The October Testament is the New Testament of William Tyndale which, after his martyrdom in 1536, became part of the ‘Matthew Bible’. Here it has been carefully and precisely updated by Ruth Magnusson Davis so that it retains all the truth and beauty of the original while providing a suitable reading experience for modern times.

The Matthew Bible

The Matthew Bible is a little known Reformation Bible that formed the basis of all the main English Bibles that led up the King James Version of 1611. As such, it belongs to the tradition of the most reliable translations – those that follow the Textus Receptus or Received Text first published in 1516 by Erasmus. This edition of the Greek New Testament belongs to the Majority text school or Antioch school, from Antioch in Syria, which was one of the main centres of early apostolic Christianity.

Later English translations, from the Revised Version of 1881 onwards, and including the popular New International Version, are based upon manuscripts from the less reliable, but supposedly earlier, Alexandrian school in Egypt. Alexandria was a place that attracted Greek-based humanist thinkers and those engaged in the early heresies. The texts produced there differ significantly from those which originate in Antioch. For those interested in knowing more about these two schools of translation, see the links at the base of this article.

This is not just of historical interest – it matters when it comes to choosing which version of the New Testament to read today. Here, we have a “truly separated and uncompromised work…the translators, William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, were bound to no ruler or authority, no denomination or requirement” (p10).

This is not just of historical interest – it matters when it comes to choosing which version of the New Testament to read today.

Founding Fathers

Tyndale is called the father of the English Bible, as his Scripture translations were used in subsequent Bibles such as the Matthew Bible and then largely taken up in the King James Version. Miles Coverdale may well have worked with Tyndale at times and his 1535 Bible was the first complete printed Bible in English, some of which was again incorporated into the Matthew Bible.

Another key figure was John Rogers, a friend of Tyndale. He took Tyndale’s revised New Testament of 1535, plus what Tyndale had been able to finish of the Old Testament, and supplemented them with work by Coverdale. He thus assembled and printed the Matthew Bible in 1537, complete with study aids and Tyndale’s original prologues and expository notes to New Testament books, some of which are included by Ruth Magnusson Davis in the October Testament.

Printed abroad, copies soon arrived in England. The title page declared it contained “the Olde and Newe Testament truly and purely translated into Englysh by Thomas Matthew” (p14). How or why Rogers chose the alias ‘Thomas Matthew’ is unknown, but the title stuck, and the Matthew Bible soon became popular and was licensed for use throughout the realm.

In 1549 Rogers published a second edition of the Matthew Bible, this time in London, and it is this edition that has been used for the October Testament. Ruth’s choice of name for her updated translation is both a nod in the direction of Luther’s September Testament and an acknowledgement of the fact that the 1549 Matthew Bible was first published in October of that year.

Guiding Principles

Ruth describes herself as a “simple, bible believing, born again Christian” (p19). She came to faith in adult life and practised law for 28 years before retiring to work on the New Matthew Bible Project. Before law school she obtained a degree in French and German. She combines her love of words and grammar with the detail for precision and analysis gained from her legal training. These, together with a strong calling from the Lord to this work and a love for God’s word, mean the project is in good hands.

Her guiding principle was not to make a modern Bible from an old one, but to keep as much of the old as possible while making the language understandable for today. Eccentric spelling, syntax and grammar that obscured the meaning had to be updated. Obsolete words and expressions were replaced, as were words whose meaning has changed or narrowed, if they were likely to confuse or mislead.

One interesting feature is her use of ‘congregation’ for ekklesia, rather than the non-biblical word ‘church’ which replaced it in the King James Version. In this she is simply following Tyndale, something she explains in a useful five-page supplement placed at the end of the book.

Ruth’s guiding principle was not to make a modern Bible from an old one, but to keep as much of the old as possible while making the language understandable for today.

Ruth has also written further about the story of the Matthew Bible and is currently working in similar vein on the Old Testament.

Meanwhile, as well as the full New Testament text, this volume contains some short pieces on the importance of the Matthew Bible, a brief history of it, and the making of the New Matthew Bible, all of which are very useful and from which my comments above are largely drawn.

Labour of Love

Here is a monumental labour of love. Working alone for the most part and with constant prayers for guidance, Ruth believes she has done her best but humbly admits she “cannot have succeeded perfectly” (p23).

Nevertheless, she has provided us with a sound translation, fully Trinitarian, based upon the received text and hence the Apostles’ teaching. Here is the best Bible from the Reformation period, strengthened for today.

‘The October Testament’ (paperback, hardback) is available online, including from Eden and Amazon.

Antioch versus Alexandria

Read more about how we got our Bible translations at the Glorious Gospel blog, WiCWiki and the Berean Research Institute.