Tyndale's Translation drew upon Martin Luther's notes and translation as well as the Latin Vulgate , Erasmus' Greek text and Greek manuscripts. His notes were strongly influenced by Martin Luther and his choice of words was deliberately provocative. He rendered the Greek presbuteros, (previously translated as "priest") as "elder" which is a literal rendering but questions the connection between the title of the Catholic clergy and historic leadership. He also translated ekklesia, (previously translated as "church") as "congregation". These things were interpreted by the Church as an attempt to undermine it's authority. However Tyndale's wording and sentence structure was brilliant and was relied upon heavily by future English translators and the King James Version of the Bible. Only a few pages of his first edition are known to exist. Much has been written about this brilliant scholar and martyr.

John Wycliffe and his associates was the first to translate the entire Bible into English. His version is translated from the Latin Vulgate Bible and copies of it are handwritten.

Myles Coverdale, a student of Tyndale, produced the Coverdale Bible at the urging of his Bishop. His version used the translation that Tyndale completed, the German (in the Prologue Coverdale acknowledges he follows the German "for the most part"), and the Latin Vulgate. Coverdale produced the first complete, printed English Bible but failed to gain general popularity. Coverdale's enduring legacy rests in his work on the Great Bible and for the endearing musical version of the Psalter which passed into the Book of Common Prayer. Like all the succeeding versions up to and including the King James, it included 80 books (The 39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament and 14 Apocrypha).

Matthews Bible is principally Tyndale's translation supplemented by Coverdale's translation. Henry VIII through the efforts of Archbishop Crammer and Thomas Cromwell gave permission for this English version of the Bible to be available throughout Britain.

The Great Bible is called that because of it's size but it is basically Matthews Bible and was authorized for public use. Coverdale "Placed a hand" at "the dark places" in the text that he felt would benefit from a note or explanation. The hands were included in several different printings but the notes were never prepared. Coverdale warns the reader to be careful in interpreting those passages. The Great Bible's New Testament revision is chiefly distinguished from Tyndale's source version by the addition of texts found in the Latin Vulgate and shows evidence of the influence of the Complutensian Polyglot. Polyglot Bibles have long been popular with scholars and translators. The Great Bible contains 80 books but includes the Apocrypha as an appendix.

Traverner's Translation had little influence on the general development of the English Bible. However, he did introduce some new terms to the English Language like parable and passover. Richard Taverner, was invited by some London printers to prepare this revision of Matthews Bible. In the Old Testament his alterations aim at the improvement of the style of the translation; in the New Testament, he was able to revise it with reference to the original Greek.

Before begining his work on the Great Bible, Coverdale arranged for the publication of a Diglot Testament with the Latin Vulgate and his translation printed side by side. He undertook this to demonstrate to his critics the faithfulness of his translation.

This flowchart illustrates every version of the English Bible from Wycliffe to King James. Pictures/Scans of editions of each of these versions are available by clicking on the the version box. Samples of items that are referenced in the description can also be linked to. All the samples are actual pictures of Bibles or leaves unless identified as a reproduction or facimile. In addition samples of familiar verses for each version can be viewed by clicking this link. The samples will open in a new window so that you can toggle between the samples and the Flowchart.