Zbe •Clnlvet0itB of Cblcago FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER THE SOURCES OF TYNDALE'S VER- SION OF THE PENTATEUCH A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (department of old testament LITERATURE AND INTERPRETATION) JOHN ROTHWELL SLATER CHICAGO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 1906 BSI4I .St3 II.; o, 04 rflS* ^^ tV?e m^olagirsi ^ *«^, »"' ■•'., '*, PRINCETON, N. J FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER THE SOURCES OF TYNDALE'S VER- SION OF THE PENTATEUCH A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (department of old TESTAMENT LITERATURE AND INTERPRETATION) BY v^ JOHN ROTHWELL SLATER CHICAGO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 1906 Copyright 1906, By ' The University of Chicago Published August, 1906 Composed and Printed By The University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. THE SOURCES OF TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH Among the heroes and martyrs of the English Reformation none is more worthy of the historian's study than WilHam Tyndale. The singular gaps in the records of his hfe, which have contributed to the popular neglect of Tyndale, remind one of the similar hiatus in our knowledge of Shakspere's career; the more because these two sixteenth-century leaders, diflferent in every other respect, were ahke in the depth of the impression they made on the English language at a critical stage of its development. It is known to scholars, but hardly to the general public, that the English New Testament of our own time is essentially the work of Tyndale. A comparison of his pioneer version with the later sixteenth-century trans- lations and with the Authorized Version of 1611 shows conclusively that all the changes and improvements from Coverdale down to the American Revision are numerically far less than the phrases and sentences of the exiled scholar of the Reformation period. As one begins to perceive that our rich heritage of perfect phrases and melodious rhythm in the English Testament has descended, not from the bishops of 1611 or of 1558, but from this much-abused martyr of King Henry's reign, the wonder grows that his very name is strange to the ordinary Bible reader, and that his romantic history is all but forgotten. No 4ess intrepid and original than his great predecessor Wiclif, he Hved at a time when the new learning made possible a translation from the original tongues, and when the Enghsh language had become more flexible, richer in synonyms, and better fitted to render the Hebrew and Hellenic Greek idioms without violence. No less aflame with indignation against the abuses of the priesthood and the wrongs of the English people than was Wiclif, he entered upon his work at precisely the moment when the long-smoldering fires of reforma- tion wanted but a spark to set them off in England, as they had been kindled in Germany by Luther's attack on Tetzel. It was Tyndale's Testament more than Henry's divorce or the minor ecclesiastical reforms of the bishops that started the English Reformation. It was Tyndale's words that were on men's lips in the dark days that followed; Tyndale's matchless rendering of the gospels that the martyrs recited in their dungeons and at the stake; Tyndale's bold doctrines of scriptural interpretation that saved England from the bibliolatry of German Protestantism after 3 4 TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH Luther's death. Some of his ideas were too radical for the age. Modern writers who suggest, as if for the first time, that the translator of Scripture should avoid words of ecclesiastical connotation foreign to the original learn with surprise and admiration that Tyndale substituted "congrega- tion" for "church," used "love" in i Corinthians, chap. 13, and antici- pated other modern innovations in an age when such ideas were strange in England. It has been often said that in this popularizing of the Scripture, as in other phases of his work, Tyndale simply copied Luther. We shall have to consider at length the direct and the indirect obhgations of the Enghsh to the German reformer; and shall find large elements of indebtedness which none would have been freer to acknowledge than Tyndale himself, had the question been put to him by his friends rather than by his enemies.^ But this may be said at the very outset, that to charge a man with "copying Luther" is to pay him a unique compliment, for a more original and inimitable person never lived than the good doctor of Wittenberg, to match whose countless whims and fancies and homely German idioms would be a task for a master-actor. If it be true, that Tyndale, moved by Luther's spirit and aided by his genius, brought the gospel to the people of England in a way as suited to the English situation as Luther's was to the very dififerent state of affairs in Germany, it can hardly be a detraction from his merits to acknowledge the relation. The facts have long been obscured by partisans, who have sought to prove either that Tyndale worked absolutely without aid, or that he was a mere camp-follower of the German reformers. Like many other questions touching the Reforma- tion in England, this long-standing controversy over Tyndale's originahty has been entangled in ecclesiastical side issues and historical mazes, with which the modern investigator need have Httle to do. A study of the sources is much more profitable than a fruitless attempt to balance the prejudiced or ignorant opinions of superficial historians. The present inquiry is devoted to a neglected phase of the work of Tyndale, of much interest to the Old Testament scholar, and not without its bearing on English literary history. Having published his version of the New Testament, and several doctrinal treatises to be mentioned shortly, the reformer proceeded to begin a much larger enterprise, which unhappily he never completed — the translation of the Old Testament. The Penta- teuch was issued in 1530. It is a rare book, of which only a few copies exist, and never reprinted until the careful and admirable edition of Dr. I On Tyndale's indebtedness to Luther see Eadie, The English Bible, Vol. I, pp. 143-46, 209-12; Moulton, The History of the English Bible, pp. 87, 88. TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 5 J. I. Mombert appeared in 1884.' This, the first English version from the Old Testament since the fourteenth century, possesses a peculiar interest for all students of the English Bible. When it appeared, the study of Hebrew was a novelty in England, the first chair of Hebrew in an Eng- lish university having been established in 1524 at Cambridge,^ in the year that Tyndale had left his native land never to return. On the continent scholars had been studying Hebrew, with the aid of learned Jews, for half a century. Hebrew studies flourished in Italy and Spain. Johann Reuchlin, Sebastian Miinster, and others had cultivated the language with zeal and genius in Germany, and in several of the German universities great advance had been made in this difficult branch of philology. But England was a generation behind Germany in this, as she has since been in some other branches of sacred learning, and Tyndale, when he began his task of rendering the Old Testament into English, had no native prece- dents to follow. The interesting question arises: How far did he succeed in his aim ? To what extent did he use the Hebrew in his version of the Pentateuch ? Was he, as his detractors have declared, a mere dabbler in Semitic grammar, parading his etymologies of proper names to hide igno- rance of the language itself, and depending almost entirely on the Vulgate and on Luther ? Or was the father of our English New Testament also the father of English Hebrew scholarship, who, under many limitations, acquired in Germany an adequate mastery of the language, and made his own version independently and with scholarly discrimination ? That this is no trivial or academic question is shown by two facts: first, that Tyndale's Pentateuch is essentially our own Pentateuch in style and substance, and, so to speak, set the style of rendering Hebrew prose which, as carried out by later translators in the remainder of the Old Testament, has become the grand style for religious compositions in English; second, that, if tradition is to be given due weight, we are to attribute to Tyndale's hand, not only the Pentateuch, published during his lifetime, but the historical books from Joshua through Chronicles as they appeared in print for the first time in the so-called "Matthew's Bible," edited by the martyr John Rogers in 1536, and adopted by Coverdale a year Iater.3 It is the testimony of early historians that Tyndale left these 1 William Tyndale's Five Books oj Moses Called the Pentateuch. (New York: A. D. F. Randolph, 1884.) 2 Robert Wakefield was the first incumbent. See Athenaum, 1885, pp. 500 fif. 3 See Demaus, Lije oj William Tyndale, p. 478; Foxe, Acts and Monuments, p. 1484; Anderson, Annals oj the English Bible, p. 295. Foxe's reference is as follows: "John Rogers brought up in the Universitie of Cambridge, where hee profitably trauelled in good learning, at the length was chosen and called by the Merchants Aduenturers, to 6 TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH' books in manuscript, the work at least in part of his imprisonment, and that they were secretly conveyed to Rogers and issued by him. On this hypothesis we owe to Tyndale nearly the entire historical portion of the Old Testament, comprising more than one-half of the whole. In the absence of any proof of this tradition, it would be improper to base any independent argument upon these books; but the certainty that Tyndale carried his Hebrew studies beyond the Pentateuch, and pursued them with eagerness up to the very end of his life, justifies us in regarding him as more than a mere beginner and amateur in the language. The inquiry is the more interesting because it has been neglected. The historians of the English Bible, devoting large space to Tyndale's New Testament, pass over his Pentateuch with scanty mention, as a minor episode in his career, of only incidental biographical interest. The New Testament, of course, lay nearest to his heart, and was the work by which his influence upon the course of events in England was chiefly exerted. In it he found the true doctrine of salvation with which he sought to dis- place the erroneous teachings of the church; in it he found the true con- stitution of the church, which in his controversial writings he set over against the abuses of the hierarchy, the "practice of prelates" which dis- graced Christendom. But Tyndale held broad views of Scripture. In his thought the Bible was a progressive revelation, no part of which could be neglected by the Christian believer. In the lives of the patriarchs, the story of the exodus, the history of Israel, he saw innumerable parallels to the experiences of the believer and to the progress of the church ; and these depended for their force, not on any allegorizing interpretation such as captivated many of the later reformers, but on a just appreciation of the true relation between sacred and modern history.