English New Testament, entirely translated from the original Greek, at last appeared in print.

As soon as the work reached England, in the beginning of 1526, it met with virulent attacks from the leaders of the Church. The book was solemnly burnt at St. Paul's Cross, and all efforts were made to prevent copies from entering the realm.

But all efforts proved vain. The English New Testament could not be suppressed, although it cannot be denied that, owing to the diligent destruction of all obtainable copies by the Church authorities, scarcely anything remains at the present day of the earliest editions.

Nor did Tyndale's labours cease with the appearance of his version of the New Testament. He soon began his translation of the Old Testament, while carefully revising his version of the New in subsequent editions. The end of this brave scholar is well known. Arrested in 1535 by the order of Charles V at Antwerp, where he then resided, Tyndale was imprisoned at Vilvorde, in Belgium, tried for heresy in October, 1536, and burnt at the stake. He endured his martyrdom with unflinching courage, and his last words, we are told, were: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." It is consoling to know that so much labour and suffering had not been wasted, for his version had served at any rate to open the eyes of many of his English fellow-subjects. At the instigation of Cromwell, Miles Coverdale, an earnest man but scarcely a scholar, published his Bible in 1535, dedicating it, with permission, of course, to Henry VIII. His was therefore the first English Bible circulated in this country without official opposition. One of the characteristics of Coverdale's Bible is that it makes use of those ecclesiastical terms, such as 66 charity," "priest," "church," etc., which Tyndale had purposely avoided.

The demand for English Bibles now became greater every day. In 1539, Matthew's Bible, representing practically the completion of Tyndale's work, saw the light, and received official patronage from Cranmer, Cromwell, and Henry VIII himself. The "Great Bible," that is, a revision of Matthew's Bible by Coverdale, printed partly in Paris and partly in London, appeared in the spring of 1539, and was, by Cromwell's orders, set up in every church of the kingdom.

Taverner's translation soon followed, in the same year, but it was only once reprinted, and exercised little or no influence upon later revisions. The Great Bible, firmly established by authority, remained exclusively in the field. Another Version should here be mentioned, because of the marked influence it has exercised on the text of the Authorised Version. We mean the Geneva Bible, originally published in 1560, and again in 1576, with a further Revision of the New Testament.

Although never authorised for use in the churches, the Geneva Version (so called from the influences proceeding from the city of Calvin which brought about its publication) became extremely popular in England, owing to its superior correctness, its convenient quarto form, and the clear and moderate commentary which accompanied it.

This excellence of the Geneva Version tended inevitably to throw discredit on the Great Bible. The need of its revision came to be universally felt, and in 1563 this revision began, under the high editorship of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury. As many of the revisers engaged in this great work were bishops, the name of the Bishops' Bible was given by the people to the revised bible which was published in 1568, and immediately replaced the Great Bible in all churches. It failed, however, to displace altogether the Geneva Bible

in the popular estimation. The work was uneven, and in many of its parts, particularly in the Old Testament portion, unsatisfactory.

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Thus the failure of Parker's undertaking paved the way for the great achievement known to us as the Authorised Version" in 1611. It is so familiar to us all; its excellence, especially as a literary performance, is so conspicuous, its marked influence upon some of the greatest masters of the English language so notorious, that we need not dwell longer upon that version, which stood, until the last few years, as the latest Revised Version of the English Bible.

However, in spite of its great merits, it could not permanently remain in the supreme position which it has now for so long occupied. For the last two hundred years partial amendments had been recommended by distinguished scholars, but no general movement had existed in the country for a new Version until the middle of the present century, when the discovery of new MSS., such as the Codex Sinaiticus, and the accumulation of new readings, caused among biblical students a universal sense of the necessity of a thorough revision of the Authorised Version in the light of modern scholarship.

As we have already said, the supreme reason for undertaking such a task was the great increase of our knowledge concerning original Greek and Hebrew texts, especially the former.

It must be borne in mind that none of the great Codices of the fourth and fifth century were known to the world in 1611, when the Authorised Version was published. The editions of the Greek text chiefly used by its translators were those of Erasmus, Stephanus, and Beza, and these rested mostly on MSS. of a very late period. In fact, the text (especially for the New Testament) on

which the translators had to rely was very far from perfect.

So in 1870 steps were at last taken to secure an authoritative revision of the whole English Bible. The appointed committee divided itself into two companies (of twentyseven members originally), one for each Testament, and invitations were issued to all the leading Biblical scholars of the United Kingdom, whether members of the Church of England or not. The Churches of America were also invited and cordially responded to the invitation. The suggestions made by their representatives, when not adopted by their English colleagues, have been recorded in an appendix at the end of the Revised Version.

It was on the 22nd of June, 1870, that the members of the New Testament Company held their first meeting in the Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster. The Old Testament Company met eight days later.

The New Testament Revised Version was issued in 1881, and the entire Revised Bible (less the Apocrypha) in 1885.

We naturally ask: Has this latest of Revised Versions in the English language proved itself to be a worthy successor of the great Authorised Version? Has it a real superiority over the Bible of 1611 ?

We have already given some reasons why the Revised Version should of necessity possess qualities which are inevitably wanting in the Authorised.

The New Version deals with an entirely new view of the texts. As regards the New Testament texts, Dr. Hort and Dr. Scrivener, the two most learned textual critics then alive, were engaged upon the work of revision, and when it is remembered that no change was finally accepted unless it had the support of two-thirds of the revisers present, it will be seen that the Greek text which

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has served as a basis for the New Version has very strong claims in its favour.

The Greek text of the New Testament used in 1881 differs from that used in 1611 in no less than five thousand seven hundred and eighty eight readings, of which about one quarter are held to modify the subject-matter more or less seriously. In fact, few scholars would now be found to deny the superiority of the text of the Revised Version.

One striking example of this superiority will be found at 1 John v, 7. "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost." All Greek MSS. written before the fifteenth century omit this passage; it is found for the first time in the writings of African Fathers of the fifth century, and is also possibly quoted by Cyprian; it is found in later copies of the Vulgate. The Revised Version had therefore no alternative but to omit the passage altogether.

As regards the Old Testament, much less change has occurred since 1611, for the simple reason that our wealth in better texts has scarcely increased. Practically, therefore, the same text as formally used had to be depended upon; hence the fewer alterations noticeable in the Old Testament portion of the Revised Bible, as compared with the vast number of alterations in the New Testament portion. We mean alterations as resting upon different readings, for considerable changes have been introduced in the rendering of the text itself owing to the great advance in our knowledge of the Hebrew tongue since 1611. The progress thus realised will be most manifest if one studies carefully the two versions in such books, for instance, as Job, Isaiah, and Ecclesiastes.

We must now say something of the Apocrypha, whose Revised Version has only recently been published (January, 1895.)