When he was in bethania in the housse off Simon the le- per, even ae lie sate att meate, there cam a woma with an ala- blaster boxe of oyntmeut, called narde, that was pure and costly, and she brake the boxe ad powred it on his heed. There were souk; that disdayned i themselves, and sayde : what neded this waste of oyntment? For it might have bene BOolde for more the two hnundred pens and bene geve unto the poure. And they grudged agaynste her.
In November, 1534, Tyndale published at Antwerp a third edition, "dylygently corrected and compared with the Greke." The second or first complete edi- tion, though a most important advance, certainly bears marks of haste; but the edition of 1534, revised by himself, stands in the first place as exhibiting Tyndale •is a translator. The following is a specimen of this edition — Mark xiv, 3-5:
When he was in Bethania, in the housse of Simon the le-
per, even a he t at meate, ther came a woma hauynge an
alabla i u ni called narde, that was pure and
brake the boxe and powred it on is heed.
And ther were some that were not content in themselves, &
i d this waste of oyntment : For it might
have ben< Ide for more than tine hundred pens, and been
oto the poore. And they grudged agaynst hir. That Tyndale's New Testament was translated from
the Greek, te can question who has examined it
with care: it will be found continually to leave the readings of the Latin Vulgate, and adhere to the third edition of Erasmus's Greek Testament, printed in 1522. Sometimes, indeed, great deference is paid to the crit- ical observations of Erasmus ; but still the translation
is made from the Greek, and not from his Latin ver- sion. When Erasmus departed from the Greek, as he does in several places, apparently through inadvert- ence, Tyndale does not follow him, but adheres closely to the original. As Tyndale's New Testaments were eagerly bought up, partly by earnest inquirers, and parti j' by others for destruction, numerous surrepti- tious copies rapidly issued from different presses, chief- ly by the Dutch printers; so that in the translator's time about fourteen editions were issued, and eight or nine in 1536, the year of his death. A very curious edition of Tyndale's Testament was printed, probably at Antwerp in 1535, during the translator's imprison- ment at Vilvorde The letter and the spelling prove that it was printed in the Low Countries. Some sup- pose that it is executed in a provincial orthography, probably that of Tyndale's native county, peculiarly adapted to agricultural laborers ; and that, by this edi- tion, he nobly redeemed his bold pledge given to the priest in Gloucestershire many years before, " If God spare me life, ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than you do." He also put headings for the first time to the chapters. The following is a specimen of this edi- tion— 1 Cor. xv, 41 :
Thear is oone manner glory of the sunne, & a noether glory of the moane, & a noether glory ye starres. For oone stan-e differth fro a noether in glory.
The edition of Tyndale's New Testament, printed in folio, at London, by Thomas Berthelet, in 1536, from the revised edition of 1534, was the first portion of the English Scriptures printed on English ground. The following is a specimen of this rare and interesting edition — 1 Cor. xv,- 45, 46 :
The fyrst man Adam was made a lyvynge soule, and the last Adam was made a quyckenyng spiryte. Howe be it, that is nat fyrst which is spiritnall : but that which is naturall, & than that which is spiritnall.
The martyr Tyndale was also the first to translate the five books of Moses into English from the Hebrew. As the books of Genesis and Numbers are in Gothic letter, while those of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuter- onomy are in Roman type, it would appear that these books were printed at separate times and in different places. The following occurs at the end of Genesis : " Emprented at Malborow, in the lande of Hesse, by me, Hans Luft, the yere of oure Lorde 1530, the 17 dayes of Januarii." Tyndale also translated and pub- lished the Book of Jonah. In the succeeding years of his life he was engaged in translating, perhaps in conjunction with Rogers, the remaining books of the Bible. Tyndale's translation, as far as the end of Chronicles, and other manuscripts, appear, at the time of his martyrdom, to have been in the possession of Rogers. The following is a specimen of Tyndale's Pen- tateuch of 1530— Gen. xxiv, 18-20:
And she hasted and late downe her pytcher apon hyr armo and gaue him drinke. And whe she had geuen hym drynke, she sayde : I will drawe water for thy camels also, vntili they hauo dronke ynough. And she poured out hyr pitcher in to the trough hastely and ranne agayne unto the well, to fett water: and drewe for all his camels.
During the year 1530, the Argentine English Psalter was printed. The translator, who rendered from the Latin, calls himself Joiian Aleph. The date at the end of this Psalter is January 10, 1530; it thus seems to have been, perhaps by antedating, the first whole book of the Old Testament which was printed in Eng- lish, the completion of Tyndale's Genesis having been one day subsequent. In 1531 there was published a translation of Isaiah by George Joye ; in 1533, two leaves of Genesis; and in 1534 he published a transla- tion of Jeremiah and the Book of Psalms. These por- tions were also translated from the Latin Vulgate.