^ He deprecated all attempts to veil the historical sense of the Scripture in elaborate mystical metaphor. For him, as for Luther, the men of the Bible were real men, with real trials and defeats and victories from which the Christian might be their Chaplaine at Antwerpe in Brabant, whome he serued to their good contentation many yeares. It chaunced him there to fal in company with that worthy seruant and Martyr of God, William Tindall, and with Miles Couerdale (which both for the hatred they bare to papish superstition and idolatry, and loue to true religion, had forsaken their native country). In conferring with them the scriptures, he came to great know- ledge in the Gospell of God, in so much that he cast of the heauy yoke of Popery, per- ceiuyng it to be impure and filthy Idolatry, and ioyned himselfe with them two in that paynefull & most profitable labour of translating the Bible into the Englishe tongue, which is intituled: The Translation of Thomas Mathew." ' For his view of biblical allegories and their legitimate exposition, one of the pithiest passages in his writings, see the Preface to Leviticus (Mombert, p. 294). TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH 7 learn as from other biography, with added force because of the relation of these ancient worthies to events supreme in their sacred significance. The marginal notes which so scandahzed Sir Thomas More and Tyndale's other enemies, lacking, as they sometimes are, in good taste, as when he appends to the inspired text sarcastic flings at the Pope and the bishops, convey to the modern reader a sense of reality and candor.' Here was a man for whom the Bible was a Hving book, in vital touch with the affairs of distant ages, having its lessons for priest and plowman, king and subject, master and servant, saint and sinner. As contrasted with the older exe- getes and wath the post-Reformation reactionary school, Tyndale stands revealed to us as in many respects a modern of the moderns in his attitude toward the older Scriptures. Holding such a view of the meaning of the law and the prophets of Israel, he certainly did not look upon his arduous task of translating the Old Testament as an irksome undertaking, to be got through with in the easiest way possible, merely to complete his version of the Bible. Rather did he regard this great undertaking as the crowning achievement of his life, and gave to it all the learning and enthusiasm with which he carried through the earher works of his exile. When the news came to him at Vilvorde that his days were numbered, and he faced death with his task more than half undone, it must have been the bitterest disappointment to him to know that the matchless poetry of the Psalms, the pleadings and warnings and promises of the prophets, must be rendered by other hands than his. History has shown that his successors were capable of carrving on the work in the same large spirit with which he began it, faUing naturally into the style which he originated; so that the Enghsh Old Testament, as we have it, shows no break, but is essentially a literary unit. But the fact that the men who gave us the English Psalms and Proverbs and Isaiah could doubtless have translated the historical books as well as Tyndale, had his version never been begun, should not lead us to belittle the worth of that beginning, nor to underrate its influence on the subsequent history of our Bible. We shall inquire, first, under what circumstances Tyndale gained his knowledge of Hebrew; second, what sources he used in his version of the Pentateuch and to what extent his work was original; third, what influence his version exerted upon later translations and upon English literature. These are the three phases of the subject upon which there has been most controversy among those writers who have dealt with the matter at all, and upon which no agreement has been reached. The uncertainty which ' See Demaus, p. 238. 8 TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH still prevails is due in part to scanty evidence, in part to preconceived theories.' It will be desirable, before considering the first question, to introduce an outline of Tyndale's life, to serve as a groundwork for chronological references. The sources are not abundant. Foxe's account in the Acts and Monuments is the basis of all the later narratives. While biographers accept large portions of it as authentic, they reject certain statements which conflict with other sources, with less hesitation because of Foxe's well-known inaccuracy in matters of historical data. To Foxe must be added the indirect evidence in the controversial works of Sir Thomas More directed against Tyndale, a voluminous correspondence preserved in the English state papers bearing upon the attempts first to apprehend Tyndale, and afterward to induce him to return to England as a tool of the ministry; and a few scanty but interesting hints in the Belgian state papers relating to the imprisonment and trial. Autobiographical references in Tyndale's own writings are the most important of all, but these are unfortunately too rare and ambiguous to give much assistance in correcting the romancing instinct of Foxe and filling the large gaps left by existing documents. The materials have been worked up in Anderson's Annals of the English Bible, Westcott's History of the English Bible, and similar works; but most elaborately and impartially in the standard biography by R. Demaus (London, 1871), which has not been superseded and is not likely to be. It is based upon a careful study of the sources, and is marked by judicious, but not intemperate, admiration of the great reformer. Mr. Demaus had access to many manuscript records not known to the earlier biographers, spent years in the unraveHng of ingenious clues, and produced what will probably continue to be the authoritative life. For the study of Tyndale's New Testament in its historical and bibliographical phases there is a much larger body of literature, including bibliographical colla- tions, facsimiles, reprints, etc. But for his Hfe, particularly his work on the Old Testament, not much can be added to the list given above. The article in the Dictionary of National Biography (Vol. LVII, p. 428) by Edward Irving Carlyle is longer than that in the Encyclopcedia Britannica or other general works of reference, but contains no new material, and appears to be based chiefly on Demaus. William Tyndale was born in Gloucestershire^ between 1480 and 1490. The date 1484 assumed by Demaus rests upon general considera- ' On the subject of Tyndale's Hebrew Scholarship see Demaus, pp. 217, 233-37; Mombert, p. Ixxxvi; Athenaum, 1885, pp. 500, 562, an unsigned review of Mombert's book. » Foxe, "About the Borders of Wales" (p. 1075). TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 9 tions rather than upon direct evidence. Of his early life next to nothing is known. He was sent to Oxford, entered in Magdalen Hall perhaps about 1504, and spent some years in the university, winning the bachelor's and master's degrees. This was the period when the mediaeval seclusion of Oxford was being invaded by disciples of the new learning from the continent, and Greek studies were enthusiastically prosecuted by the younger men. Grocyn and Linacre were teaching the classic Greek; Latimer and Colet lectured on the Greek Testament. The influence of Colet, particularly of his lectures on the Pauline epistles, must be regarded as fundamental in forming the opinions of young Tyndale. In 1510 Erasmus of Rotterdam began his five years of residence at the sister Uni- versity of Cambridge, whither Tyndale went to continue his studies. Here he imbibed the bold and radical views of the great Dutch scholar, whose contempt for the obscurantist policy of the church led him into utterances that aroused the hostility of the authorities. Demaus suggests that Tyndale's great purpose of translating the Scriptures may have been incited, or at least strengthened, by the views of Erasmus as expressed in a famous passage of his works. How long Tyndale remained at Cambridge is not certain. By 1521, if not earlier, he returned to his native county of Gloucester to serve as tutor and chaplain in the family of Sir John Walsh.' Even in this remote country parish his radical opinions excited controversy among the neighbor- ing clergy, and he was rebuked by the chancellor of the diocese.^ It was during the two years spent there that his plan of translating the New Testament took form. In this purpose he ^as not moved by the example of Luther; for Luther's translation did not appear until 1522, and Tyn- dale can hardly have known much of Luther's plans prior to this time. Rather was this great purpose based on a conviction that reformation of the church in England must come in large part through enlightenment of the common people, who could not read the Vulgate and were kept in ignorance by the clergy. It was in controversy with a learned man of the community, says Foxe, that Tyndale uttered his famous promise: "I defie the Pope and all his lawes: and further added, that if God spared hym life, ere many yeares he would cause a boy that driueth the plough to know more of the Scripture, then he did." ^ In 1523 the young scholar, full of enthusiasm and hope, departed for London, where he expected to secure the patronage of the new bishop, Tunstal, a man known to be interested in the Greek studies of Erasmus I Foxe spells the name Welche (p. 1075). * Foxe, p. 1075. 3 Foxe, p. 1076. lO TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH and More. His reception was unfavorable. The bishop, whatever his academic sympathies may have been, was an uncompromising opponent of the Lutheran doctrines then spreading through England, and dismissed Tyndale without encouragement. Having failed to secure recognition for his project from the man who seemed the most likely ecclesiastic in En- gland to afford such help, he saw that he must work henceforth indepen- dently and in secret. For some months he resided in London with a wealthy merchant, to whom he had been introduced by Latimer, Humphrey Monmouth. In Monmouth's household he found that sympathy which had been denied him at the episcopal palace, met many learned men, and made some progress in his studies. Having learned that he could not with safety issue his translation in his native land, he left London in May, 1524, for Germany. Henceforth he was an exile; and his great work for the English nation was wrought in a foreign land, aided by foreign scholars, recognized during his lifetime only by the faithful Monmouth and a small group of courageous Englishmen who were later numbered among the humbler leaders of the English Reformation. Reaching Hamburg, he lost no time in journeying to the Saxon city of Wittenberg to see Luther.' He arrived at this Mecca of reformers at a somewhat inopportune time for personal intercourse with the apostle of German Protestantism. Luther was in the midst of the busiest period of his career, when the land was torn asunder with the struggle known as the Peasants' War, and with the political upheaval consequent upon the con- test between Leo X and the German states. Luther had published his New Testament two years before, and was now issuing controversial pamphlets, preaching