And shepherds were in the same country, waking and keeping the watches of the night on their flock. And lo, the angel of the Lord stood beside them, and the clearness of God shined about them, and they dreaded with a great dread. And the angel said to them, Nil ye dread, for lo, I preach to you a great joy that shall be to all people. For a Saviour is born today to you that is Christ the Lord in the city of David. And this is a token to you, ye shall find a young child lapped in cloths and laid in a creche. And suddenly there was made with the angel a multitude of heavenly knighthood, herying God and saying, Glory be in the highest things to God, and in earth peace to men of good will.
                    From the Gospel of Luke, chapter II

I've said before that my "Top Ten" list of Bibles is somewhat categorical in nature. One of the categories that I wanted to see represented in this series when first thinking about it was translation of a historical nature, a non-contemporary translation. I could have easily and logically picked the KJV, but it is so familiar, I doubt I could have added anything to the conversation. I came close to selecting the Geneva Bible or William Tyndale's translation, but I remembered that the era surrounding John Wycliffe had always captured my imagination.

I first discovered John Wycliffe (1320-1384) and his Lollard followers in college when I took a class devoted to Chaucer's writings. I felt immediate theological attraction to this individual often called "the morning star of the Reformation" and his conviction that all believers have a copy of the scriptures in their own native language. Later in seminary, while taking a church history class, I focused my attention on Wycliffe again as the subject of my term paper for that semester.

Then a couple of years ago, I was sitting in a seminar and I noticed one of the church history majors was reading from a very interesting Bible. Always interested in what version of the Scriptures people are reading, I looked closer to see The Wycliffe New Testament 1388 on the spine. Very much intrigued by this point, I asked him if I could look at it. He cautioned, "Yeah, but you should know that it's in Old English." Remembering my Chaucer class from years before, in which we were only allowed to read the texts in their original form in class (no modern translations or paraphrases allowed), I did my best not to sound too much like a know-it-all as I said, "Technically, that would be written in Middle-English." He looked at me with a blank stare and then said, "No, I think this is Old English." I saw him a few weeks later, and he said, "Hey, you were right--the Wycliffe Bible is written in Middle-English."

Thanks. It's probably a good thing that I didn't bring up the fact that it's very doubtful that Wycliffe had much direct influence on the translation that bears his name. Rather, most agree that the Wycliffe Bible (there were actually two different versions by that name) was produced by the Lollard community which was heavily influenced by John Wycliffe's teachings. The translation itself, while not the very first translation of the Scriptures into English, were the first product of Wycliffe's conviction that all believers, regardless of education or status had the right to access the Scriptures in their own language. The basis of the Wycliffe New Testament was the Latin Vulgate, which was ironically itself once a translation with the same goal but became a Bible for the privileged as fewer people spoke Latin.

Original copies of the Wycliffe NT were written and copied by hand. Since ownership of these texts was illegal, having a copy was a great risk. They were also very valuable, often with wheelbarrows of hay being traded for a few pages from the "pistle" of James or some other NT book. According to the introduction found in the printed copy I own, these handwritten pages of Scripture were highly treasured even long after the age of the printing press and the explosion of English translations in the sixteenth century. They only fell out of use after dramatic shifts in the English language.

The Wycliffe NT is somewhat unique because it contains the epistle to the Laodiceans, which is evidently in the Vulgate, but is no longer extant in the Greek. Although the Lollards recognized that the Catholic Church did not consider this book to be canon, they nevertheless did, assuming that it was the letter referred to in Col 4:16.

I picked up the same edition of the Wycliffe NT that the student mentioned above had. It's a very solid hand-sized hardback binding with a nice blue ribbon, published by the The British Library in association with the Tyndale Society. The pages are made from "normal" paper as opposed to Bible thin paper, and I would guess that they may be acid free. This New Testament uses a stitched binding so no doubt, it will hold together for quite a long time. If one might be prone to take notes, there are ample one inch margins interrupted only occasionally with a definition of an overly-archaic word in the text. Spelling has been modernized, and (unfortunately, in my opinion) so have many of the words. This is not really a difficult read--nothing like my Chaucer class--but it will slow down the average reader (which is often a good thing). Why some archaic words were updated and others were left alone, I have no idea. Like the original Wycliffe NT, this edition does not have verse divisions, but does contain chapter numbers.

The order of books is different from our Bibles with Acts (or "Deeds" in this version) coming after Paul's "pistles" which not only include the aforementioned letter to the Laodiceans, but also includes the letter to the Hebrews, assumed by most in the Middle Ages to have been written by Paul. For some odd reason, there's no table of contents which would have been very helpful because of the non-standard arrangement of books.

