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Matthew's Bible: 1537 Edition
Pastor John Rogers assembled in 1537 a volume that contained, for the first time as part of a complete Bible, all of William Tyndale's translation work, the 1534 New Testament, the Pentateuch, and the nine historical books, ending with 2 Chronicles. Where there were gaps in Tyndale's work, Rogers used that of Miles Coverdale (1535).
- Facsimile of an excellent copy of the 1537 Matthew's Bible
- Features clear, legible type throughout (marginal commentary is insmaller type)
- Authoritative new preface
- Great for Bible collectors and anyone interested in the history of the English Bible
- Facsimile of an excellent copy of the 1537 Matthew's Bible
- Features clear, legible type throughout (marginal commentary is insmaller type)
- Authoritative new preface
- Great for Bible collectors and anyone interested in the history of the English Bible
1126 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2009
8 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
John Rogers
48 booksJohn Rogers (1679–1729) was an English clergyman. He was educated at New College School, and was elected scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he matriculated on 7 February 1693, graduating B.A. in 1697, and M.A. in 1700.
This is John^^^^^^Rogers.
This is John^^^^^^Rogers.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 2, 2023
I think the republication of this bible is a memorable honour to William Tundale, the original author of a book that is now financially abused and literally manipulated.
A book that was once considereed a crime to posses, that cost a man his life; has now been reprinted and released word wide.
The book was recreated using photos form the finest existing copies of the Matthews bible, bibles that are worth up to a quater of a million dollars.
Are we fortunate to have the ability to own this bible?
The answer is a resounding and unequivocal yes.
Unlike the bible translation succeeding the 16th century or this bible; this bible was black listed, banned and retained from public veiwing and the question is why?
I would have to say the reason was ;- becasue this bible did not undergo a politcal form of filtration and it exspresses a veiw that opposes philosophy, science and religion; two major components of society that provide knowledge and in case you did not know, in order to control the peole you need to control the knowledge.
That fact is currently obvious online through the use of censorship.
How ever the fact remains that this book is still an adversaruy to religion, phil;osophy and science.
I would presume due to the current situation this book is considered insignificant, which is great for us but the set back is that you have to read a book.
Sadly the younger generations of the human race can not read plain english books let alone a book that is written in early english.
This book presents veiws that are the exact opposite to unanimous ideologies in regards to topics such as Heliocentrism, Evolution, Geology, biology, theism, atheism and just about any world veiw funneled through political edicational systems.
If you read this book you have to shed your prejudice, confirmation bias and jaded veiws. Otherwise buying this book would be a waste of your money.
It will provide you with mental vigor that doe not sit well with anyone that is still mentally stuck in the past.
A book that was once considereed a crime to posses, that cost a man his life; has now been reprinted and released word wide.
The book was recreated using photos form the finest existing copies of the Matthews bible, bibles that are worth up to a quater of a million dollars.
Are we fortunate to have the ability to own this bible?
The answer is a resounding and unequivocal yes.
Unlike the bible translation succeeding the 16th century or this bible; this bible was black listed, banned and retained from public veiwing and the question is why?
I would have to say the reason was ;- becasue this bible did not undergo a politcal form of filtration and it exspresses a veiw that opposes philosophy, science and religion; two major components of society that provide knowledge and in case you did not know, in order to control the peole you need to control the knowledge.
That fact is currently obvious online through the use of censorship.
How ever the fact remains that this book is still an adversaruy to religion, phil;osophy and science.
I would presume due to the current situation this book is considered insignificant, which is great for us but the set back is that you have to read a book.
Sadly the younger generations of the human race can not read plain english books let alone a book that is written in early english.
This book presents veiws that are the exact opposite to unanimous ideologies in regards to topics such as Heliocentrism, Evolution, Geology, biology, theism, atheism and just about any world veiw funneled through political edicational systems.
If you read this book you have to shed your prejudice, confirmation bias and jaded veiws. Otherwise buying this book would be a waste of your money.
It will provide you with mental vigor that doe not sit well with anyone that is still mentally stuck in the past.
December 31, 2025
Matthew’s Bible is a funky entry in the history of English Bible translations. For one thing, the translator “Thomas Matthew” never existed; and no one knows why John Rogers, a protege of William Tyndale and the man who pulled this thing together, chose it. The most common speculation is that Rogers wanted to conceal the fact that all of the New Testament and some of the Old was the work of Tyndale, executed for his efforts a year prior and still on King Henry VIII’s hate list. Whatever the case, Rogers — who moved to Antwerp as a chaplain for English merchants and there left the Roman Catholic Church under Tyndale’s influence — was determined to carry his mentor’s work to completion.