in the university church, and working on his Old Testament. Nothing is definitely known of the personal relations of the English visitor with his German colleague. Those who deny that Tyn- dale made any use of Luther's labors go so far as to reject altogether the statements of early writers as to this visit to Wittenberg, but without sufficient reason. Assuming that these contemporary accounts are cor- rect, Tyndale must have enjoyed in the university town a measure of quiet and sympathy which enabled him to make rapid progress with his version of the New Testament. Hebrew and Greek had been taught in the university for years. Disciples of Johann Reuchlin, the father of German Hebraists, were to be found there, as well as Greek scholars and theologians. During the nine or ten months of his sojourn Tyndale ' Sir Thomas More, Dialogue, Conjutation; Cochlaeus, Commentarii de adis et scriptis M. Lutheri, p. 132; Foxe, Acts and Monuments, p. 1076. Dcmaus, pp. 94-07. Contra, Anderson, Annals 0} the English Bible, pp. 24 ff. TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH II probably began his acquaintance with the Hebrew tongue, faciUties for which were greater at Wittenberg than at Hamburg, Cologne, or Worms — cities where he spent the following years. For at Wittenberg he might have the assistance in his Hebrew studies of Christian scholars; while in the other cities he must depend chiefly or entirely upon Jewish instructors, many of whom were still suspicious of Christians desiring their aid. With the help of his amanuensis, William Roye, an eccentric person who gave him more trouble than his work was worth, Tyndale translated the New Testament in le.ss than a year. Believing it to be impolitic to have his work bear the imprint of a Wittenberg printer, and so expose it at the start to the censorship of German and EngUsh enemies, he removed to Cologne, after a trip to Hamburg to receive a remittance of funds from Monmouth. The printing of the book at Cologne was interrupted by the discovery of his project through the investigations of Cochlaeus, an agent of the church. With the sheets of the first part of the book, Tyndale and Roye hurried away in time to escape arrest, and resumed the enterprise in the safer refuge of the city of Worms, already a center of the Protestant rnovement. Here, from the press of Peter Schoeffer, was issued in 1526 the octavo Testament of Tyndale. The quarto sheets of the earlier portion brought from Cologne were also, it is believed, completed in that form, by Schoeffer or some other printer, and thus two editions were put into circulation. The only complete copies now in existence, however, are all of the octavo edition. Buschius states that six thousand copies of the Testament were printed at Worms, ^ and this has been supposed to include both editions. Of these six thousand only one incomplete quarto and two octavos are now extant. Within a few months of its publication, Tyndale's anonymous transla- tion reached England. In the spring of 1526 it was secretly circulated in large numbers. Coming soon to the notice of the authorities, it was con- demned by Tunstal and others, at first without knowledge of its author- ship, regarded simply as the work of the Lutherans, whose activity was becoming notorious. The burning of such copies as could be seized did not retard its circulation. An unauthorized reprint by Christopher of Endhoven at Antwerp^ helped to swell the supply needed to meet the grow- ing demand. Desperate attempts were made in England to buy up and destroy all copies that could be found. This brisk demand merely moved the Dutch printers to issue still another edition. Their two editions are said by George Joye to have numbered about five thousand copies. The ' Spalatinus' Diary in Schelhorn, Amoenitates literariae, IV, 231. 2 Demaus, p. 157. 12 TYND ale's VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH investigations set on foot by Tunstal and Wolsey finally succeeded in fixing the responsibility for the translation upon Tyndale and Roye. But Roye, already separated from his master because of his erratic habits, had been lost track of, and Tyndale managed for the time to elude the emissaries of the English prelates. In 1527 he left Worms. Direct evidence of his residence for the next two years is lacking. For reasons of prudence he took care to keep his movements secret. It has been assumed, however, by biographers, from certain indications, that he made his home in the university town of Mar- burg, a center of Reformation influence second only to Wittenberg itself.' Here, in common with other reformers, he would enjoy the powerful pro- tection of the Protestant Landgraf Philip of Hesse-Cassel, and the advan- tages of the new Protestant University of Marburg founded by that ruler. Here also there was a printing establishment less likely to be invaded by English spies than those at Cologne and Worms, conducted by Hans Luft.^ Among his associates here was the learned Hermann Buschius, whom he had already met at Worms, and whose testimony to his learning is worthy of note.3 Another illustrious man whom Tyndale probably met at Marburg was the Scottish protomartyr Patrick Hamilton, who spent a few months there in 1527 with three companions. In the following spring. May 8, 1528, Tyndale issued from the press of Hans Luft his Parable of the Wicked Mammon, a work on the Reformation doctrine of justification by faith, and The Obedience oj a Christian Man, treating of the duties of a Christian citizen in his religious, family, social, and civic relations. Of the contents of these important works, and their bearing upon the Enghsh Reformation, this is not the place to speak. During 1529 the attacks on Tyndale from EngHsh sources increased in violence. In particular the pamphlet campaign of Sir Thomas More against him began; a controversy which was renewed several years later and led to some of Tyndale's ablest polemic writings. During that year Tyndale visited Antwerp, presumably in connection with arrange- ments for promoting the exportation of his New Testament and other works. It happened that More and Tunstal were then on the continent assisting in the negotiation of the Treaty of Cambray; and Tunstal went 1 Demaus, chap. vii. 2 Dr. Mombert attempts to show that "Malborow in the land of Hesse" is not Marburg, but a pseudonym for Wittenberg. He presents arguments tending to show that Hans Luft was never in Marburg. See his preface, p. xxix. Cf., contra, Athe- nceum, 1885, pp. 500 ff. 3 P. 22. TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 1 3 to Antwerp in the hope of seizing some of Tyndale's Testaments; As in the former case, the purchase of a large supply for confiscation was easily efTected, but the pubHcation of further editions was thereby made pos- sible. There is uncertainty as to Tyndale's movements during 1529. Foxe relates' that the translator sailed from Antwerp for Hamburg, was wrecked, with the loss of all his books and manuscripts, reached Hamburg by another ship, and spent some months there, from Easter to Decem- ber, translating, with Coverdale's aid, the entire Pentateuch. The refer- ence to Coverdale is not accepted as very important by biographers, as Coverdale could hardly have aided Tyndale in the actual task of translation, being at that time but slightly acquainted with Hebrew. The entire inci- dent is believed by Demaus' to be confused or misdated, as it con- flicts with the Antwerp anecdote about Tunstal, which is placed in the late summer of 1529. Demaus thinks it probable that, instead of going to Hamburg at this time, Tyndale returned to Marburg; and, if so, may have been present at the famous debate between Luther and Zwingli upon the eucharist, which led to the final separation between the German and the Swiss reformers. Whether the work of translating the Pentateuch was accomplished at Hamburg or at Marburg, it was completed by the latter part of 1529; for the Genesis bears the imprint of Hans Luft, the Marburg printer, under date of January 17, 1530. The Pentateuch was not printed as a whole, but the several books appear to have been issued at brief intervals, perhaps in two groups, which were bound together. Genesis and Numbers are in black-letter; Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, in roman type. No satisfactory explanation has been given of this diversity of type. Some have supposed that the three books in roman were pubHshed in some other city, but Demaus finds that all five books have the same form, the same style of ornamental title-pages, and the same paper. Each book has an introduction, marginal notes, and a glossary of Hebrew words and proper names containing the etymology of these terms as understood by the translator. Having seen his Pentateuch safely through the press, Tyndale entered upon the most important of his controversial works. The Practice oj Prel- ates. This was an attack upon the hierarchy, particularly the Pope and the English bishops, in which their excesses and extortions were satirically compared with the simpUcity of the New Testament church polity. Wolsey came in for special denunciation for his selfish ambition, not alone from ' Acts and Monuments, p. 1077. 2 P. 229. 14 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH the point of view of an ecclesiastical reformer, but considered from Tyndale's position as a partiot and still loyal supporter of the king. The attacks of Sir Thomas More upon Tyndale were instigated by Tunstal, who wrote to him March 7, 1528/ requesting that he undertake the defense of the Catholic faith against Lutheran heretics. More was the most learned man in England, a Greek scholar, friend of Erasmus and Colet, author of Utopia, a defender hitherto of liberal principles in religion and government. The singular contrast between his previous career and the bitterness and narrowness displayed by him toward his exiled fellow- countryman, Tyndale, is one of the puzzles of literary history. The first volume of this controversy, A Dialogue of Sir Thomas More, Knight .... wherein he treated divers matters .... with many other things touching the pestilent sect of Luther and Tyndale, appeared in June, 1529, just before More left for Cambray. Tyndale worked on his reply during 1530 and published it at Amsterdam in 1531. More answered in 1532 with his Confutation, following this up with passages in the Debellation of Salem and Byzance, the Apology, and the Answer to the Poisoned Book. Much of More's bitterness was due to Tyndale's mistaken charge that the lord chancellor had been moved by mercenary motives in undertaking the task of defending the church against the reformers. The subject-matter of the volumes on both sides covers the whole field of the Reformation dogmas, the alleged abuses of the church, and the merits and defects of Tyndale's version. Notwithstanding More's superior learning in general history and politics, and the great advantage he possessed because of his official position and his intimate acquaintance with the rapidly changing internal afifairs of England, he was unquestionably worsted in the argument. In his later works he shows that he himself felt this, and from urbane controversy he descends to vulgar and malicious