Some passages of interest:

And Jesus, seeing the people, went up into an high hill, and when He was sat, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, and said, Blessed are poor men in spirit, for the kingdom of heavens is theirs. Blessed are mild men, for they shall wield the earth. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst rightwiseness. for they shall be fulfilled. Blessed are merciful men, for they shall get mercy. Blessed are peaceable men, for they shall be called God's children. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for rightfulness, for the kingdom of heavens is theirs.
...
Ye have heard that it was said to old men, Thous shall do no lechery. But I say to you that every man that sees a woman for to covet her, has now done lechery by her in his heart. That if thy right eye sclaunder thee, pull him out and cast from thee, for it speeds to thee that one of thy members perish than that all thy body go into hell. And if thy right hand sclaunder thee, cut him away and cast from thee, for it speeds to thee that one of thy members perish than that all the body goe into hell. And it has been said, Whoever leaves his wife, give he to her a libel of forsaking. But I say to you that every man that leaves his wife, out-taken cause of fornication, makes her to do lechery. And he that weds the forsaken wife, does advowtry.
                    from the Book of Matthew, chapter V

And I comment to you Phoebe, our sister, which is in the service of the church at Cenchrea, that ye receive her in the Lord worthily to the saints, and that ye help her in whatever cause she shall need of you
....
Greet well Andronicus and Junia, my cousins and mine even prisoners, which are noble among the apostle and which were before me in Christ.
                    from the pistle of Paul to the Romans, chapter XVI


Paul, apostle, not of men nor by man, but by Jesius Christ, to the brethren that are at Laodicea, grace to you and peace, of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do thankings to my God by all my prayer that ye are dwelling and lasting in Him, abiding the behest in the day of doom. For neither the fain speaking of some unwise men has letted you, the which would turn you from the truth of the gospel that is preached of me. And now them that are of me to the profit of truth of the gospel, God shall make deserving and doing benignity of works and health of everlasting life. And now my bonds are open which I suffer in Christ Jesus, in which I glad and joy. And that is to me to everlasting health that this same thing be done by your prayers and ministering of the Holy Ghost, either by life, either by death. Forsooth, to me it is life to live in Christ, and to die joy. And His mercy shall do in you the same thing, that you moun have the same love and that ye are of one will. Therefore, ye well beloved brethren, hold ye and do ye in the dread of God, as ye heard [in] the presence of me, and life shall be to you without end. Soothly, it is God that works in you. And, my well beloved brethren, do ye without any withdrawing whatever things ye do. Joy ye in Christ, and eschew ye men defouled in lucre, either foul winning. Be all your askings open anents God, and be ye steadfast in the wit of Christ. And do ye those things that are holy and true, and chaste and just, and able to be loved. And keep ye in heart those things ye have heard and taken, and peace shall be to you. All holy men greet you well. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be weith your spirit, and do ye that pistle of Colossians to be read to you
                    The Pistle to Laodiceans [in its entirety]

But Saul, yet a blower of menaces and of beatings against the disciples of the Lord, came to the prince of priests and asked of him letters into Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any men and women of this life, he should lead them bound to Jerusalem. And when he made his journey, it befell that he came nigh to Damascus. And suddenly, a light from heaven shone about him. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him Saul, Saul, what pursues thou Me? And he said, Who art Thou, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou pursues. It is hard to thee to kick against the prick. And he trembled and wondered, and said, Lord, what will Thou that I do? And the Lord said to him, Rise up, and enter into the city, and it shall be said to thee what it behoves thee to do.
                    from the Deeds of the Apostles, chapter IX

My little sons, I write to you these things that ye sin not. But if any man sins, we have an Advocate anents the Father, Jesus Christ, and He is the forgiveness for our sins. And not only for our sins, but also for the sins of all the world. And in this thing we wit that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that says that he knows God and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and truth is not in Him. But the charity of God is parfit verily in him that keeps His word. In this thing we wit that we are in Him, if we are parfit in Him. He that says that he dwells in Him, he owes for to walk as He walked.
                    from the first epistle of John, chapter II

And they had on them a king, the angel of deepness, to whom the name by Hebrew is Abaddon,, but by Greek, Apollyon. And by Latin he has the name Exterminians, that is, a destroyer. One woe is passed, and lo, yet come two woes.
                    from the Apocalypse, chapter IX