The 7 Major English Bible Translations:

1382

1395

1

Wycliffe

from Latin Vulgate

The first English translation: by John Wycliffe. The Council of Constance declared Wycliffe a heretic in May of 1415, and banned his writings. The Pope also decreed that his bones should be dug up, burned, and his ashes scattered on the River Swift.

1408

Reading an English bible becomes outlawed in England

1525 (NT)

1535 (++)

2

Tyndale

from Greek

By William Tyndale. Tyndale was kidnapped in 1535 in Antwerp, and burned at the stake the next year for heresy. Tyndale's dying words were 'Lord, open the King of England's eyes!'

1535

3

Coverdale

mostly from Luther's German bible and Tyndale's unfinished Old Testament

By Myles Coverdale. Printed by permission from King Henry VIII

1536

4

Matthew's

Bible

from Tyndale, Coverdale, Luther, and Latin sources

By John Rogers. Printed by permission from King Henry VIII. Rogers was burned at the stake in 1555 under authority from 'Bloody Mary'

1539

The Great Bible: Republishing of Matthew's Bible for official sanctioned use in the Church of England. Effectively, this was a large format printing of Matthew's Bible, but with Roger's [inflammatory] marginal notes removed.

1553

Mary Tudor [aka 'Bloody Mary'] became Queen. She was zealous to return England to Catholicism. As she systematically burned both Bibles and Christians, many scholars fled to the safer haven of Geneva.

1557 (NT)

1560 (OT)

5

Geneva

Bible

entirely from Greek and Hebrew

By William Whittingham from Geneva during the reign of Bloody Mary. Outlawed, but embraced by many Christians.

1568

1572

6

Bishop's Bible

from Latin Vulgate

Produced under the authority of the Church of England, but rejected by many Christians.

1611

7

Authorized Version (AV)

[aka KJV]

from the Greek [Textus Receptus] and Hebrew [Masoretic Text]

Forty-Seven (47) Translators approved by King James called to produce a new English translation by authority of the king. The official bible for the Church of England and eventually embraced by a broad spectrum of Christians.

1769

The last revision to the Authorized Version that did not alter meaning. This revision primarily standardized the spellings and was printed with modern font