abuse. Tyndale in his Obedience of a Christian Man had laid down principles in regard to the supremacy of the state over the church in all civil affairs which now became popular in court circles at home. For Wolsey had been superseded by Thomas Cromwell, and it was Cromwell's plan to assert the rights of the king against the claims of the Pope. This new premier, only superficially acquainted with Tyndale's writings, believed that a pamphleteer so acute and eloquent might render valuable service in this campaign. He therefore, without full consultation with the king, directed the envoy at Antwerp, Stephen Vaughan, to ascertain on what terms Tyndale would return to England. It appears that this was not a scheme to entrap Tyndale and then put him out of the way, but a genuine I Wilkins, Concilia, III, 711; Demaus, p. 263. TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 1 5 attempt to bring him back as an ally in the new policy inaugurated by Cromwell. Vaughan, after some correspondence with Tyndale, had three interviews with him at Antwerp during the early months of 1531, and was completely won over by the evident sincerity and power of the supposed heretic. He could not, however, persuade the exile to risk his liberty and his life by setting foot in England, where More and Tunstal were still breathing out slaughter against him. Meantime Tyndale's Practice of Prelates having come to the notice of Cromwell and of his royal master, the situation suddenly changed. The Obedience oj a Christian Man was a pleasing ])ook in a king's ears. The Practice oj Prelates was rank heresy and treason. Cromwell, by Henry's command, made Vaughan cease his efforts to enlist Tyndale in the king's service. Before long Vaughan was superseded at Antwerp by a man of another stamp, Sir Thomas Elyot, and the attitude toward Tyndale became one of hostility. But for a time the exile evaded his enemies. During that year, 1531, he translated and pubHshed a translation of the book of Jonah, with a prologue. Subsequently he suspended his translation work in order to enter upon the task of expounding the Scrip- ture. In 1 53 1 appeared his exposition of the First Epistle of John. In 1532, after he had left Antwerp, and while he was roaming from one Ger- man city to another, an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount was pub- Hshed. This was to some extent based on Luther's homilies on the same portion of Scripture, but was nevertheless an original work. In 1 533 there was published anonymously at Nuremberg a treatise entitled The Supper of the Lord .... wherein incidentally Morels letter against John Fryth is confuted. This is attributed to Tyndale; it is an exposition of the sixth chapter of John. Written to defend Tyndale's friend John Fryth, now under arrest in England, it was without avail. Fryth, who had been with Tyndale on the continent much of the time since 1528, and was his closest companion, was tried, condemned, and suffered martyrdom July 4, 1533. The vigor of the pursuit of Tyndale having now temporarily abated, he settled again in Antwerp, and spent about two years there quietly, busy with the revision of the Pentateuch and the New Testament. New editions of both were issued in 1534. In the revised edition of the Penta- teuch the textual changes were confined to the book of Genesis.* Some alterations were made in the glossaries and prologues. The revision of the New Testament was radical and extensive. Prologues and marginal notes were also added. This revised edition was preceded by an unauthor- ized and garbled edition of the Testament by Tyndale's former friend, ' See a collation of these alterations in Mombert, p. ciii. 1 6 TYND ale's version OF THE PENTATEUCH George Joye, who introduced a few changes for doctrinal reasons, and sought a scholar's credit for a piece of literary piracy. It led to a bitter controversy between him and Tyndale. Early in 1535 Tyndale had a second revision ready for the press, but was arrested before its publication. The plot by which the great translator fell into the hands of his enemies was not instigated by King Henry nor by the dominant party in England, now by no means ill disposed toward him. It was rather the work of the Catholic reactionaries, foiled in their attempt to prevent Henry's breach with Rome, and furious against Tyndale as one of the leaders in the Protestant movement, as he was also the most defenseless. Betrayed through the treachery of a supposed friend, Henry Philips, he was arrested in the streets of Antwerp by the officers of the Emperor Charles V, and imprisoned in the castle of Vilvorde, eighteen miles away. The date of his arrest is fixed by a document still in the archives at Brussels at about May 23, 1535. Efforts were made to save him from the heretic's fate. His friend Thomas Poyntz, at whose house he had resided for a year, risked his own life in the vain attempt to change the determination of the authorities. Cromwell, when appealed to, used some pressure to obtain the same end, but failed. The trial, before a special commission, occupied several months in 1536. Tyndale answered the elaborate charges of his prosecutors with ability and eloquence, but the conclusion was foregone. In mid- summer sentence of death was passed upon him. During his prison life he pursued his studies so far as he was able. A Latin letter written by him to the governor of the prison, requesting warmer clothing, candles, and the use of his Hebrew books, is still extant. On October 6, 1536, he suffered martyrdom at Vilvorde, being first strangled and then burned.^ Having before us this outHne of Tyndale's life, the first question bearing upon the subject of this paper is : Where and how did he learn Hebrew ? The answer to this question must be wholly inferential. Tyndale, so far as can be judged from the history of his early life, knew nothing of Hebrew when he left England in May, 1524. He was to some extent acquainted with Hebrew before writing The Parable 0} the Wicked Mammon and The Obedience oj a Christian Man, published in the spring of 1528. He translated the Pentateuch in 1529. This fixes the period of his first Hebrew studies upon which his translation was based between 1524 and 1528. I Foxe tells, in much detail, the story of the arrest, imprisonment, and efforts to save Tyndale's life (pp. 1077-79). TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 1 7 Between his arrival in Germany in 1524 and his arrest in 1535, Tyndale spent his time in the following cities, so far as can be discovered or surmised: Hamburg: May, 1524 Wittenberg: May, 1524-April, 1525 Hamburg: April, 1525 Cologne: April-September, 1525 Worms: October, 1525-. ...(?) 1527 Marburg(?): .... 1527-August, 1529 Antwerp: August, 1529 Hamburg(?): .... 1529 Marburg: December, 1529-. . . . 1530 Antwerp: i53i-i535 Since his stay at Hamburg in May, 1524, and again in April, 1525, was brief, and the period of not more than five months spent at Cologne was occupied with the printing of the unfini.shed quarto New Testament, Tyndale learned his Hebrew in Wittenberg, Worms, and Marburg. Inas- much as the early months of his stay at Wittenberg must have been chiefly occupied with the translation of the New Testament, not to mention the acquisition of the German language, we may probably place the earliest date of his Hebrew studies in the beginning of 1525; and inasmuch as the translation of the Pentateuch must have occupied the most of 1529, the study of the language preparatory to that task can hardly have continued much beyond 1528. This leaves four years during which Tyndale may have labored steadily or at intervals upon the Hebrew grammar and Scriptures. But there is evidence that by the second year of this period he had already made much progress in the language. Herman Buschius, one of the group of German Humanists which included Reuchlin, Erasmus, Ulrich von Hutten, and other leaders in the revival of learning, met Tyndale at Worms before August 11, 1526, and told Spalatin that the Englishman who translated the New Testament was "so skilled in seven languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, English, French, that whichever he spoke you would suppose it his native tongue."' We must allow for some exaggeration in this statement, since it is highly improbable that Tyndale could actually converse with any fluency in Hebrew, and unlikely that he had much fluency in the Italian and Spanish. But the words of Buschius, recorded by a disinterested third person, certainly show that Tyndale had made more than a beginning in Hebrew when he had been in Worms only about nine months. We are led therefore to assume a period of elementary study at Wittenberg during the latter months of his I Diary of Spalatinus, printed in Schelhorn, Amocnitates litcrariae, IV, 431. l8 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH stay there (January- April, 1525); a partial interruption, possibly, during the busy period of getting the New Testament to press at Cologne and Worms (April-December, 1525); a renewed study, under Jewish guidance, at Worms during 1526 and part of the following year; and a further period of study in a university atmosphere with scholarly associates at Marburg, 1527-29. It will now be necessary to examine the evidence for the theory above outlined as to the time and places of Tyndale's Hebrew studies. That he knew no Hebrew when he left England in May, 1524, is to be inferred from three considerations. First, Hebrew was not taught at Oxford or Cambridge prior to that time. Second, in the absence of Christian teachers at the universities, Tyndale, so far as we can judge, had no opportunity of learning from Jewish instructors during his sojourn in London (1523-24). There is no evidence that any impulse had yet reached England from the enthusiastic campaign of Hebrew study in Germany started by the Pfeffer- korn-Reuchlin controversy. Third, there is no evidence that copies of the Rudimenta Linguae Hehraicae of Reuchlin (1506) or other grammatical manuals had reached England during Tyndale's residence at the univer- sities. So we conclude, in the absence of any proof or contemporary hint to the contrary, that neither from Christians, Jews, nor books did Tyndale learn anything of Hebrew in England. Evidence of the progress of Tyndale's Hebrew studies, in addition to the testimony of Buschius in the summer of 1526, is found in the two doctrinal treatises published in the spring of 1528, The Parable of the Wicked Mammon and The Obedience oj a Christian Man. In The Parable oj the Wicked Mammon appears this remark on the word "Mammon": First, Mammon is a Hebrew word and signifieth riches or temporal goods, namely all superfluity, and all that is above necessity and that which is required unto our necessary uses wherewith a man may help another without undoing or hurting himself: for hamon in the Hebrew speech, signifies a multitude or aboundance of money, and therehence cometh mahamon or mammon, abundance or plenteousness of goods or riches.' In The Obedience oj a Christian Man is this comment on the Hebrew idiom : St. Jerome also translated the Bible into the mother tongue, why may not we also ? They will say it cannot be translated into our tongue, it is so rude. It is not