Myles Coverdale’s translation of the rest of the Old Testament and of the Apocrypha fills out Matthew’s Bible, and Rogers probably slipped in his own translation of the apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh before shipping to the publishers. He must have felt some satisfaction when his crypto-Tyndale Bible secured royal authorization from the very king who had banned Tyndale’s works, however short its time in the sun since the Great Bible supplanted it two years later as the official Bible of England’s state church.
What really makes Matthew’s Bible stand out is the copious commentary Rogers jotted down in the margins. It’s not a stretch to say this was the first English reference Bible, and I find the commentary both touching and hilarious. It’s touching in that it provides a personal connection with the man behind the pen, like spitballing Biblical interpretation over coffee with a guy now dead for nearly half a millenium. The notes are careful and judicious, explaining unfamiliar Hebraisms to English readers and pulling in the occasional insights of church fathers or Josephus for knotty problems. You can even detect, in Rogers’s thoughts on the Torah, precursors of the Whig political philosophy that would one day blossom into the United States of America.
The reason I find the commentary hilarious is that it’s so aggressively Protestant. I don’t mean to imply that every note is a sectarian diatribe. Most are brief, to the point, and uncontroversial. But when Rogers goes Protestant, he goes hard. When commenting on Isaiah 38, Rogers tears into those who teach purgatory: “Besydes that, the dunce men and Sophisters them selves, which were (as most learned men thincke) the inventoures and fynders, ye and the very makers of purgatory…” He savages purgatory again in his commentary on Ezekiel 18, indulging in a gloriously sarcastic polemic against those who use the sale of indulgences to “pyllage” the poor. In Isaiah 58, he criticizes the Catholic Church’s Friday fish fasts. In a notably balanced and urbane note on Isaiah 44, he approvingly cites Jewish and Muslim polemics against the use of images in worship.
It’s no surprise to me that Myles Coverdale, essentially revising Matthew’s Bible two years later, removed all of the commentary for the royally sanctioned Great Bible. The bishops found elements of Tyndale’s translation objectionable to begin with, and Rogers’s commentary was certainly a bridge too far for an Anglican Church still reforming away from Rome’s most signature doctrines and practices. Thankfully, due to the technologies of digital reproduction and mass production, you can still enjoy Rogers’s noteworthy contribution to the transmission of the English Bible if you don’t mind a few hits of Protestantism straight into your veins.
Myles Coverdale’s translation of the rest of the Old Testament and of the Apocrypha fills out Matthew’s Bible, and Rogers probably slipped in his own translation of the apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh before shipping to the publishers. He must have felt some satisfaction when his crypto-Tyndale Bible secured royal authorization from the very king who had banned Tyndale’s works, however short its time in the sun since the Great Bible supplanted it two years later as the official Bible of England’s state church.
What really makes Matthew’s Bible stand out is the copious commentary Rogers jotted down in the margins. It’s not a stretch to say this was the first English reference Bible, and I find the commentary both touching and hilarious. It’s touching in that it provides a personal connection with the man behind the pen, like spitballing Biblical interpretation over coffee with a guy now dead for nearly half a millenium. The notes are careful and judicious, explaining unfamiliar Hebraisms to English readers and pulling in the occasional insights of church fathers or Josephus for knotty problems. You can even detect, in Rogers’s thoughts on the Torah, precursors of the Whig political philosophy that would one day blossom into the United States of America.
The reason I find the commentary hilarious is that it’s so aggressively Protestant. I don’t mean to imply that every note is a sectarian diatribe. Most are brief, to the point, and uncontroversial. But when Rogers goes Protestant, he goes hard. When commenting on Isaiah 38, Rogers tears into those who teach purgatory: “Besydes that, the dunce men and Sophisters them selves, which were (as most learned men thincke) the inventoures and fynders, ye and the very makers of purgatory…” He savages purgatory again in his commentary on Ezekiel 18, indulging in a gloriously sarcastic polemic against those who use the sale of indulgences to “pyllage” the poor. In Isaiah 58, he criticizes the Catholic Church’s Friday fish fasts. In a notably balanced and urbane note on Isaiah 44, he approvingly cites Jewish and Muslim polemics against the use of images in worship.
It’s no surprise to me that Myles Coverdale, essentially revising Matthew’s Bible two years later, removed all of the commentary for the royally sanctioned Great Bible. The bishops found elements of Tyndale’s translation objectionable to begin with, and Rogers’s commentary was certainly a bridge too far for an Anglican Church still reforming away from Rome’s most signature doctrines and practices. Thankfully, due to the technologies of digital reproduction and mass production, you can still enjoy Rogers’s noteworthy contribution to the transmission of the English Bible if you don’t mind a few hits of Protestantism straight into your veins.
January 1, 2018
I read this over the course of two years. It was an enjoyable experience. I have to admit, though, that right up to the last I never became completely fluent in reading all the Gothic letters. There were still times when letters (mainly uppercase ones) appeared to have no distinguishable form, and I had to guess at what they were meant to represent from the context. Anyone not familiar with Scriptural language and names would struggle to make head or tail of much of it. Numerous typographical errors also rendered it necessary to be able to recognise the intended letters at times.
If anyone can't get on with Hendrickson's facsimile of the 1560 Geneva Bible with its Roman typeface, or the more archaic typeface of Tyndale's 1526 New Testament, there is no point even attempting this one. It helps to familiarise yourself with all the standard abbreviations and variant spellings of the period using a typeface you are familiar with, before attempting to decipher the Gothic typeface of the Matthew's Bible, which means the Geneva Bible is the best place to start.
The Matthew's Bible facsimile has been beautifully produced on ivory paper and the hardcover edition handles really nicely. After two years of reading my copy still looks as good as new. It's large and heavy though, so not a comfortable book to hold in your hands for any length of time - best for being read on a tabletop. It's not really comfortable to hold it in your lap (as I continually did) as you often have to arch your back to lean in close to the pages to decipher the letters or to examine the marginal notes. Most of the text is legible but some of the tiny Bible references in the margins are a bit obscure at times.
This was the first time I have ever read through the entire Apocrypha and I enjoyed it. I loved some of the words of wisdom about friends and friendship in Ecclesiasticus:
'Hold friendship with many; nevertheless, have but one counsellor of a thousand.'
'If you get a friend, prove him first, and be not hasty to give him credence. For some man is a friend but for a time, and will not abide in the day of trouble. And there is some friend that turneth to enmity, and taketh part against thee, and if he know any hurt [done] by thee, he tells it out. Again, some friend is but a companion at the table, and in the day of need he continueth not. But a sure friend will be unto thee even as thine own self, and deal faithfully with thy household folk. If thou suffer trouble and adversity, he is with thee, and hideth not himself from thee. Depart from thine enemies, yea, and beware of thy friends.'
'A faithful friend is a strong defence; who so findeth such a one findeth a noble treasure.'
'A faithful friend has no peer; the weight of gold and silver is not to be compared to the goodness of his faith.'
'Forsake not an old friend, for the new shall not be like him.'
If anyone can't get on with Hendrickson's facsimile of the 1560 Geneva Bible with its Roman typeface, or the more archaic typeface of Tyndale's 1526 New Testament, there is no point even attempting this one. It helps to familiarise yourself with all the standard abbreviations and variant spellings of the period using a typeface you are familiar with, before attempting to decipher the Gothic typeface of the Matthew's Bible, which means the Geneva Bible is the best place to start.
The Matthew's Bible facsimile has been beautifully produced on ivory paper and the hardcover edition handles really nicely. After two years of reading my copy still looks as good as new. It's large and heavy though, so not a comfortable book to hold in your hands for any length of time - best for being read on a tabletop. It's not really comfortable to hold it in your lap (as I continually did) as you often have to arch your back to lean in close to the pages to decipher the letters or to examine the marginal notes. Most of the text is legible but some of the tiny Bible references in the margins are a bit obscure at times.
This was the first time I have ever read through the entire Apocrypha and I enjoyed it. I loved some of the words of wisdom about friends and friendship in Ecclesiasticus:
'Hold friendship with many; nevertheless, have but one counsellor of a thousand.'
'If you get a friend, prove him first, and be not hasty to give him credence. For some man is a friend but for a time, and will not abide in the day of trouble. And there is some friend that turneth to enmity, and taketh part against thee, and if he know any hurt [done] by thee, he tells it out. Again, some friend is but a companion at the table, and in the day of need he continueth not. But a sure friend will be unto thee even as thine own self, and deal faithfully with thy household folk. If thou suffer trouble and adversity, he is with thee, and hideth not himself from thee. Depart from thine enemies, yea, and beware of thy friends.'
'A faithful friend is a strong defence; who so findeth such a one findeth a noble treasure.'
'A faithful friend has no peer; the weight of gold and silver is not to be compared to the goodness of his faith.'
'Forsake not an old friend, for the new shall not be like him.'
July 26, 2015
One of my very favorite translations of the Bible. It is largely just a legal reprinting of William Tyndall's translation. The bits he did not complete before his untimely death were filled in by Myles Coverdale. Compiled and printed by Tyndale's friend John Rogers using a pseudonym by commission of King Henry VIII in 1537, just a few months after he had William Tyndale killed for writing it. Not so coincidentally, Tyndale's dying prayer was, "Dear Lord please open the eyes of the King."
September 1, 2015
I marked this as 'read' but it is a continual read. I started researching some of the English bible history a year ago and happened to run across this one a few weeks ago at a local book store. Had to buy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews