The story of how we got the English language Bible is, for the most part, the story of the Protestant Reformation which began in the late 14th Century AD with John Wycliffe. The Protestant Reformation was about one thing: getting the Word of God back into the hands of the masses in their own native language, so that the message of salvation in Christ, by scripture alone, would be proclaimed again.
The first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts were produced in the 1380's AD by John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor, scholar, and theologian. With the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe.
In the 1450’s the invention of the movable-type printing press by Johann Gutenberg meant that Bibles and books could finally be produced in large quantities in a short period of time. It wasn’t until 1525 that William Tyndale (1494-1536) translated the Bible from Hebrew into English. Today his translations constitute nine-tenths of the Authorized King James Version of 1611 and largely that of the English Revised Version of 1885. For his efforts Tyndale was tried for heresy and treason in a ridiculously unfair trial, and convicted. He was then strangled and burnt at the stake in the prison yard, Oct. 6, 1536.
What followed was a series of events that can be summarized as the:
1535 AD: Myles Coverdale's Bible; The First Complete Bible printed in the English Language (80 Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha). This Bible was also known as “the Bug Bible” because Psalms 91:5 said, “Thou shalt not nede to be afrayed for eny bugges by nighte, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day”. “Bug” was originally identical with “bogie,” or “terror.” “Terror” is the term that appears in the Authorized Version.
(As a small child, I was told to behave or else the bogie man would get me.)
1560 AD: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books).
1611 AD: The King James Bible Printed; Originally with All 80 Books. The Apocrypha was officially removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books.
1704 AD: The Printers’ Bible had Psalms 119:161 read “printers have persecuted me without cause”. The word “princes” was mistakenly set as “printers”.
1716 AD: The Sin-On Bible printed in Ireland had John 5:14 read “Sin on more” instead of “Sin no more”. This mistake went undiscovered through 8,000 copies.
1833 AD: Noah Webster's Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible.
1885 AD: The "English Revised Version" Bible; The First Major English Revision of the KJV.
1901 AD: The "American Standard Version"; The First Major American Revision of the KJV.
1971 AD: The "New American Standard Bible" (NASB) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Word for Word English Translation" of the Bible.
1973 AD: The "New International Version" (NIV) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation" of the Bible.
1982 AD: The "New King James Version" (NKJV) is Published as a "Modern English Version Maintaining the Original Style of the King James."
2002 AD: The English Standard Version (ESV) is Published as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV.