Language of the Bible

Salome Chachibaia Guranda Iobashvili Mariam Shanshashvili

John Wycliffe

 John Wycliffe (or Wyclif, c ) and his followers the Lollards produced
the first complete version of the Bible in English on the basis of the
Latin Vulgate. Wycliffe's Bible was probably the most important
translated work of the 14th century in England.It has been criticized for
repetitions, imperfections and excessively literal style, but this first
complete translation of the Bible laid the basis for English Bible
translation and left its mark on the English language in general.
Wycliffe and his associates introduced over a thousand words of Latin
origin into the English language. Many of these words had technical
meanings, with endings like –able, -ible, -ent, -al, -ive, which are now
common elements in English derivatives.
William Tyndale

 The most influential Bible translator in English was William Tyndale (c.1494–
1536). Tyndale’s Bible translation was the dominant stylistic and scholarly
influence in the history of English biblical translation. Tydale believed that both
Hebrew and Greek translated much more easily into English than into Latin
and that English better reflected the wide range of styles contained in the Old
Testament.
 Tyndale translated into the language people spoke, not the way the scholars
wrote.At a time when English was struggling to find a form that was neither
Latin nor French, Tyndale gave the nation a Bible language that was English in
words, word order and rhythm. Using simple, straightforward syntax, Tyndale
forged memorable lines
The Geneva Bible

 The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant

translations of the Bible into the English language.It was
the primary Bible of the 16th century Protestant movement
and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver
Cromwell, John Milton, John Knox, and John Bunyan,
author of Pilgrim's Progress.
Archaic words from the Bible

1. Begat – past form of beget means giving birth. Old English

begietan "to get by effort, find, acquire, attain, seize" (class
V strong verb, past tense begeat, past participle begeaton),
from be- + get (v.).
2. Beseech – to beg for urgently and anxiously. Old English
besecan; see be- + seek.

3. Smoothly – truly. From Middle English sothly, soþliche,

from Old English sōþlīċe; equivalent to sooth + -ly.
Archaic words from the Bible

1. Engender - cause or give rise to (a feeling, situation, or

condition). from Latin ingenerare "to implant, engender,
produce.
2. Afeared – means afraid. Old English afæred, past
participle of now-obsolete afear 
3. Therein – means in that place. Old English þærin; see 
there + in
4. Wroth- angry. Old English wrað "angry"
Archaic words from the Bible

1. Pleaseth - means pleased. (archaic) Third-person singular

simple present indicative form of please
2. Thither - to or towards that place. Old English þider "to or
toward that place," altered (by influence of its opposite hider)
from earlier þæder "to that place.

3. Harken – to listen. late Old English heorcnian "to give ear,

listen.
Thank you for your attention!