Who Was William Tyndale?

Understanding William Tyndale (attributed)

William Tyndale is arguably the most important figure in the history of the English language and English-speaking Christianity. He was the first person to translate the New Testament from Greek into English and the first to print an English New Testament. His translation was so brilliant — so precise in its scholarship and so beautiful in its prose — that the King James Version, published 75 years after his death, retained approximately 84% of Tyndale's New Testament wording and much of his Old Testament work. When English-speaking people quote the Bible, they are, more often than not, quoting William Tyndale.

Early Life and Education

Tyndale was born around 1494 in Gloucestershire, England. He studied at Oxford (BA 1512, MA 1515) and possibly at Cambridge. He was a gifted linguist who became fluent in at least eight languages: English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. His linguistic abilities were extraordinary and essential to his life's work.

At Oxford, Tyndale encountered the Greek New Testament published by Erasmus in 1516 — the first printed Greek New Testament in Europe. This text revealed discrepancies between the Greek original and the Latin Vulgate that had been the church's authoritative Bible for over a thousand years. These were not trivial differences: they affected doctrine. For example, where the Vulgate translated the Greek metanoeite as 'do penance' (supporting the Catholic sacramental system), Tyndale saw that the Greek meant 'repent' — an internal change of heart, not an external ritual.

This insight became the spark that ignited Tyndale's life mission: to translate the Bible from the original languages into English so that ordinary people could read it for themselves.

The Decision to Translate

Translating the Bible into English was illegal in England. The Constitutions of Oxford (1409), passed in response to the Wycliffite movement, prohibited the unauthorized translation of Scripture into English. Possessing or reading an English Bible without a bishop's license was a crime punishable by imprisonment or death.

Tyndale sought permission from Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London, to make an authorized translation. He was refused. The English church hierarchy had no interest in putting Scripture in the hands of laypeople.

According to John Foxe's Acts and Monuments, it was during this period that Tyndale made his famous declaration to a clergyman who had argued that the church's laws mattered more than God's: 'I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than thou dost.'

Realizing he could never complete his work in England, Tyndale left for the Continent in 1524. He would never return.

The Translation

Tyndale settled first in Germany, where he worked under Luther's influence in Wittenberg and later in Cologne and Worms. In 1525-1526, he completed and printed the first English New Testament translated from the original Greek.

The printing was itself an adventure. In Cologne, the printing was discovered by an enemy of the Reformation, and Tyndale had to flee with the partially printed sheets. He completed the printing in Worms, where 6,000 copies were produced — small enough to be smuggled into England hidden in bales of cloth and sacks of grain.

The English authorities were furious. Bishop Tunstall preached against the translation at St. Paul's Cross and organized a public burning of confiscated copies. Sir Thomas More — the Lord Chancellor, later canonized as a Catholic saint — wrote over a quarter million words attacking Tyndale's translation and its theology. Agents were dispatched to the Continent to find and suppress the printing.

Despite this opposition, copies flooded into England. The demand was overwhelming. Tyndale continued his work, revising the New Testament in 1534 and translating portions of the Old Testament from Hebrew — the Pentateuch (1530), the Book of Jonah, and possibly historical books up to 2 Chronicles.

The Quality of the Translation

Tyndale's genius was not merely linguistic accuracy but literary artistry. He had an extraordinary ear for English rhythm, simplicity, and power. Many of the phrases that English speakers consider 'biblical language' were coined by Tyndale:

• 'Let there be light' (Genesis 1:3)
• 'Am I my brother's keeper?' (Genesis 4:9)
• 'The salt of the earth' (Matthew 5:13)
• 'The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak' (Matthew 26:41)
• 'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find' (Matthew 7:7)
• 'Judge not, that ye be not judged' (Matthew 7:1)
• 'The powers that be' (Romans 13:1)
• 'In him we live, and move, and have our being' (Acts 17:28)
• 'Fight the good fight' (1 Timothy 6:12)
• 'The patience of the saints' (Revelation 14:12)

These phrases have passed so completely into the English language that most people do not realize they have a single author. Tyndale created the sound of English Scripture — and, by extension, shaped the English language itself.

Theological Significance

Tyndale's translation choices were deliberately theological. Several key decisions put him in direct conflict with the Catholic hierarchy:

'Congregation' instead of 'church.' The Greek word ekklesia means 'assembly' or 'gathering.' Tyndale translated it as 'congregation,' emphasizing that the church is a gathered community of believers, not an institutional hierarchy. The official church wanted 'church' because it reinforced the authority of the institution.

'Repent' instead of 'do penance.' As noted above, this translation removed the scriptural foundation for the Catholic sacrament of penance.

'Elder' instead of 'priest.' The Greek presbuteros means 'elder.' Tyndale translated it as 'elder,' undermining the Catholic priesthood's claim to sacramental authority.

'Love' instead of 'charity.' The Greek agape was traditionally rendered 'charity' in the Vulgate. Tyndale used 'love,' which was both more accurate and more accessible.

These were not arbitrary choices. Each one reflected Tyndale's Protestant conviction that the church's theology had drifted from Scripture and that returning to the original languages would expose the drift.

Betrayal and Death

In 1535, Tyndale was betrayed by Henry Phillips, an Englishman who gained his trust and then arranged his arrest in Antwerp. Tyndale was imprisoned in the castle of Vilvoorde near Brussels for over a year. During his imprisonment, he wrote a letter requesting a warmer coat, a candle, and above all, his Hebrew Bible, Hebrew grammar, and Hebrew dictionary — he wanted to continue translating.

On October 6, 1536, William Tyndale was strangled and then burned at the stake. According to John Foxe, his last words were a prayer spoken 'with a fervent zeal and a loud voice': 'Lord, open the King of England's eyes.'

The prayer was answered with astonishing speed. Within a year of Tyndale's death, King Henry VIII authorized the distribution of the English Bible throughout England. The 'Matthew's Bible' of 1537 — compiled by Tyndale's associate John Rogers — was essentially Tyndale's translation under a pseudonym, and it carried the king's royal license. The Great Bible of 1539 and the King James Version of 1611 were both built on Tyndale's foundation.

Tyndale gave his life so that a ploughboy could read the Bible in English. Within a generation, every parish church in England had one.