so rude as they are false liars. For the Greek tongue agreeth more with the English than with the Latin. And the properties of the Hebrew tongue ' The Fathers 0} the English Church, \'ol. I, p. 103. TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH I9 agreeth a thousand times more with the English than with the Latin. The manner of speaking is both one, so that in a tho usand places thou needest not but to translate it into the English word for word, when thou must seek a compass in the Latin.' With reference to the place? where Tyndale learned Hebrew and the sources of his knowledge many inferential conclusions can be drawn from the well-known history of the Talmud controversy which ushered in the Reformation. Johann Reuchlin was the first German Christian to study Hebrew. Born at Pforzheim in 1455, educated in Greek at Paris and Basel, he became a teacher of the classics, though also practicing the profession of law. In middle life, after a brilliant career in diplomatic service, he began the serious study of Hebrew with Loans, the Jewish physician to the emperor Frederick IH. In 1498 at Rome he continued these studies with another learned Jew-, Obadiah Sforno. Returning to Germany, he began to teach the language to the many eager humanists at Heidelberg, Stuttgart, and other cities where the Greek learning was already cultivated. In 1506 he issued his Riidimenta Linguae Hebraicae, the first Hebrew grammar in a European language for the use of Christians, if we except the brief and imperfect sketch published in 1503 by Conrad Pellicanus, who had learned something of the language by working over Hebrew manuscripts almost without instruction. In 1512 Reuchhn issued the Hebrew text of the penitential Psalms with grammatical notes. He was regarded as the most learned Hebraist in Germany, though during the first decade of the century numerous competent scholars had followed his example and studied the language under the guidance of learned Jews in Germany, Italy, and France. When therefore in 1509 an attack on the Jews and confiscation of their books were planned by certain of the Dominican monks of Cologne, led by John Pfefferkorn, it was to Reuchlin that the emperor, MaximiUan, referred this subject to investigate and report. His reply, defending the Jewish books against the charge of insulting Christianity, angered his enemies beyond measure. A controversy ensued which lasted for six years, and ultimately involved all the representative men of Germany on one side or the other; the Humanists siding with Reuchhn in defense of the Jews, the ecclesiastics and many of the university faculties against him. Though Reuchlin escaped condemnation in the proceedings brought against him for his refusal to recant, he suffered much abuse and material I Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures (Parker Society edition, 1848), p. 148. 20 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH losses for his stand. It was the indignation aroused among the liberals by the bigotry displayed in this controversy, together with the satires of the Encomium Moriae and the Epistolae Ohscurorum Virorum, which prepared the way for the Lutheran Reformation. The bearing of this Reuchlin-Pfefferkorn controversy upon the general introduction of Hebrew instruction into German universities is obvious. When the young Humanists, hitherto content with the newly discovered riches of the Greek classics, found themselves forbidden by the obscurantist party in the church to read the dangerous Jewish works or to attempt to study the Old Testament in the original, that was the very thing they were the most eager to do. Accordingly, the natural course of events was hastened; the Hebrew instruction, which under normal conditions might have taken a generation to spread through the universities, and become popular, sprang at once into a place second only to Greek. The demand for teachers sent many men to ReuchUn, Sebastian Miinster, Pellicanus, and the other pioneers, for grounding in the hitherto despised language. Textbooks were issued in rapid succession.' Thus, when Tyndale reached Germany, Hebrew was no longer a novelty in the centers of learning. Reuchlin was dead, but his younger associates and pupils were fairly well equipped to carry on his work. I The following list of Hebrew textbooks published from 1500 to 1530 is given in the Jewish Encyclopedia. Many of these ran through several editions. 1504. Pellicanus, Conrad. De modo legendi et intelligendi Hehraeum (Strasburg). 1506. Reuchlin, Johann. Rudimenta Linguae Hebraicae una cum Lexico (Pforzheim) 1508. Tissardus, Franciscus. Grammatica Hebraica el Graeca (Paris). 1513-1521. Guidaccerius, Agathius. Institutiones Graecae Hebraicae (Rome). 1516. Capito, W. F. Institutiuncula in Hebraicam Linguam (Basel). 15 18. Boeschenstein, John. Hebraicae Grammaticae Institutioties (Wittenberg). 1502. Miinster, Sebastian. Epitome Hebraicae Grammaticae (Basel). 1520. Pagninus, Sanct. Institutiones Hebraicae (Lyons). 1522. Anonymous. Rudimenta Hebraicae Grammaticae (Basel). 1524. Miinster, Sabastian. Institutiones Grammaticae in Hebraicam Linguam (Basel). 1525. Aurigallus, Matthew. Compendium Hebraicae Chaldaeaeque Grammaticae (Wittenberg). 1526. Zamorensis, Alphonsus. Introductiones Artis Grammaticae Hebraicae (Com- plutum). 1528. Van Campen, John. Ex Variis Libellis Eliae .... quidquid ad Graecam Hebraicam est necessarium (Louvain). 1528. Fabricius, Theodorus. Institutiones Linguae Sanctae (Cologne). 1528. Pagninus, Sanct. I nstitutlonum Hebraicarum Abbreviatio (Lyons). 152Q. Clendardus, Nicolas. Tabulae in Graecam Hebraicam (Louvain). 1530. Sebastianus, Augustus. Grammatica Linguae Ebraae (Marburg) TVNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 21 Chairs of Hebrew existed at Heidelberg, Wittenberg,' and perhaps at others of the universities, while one was established at the new University of Marburg about the time of Tyndale's arrival there. When Tyndale, in the year 1529, set about the work of translating the Pentateuch, his equipment for the task was by no means meager. He had, first of all, acquired facility in the diflScult art of translation by his New Testament. In that task he had chosen the style which seemed best fitted for rendering the Scriptures — a style so simple in its structure, so close to the paratactic quality of Hellenic Greek, that it is well-nigh trans- parent. The reader imagines he is reading the one inevitable, obvious sentence which alone could render the original into EngHsh; and not until it is compared with the painful artificialities of modern attempts to translate the New Testament into contemporary speech, not until the scholar compares Tyndale's Testament with the current EngUsh of the early Tudor period, is the full significance of this first modern version perceived. Those who are never content to leave a writer more than the merest vestige of originality point to Wiclif 's version, and seek by parallel columns to demonstrate Tyndale's heavy indebtedness of Wiclif. It is not to be denied that manuscript copies of Wiclif 's Testament circulated freely as late as the latter half of the fifteenth century, and that Tyndale was, of course, familiar with it. Neither can it be denied that in the choice of words, notwithstanding the obsolete diction of the earlier translator, Tyndale was often content to adopt phrases that commended themselves to him. No friend of Tyndale needs to exalt him by depreciating Wiclif. But Tyndale expressly declares that he was* not dependent on his prede- cessor, making his own translation throughout rather than revising the old.* On the question of Tyndale's English style as a translator we have for- tunately a considerable basis for comparison in his voluminous doctrinal, controversial, and expository works. As might be expected, in these writings the sentences are longer, the rhetorical balance more elaborate; but both in invective and in exhortation, in the biting epigram and the eloquent homily, we find evidence of that genius for cadences and rhythmic flow of syllables which marks our English Bible above all other works of EngUsh prose. The only writers of his age in whom we find this style 1 Among the Hebraists in Luther's circle at Wittenberg were Matthaeus Auro- gallus, Johann Forster, Bernhard Ziegler, and George Rorer. See Buchwald, Doktor Martin Luther, p. 321. 2 " I had no man to counterfeit, neither was helped with EngHsh of any that had interpreted the same or such like another in the Scripture beforetime" ("Epistle to the Reader," subjoined to the New Testament). 22 TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH developed, with its nice balance of the Latin and Anglo-Saxon words and syntax, are Latimer, in his sermons, for the short sentence and pithy phrase, and Cranmer, translator of the larger part of the Prayer Book for the rhythms. It was not the common style of learned men in the reign of Henry VIII. Sir Thomas More shows few traces of it. He writes a Latin- ized English without flexibility and without melody. The English version of the Utopia is, of course, not by More at all, but by one Ralph Robinson, and belongs to the following generation. This style of Tyndale's, which set the fashion for Coverdale and all his successors, owes not a little of its charm to the fact that it was shaped in its phrasing by the loose syntactical structure of the Greek Testament. It is to be noted that among the numerous translations of the Early Tudor period those from the French — for example, Lord Berners' version of Froissart — most nearly approach this style of Tyndale's; and for the obvious reason that the translator in each case happened to be too good a scholar to paraphrase in Latinized periods a narrative told in short words and co-ordinate clauses. We have but to compare Tyndale at his worst — that is, in his most vehement tirades against More— with the typical pam- phlets and formal correspondence of Henry's reign, to feel instantly the individuality of the man and his feeling for the new English prose that had so lately come into being. If this was the first and one of the most important of Tyndale's quali- fications, when he undertook the translation of the Pentateuch, a second was his Hebrew studies, already referred to. The apparatus at his com- mand can be estimated with some approach to probability. For Hebrew grammar he had at his command the considerable number of textbooks enumerated above, of which those by Reuchlin (1506), Miin- ster (1520), and the two published at Wittenberg by the leading Hebraists there, Boeschenstein (1518) and Aurigallus (1525), were probably his chief authorities, since they would naturally be the most accessible. For lexicons he had the vocabulary accompanying Reuchlin's Rudi menta (1506), Sebastian Munster's Lexicon hebraicum chaldaicum (Basel, 1508, 1523), and perhaps Pagninus' Thesaurus linguae sanctae sive lexicon hebraicum (Lyons, 1529). For the Hebrew text there was no want of printed editions. At least five had been printed in Italy and Spain since 1488, the most popular of which was that of Bomberg, published at Venice in 1517. This included the Targum of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, of which Tyndale is supposed by