The Wycliffe Bible - the First ENGLISH Version

In this second article on the development of the English translation of the Bible, we will center on John Wycliffe (1328 – December 31, 1384) was an English Scholastic philosopher, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher at Oxford in England. Wycliffe was a man known for his dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century preaching anti-clerical  and biblically-centered reforms. He was one of the earliest opponents of the authority of the Pope influencing secular power. Wycliffe was also an early advocate for translation of the Bible into the common language, during a time when "the church" held a very closed view that interpretation of the scripture and God's will could only be done by Priests and Clergy within the church.  Wycliffe held that the Bible alone was authoritative and, according to his own conviction and that of his disciples, was fully sufficient for the government of this world (De sufficientia legis Christi). He then set about to make it so.

Wycliffe's translation was based directly from the Latin Vulgate into common English of the period in the year 1382. The Latin Vulgate was a standardized translation of the scripture texts into Latin by Jerome (382-405 a.d.) who was commissioned to do so by Pope Damascus I. Prior to that, the Vetus Latina was a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that  became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western European Christians. These however had many grammatical errors and thus a common more easily understood source was sought. Using the Latin Vulgate, Wycliffe translated from Latin to English what became known as Wycliffe's Bible. While there were many English renditions of various books of the bible before Wycliffe, his is the first compiled edition of the entire bible into English. It is probable that he personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and it is possible he translated the entire New Testament, while his associates translated the Old Testament. Wycliffe's Bible appears to have been completed by 1384, with additional updated versions being done by Wycliffe's assistant John Purvey and others after his death in 1388 and 1395. While Wycliffe died of natural causes, The Council of Constance declared Wycliffe (on May 4, 1415) a stiff-necked heretic and under the ban of the Church for his translation against the will of "the church." It was decreed that his books be burned and under command from Pope Martin V his remains were exhumed, burned, and the ashes cast into the river Swift which flows through Lutterworth. 

While not a direct translation of the scripture from the original Hebrew or Greek Texts, this was a monumental effort for its day, and was the first foray of the development of the Bible into common English. It was hand written, as there was no typeset for the day. Wycliffe stated,  "Even though there were a hundred popes and though every mendicant monk were a cardinal, they would be entitled to confidence only in so far as they accorded with the Bible." 

Jim