TRANSLATING THE BIBLE
From William Tyndale to King James
By Gerald Bray. The Latimer Trust. 235 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978-0-946307-75-3
How many years since the King James’s Bible first saw the light of day? Any guesses?
It’ll be 400 years next year, and this is the main reason for this book. It is a collection of the prefaces to the main translations of the Bible into English between 1525 and 1611 and it intends to answer the question: ‘What motivated the men who gave us our Bible in English?’ Clearly, there were political constraints (like buttering up the king) but it is hoped that we will be challenged by the ‘spiritual concerns’ of the translators — and these are not hard to find.