some editors to have made occasional use. For the Vulgate there were, of course, many printed editions. Of the TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 23 Septuagint, editions were to be found in the Complutensian Polyglot (1514), the Aldine edition (1518), and the Strasburg edition of 1526. Luther's translation of the five books of Moses, the first part of his Old Testament, appeared in 1523, and was of course constantly before Tyndale in his work. The question arises whether Tyndale had with him in Germany a manuscript of the Wiclifite Old Testament by Nicholas de Hereford or its revision by John Purvey, or whether such resemblances as can be traced between these early versions and his are either accidental or due to recol- lections of a version familiar to him in his youth. These resemblances are much less numerous than in the New Testament, where there is no possible doubt that Tyndale used Wiclif's work. If Foxe's story of the shipwreck on the voyage to Hamburg in 1529 be accepted,^ we must con- clude that any such manuscript of either of the fourteenth-century Old Testament versions, even if Tyndale originally had one and used it in his first draft of Deuteronomy, was lost in that disaster; and it does not seem likely that it could be promptly replaced by friends in England in time to be used in the work on the Pentateuch. We come now to the central problem of this inquiry: To what extent did Tyndale use the Hebrew in his Pentateuch ? This question is to be decided only by a comparison of his version with the original, with the Vulgate, with Luther's version, and with Hereford's and Purvey's. It is not so easy of settlement as prejudiced writers on either side have attempted to prove. If his authorship of the books from Joshua to Chronicles in Rogers' and Coverd^le's Bibles could be assumed, we should have a larger basis for induction. The Pentateuch consists so largely of straightforward narrative, in which alternative renderings of the Masoretic text are seldom possible; it has so few obscurities as compared with the poetical and prophetic books, that we may dihgently compare many chapters in Tyndale, Luther, and the Vulgate, as the present writer has done, without being able to find a single datum for our inquiry. On the other hand, there are in the Pentateuch certain well-known difficulties, due either to rare words, poetic diction, or a corrupt text, which afi'ord a more promising field for such study. It would be manifestly impracticable to present here in parallel columns the several versions of the entire Pentateuch, or of an entire book. Four- fifths of such material would yield negative results. The method chosen, after a comparison of the entire Pentateuch in the manner indicated, is to select such chapters as offer tangible evidence upon one side or the other — ' Acts and Monuments, p. 1077. 24 TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH Tyndale's originality on the one hand, his dependence on the Vulgate and Luther on the other hand. Words and phrases presenting variations deemed significant for one reason or another are quoted, with their equiva- lents in the Hebrew, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, the two Wiclifite ver- sions, and Luther's version. The first chapter of Genesis is given entire, as a fair specimen of straight narrative prose, and the number and char- acter of data for our inquiry to be found in such prose. Isolated passages from Genesis present further typical examples. From the three consider- able poetic pieces in the Pentateuch, Genesis, chap. 49, Deuteronomy, chaps. 32 and 33, are taken such passages as show facts bearing on the dis- cussion ; affording, by reason of their difficulties, more numerous tangible instances of dependence or independence than any other portion of the material. For the Hebrew the Masoretic text is given; for the Septuagint, Swete's text;^ for the Vulgate, the standard Vatican edition, from a copy printed at Frankfort in 1829 collated with a Venetian edition of 1478 (Newberry Library); for Hereford and Purvey, the edition of the Wiclif Bible by Forshall and Madden (Oxford, 1850); for Luther, a Bible printed at Frankfort in 1583, now in the Newberry Library; for Tyndale, the critical reprint edited by Dr. J. I. Mombert (New York, 1884), the only reprint ever made of Tyndale's Pentateuch. Dr. Mombert's work was conducted with every precaution to insure literal accuracy of reproduction, and is to be depended on so far as the text is concerned. His introduction contains a large amount of bibliographical and other information, together with certain conclusions as to the unsettled historical questions of Tyndale's life, which are at some points in conflict with other authorities. He has also taken the singular course of appending to the text of the Pentateuch, "in the form of footnotes, glosses selected from Luther's version and the Rogers Bible of 1537, which at times are confusing to the student. The book was unfavorably reviewed in the Athenceum (1885, Vol. I, pp. 500, 562). The reviewer points out many alleged errors in Mombert's biblio- graphical statements, and ridicules his theory that the Pentateuch was really printed at Wittenberg instead of Marburg. He does not, however, criticise in any respect the fidelity of the reprint of the text of the Penta- teuch, with which we are here concerned. I The Hebrew and Greek have been collated with the texts in Walton's Polyglot (1657), no copy of the Complutensian Polyglot first edition being available. No variations from the modern text were found in the passages herein quoted. TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 25 1 Omits definite arti- cle following V H P L against Heb. LXX. Follows LXX & L in omitting the idiomatic Hebrew Follows L against LXX VHP. ill < C rt ■£ rt tlilll Iilliii 5-§ . m H " " ^1 ^-s-g S 2 - =^ J ^ . 5 1 sill 111 < 3 J] < " •§ '^ ^ „ „ . ^ - ^ ^ -^ 1 i m iiipi Oh III 111 £ 1 ^' -i ^ ^ 11 S -S SO - ^ ^ - 1 g S ^ "o C^ g g 3^ < < < Q X III ■" g,> 2^ "^ a lillllll «1 -s .. . < liji ^ rt c .2 < 1 > •5 ^ 11 Jll 1 " ^Iq S. i g £ 2 . .2 i v2 t« .^ 2 ill S.I 1 1 . 5 S w E rt ^ ■" c ^ §1 i £ e " ^ illii <: a ■M i-.l mmi ri '! — 1 -- -s 1 =S .f I 2 g ,? -3 i S g ^ " S 2 S a ■i.rs gi:? ■i -9- b 5 £ 3 .,-g-rs.sg- n w. c 2 CO 26 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH S "o 'n G O > O 3 .B C J _< H < < J Und Gott sprach: Es werde ein Feste zwischcn den was- sern | und die sey ein unterscheid zwischcn den was- Da machet Gott die Feste 1 und schei- det das wasser un- ter der Festen | von dem wasser uber der Festen. Und es geschah i Und Gott nennet die Festen | Himmel. Da ward ausz abend und morgen der ander Tag. Und Gott sprach: Es samle sich das was- ser unter dem Him- mel an sondere orter dasz niair das trocken sehe. Und es geschach also. £•2 Is ..-sges O HJ ^i'.r% -^'-^it^^Z zl'i'-l II i £ ^ s s^^i «||-§i^i^ ■.- C t: og^"^ *^S^'S""SE„ -£g- ^■^g ^ -a ■j'^'g^^-- :2|">^>. "'& ssi^ll jlllilliilllli ;j|l?i:-: Slligg" Qgu-I g ^ & I /T S. e ■" '^ I e S* S I ^ " a' 3 -a u 5 w £ S||o. -o 'S -S 6 3 f '§ I . -^ W Q ?• '? i £ I g 5 ^ 2- * ? s. b .3 ■: ,| ^ t= .o. •= S 9 t -3 a -o -B p K -o t- >« s !! ,i: ••- «> TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 27 - S .S ^ Si V. a V ^ a ' « F o h ., fe ^ 4! 5 = •a S ^>2 ^U-£M £.B t. s«l c w-s i i E -s P ^ 5^ T S O 111 " : ^ S 3 "i T- -i-i 3 C ^ - t; J :i £ - c i ^ D £ -§ s-a 60 O •< 5 E «'i= m _ 4)^ c« rt c .t; S i Ji S E 1^ .IS 0, t « t 2 ^ -S- o 2 o o"rt T« "^ o c ^ ifeE:aigs<.tj c t: -a t: >■ C g rt ■^•^ aE-g fe o 6 _2 « E ^ sill c i .r -S ^" ^' ■? 1 -^ J 1 |2 'S E 3 • Q H i^l ■§ S-? E c .S S E I 1 N 3 « g ^ J . g ^ S ^ g E a c i E I I I " -•§ V. 3 g 5 s,v.-'=3ecQo ^Ei|Si„-^ ill i il!l •S S -3 2: Ji! ri;- ;; 'Jo' .-; t a Q. » n i^ f, D n p ts {T C r p «x r fc» »- Q iJ :« ' r X pk ^^ y. n H I ■K f n t^ *- u ^ •^-Tk r iA / r «j I- '^ 35 n 28 TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH i ^-S lit ig'>.| i^ fa 2^ ■5 5' g 1. ■5 j: a, — ' ■" _fl "o m -a >. p o 'C e t- g -a j: 3. f i ' i: ?•£ FJi-S^:^^ 55 t - — 55, _^ 55 r .rv (- is b> ^ r ? TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 29 ►J is ^ = I 6-5 -a c f a^ o tJ ,; r- I- E -a 1^^ c c > o " E _o 3 ►J !" e. E J= w I. u ^ s o E • g= ^ 11 |l O >. C ■" ? C3 O :i CS ~ j: E t X E O T3 cs < ■K, ,; t; c -o J! ^ O oj ~ c: o S E > 5 >2 2 "S S < 4) Ji 3 •" ^ ■a ■; >. d - ^&^^E -o ° ^ -S -3 ^ ^ . g K-g <^ i o S M S « " S 3 I 2 g - S S i ^£: ^o K-S2 i 3 o o ^_ -o " - ■ g « s ^E J E -s ■? t; li ^ s ■? 2 = ^ I = i S S '^ E i D- ti E - = £ 2 S 5 P 3 ■* .0 3 P * X -e 3 -d * i g '■-i- • r P r. Q f^ n r i^hi -^ n r n •- p f^ ;- n f, n f f r b ^ 3« r r r *- ^, « I- a n «- r- n h lo P r >5 r h no D ci i: n p X i: C n jr n M r f^ p n P li "^ a d 30 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH < < < t:~c'S'Sb'S,.'B "^t — ^5^ 13 iM ■t; t. "2 o a -5 3 o •= .H. ^ 2 •- ^ .2 .a 2 :5 5 g E o fe a ° 2i : "^ 5 -^ ^1- "=:g^ Q .H, S « - " 4)o rt3>- yS °' ■• 2 ii "3 ° 3 rt 'c tn 0-- 3 a"i^^-3 3 3 3rtE4;^^u>^:2 lis :i £ £ :§ I- 1 1 £QuE22E-Co« ca >;; 3 « • -a .TV n r r 35 n as PCP'rlF la ^55 5 f= a y^ [^ n 56 r; 55 '"no 32 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH "sjo ^— S(u'2«S'Si.«'2 °j=^'S_'^-S ^-S-aS-OMMt, _< < K 'S^"-f;!i3=^"i^2s='sfe^E^'^i^ o ' "^ E o lIl-SI-HJ^s^lElJlslHlBllls-^iSs -S^lE^SgS^ 2 S" « ^ S d o 2 -^ o ^' .2 "S -o ? o .ti ■22-og-g^S5fa-g -;5 -^ X T3 -i ■" 'c _ « r J3 5 E ^E •g>HS^'3.S"o'£sl"S!S2^S&SS-§ -g^E^^gE^ < "S 1 g 2 -S a -S :S •z: ja c S S? •S>^a.S?'=3.S'£:S.S=3SSx'£.S-£a6S •g'Sss .g i r ? 2 »= 3- « .§ *= ^ £ §. eg: i 'g *■ i I - £ -I I i . g 2 II = n r ',, p> i- 55 9 n hh TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 33 i Rejects L's correct rendering for one of his own not so good. Follows L against Heb. LXX V H P. All the versions mis- interpret Dnt3 . T follows LXX V, h(jwever, not L. Follows LXX VHP against L's correct rendering. .•\n independent con- jecture. Follows L in render- ing na3D against V H P. A vigorous independ- ent rendering of the Heb. idiom. Abandons L's loose paraphrase for an independent ren- dering, showing in the phrase used for ^Sim a desire to follow English usage. H wyth all their ap- parell: in the tyme and all the shrubbes of the felde be fore they were in the erthe. And all the herbes of the felde before they sprange. [a garden in Eden] from the begyn- nynge all the lande of Inde an helper to beare him company tush ye shall not dye I will suerly encrease thy sorow and make the oft with child J mit iren gantzen Heer. zu der zeit und allerley Biiume au£f dem Felde | die zuvor nie gewest waren auflt Erden 1 Und allerley Kraut aufI dem Felde 1 das zuvor nie ge- wachsen war. gegen dem Morgen das gantze Moren- land ein Gehiilffen die umb jn sey Ir werdet mit nichte desz tods sterben. Ich wil dir vil schmertzen schaf- fen wenn du schwanger wirst | D u s o 1 1 mit schmertzen Kinder gebereii. CU and al the ourne- ment of tho. in the day and ech litil tre of erthe bifore that it sprong out in erthe; and he made ech erbe of the feeld bifore that it buriownede at the bigynnyng at the loond of Ethiopie an help lijk to hym silf Ge schulen not die bi deeth thi wretchidnessis and thi conseyu- yngis a and al the anowrn- ing of hem. in the day and ech bushe of the feeld or it were growunin the erthe, and al erbe of regioun bifore that it buriownde fro bigynnynge at the erthe of Ejhiope help Uke hym. Thurg deth ge shal not die thi myseses and thi conceyujTigis > et omnis ornatus eorum in die et omne virgultum agri antequam ori- retur in terra, om- nemque herbam regionis priusquam germinaret a principio Ethiopiae adjutorium simile sibi nequaquam morte moriemini aerumnas tuas et conceplus tuas if 111, . 