who had Tyndale and his Bible consigned to the flames- and replaced with a "politically correct" substitute.

Tyndale's sole purpose was to get the undistorted, uncorrupted, word of God, as best he knew it, to the English people. He gave his life for that purpose. I prefer to trust his version for this reason.

If one is serious about Bible study and is only fimiliar with the King James version then this little book is worth considering. From the Geniva Bible on the Bible has been written in verses, which lends itself to taking the meaning out of context. This gives a much distorted view of the meaning and spirit of the Bible. There is a reason the King James is "authorized" by King and Church (it was never authorized nor did King James have anything to do with it). It could be manipulated and is manipulated even more so to this day. Just because people have been extracting meaning from the Bible by combining verses from different chapters and even books, for 400 yrs., doesn't make it correct.
This book is small and the print is small but very readable. The spelling is at times a bit difficult but one quickly becomes used to it. The difficulty is soon over come and the rewards of a fresh view, free of agendas and controle, is worth the time spent. I understand that there is a movement twards studing the Bible in its original form. I think reading this version will help you understand why.

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This reprinting of the first translation of the New Testament by William Tyndale is a true treasure today - as was the original in 1526.

Through his ardent devotion, careful and diligent scholarship, and fluency in New Testament Greek, Tyndale seems to have accomplished an ideal pairing of literal accuracy and beautiful readability. Even though his original spellings have been retained in this reprinting, within my first day of reading this volume, I was able to become comfortable with these, and they have seldom slowed my reading since. I found it very easy to understand - a much easier and more fluid read than either the current renditions of the King James Bible or the writings of Shakespeare. The only drawbacks I noticed were the unfamiliar spellings (which I quickly moved beyond) and the use of chapter numberings only, with no verse numbers.

Tyndale's 1526 version was the first translation of the New Testament into English, and personally, I doubt that its overspreading of innate beauty and scholarship have been equalled since. It is said to have formed the basis for much of the 1611 "King James Version", but I far prefer the Tyndale translation. It is worth mentioning also, that the items noted in Tyndale's own errata on his 1526 version have been fully reflected in the text of this re-publication. This is no facsimile version, but a readable English text well-suited for serious study as well as for reading pleasure.

Someone has pointed out that, historically, it was around the time when written language moved beyond picture-based heiroglyphics to a more objective and stable, alphabet-based, form when the Old Testament first began to take shape; and that it was at the historical peak of precision and beauty in written language that the Greek New Testament was given. It seems that the original translation of the New Testament into English was no less a glorious work of providence and timing, and that Tyndale was ideally qualified for this very thing.

I believe that, apart from the gift of Jesus' own Presence and Spirit within the hearts of believers through the New Birth, the Tyndale translation of the New Testament was certainly the most wonderful gift that English-speaking believers in Christ have ever been given: God's Word beautifully and accurately conveyed in our own language. I believe this translation to be an authentic, and God-given treasure. I am so glad to have discovered it! I pray that you may too!

Tyndale wanted anyone, rich or poor and especially the poor man, to have access to the unmediated word of God. Since Wyclif in the 14th century, the Lollards had been walking the country preaching the Gospel at great personal risk, but the English Bible they used was firstly manuscript (and very expensive) and secondly little more than a transliteration into poor English from the Latin (Vulgate) Bible. The 1408 Constitutions of Oxford made it effectively a capital offence to translate the Scriptures into English, and thus Tyndale had to effect his translation and its printing in hiding on the Continent.

At this time the English language was undergoing the "great vowel shift", effectively becoming intelligible to us. But the literate classes considered it a crude language, incapable of higher thought (which needed Latin, or some such proper language for expression). There was no literature in the new modern language. Then Tyndale's inflammatory text appeared, and spread like wildfire underground.

Tyndale was an exceptionally able scholar, fluent in all the European languages, and Greek too. He could even hear the Aramaic under the Greek text of Matthew. And we hear his translation today as beautiful English: this is because it is the underlying text of the New Testament of the King James bible of 1611. But at the time he was using the structure of the speech of the ordinary man, and turning this speech to unprecedented use. He claimed that the English of the ordinary man was very well matched to the ordinary Greek used by the New Testament writers, and his English is of the utmost clarity and immediacy. We still use it today! When we say things are "for the best" we are using Tyndale's text of Romans chapter 8 verse 28, one of very many places where King James does not improve Tyndale.

Thus, Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 is the first modern English book. And it has had enormous influence directly on us, since it has moulded the language, and moulded our thought with it right up to very modern times. When we hear and respond to the "Nine Lessons and Carols" from Kings College Cambridge, we are responding to Tyndale's text.

And without Tyndale there would have been no Shakespeare! This is an important book!

Hard to understand the spelling in some places, but for the most part was easy enough for me to read. It was facinating to read the original spelling version, and compare it to the corrected spelling version. There ARE some debatable differences in the translated words they chose to use!
This text, along with the 1599 Geneva Bible and the 1611 King James Version, provides a TRUE rendering of God's Word. One can really see how His Word has been altered through out the years, especially when one compares it to the newer bible versions.
It was also good to read it without the chapter divisions, as this has also lent to the different viewpoints and interpretations. A VERY good book for those in search of the ultimate truth!

In republishing an ancient document, one has several options:
* Facsimile
* Trascription
* Transliteration
* Translation

So important is the Tyndale New Testament and its seminal effect on the modern English language, that the 1526 is now available in all four formats. Henrickson has published the facsimile but this is difficult to read beacuse of the black letter font. This "Original Spelling" edition provides a transcription using Roman font which preserves the original book size, spelling and grammar, without verse numbers (as original). Some aspects will appear odd to modern readers but they take very little time to become used to. The word "ask" is consistently spelled "axe"; "U"s and "V"s are usedinterchangeably, Jesus is spelled at least four different ways, etc. If one reads phonetically, it is clear that English in 1526 was spoken with what might now be taken for a slight Scottish accent. Despite this, the text is suprisingly readable! I am astonished how much of the phraseology is preserved in the King James and modern versions. (The English, apart from the alien spelling is, if anything, more modern than the King James Version because the KJV translators wanted a more "majestic" sound and used rather old English, even in 1611.)

Tyndale had a profound effect on the development of English and all subsequent translations. The style is consistently forceful and direct - no wonder it was an instant success. I enjoy this book for its its historic value but even more for the pleasure it gives me to read it.

The 600 original printed copies had to be smuggled into England (from Germany) and were rapidly bought up the official church. Even faster was the reprinting effort of "unauthorised" printers who soon had more than 30,000 copies circulating. This only increased the new version's popularity. Of course the greatest appeal was that common people could read the Bible in their own language with such clarity, the official church felt quite insecure - no wonder it wanted them burned. Unfortunately, when they could not burn all the Bibles, they eventually, in 1536, burned Tyndale instead. But the damage was done - the genie was out of the bottle and Tyndale's maryrdom initiated a minor avalanche of new English translations.

I purchased this for my wife, whom is doing research to compare it with later editions of the Bible. In particular, she is trying to find
if it might give clues to biases in translation in more modern translations.