William Tyndale was a great English reformer who translated the New Testament from the Greek Textus Receptus and parts of the Old Testament from the Hebrew Masoretic Text into English. The first edition of his English translation of the New Testament was published in 1526.
At that time, both the Pope and King Henry VIII of England forbade the translation of the Bible into English. Therefore, Tyndale's translation had to be smuggled back to England from continental Europe where Tyndale was then living.
Tyndale was fluent in seven languages including Hebrew and Greek such that when he spoke any of those languages, he was thought to be a native speaker of that language. He was also quoted to have said to a Roman Catholic official that he hoped to make the ploughboy know the Scriptures more than the Pope.
Many opponents of the Authorised Version (KJV) quoted Tyndale's ploughboy quote to justify their support of modern English versions. However, the same opponents of the KJV are very mistaken to use the ploughboy quote because the English of Tyndale's translations are Biblical English and NOT the English spoken by the ploughboy and the common Englishman of the 16th century. Tyndale and the KJV revolutionised the English language, transforming mediaeval English into modern English. How would Tyndale revolutionise English if his translation is the same English spoken by the ploughboy?
William Tyndale was martyred in Brussels, Belgium on 6 October 1536. Tyndale's last words were his prayer: 'Lord, open the eyes of the King of England.' Having said thus, the rope around Tyndale's neck was tightened and the flames soon consumed his earthly body.
Tyndale's prayer was answered. Two years following his martyrdom, King Henry VIII himself who had by then broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, commanded the translation of the Bible into English. Tyndale's translation then formed the foundation of the KJV and it can be rightly said that the KJV translators completed the work started by Tyndale. When we read the KJV, we are also reading Tyndale's work.
As we remember Tyndale on the anniversary of his martyrdom, may we treasure our Bibles (I am referring to the KJV and other versions translated from the true Traditional Text and NOT the modern false bibles such as the NIV, ESV, NASB, and CSB that are translated from the false Modern Critical Text) and remember that men like Tyndale had paid the greatest price to give us the liberty to read the Word of God in our language.