1 \ Ii \ f ■^ii.fl % 1 JMI -o 'S: « K 1 CO. o ° a d' O 34 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH >1K ft. J S -o > S • s! P c^ s fa fc- O ■| I ST ►4 ^ > s o-x II X > ^ .2 a in a — w . ^ 3) o ^ «i O " O -Q ^■5 — OS t; 9 i If 1^ >, o o O a V. a so .^ g ' I . ^ g •y * I 5 a 5 d M -g ^ ^ i w: *. Q II ° •" "^ i ^ a H K-fi - t3 2 t<' •-' 0) S 3 " 4) b ■g ^ ^ ^ 'S •5 1 'S'S ^ " a fe X ^ n ^ s' 5 -o a = 5? ^ ^ •U O I- M 2 ^ ^' P M -2 J3 O tn 1 1 M 73 -a -o T3 -a g § Id-: 3 " u 'O "Z J= B in C O ^•S SI i g rj 3 K W E c« 6^ b E ^^ S* E •£ -E .r 2- jj „ >_ jj •? 1 ^ a o a E £ a S SI To l§ E § s s a g :5 •a "= S _g 5 •S a -1 Q 5 -5 !i ■-1 is J •o ^ w o " S 2 S 1^ ii. 3 i -g -5 '5 •o y -d -o -o >2 a >2 J J ^ ^ E I ^ « o « E ^ .2 i! 5^ ^ "- o ■" :S sl 3 E 3 B- P- B- ::«r J^ as r r r r r r ^ L° C C C £. c 1^ EP F ^P n ' I n nj> ^ ^' I- ^ fit j^^ Ef 36 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH Q 'O H fa H d *j S X ^ = S ■" -5 s s£ " "o — ^ a T3 ° H H PS tx- ti -^ oj ^ .s *r •— rt (u rj u fli tr -IT, *r ^ o "u ■5:HH><^'^ a5"2x3 .9^ ^.9 .9-5-S'5°-s.2E^r2g.S> .9 £ ^ -a .2 .9 o- ^ ft -c i •§ E S •§ .9 .§ IS '^1 ■, 2 'o -S ? ^ i I ^'1 ■"'lb •I I'^i f^ P n 1: 36 Ti *~ TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 37 ^ .2 .S : -a : go R :§ -o g O — III I Si-- g I u i o c c o ^ 5 rt * "2, 6: c s; c u -a o IS oJ E E - fc -a S . S^ § •§-s § 3 Si! ^ ^ S! .2 £ 1? 2 :« .« -a -^ ^ -c « ^ _ a t>4 .t=, -3! &.!=., 1-1 -= •I g 1 " .? a § I :h E ;§ - i iS - I & « '^ J! I -s .c -S S S is s: .& CO S Ji rt 2 ■" w f . -9 E ° o -3 fe 3 S = - g P s .„ » §1:1 i i 3 O c lis S 2 a -S "o . 3 1; § a-" s I - ^ ZbI « S 9 o C - -2 S..2 J5 ^ O E ^ o « ^ •S o :S '^ a a I o^ 8 I g I S3 I § -s "^ : " S iH '3 ^ — 3 ^ ^ 5 g ■& S! ^ -;ii; 3 5 — u "! rl E |l: •i -s -6 -S -3 s .2 S « •" 2 I f o f i I 2 "C O 3 3 ^ o Q 5 S -c 1 c E = -aa -o S "^ "* S = g .IS 3i-E"i:il^ p 2 -!^ "S 3. " a. ,3 K Q. <^ -'§- '5 '?• ° ~° b m! i o a, 4 • '3 -=■ i 4 4 2 S « b u, .3 "1 ■!=• -3 S .5 S f ■? -6 3 -e « b a a K n f3 X X ^ c ^ tJ f- n ^ n c n £. n n S y I,^ o n S 55 o ^ h n p s s r^ "^ F ^ '^ r n P i: P t f- jj 38 TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH ^l Ifiill'^lil iiil-^*''-^^ H fa H s -a a a .Ji a ^ tSil^i^ ^il^l^ir ill. II ill lis :og«ig.sii -jisi |.ii£=s;^ h K N a a 0) "* " - a, t: -s cs -o E « i^ _W _W (^ w wum ^s i* ^ « X ^ JS > Cri Q O < 3 S p O "^ 3 3 ■i£-g ^„ rg :3 S 2 S E -SS SsS^o TE.S-? -^■"i: ^-Sa '2 3 -.2 ^"^SSjsj 3 >. II I I 1l 1 1 -s„ (U S-^.Mn dS •:;=".s"i!>3 5dS — ~'d "ts 'i -" P ^ S^^-a?"o— ti--.-i;«, ^ - p< &gg = SE ^-sg-d-f 3o.:::<.3£j^ad2 «°g^dS?a-sca h £ .^ I -S J J E ^ a -S ^- d o .2 '^ § 2 ■■ o f " . .2 "S ^ - •S d .« o ■" d § g- " ■5'S S g-2 E S " u - « 1^ °-^^ ^ a- -^ «- 3 ^ S s?4= uO<-'Sol3"'_^tiiJd — OdOd'"0.«j^3^'-^«jS.i!^a-C_§t3Ji 3 5 S.S^& 'S^g^ „, „ s ,„ ■5 ^ 3 ^ d a -s 5 2 S 1 g ^ S g " 5 i :^ s u' s _• s g a - s ^- S.K2 -«gi = l -^-^li^^BA^M i-Sil-2S-Si!.S^ '2 -"S. » 1 .!C 2- « it.'? 's c n »-'o jit-no '^r'n,r»r-r-jL TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 41 < OS Disregards L's cor- rect translation. Follows L's fantastic conjecture. Independent in trans- lating -i^t: . Avoids the bold Hcb. figure. His para- phrase is indejiend ent. Independent render- ing of DT3T0 . in keeping with the context, which L's is not. H The blessinges of thy father were strongc : euen as the blcs.'iingcs of my ciders, after the dcsyre of the hiest in the worlde, and these blessinges shall fall on the head of loscph, and on the toppe of the head of him yt was separat from his brcthern. He is a rockc and perfecte are his deadcs, for all his wayes are with dis- crccion. God is faithfull and with- out wekednessc, both rightiious and juste is he. The frowarde and ouerthwarte gen- eracion hath marred them selues to himward, and are not his sonnes for their deform- ities .sake. _] Die segen deines Vat- ters gchen stcrcker denn die segen mciner Voraltern (nach wundsch der Hohcn in die Welt) und sollen kom- men auff das Haupt Joseph 1 und auff die Scheitcl desz Nasir unter seinen Briid- ern. Er ist cin Felsz 1 seine Werck sind unstratflich | Denn alles was er thut das ist recht. Trew ist Gott 1 und kein boses an jm 1 Gerccht und from!) ist er. Die verkehrete und bosc art sellet von jm al. 1 Sie sind Schandlflccken | und nicht seine Kinder. c.^ The blessyngis of thi fadirben coumfortid, the blessyngis of his fadris, til the desire of euerlastynge hilUs cam; bless- yngis ben maad in the heed of Joseph, and in the nol of Nazarei among his britheren. The werkis of God ben pcrfit, and alle hise weies ben domes; God is fcithful, and with- out ony wickid- nesse; God is iust and rigtful. Thei synneden agens hym, and not hise soncs in filthis, thatis, ofidolatrie; schrewid and wai- ward generacioun. in The blissyngis of thi fader ben coum- fortid with the blissyngis of the fadris of hym, to the tyme that were comen the desyre of euerlastynge hillis; ben thei maad in the heed of Joseph, and in the heed of Naza- rei amonge his bretheren. Of God perfit ben the werkys, and allc his weyes domes; a trewe God, and ^ith outen eny wickidnes, rygt wis and euen. Thei han synned to hym, and not his sones in filthis; shrewid kynred, and mysturnyd. > Benedictiones patris tui confortatae sunt benedictionibus patruin ejus, donee veniret desideriuni collium acterno- rum, fiant in capite Joseph, et in ver- tice Nazaraei inter fratres suos. Dei perfecta sunt opera, et omnes viae ejus judicia; Deus fidelis, et absque uUa iniqui- tate, Justus et rec- tus. Peccaverunt ei, et non filii ejus in sordibus; genera- tio prava atque perversa. iifllfilHi !ijh;s |i!i 1 1 42 TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH i 1 a 1 It 1 * Follows I.. Independent, a good rendering. H Remembre the dayes that are past : con- sydre the yeres from tyme to tyme. Axe thy father and he will shewe the, thyne elders and they wyll tell the. When the most hygh- est gaue the nacy- ons an enheri- tauncc,anddiuided the sonnes of Adam he put the borders of the nacions, fast by o ■B Is Ill He founde him in a deserte londe, in a voyde ground and a rorynge wilder- nesse. he led him aboute and gaue him vnderstond- ynge, and kepte him as the a pie of his eye. h-S Bedenck der vorigen Zeit bisz daher 1 und betracht was er gethan hat an den alten Vattern 1 Frage deinen Vat- ter 1 der wirdt dirs verkundigen 1 -a ^ g^ 1 s Da der AUerhohest die \'olcker zer- theilet 1 und zer- strewct der Men- schen Kinder. Da setzt er die Grent- zen der Volcker 1 nach der zahl der 1 a 5 Er fandt jn in der Wusten 1 in der durrem Einode 1 da es heulet. Er fiihret jn 1 und gab jm das Gesetz | Er behutet jn wie sein Augapffel. &< Haue thou minde of elde daies, thenke thou alle genera- ciouns; axe thi fadir, and he schal telle to thee, axe thi grettere men, and thei schulen 1 o Whanne the higeste departide folkis, whanne he de- partide the sones of Adam, he ordeyn- ede the termis of puplis bi the noumbre of the ■o The Lord foond hym in a deseert lond, in the place of orrour, and of wast wildirnesse; the Lord ledde hym aboute, and taugte hym, and kepte as the apple of his ige. K Haue mynde of olde days, and thenk eche generaciouns; aske thi fader, and he shal telle to thee, thi more, and thci shulen seie to thee. Whanne deuydide the higest folkis of kynde, whanne he seuerdethesonesof Adam, he sette the teermys of puplis after the noumbre of the sones of 1 He foond hym in a deseert loond, in place of orrour, and of waast wil- dernes; he ladde hym aboute, and taugte, and kept as the apple of his eye. > Memento dierum antiquorum, cogita generationes sin- gulas; interroga patrem tuum, et annunciabit tibi; majores tuos, et dicent tibi: Quando di\idebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, con- slituit terminos populorum juxta numerum fihorum Israel. Invenit eum in terra deserta, in loco horrorris et vastae solitudinis, circum- duxit eum et docuit; et custo- divit quasi pupil- lam oculi sui; a lllilili a. '='<=> o b s .•< ■° -3 '^ r " j; ili W mm Q 00 f TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH 43 J w ■a -n = •0 ?1 in o r sin J3 -O t K £ § S X ^ -o § "? ^ ■? S!.^ S e « -- ^ - - c S. 5 i V I « I i -S ^ g H w s-2 s;? .5 5 -C :3 N g c £ •^ i "g S w > f ^ s s Is E c :: - h r « g i =»> .2 :o - ■" 5 r ^ o ^ g. - "S ■S 60 & S S , ".Satigflrt'C :lllll = s ° « J= 3 «J 21 - E - J! S3 o a ^ «>- - f ■« i! c o M S ^i SCCjSj^ E ta-Sj S2.E 1.:-^:! 2Ei-iSlS'5l2. o O — . OT o 60 ^ .- E S B -S S S § B I C - -3 n P S •" t' .2 3 2 a S £ t; f 5 c75 2ii 3 3 S 21 !^ •c 3 E - ^ £ ffi E . 5 E If i ill 2^ "Hi -a -"S '3 "" I S "- S. ■uri-'. a a -B i a -g ?• i •«- a H ?^P . r a fVj-v • o v 1^ n P •" 9 r ^ « 13 J^ 1 c f? Sp ^ ? P P^-^l -r» r S G f\-^ p» j[; n t\ -- ^ c a^ 44 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH ^ 2 "> X '^Sl §•£-►-' ^ "o&fe^rs ^--:a-s.g2| '||-|-^-^ l-^illl^ g-g&gii-l-BS s|Tf&g^S"^ :S3T3-So^Eg. ^«^«^l«l ^-^|l"„-Se sgSa^^^fc •«^H^^:s-S:s |2sa^sss4s |;s^S'ssag < e- « E " '" -° J= .2 J3 s5 ^ — -O •- -- •« - S « - ^ ^ ^ 3 .r -n 5 E o g ^ I =^^ ._!iT3.iic«._ c '"-^sc-S — xcj: S^ •3 3 4 E =32g«2Eo "^Qeg^^S. 3-S^|5S B2iS„-g.|-S fJlg.gcSS S°°'«i3-^E s 1 g 5 ■? o s 'S -s -s ,„- s r, c Ji s ^ ^ I E E tea .S Z X |E-aj2aca gtirt-RrtSiSa ^SPgr^ P^'f^R^c -np^^PJi tiiisf f^l^E^ HEi=^? TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 45 a U 6 "o X ^ 1 1 J 2 1 si E c - S fe I =1 iJ-3 >. E c c 1) It J3 ~ i - " g e ■5 S ii 3 a £ 8 ^ E-gggE^c-Sg^--'' o 3 c g e c o e .£ S ?" 3 2 "l =■ "1 3 '? '2 •3 .^ 2; '3 -;'3 ■5 s X "^ c. '3 a- ^ -s- .b -£• J3 C 35 f^ I^ 9 c t^ '.: 'n '^ ? n 9 55 35 55 P J^ 55 O « f f. n " ^ - 55 "^ »^ S n p» j; c 46 TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH S -a "S = " £ S & ^1 ~ p. I E •=^&ii|ll o -= E ,' .2 - E ^ e S ^ ^ ^ 3 C lOi E g «J ^ E b 5 :3 fc > TJ -g fc fc c _s .SDc-gc^ri'o S_ti g E E ^o^ E •£ ^ i 'I E J3 c ■£ ■£ 'o y E « -G ?^ S !2 .52 ^ « "^ -5 dEg-E^--i':| a S ■I E ^ I R = 3 PS rt t) 2 i! w ■" s a E o c « o c_ S S T3 'C •;j E E §■ ii S 3 « ^ S -c - ^1:= . E-2 E E e ri O U " 2 -c -a .t; s lit 3 a -g ; .5 3 e '; -IK" -^ iiil s ': •• I •= § c . ■° -I i I g ■- - " :>• ts \ -B I: 'S o •; .3 p n o n *- n rt >5 P» n t\ f\ n n *z £■ r_ '^ r «- « fI *:: -^i^l^-B^ r-r. J= if TYNDALE'S version of the PENTATEUCH 47 <2 Independent and wrong (though this reading is adopted by the Revisers) P'ollows L in making nX interrogalive. Follows V (H P) against Heb. LXX L. i II H Reioyse hethen wyth hys people, for he will auenge the bloude off his ser- vauntes, and wyll auenge hym off hys aduersaryes, and wilbe mercyfuU vnto the londc off hys people. How loued he the people? .