Today English readers can choose from dozens of Bible translations. But for much of history, ordinary English speakers had no Bible in their own language at all. The story of the English Bible is one of courage, scholarship and sacrifice.
Early beginnings
In the early Middle Ages, the Bible used in England was the Latin Vulgate, which most people could not read. A few parts of Scripture were rendered into Old English — for example, the Gospels and Psalms — and the historian Bede is said to have been translating John's Gospel at the time of his death in 735. But there was no complete English Bible for ordinary people.
John Wycliffe (1380s)
In the 14th century, the Oxford scholar John Wycliffe believed that ordinary people should be able to read God's Word. Under his influence, the first complete Bible in English was produced in the 1380s, translated from the Latin Vulgate. It was copied by hand, and church authorities opposed it. Possessing an unauthorised English Bible could bring serious punishment.
William Tyndale (1526)
The printing press changed everything. William Tyndale, a gifted scholar, set out to translate the Bible directly from the original Greek and Hebrew into English. Facing opposition in England, he worked in Europe, and his English New Testament was printed in 1526 and smuggled into England.
Tyndale's language was so clear and memorable that much of it survives in later Bibles — phrases such as "let there be light", "the powers that be" and "the salt of the earth". Tyndale was arrested and executed near Brussels in 1536. Tradition records his final prayer: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."
Coverdale, the Great Bible and the Geneva Bible
- Coverdale Bible (1535) — Myles Coverdale produced the first complete printed English Bible, building on Tyndale's work.
- Great Bible (1539) — authorised by King Henry VIII to be placed in churches; it was large and chained to reading desks so people could come and read it.
- Geneva Bible (1560) — produced by English exiles in Geneva. It was the first English Bible to use verse numbers throughout and included extensive study notes. It became hugely popular with ordinary readers.
- Bishops' Bible (1568) — an official revision for church use.
The King James Version (1611)
In 1604, King James I approved a new translation. About fifty scholars worked in six groups, comparing the Hebrew and Greek with earlier English Bibles, especially Tyndale's. The result, published in 1611, became known as the King James Version or Authorised Version.
Over time it became the most influential book in the English language. For about three hundred years it was the English Bible, and it remains widely loved and used today, including in many Indian churches.
Revisions and modern translations
As English changed and older manuscripts were discovered, new translations appeared:
- Revised Version (1881–1885) and American Standard Version (1901)
- Revised Standard Version (1952)
- New American Standard Bible (1971)
- New International Version (1978)
- New King James Version (1982)
- New Revised Standard Version (1989)
- New Living Translation (1996)
- English Standard Version (2001)
- Christian Standard Bible (2017)
Each aims to bring the original text into the English of its day. See our comparisons of KJV vs NKJV and ESV vs NIV.
Why this history matters
Next time you open an English Bible, remember that people risked their lives so that ordinary readers could hold God's Word in their own language. The same conviction later inspired the translation of the Bible into Indian languages — read how the Bible came to India.
Browse our KJV Bibles and other English versions.