Great Bible (original) (raw)

This article is part of the History of the English Bible series.
Old English Bible translations
John Wyclif
William Tyndale
Great Bible
Bishops' Bible
Geneva Bible
Douai Bible
King James Version of the Bible
Revised Standard Version
New American Standard Version
New English Bible
New International Version
New Revised Standard Version

The Great Bible was the first authorised edition of the Holy Bible in English, authorised by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England.

The Great Bible was published by Myles Coverdale in 1537. It contains a very slight revision of the New Testament and Old Testament passages that had been translated by William Tyndale, with the remaining books of the Old Testament translated by Coverdale, who used mostly the Latin Vulgate and Martin Luther's German translation as sources rather than working from the original Greek and Hebrew texts.

The psalms in the Book of Common Prayer are taken from the Great Bible rather than the King James Bible.

The Great Bible was superseded as the authorised version of the Anglican Church in 1568 by the Bishops' Bible.