William Tyndale's New Testament (Facsimile of 1536 Edition)

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William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament into English was first printed in 1525. Only one copy of that printing survives. In the following years, he worked to translate the Old Testament. The Pentateuch and Psalms were issued in 1530, and a translation of Jonah followed in 1531. This time period also saw reprinting of his New Testament, with more than forty editions issued between 1525 and 1566. The facsimile displayed here is of the 1536 edition, which was printed in the year of Tyndale's martyrdom. He was strangled and burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English.

Tyndale's translation exerted an enormous influence on subsequent English Bibles. It is estimated that 80% of the King James Version's wording was taken from Tyndale. Many of the familiar phrases in the English Bible owe their best known wording to Tyndale. Among these are "let there be light" (Gen 1), "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4), "with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19), "eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12), "the powers that be" (Rom. 13), and "the patience of Job" (James 5).

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