I have the 1565 Tyndale Book of James framed behind museum glass and surrounded by archival matting on the wall in the living room. According to scholars William Tyndale is as much responsible for the modern English language as any author, poet, or scholar. Much of the KJV is from Tyndale's own hand, more than 80%. For his contribution and translation of the holy writ into English he was betrayed by friends, strangled, and then burned at the stake by the order of King Henry the VIII. Arguing with a priest about his work to bring the scriptures to everyone he said: “I defie the Pope and all his lawes. If God spare my life, ere many yeares I wyl cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture, than he doust.” It would be for three hundred years to pass for that boy 'that driveth the plough' to read Tyndale's translated Book of James -- "If any of you lack wisdom..." and put it to the test defying the religionists of his day and he too ultimately to wear the martyr's crown.
To me the greatest tribute to William Tyndale is the incorportaion of his English translation into the Endowment Ceremony in the Temples. Of course these were taken from the KJV but they were lifted from the Tyndale Bible. Among the many phrases he brought into English from early Greek and Hebrew texts are the following:
And God said, Let there be light, and there was light (Genesis 1)
And God shall wipe away all tears from there eyes (Revelation 7)
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7)
With God all things are possible (Matthew 19)
In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17)
Be not weary in well doing (2 Thessalonians 3)
Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold of eternal life (1 Timothy 6)
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12)
Behold, I stand at the door and knock (Revelation 3)
Am I my brother’s keeper (Genesis 4)
Ye are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5)
The signs of the times (Matthew 16)
Where two or three are gathered together (Matthew 18)
They made light of it (Matthew 22)
Eat, drink, and be merry (Luke 12)
Scales fell from his eyes (Acts 9)
Full of good works (Acts 9)
The powers that be (Romans 13)
Filthy lucre (1 Timothy 3)
The patience of Job (James 5)During the months of imprisonment prior to his execution he wrote this in his diary: "My overcoat is worn out; my shirts also are worn out. And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening; it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark." He mastered at least eight languages and spoke them as a native might. He was a scholar of the first order and yet was reduced to begging the king's guards just for a lamp to illuminate his prison.
Thank you William Tyndale for illuminating our experience.
