Old English Bibles

Charles Thomson Old Covenant Bible OT NT

Charles Thomson OT NT

Charles Thomson’s Translation of the Old Covenant is a direct translation of the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament into English, rare for its time. The work took 19 years to complete and was originally published in 1808. Thomson is credited with having created the work with little to no help from other scholars. Charles Thomson was a Greek scholar, and before the American Revolution, had been a teacher at several prominent schools. Thomson’s translation of the entire Greek Bible, excluding the Apocrypha, was published in one-thousand sets of four volumes each, the fourth volume being Thomson’s translation of the New Testament in that same year. The printer was Jane Aitken of Philadelphia.[1]




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Coverdale Bible of 1535

The Coverdale Bible, compiled by Myles Coverdale and published in 1535, was the first complete Modern English translation of the Bible (not just the Old Testament or New Testament), and the first complete printed translation into English (cf. Wycliffe’s Bible in manuscript). The later editions (folio and quarto) published in 1539 were the first complete Bibles printed in England. The 1539 folio edition carried the royal licence and was therefore the first officially approved Bible translation in English.-Wikipedia




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Ronald Knox NT

Ronald Knox NT was requested to make this translation of Scripture by Cardinal Hinsley and the English Hierarchy. He follows the Vulgate; where the meaning of the Vulgate is ambiguous he consults the Greek text; where the Vulgate reading differs from the Greek, the meaning of the Greek is given a footnote. In his translation he aims at clarity above all, using no expression that is not current in modern English. The illustrations for this edition were selected from museums and art galleries in the United States and England. -Description from Amazon.com

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Rotherham’s Emphasised Bible

Rotherham’s Emphasised Bible Joseph Bryant Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible (abbreviated EBR to avoid confusion with the REB) is a translation of the Bible which uses various methods, such as “emphatic idiom” and special diacritical marks, to bring out nuances of the underlying Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Rotherham was a Bible scholar and minister of the Churches of Christ, who described his goal as “placing the reader of the present time in as good a position as that occupied by the reader of the first century for understanding the Apostolic Writings”.-description from wikipedia

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Daniel Mace New Testament (1729) Es8

Mace’s New Testament, 1729

[Daniel Mace], The New Testament in Greek and English, Containing the Original Text Corrected from the Authority of the most Authentic Manuscripts: And a New Version Form’d agreeably to the Illustrations of the Most Learned Commentators and Critics: with Notes and Various Readings, and a Copious Alphabetical Index. 2 vols. London: for J. Roberts, 1729.




Mace New TestamentDaniel Mace, a Presbyterian minister in Newbury, England, published this edition anonymously. It is a bilingual edition, Greek and English in parallel columns, with annotations. Continue reading

Bishops Bible

Bishops’ Bible 1568The Bishops Bible is an English translation of the Bible which was produced under the authority of the established Church of England in 1568. It was substantially revised in 1572, and the 1602 edition was prescribed as the base text for the King James Bible that was completed in 1611.-Wikipedia




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