Editing Great Bible (section)

==Sources and history==
The [[Tyndale Bible|Tyndale New Testament]] had been published in 1525, followed by his English version of the Pentateuch in 1530; but both employed vocabulary, and appended notes, that were unacceptable to English churchmen, and to the King. Tyndale's books were [[Censorship of the Bible|banned]] by royal proclamation in 1530, and Henry then held out the promise of an officially authorized English Bible being prepared by learned and catholic scholars. In 1534, [[Thomas Cranmer]] sought to advance the King's project by press-ganging ten diocesan bishops to collaborate on an English New Testament, but most delivered their draft portions late, inadequately, or not at all. By 1537 Cranmer was saying that the proposed Bishops' Bible would not be completed until the day after Doomsday.

The King was becoming impatient with the slow progress, especially in view of his conviction that the [[Pilgrimage of Grace]] had been substantially exacerbated due to the rebels' exploitation of popular religious ignorance. With the bishops showing no signs of completing their task, Cromwell obtained official approval for the [[Matthew Bible]] as an interim measure in 1537, the year of its publication under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew", actually [[John Rogers (Bible editor and martyr)|John Rogers]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Matthew's Bible: a facsimile of the 1537 edition |date=2009 |publisher=Hendrickson |location=Peabody, MA |isbn=9781598563498 |page=ix |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2AXp3GFGYXwC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rivera |first1=David Allen |title=The Roots of the King James Bible |date=2017 |isbn=9781798501146 |page=33}}</ref> Cromwell had helped to fund the printing of this version.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2AXp3GFGYXwC&q=thomas+cromwell | title=The Matthew's Bible| isbn=9781598563498| last1=Rogers| first1=John| last2=Johnson| first2=Joseph W.| year=2009}}</ref> The Matthew Bible combined the New Testament of [[William Tyndale]], and as much of the Old Testament as Tyndale had been able to translate before being put to death the prior year for heresy.

Coverdale's translation of the Bible from the Latin into English and Matthew's translation of the Bible using much of Tyndale's work were each licensed for printing by Henry VIII, but neither was fully accepted by the Church.

By 1538, it became compulsory for all churches to own a Bible in accordance with [[Cromwell's Injunctions to the Clergy]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elton |first1=Geoffrey R. |title=Thomas Cranmer: Archbishop of Canterbury |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Cranmer-archbishop-of-Canterbury |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester |volume=XLVI |date=1858 |publisher=The Chetham Society |page=851 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JPEMAAAAYAAJ&q=Cromwell%27s+Injunctions+1538&pg=PA851}}</ref>

Coverdale based the Great Bible on Tyndale's work, but removed the features objectionable to the bishops. He translated the remaining books of the Old Testament using mostly the [[Latin]] [[Vulgate]] and [[German language|German]] translations.<ref name="dict">{{cite book
 |last=Kenyon
 |first=Sir Frederick G
 |title=Dictionary of the Bible
 |url=http://www.bible-researcher.com/greatbible1.html
 |access-date=19 May 2016
 |year=1909
 |editor=Hastings, James
 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons
 |location=New York
}}</ref> Coverdale's failure to translate from the original [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], and [[Greek language|Greek]] texts gave impetus to the ''[[Bishops' Bible]]''.

The Great Bible's New Testament revision is chiefly distinguished from Tyndale's source version by the interpolation of numerous phrases and sentences found only in the Vulgate. For example, here is the Great Bible's version of {{bibleref |Acts|23:24–25}} (as given in ''The New Testament Octapla''<ref>{{cite book
 |title=The New Testament octapla; eight English versions of the New Testament in the Tyndale-King James tradition.
 |editor-last=Weigle
 |editor-first=Luther A.
 |editor-link=Luther A. Weigle
 |url=https://archive.org/details/newtestamentocta00unse
 |access-date=24 July 2014
 |year=1962
 |publisher=Thomas Nelson & Sons
 |location=New York
 |lccn=62010331
}} [The eight English translations of the entire N.T. included (on quarter portions of facing pages) are those of the Bibles in English known as Tyndale's, Great Bible, Geneva Bible, Bishops' Bible, Douay-Rheims (the original Rheims N.T. thereof being included), Great Bible, Authorized "King James", Revised Version, and Revised Standard Version.]</ref>):

{{quote |<sup>24</sup> And delyver them beastes, that they maye sett Paul on, and brynge hym safe unto Felix the hye debyte (''For he dyd feare lest happlye the Jewes shulde take hym awaye and kyll hym, and he hym selfe shulde be afterwarde blamed, as though he wolde take money,)'' <sup>25</sup> and he wrote a letter after thys maner.|Acts 23:24–25, ''Great Bible'' (''The New Testament Octapla'')}}

{{BibleHistory}}
The nonitalicized portions are taken over from Tyndale without change, but the italicized words, which are not found in the Greek text translated by Tyndale, have been added from the Latin. (The added sentence can also be found, with minor verbal differences, in the [[Douai Bible|Douai-Rheims New Testament]].) These inclusions appear to have been done to make the Great Bible more palatable to conservative English churchmen, many of whom considered the Vulgate to be the only legitimate Bible.

The [[book of Psalms|psalms]] in the [[Book of Common Prayer]] of 1662 continue to be taken from the Great Bible rather than the [[King James Bible]].

In 1568, the Great Bible was superseded as the authorized version of the [[Anglican]] Church by the [[Bishops' Bible]]. The last of over 30 editions of the Great Bible appeared in 1569.<ref>{{cite book
 |last1=Herbert
 |first1=Arthur Sumner
 |last2=Darlow
 |first2=Thomas Herbert
 |last3=Moule
 |first3=Horace Frederick
 |title=Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible, 1525–1961
 |year=1968
 |publisher=British and Foreign Bible Society; American Bible Society
 |location=London; New York
 |isbn=0564001309
 |pages=127–129
 }}</ref>