When were the Greek scriptures translated into English?

Answer 1

THE SEPTUAGINT, derived from the Latin word for "seventy," can be a confusing term, since it ideally refers to the third-century BCE Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, executed in Alexandria, Egypt. The earliest, and best known, source for the story of the Septuagint is the Letter of Aristeas, a lengthy document that recalls how Ptolemy, desiring to augment his library in Alexandria, Egypt, commissioned a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek.

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The next translation after the Greek translation is the Latin, called "Vulgata". The English Bible was born during the late 1300s CE. Before then, The Bible was only available in Latin. Latin had become the language of government while the Romans ruled, so it was natural the Bible should be translated into Latin.

It is important to understand the hold the Church had on Western Europe - what was called "Christendom." Priests and bishops were the ultimate authority and the average person was illiterate. Royalty could generally read, along with monks in monasteries. Nations were forced into subjugation by the will of the Pope at the time.

Wycliffe was an English priest, educated at Oxford and a professor there. The excesses and internal corruption of the Catholic Church (the only organized Christian church in existence at the time) disgusted him and he preached against these actions in his classes.

Wycliffe decided one way to help the people and combat Church corruption was to give common people the Scriptures in a language they spoke daily. Thus, he began his work on making an English translation from The Vulgate. He published his first edition of the English Bible from The Vulgate in 1382 and his assistant, John Purvey, published a second, improved translation in 1390, six years after Wycliffe's death.