Bible (Early Wycliffe)/Introduction to this Edition

About the Wycliffe Translation

The Wycliffe Translation was made from the Latin Vulgate, rather than the original texts of the books of the Bible and so takes some translation errors from the Vulgate. It was made by or under the supervision of John Wycliffe, whoose name it is called by, and finished in 1384. The attribution of the translation to Wycliffe caused his body, after his death, to be exhumed and cremated, the ashes scattered in the river(a superstition at that time was that people whoose bodies were cremated could not go to heaven). His bible started modern bible translation, but had very little influence on other translations, except for a little influence on the Douay-Rheims translation, and other bibles that were influenced by the Douay-Rheims translation. The Wycliffe bible's language is difficult for the modern reader because it is so archaic; that and the fact that it was translated from the vulgate, at times very literally and not good english, makes it not very good as anybody's primary bible, and so the rest of the introduction will assume that your main translation is not this one. The epistle to the Loadaciens is taken from a later version of the translation edited by John Purvey in about 1400.

About the Language and Spelling used here

The Middle English of this bible can be very difficult, so I have included some information about the language used here. Almost all of the words used in this translation are the forerunners of words still in use or archaic but still known in the language, while most others are compounds that are not used(but the meaning of them can be easily determined) or have or don't have a prefix or suffix that they do have in Modern English(For example, ginneth for begins. It doesn't have the prefix be- and has the suffix -eth, which makes it a little strange). There is a glossary for many of the other words. The spelling can be strange, but most of them can be understood by modern readers, even though they are strange, but some of the conventions will be helpful to a modern reader. The letters are written CAPITAL/lowercase. V/v and U/u were considered the same letter, as were I/i and J/j, and the vowel I/i could be written Y/y. The sound that we usually write with Th/th or TH/th was written with the letter thorn or þorn(Þ/þ). Gh/gh, GH/gh, and Y/y were sometimes written with the letter yogh or yoȝ(Ȝ/ȝ), and some words that have a G/g in Modern English had a yogh or yoȝ in Middle English. S could be written S/s or S/ſ(they might not display differently).

Glossary

Ben

Archaic form of be sometimes used in the place of is/are

Clep

Call

Doon

Do, done

Doom/Dom

Judgement

Domeſman

Judge

Forſoþ

Truely

Gat or gate

Begat, got; gate is ȝate

Get

Beget, get

Ȝif

Archaic form of if

Han

Archaic form of have

Her

Her or their

Hem

Them

His

His or its

Hit

Hit or it

Ilk

Like

Leſe

Destroy, lie, do wrong, morally corrupt

Leſewais

Morally corrupt ways, sinful habits

Leſyng

Lying, lie, wrong thing, destroying

Mede

Reward

Riȝtwis

Rightful, right; used with -ness, un-, -ly, &c

Sin

Archaic form of since; sin

Siþ

Archaic form of since

Soþ

Archaic word meaning truth

Soþfaſtnes

Truthfulness

Soþly

Truely

Sue

Follow

Wexe

Grow, be made

Wood

Crazy, insane, wood, forest

The Modern Names of the Books in this Translation

Geneſis

Genesis

Exodus

Exodus

Leuiticus

Leviticus

Numeri

Numbers

Deuteronomie

Deuteronomy

Joſue

Joshua

Judicum

Judges

Ruþ

Ruth

I. Kyngis

1 Samuel

II. Kyngis

2 Samuel

III. Kyngis

1 Kings

IIII. Kyngis

2 Kings

I. Paralipomenon

1 Chronicles

II. Paralipomenon

2 Chronicles

Þe Preier of Manaſſes

The Prayer of Manasseh

I. Eſdre

Ezra

II. Eſdre;

Nehemiah

III. Eſdre;

1 Esdras

Tobie

Tobit

Judiþ

Judith

Eſter

Esther

Job

Job

Sauter

Psalms

Prouerbys

Proverbs

Eccleſiaſtes

Ecclesiastes

Songus of Songis

Song of Solomon

Wisdam

Wisdom

Eccleſiaſtici

Sirach

Iſaye

Isaiah

Jeremye

Jeremiah

Lamentacioun

Lamentation

Baruch

Baruch

Ezechiel

Ezekiel

Osee

Hosea

Joel

Joel

Amos

Amos

Abedias

Obadiah

Jonas

Jonah

Micheas

Micah

Naum

Nahum

Abacuk

Habakkuk

Sophonye

Zephaniah

Aggey

Haggai

Zacharias

Zechariah

Malachie

Malachi

I. Machabeorum

1 Maccabees

II. Machabeorum

2 Maccabees

Maþeu

Matthew

Mark

Mark

Luke

Luke

Joon

John

Romaynes

Romans

I. Corinþis

1 Corinthians

II. Corinþis

2 Corinthians

Galaþies

Galatians

Effeſies

Ephesians

Philipencis

Philippians

Colocenſis

Colossians

Laodicenſis

Laodiceans

I. Teſſalonycenſis

1 Thessalonians

II. Teſſalonycenſis

2 Thessalonians

I. Timoþe

1 Timothy

II. Timoþe

2 Timothy

Tyte

Titus

Filomon

Philemon

Ebrews

Hebrews

Actus Apoſtolorum

Acts

Þe Epiſtle of James

James

Þe firſt piſtle of Petre

1 Peter

Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Petre

2 Peter

Þe firſte epiſtle of Joon

1 John

Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Joon

2 John

Þe þrid piſtle of Joon

3 John

Þe epiſtil of Jude

Jude

Apocalips

Revelation

Books in the Wycliffe Bible now Considered Apocryphal by Protestants and Catholics

Laodicenſis was considered apocryphal by the Catholics of John Wycliffe's time(before the Protestant Reformation). IIII. Eſdre(2 Esdras) is now considered apocryphal, but was not included in this translation. III. Eſdre and Þe Preier of Manaſſes were included in the Wycliffe Bible as cannonical but were later considered apocryphal when the cannons were decided on in the 1500s.

The Books of the Bible in their Modern Order

Books considered apocryphal by Protestants, but not Catholics are placed in brackets([]). Daniel and Eſter have sections that are considered apocryphal by Protestants, but not Catholics.

Geneſis
Exodus
Leuiticus
Numeri
Deuteronomie
Joſue
Judicum
Ruþ
I. Kyngis
II. Kyngis
III. Kyngis
IIII. Kyngis
I. Paralipomenon
II. Paralipomenon
I. Eſdre
II. Eſdre
[Tobie]
[Judiþ]
Eſter
[I. Machabeorum]
[II. Machabeorum]
Job
Sauter
Prouerbys
Eccleſiaſtes
Songus of Songis
[Wiſdam]
[Eccleſiaſtici]
Iſaye
Jeremye
Lamentacioun
[Baruch]
Ezechiel
Daniel
Oſee
Joel
Amos
Abedias
Jonas
Micheas
Naum
Abacuk
Aggey
Zacharias
Malachie

Maþeu
Mark
Luke
Joon
Actus Apoſtolorum
Romaynes
I. Corinþis
II. Corinþis
Galaþies
Effeſies
Philipencis
Colocenſis
I. Teſſalonycenſis
II. Teſſalonycenſis
I. Timoþe
II. Timoþe
Tyte
Filomon
Ebrews
Þe epiſtle of James
Þe firſt piſtle of Petre
Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Petre
Þe firſte epiſtle of Joon
Þe ſecounde epiſtle of Joon
Þe þrid piſtle of Joon
Þe epiſtil of Jude
Apocalips