English Hexapla - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The English Hexapla is an edition of the New Testament in Greek, along with what were considered the six most important English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

translations in parallel columns underneath, preceded by a detailed history of English translations and translators by S. P. Tregelles. Hexapla can also refer to the English Hexapla

English Hexapla

The English Hexapla is an edition of the New Testament in Greek, along with what were considered the six most important English language translations in parallel columns underneath, preceded by a detailed history of English translations and translators by S. P. Tregelles...

, an edition of the Greek New testament, with six English language translations (from Wycliffe

Wyclif's Bible

Wycliffe's Bible is the name now given to a group of Bible translations into Middle English that were made under the direction of, or at the instigation of, John Wycliffe. They appeared over a period from approximately 1382 to 1395...

's in 1380 to the Authorised version in 1611)

The six English language translations provided are Wiclif's (1380), William Tyndale's (1534), Cranmer's (the Great Bible

Great Bible

The Great Bible was the first authorized edition of the Bible in English, authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale, working under commission of Sir Thomas Cromwell, Secretary to Henry...

1539), the Geneva Bible

Geneva Bible

The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into the English language, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of the 16th century Protestant movement and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John...

(1557), Rheims (1582), and the Authorised, or King James Bible, (1611), arranged in columns underneath.

The term "hexapla" signifies "six-fold" or "six-columned", and describes the arrangement of the six English versions underneath the Greek text in the book. The term "hexapla

Hexapla

Hexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...

" is also applied to Origen's 3rd century edition of the Old Testament

Old Testament

The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

, which present six versions of the old testament, in Hebrew, Hebrew in Greek letters, Aquila of Sinope's Greek version, Symmachus the Ebionite's version, the LXX or Septuagint, and Theodotion's version.

The English Hexapla was published in 1841 by Samuel Bagster and Sons, of Paternoster Row, London, who are described on the title page as being a "warehouse for Bibles, New Testaments, Prayer-books, Lexicons, Grammars, Concordances, and Psalters, in ancient and modern languages."

Greek text

The Greek text used is that of Dr. M. A. Scholz, compiled between 1830 and 1836, but is itself based largely on the work of Griesbach, who published several editions of the Greek New Testament between 1775 and 1805.

Translation texts

The edition of Wiclif's translation is based on a manuscript belonging to the then late Duke of Sussex.

The edition of William Tyndale's translation is one revised and published by Tyndale himself in 1534, provided by the Baptist College in Bristol.

Cranmer's Bible is actually the Great Bible

Great Bible

, with a preface written by Cranmer for the second edition in 1540. The version in the English Hexapla is reprinted from a first edition of the Great Bible published in 1539, also provided by the Baptist College in Bristol.

The Geneva New Testament is reprinted from a first edition published in 1557.

The Rheims edition, also referred to as the "Anglo-Rhemish" translation, is reprinted from the original edition of 1582. This is a Roman Catholic translation from the Vulgate, first published by the English College at Rheims in that year.

The Authorised version used is from a black letter (or gothic script) copy from the year 1611, provided by the Reverend John Henry Montagu Luxmoore. The Authorised version underwent some revision in 1762 and 1769, with current Authorised versions being the 1769 Oxford University edition virtually unchanged. Accordingly, the text of the Authorised version in the English Hexapla will show some changes in spelling, punctuation and typesetting, with a very few changes of words, over the "modern" editions of the Authorised versions now available.

Greek text

Translation texts

See also