Life and setting
Tyndale translated the New Testament directly from Greek and substantial portions of the Old Testament from Hebrew, using the new possibilities of print to circulate English Scripture despite official opposition.
Reformation • English Protestant
William Tyndale
c. 1494 – 1536 • Bible translator and reformer
Why this person matters
Much of his English phrasing passed through later revisions into the King James Bible, giving him an enormous influence on English biblical language.
What should not be sanitized
Tyndale’s translation choices were bound up with Reformation disputes, and he was executed for heresy near Vilvoorde in 1536.
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