\11 his sayntes are in his honde. They yoyncd themsclues vnto thy fote and rcceaued t hi wordes. And he w;is in Israel kingc when he gathered the heedes of the people and the tribes of Israel to gether. hJ Jauchtzet alle | die jr sein Volck seyt 1 Denn er wil das Blut seine Knechte rcchen. Und wirt sich an seinen Fcinden rechen 1 un gnadig seyn dem Lande stines Volcks. Wie hat cr die I. cute so lieb? Alle seine Heyli Ren sind in deincr Hand 1 Sie werden sich setzen zu deinen Fuszen 1 un wer- den lehrnen von deinen wortcn. Und er vrrwaltet das .Ampt cines Kon- iges 1 und hielt zu- sammen die Haup- ter desz Volcks 1 sampt den Stam- mcn Israel. Oh Folkis, preise ge the puplis of hym, for he schal venie the blood of his ser- uauntis, and he schal gelde veni- aunce in to the enemyes of hem; and he schal be merciful to the lend of his puple. He louede puplis; alle seyntis ben in his bond, and thei that neigen to his feet schulen take of his doc tryn. And the king schal be at the moost rigt- ful,whanne princes of the puple schulen be gadcrid togidere with the lynagis of Israel. K Preyse ge gentils, the puple of hym, for the blood of his seruauntis he shal wreek, and vcni- ounce he shal quyte into the enemyes of hem, and he shal be merciful to the erthe of his puple. H^ louede puples; alle seyntis in the hoond of hym ben, and that neigen to the feet of hym, shulen taak of the loor of hym. And there shal be anentis the moost rigta kyng, the princis of the puple gedrid with the lynagis of Yrad. > Laudate gentes popu- lum ejus, quia san- guincm servorum suorum ulciscetur, et vindictam rc- tribuet in hostes eorum, et propitius erit Terrae populi sui. Dilcxit populos, om- nes sancti in manu illius sunt, et qui appropinquant pe- dibus ejus, accipi- ent de doctrina illius. Erit apud rectissi- mum rex, congre- gatis principibus populi cum tribu- bus I.srael. X 1=1 £'2- -1-2 S-I^4l.1 g.? K mm r »•• 5 s 48 TYNDALE S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH < s Future for impera- tive; independent, wrong. Independent, wrong. L omits these clauses but T renders them complete. An improbable con- jecture. Does not follow L's conjecture. H Ruben shall lyue and shall not dye: but his people shalbe few in numbre. And vnto Leui he sayed: thy per- fectnesse ad thi light be after thy mercifull ma who thou temptest at Masa ad with whom thou striu- edst at the waters of strife. .\nd vnto Joseph he sayed: blessed of the Lorde is his londe with the goodly frutes off heauen, with dewe and with sprynges that lye beneth : .\nd with frutes of the encrease of the Sonne and wyth rype frute off the monethes, and with the toppes of mountaynes that were from the be- gynnynge and with the dayntes of hilles that last euer and J Ruben lehe und ster- be nicht | und sein Pobel sey gering. Und zu Leui sprach er. Dcin Ruch und dein I,iecht bleibe bey deinem hey- ligen Mann | den du versucht hast zu Massa | da jr ha- dertet an Hader- wasser. Und zu Joseph sprach er: Sein Land ligt im Segen dess Herrn 1 Da .sind edle FrUchte von den Sonnen | und edle reiffe FrUchte der Mon- den. Und von den hohen I5ergen gegen Mor- gen 1 und von den Hugeln fur und fur 1 und edlen. a. Ruben lyue, and die not, and be he litel in noumbre. Also he seide to Leuy, Thi perfec- cioun and thi techyng is of an hooly man, whom thou preuedist in temptacioun and demedist at the Watris of Agen- seiynge; Also he seide to Joseph, His lond is of the Lordis blessying; of the applis of heuene, and of the dewe, and of watir lig- gynge bynethe. of the applis of fruytes of the sunne and moone; of the coppe of elde munteyns, and of the applis of euer- lastynge litle hillis; K Lyue Ruben, and dye he not, and be he litil in noumbre. Forsothe to Leuy he seith, Thi perfec- cioun and thi loor fro thin hooli man, whom thow hast preued in tempta- cioun, and hast demed at the Wa- tris of Agensei- ynge; Forsothe to Joseph he seith. Of the blessynge of the Lord the loond of hym; of the applis of heuene, and of the dewe, and of the see underlig- ging; of applis of the fruyt of sunne, and of mone; And of the cop of the oold moun- teyns, and of applis of euerlastynge hillis; > Vivat Ruben, et non moriatur, et sit parvus in numero. Levi quoque ait: Per- fectio tua, et doc- trina tua viro sanc- to tuo, quem pro- basti in tentatione, et judicasti ad aquas Contradic- tionis. Joseph quoque ait: de benedictione Domini terra ejus, de pomis caeli, et rore, atque abysso subjacente: de po- mis fructuum soils ac lunae; De vertice anti- quorum montium, de pomis collium aeternorum, i1 t'2-^ iii'a-i,t'M Ufnt Hi .3S-S 3 N S 1 ^S .5 .5 1 -S 1 -g ,1 ;- fc J -g -g 'o 1 . ,5 ,1 1 g -^ .3 .^ -8 .w -e -8 -1 8 8 -o s -^ -£ ?- 'S ." a. -a « -8 ?- -g i c 4 -= -a a. - Kl U! 'jS w -a « 5 TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH 49 < a 06 Translates TIT* again. Follows V L whith do not strictly ren- der the Heb. f- With goodly frute of the erth and off the fulnes.se there of. And the good will of him that dwelleth in the bush .shall come vppon the heed of Joseph and vppon the toppe of the heed of him that was separated from amonge his breth- His bewtye is as a firstborne oxe and his homes as the homes of an vny- corne. And with them he shall push the nacions to gether, euen vnto the endes of the worlde. These are the many thousandesofEph raim and the thou- sandes off Man- ^ Friichten von der Erden | und was drinnen ist. Die Grade desz 1 der in dem Busch wohnete 1 komme auff das Haupt Jo- seph 1 und auff den Scheytel desz Nasir unter seinen Brudern. Seine Herrligkeit ist wie ein Erstge- borner Ochse 1 und seine Horner sind wie Einhor- ners Horner. Mit dcnselbigen wirt er die Volcker stossen zuhauff 1 bisz an des Landes ende | Das sind die tau- send Ephraim | und die tausend Manasse. (X and of the fruytis of the lond, and of the fulnesse thereof. The blessyng of hym that apperide in the busch come on the heed of Joseph, and on the cop of Nazarey among his breth- eren. As the first gendrid of a bole is the feirnesse of hym; the homes of an vnicorn ben the homes of hym; in tho he schal wyndene folk is, til to the termes of erthe. These ben the multitudis of Effraym, aud these ben the thou- syndis of Man- asses. X And of fruytis of the erthe, and plente of it. Bless- ynge of hym that aperyde in the busshe come vpon the heed of Jo- seph, und vpon the fortop of Nazarey among his breth- eren. As of the first goten bool the feirnes of hym; homes of an vnicorn the homes of him, in hem he shal wyndowe gen- tilys, vnto the teer- mes of the erthe Thes ben the mul- titudys of Effraym, and thes thou- sandis of manasse. > et dc frugibus terrae, et de plenitudine ejus; benedictio Illius, qui apparuit in rubo, veniat super caput Jo- seph, et super ver- ticcm nazaraei inter fratres suos. Quasi primogeniti tauri pulchritudo ejus, cornua rhi- nocerotis cornua illius, in ipsis ven- tilabit gentes usque ad terminos Ter- rae; hae sunt mul- titudines Ephraim, et haec millia Manasse. X ■r-' ^i^ti r^ si j^s 2 i^ jiiiilK {lilfiiKi gy. ? £ a r ^ F r n a n p n r « Q 50 TYNDALE'S VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 1 < s 1 < In this corrupt pas- sage we can only say that T had his own guess, which is no better and no worse than the rest. J Sx H And vnto Gad he sayed: blessed is the rowmmaker Gad. He dwell- eth as a Hon and caught the arme ad also the toppe nf the hppd. He sawe his begyn- nynge, that a parte of the teach- ers were hyd there ad come with the hecdfs of the peo- ple, and e.xecuted the righteousnes of the Lorde and his iudgcnicntes with Israel. Yern and brasse shall hange on thi showes and thine age shalbe as thi youth. hJ Und zu Gad sprach er: Gad sey geseg- net der Raum- macher. Er ligt wie ein Louw | und raubet den Arm und die Schevtel. Und er sahe daz jm ein Haupt gegeben war | ein Lehrer der ver- borgen ist 1 wel- cher kam mit dem Obersten desz Volcks 1 und ver- schafft die Gerech- tigkeit desz Herrn 1 und seine Rechte an Israel. Eysen und Ertz sey anseinen Schuhen 1 Dein Aher sey wie deine Jugend. PU And he scide to Gad, Gad is bles- sid in broodnesse; he restide as a lioun, and he took the arm and the nol. And he sig his prins- hed, that the techere was kept in his part; which Gad was with the princes of the puple, and dide the rigtfulnesses of the Lord, and his doom with Israel. Yrun and bras the scho of hym; as the dr,i of thi gouth so and thin eelde. W And to Gad he scith, Blessid in breede Gad, as a lioun he restide, and he took arme and fortop. And he saug his prynsehod, that in his paart a doc- tour he was seid up; the which was with princis of puple, and dide rigtwisnessesofthe Lord, and hys doom with Yrael. Yrun and bras the shoynge of him; as days of thi gougth so and thin eelde. > Et Gad ait: Bene- dictus in latitudine Gad; quasi leo requievit, cepitque brachium et verti- cem. Et vidit principatum suum, quod in parte sua doctor esset repositus, qui fuit cum principi- bus popull, et fecit justitias Domini, et judicium suum cum Israel. Ferrum et aes cal- ceamentum ejus: Sicut dies juventu- tis tuae, ita ct senectus tua -« C '^ '3. '£ ,|" 1 -| .< lilllllll M 1 1 .s 1 b u W mm m r- • ♦• u 8 5 " " TYNDALE's version of the PENTATEUCH 5 1 < Translates •JI'O"^ The passage puzzles all the translators. T follows L in the first clause, ventures into the realm of independ- ent conjecture in the second, with- out conveying any intelligible mean- ing. Follows V against L. H There is none like vnto the God of the off Israel: he that sitteth vppon hcauen shalbc thine helpe, whose glorie is in the cloudes, that is the dwellingc place of God from the be- gynnyngc and from vnder the armes of the worlde: he hath cast out thine enemies before the and sayed: de- stroye. And Israel shall dwell in safletye alone. And the eye.s of lacob shall loke appon a londe of corne and wyne, morcouer his heaucn shall dropjjc with dewe. J Es ist kein Gott als dcr Gott de.sz Gercchtcn der in Himmel sitzt | dcr sey dcinc HtilfTe 1 und desz Herr- ligkcit in VVolcken ist 1 Das ist die Wohnung Gottes von an fang | und untcr den Armen cwiKlich. Und cr wirt fur dir her deinen Fcindt ausztrciben 1 und sagen 1 : Sey vcrtilgct. Israel wirt sichcr allein wohnen Dcr Brunn Jacob wirt sevn auff dem Lande da Korn und Most ist | dazu sein Himmel wirt mit Thaw tricffcn. CU Noon other god is as the God of the most rigtful; the stiere of heuene, thin hclpere, cloudis rennen aboute bi the glorie of hym. His dwellynge place is aboue, and armjes cuerlast- ynge ben bynethe; he schal caste out fro thi face the enemy, and he schal scic. Be thou al to-brokun. Israel schal dwelle trestele and aloone; the ige of Jacob in the lond of whete, and of wyn; and heuencs schulen be dcrk with deu. K There is noon other god as the moost rigt God; the stier of heucn thin helper, thurg the hidows doynge of hym to and fro ren- nen the clowdes. The dwellynge place of hym abouc, and vnder- nethe cuerlastynge armys; he shal cast out fro tlii face the enemy, and he shall seye Be thou to trode. Yrael shal dwelle trustllych, and aloone; the eye of Jacob in the lond of whcte, and of wyn; and heuens schulen wexe dcrk thurg dewe. > .Non est Deus alius, ut Deus rectissimi; ascensor caeli aux- iliator tuus. Mag- nificentia ejus dis- currunt nubes, habitaculum ejus sursum, et subter brachia sempi- terna; ejiciet a facie tua inimicum, dicetque: Con- tercre. Haliitabit Israel con- tidenter. et solus. Oculus Jacob in terra frumenti et vini, caclique cali- gabunt rore. X g <6 § -E