Tyndale has been called the architect of the English language, and in many cases he invented words to better convey the original:
“atonement”
“scapegoat”
“Jehovah”
“mercy seat”
“Passover”
And scores of his phrases have proved impossible to better in the last five centuries”¦
“Let there be light”
“In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God”
Wonderful stuff–make sure to read it all.
[blockquote]Tyndale has been called the architect of the English language, and in many cases he invented words to better convey the original[/blockquote] It might be more accurate to say that Tyndale was inspired to use words that better convey the original.
It seems to me that historians are the only people who write about Tyndale and his translation of the English Bible so I am very glad to see him get this recognition.
There are many people who, with good reason rely on the Bible (especially the King James version) as the inspired Word of God. It is sad that our generation is so ignorant of history that we can be taken in by a few sophists who claim that the King James version of the Bible is just a “book written by a committee”.
Good point bettcee.
And even the committee of translators who worked on the KJV are said to have used 70%-90% of Tyndale’s work.
Tyndale was an exceptional linguist. We honour Luther and Erasmus as Greek scholars but Tyndale surpassed even them, and he was also one of the best Hebrew scholars.
The opening lines of the article are chilling:
“In the 16th century, nowhere was as dangerous for a would-be Bible translator as England. In 1517 (the year of Luther’s 95 theses), seven parents were burnt at the stake for teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer in English.”
It must have been as dangerous to read the Bible in the 16’th century as it is to read the Bible today in the areas that the ISIL Caliphate controls in Syria and Iraq.