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The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorized edition of the Bible in English, authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England; it precedes the more renowned Authorized Version (AV) commonly known as the King James Version (KJV). The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale, working under commission of Thomas Cromwell, Secretary to Henry VIII and Vicar General. In 1538, Cromwell directed the clergy to provide "one book of the Bible of the largest volume in English, and the same set up in some convenient place within the said church that ye have care of, whereas your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it."
The Great Bible includes much from the Tyndale Bible, with the objectionable features revised. As the Tyndale Bible was incomplete, Coverdale translated the remaining books of the Old Testament and Apocrypha from the Latin Vulgate and German language translations, rather than working from the original Greek language, Hebrew language and Aramaic language texts. Although called the Great Bible because of its large size, it is known by several other names as well: the King's Bible, because Henry VIII authorized and permitted it; the Cromwell Bible, since Thomas Cromwell directed its publication; Whitchurch's Bible after its first English printer; the Chained Bible, since it was chained to prevent removal from the church. It has less accurately been termed Cranmer's Bible, since although Thomas Cranmer was not responsible for the translation, a preface by him appeared in the second edition..
The King was becoming impatient with the slow progress, especially in view of his conviction that the Pilgrimage of Grace had been substantially exacerbated due to the rebels' exploitation of popular religious ignorance. With the bishops showing no signs of completing their task, Cromwell obtained official approval for the Matthew Bible as an interim measure in 1537, the year of its publication under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew", actually John Rogers. (2025). 9781798501146 ISBN 9781798501146 Cromwell had helped to fund the printing of this version. The Matthew Bible combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as Tyndale had been able to translate before being put to death the prior year for heresy.
Coverdale's translation of the Bible from the Latin into English and Matthew's translation of the Bible using much of Tyndale's work were each licensed for printing by Henry VIII, but neither was fully accepted by the Church.
By 1538, it became compulsory for all churches to own a Bible in accordance with Cromwell's Injunctions to the Clergy.
Coverdale based the Great Bible on Tyndale's work, but removed the features objectionable to the bishops. He translated the remaining books of the Old Testament using mostly the Latin Vulgate and German language translations. Coverdale's failure to translate from the original Hebrew language, Aramaic language, and Greek language texts gave impetus to the Bishops' Bible.
The Great Bible's New Testament revision is chiefly distinguished from Tyndale's source version by the interpolation of numerous phrases and sentences found only in the Vulgate. For example, here is the Great Bible's version of (as given in The New Testament Octapla The):
The nonitalicized portions are taken over from Tyndale without change, but the italicized words, which are not found in the Greek text translated by Tyndale, have been added from the Latin. (The added sentence can also be found, with minor verbal differences, in the Douai Bible.) These inclusions appear to have been done to make the Great Bible more palatable to conservative English churchmen, many of whom considered the Vulgate to be the only legitimate Bible.
The psalms in the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 continue to be taken from the Great Bible rather than the King James Bible.
In 1568, the Great Bible was superseded as the authorized version of the Anglican Church by the Bishops' Bible. The last of over 30 editions of the Great Bible appeared in 1569. (1968). 9780564001309, British and Foreign Bible Society; American Bible Society. ISBN 9780564001309
The first edition was a run of 2,500 copies that were begun in Paris in 1539. Much of the printing – in fact 60 percent – was done at Paris, and after some misadventures where the printed sheets were seized by the French authorities on grounds of heresy (since relations between England and France were somewhat troubled at this time), the remaining 40 percent of the publication was completed in London in April 1539.
Two luxurious editions were printed to showcase for presentation. One edition was produced for King Henry VIII and the other for Thomas Cromwell. Each was printed on parchment rather than on paper. The woodcut illustrations of these editions, moreover, were then exquisitely painted by hand to look like illuminations. Today, the copy that was owned by King Henry VIII is held by the British Library in London, England. Thomas Cromwell's edition is today held by the Old Library at St John's College in Cambridge, England.
It went through six subsequent revisions between 1540 and 1541. The second edition of 1540 included a preface by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, recommending the reading of the scriptures. (Cranmer's preface was also included in the front of the Bishops' Bible.)
Seven editions of the Great Bible were published in quick succession.
1. 1539, April – Printed in Paris and London by Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch.
2. 1540, April – Printed in London by Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch, includes Archbishop Thomas Cranmer's preface, and the Apocryphal Books were interspersed among the Canonical Books of the Old Testament.
3. 1540, July – Printed in London by Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch, includes Archbishop Cranmer's preface with Cromwell's shield defaced on the title page
4. 1540, November — Printed in London by Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch, with the title page of 1541, and includes Archbishop Cranmer's preface..
5. 1541, May – Printed in London by Edward Whitchurch, includes Archbishop Cranmer's preface.
6. 1541, November – Printed in London by Edward Whitchurch, includes Archbishop Cranmer's preface.
7. 1541, December – Printed in London by Edward Whitchurch, includes Archbishop Cranmer's preface.
More than 9,000 copies of the Great Bible were printed by 1541.
8. 1549, ________ – Printed in London by Edward Whitchurch.
9. "In 1568, the Great Bible was superseded as the authorized version of the Anglican Church by the Bishops' Bible. The last of over 30 editions of the Great Bible appeared in 1569."
A version of Cranmer's Great Bible can be found included in the English Hexapla, produced by Samuel Baxter and Sons in 1841. However copies of this work are fairly rare.
The most available reprinting of the Great Bible's New Testament (minus its marginal notes) can be found in the second column of the New Testament Octapla edited by Luther Weigle, chairman of the translation committee that produced the Revised Standard Version.
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