English Hexapla - The Gospel of John

Very informative. Good delivery time.

Good as new condition

As far as I'm aware, there's no other book like this on the market. Having the Gospel of John laid out in six parallel early English versions makes it easy to compare favorite verses and passages. The interesting introduction gives the background to the English Bible, underscoring the book's wide potential appeal to both Protestants and Catholics. Readers learn that the opposition to the English Bible from the Catholic Church came not from the fact that the early translations were in English, but that they were unauthorized by the Catholic Church and contained strong anti-Catholic comments in the margins. Chris Wright mentions these things as historical facts, without taking sides. The English Hexapla by Chris Wright even has the 1582 Catholic Douay-Rheims Gospel of John along with the five early Protestant versions. I was surprised to see how similar all six versions are.Equally interesting: the fascinating pages at the back, which show leaves from early Latin Bibles, Greek Bibles, and a range of pages from the earliest English translations. These alone are worth the price of the book. This book ties in really well with the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible in 2011, and will be welcomed by everyone who loves the Word of God, no matter what church they belong to. The book shows the scholarship involved in the translations of one of the seminal books of the New Testament. It would make a great gift.

One of many books coming out (or in the pipeline) to celebrate 400 years of the King James Bible, better known as the Authorised Version, in 2011. After a too brief introduction (6 pages) which in the words of the author `has barely scratched the surface of church and Bible History' the bulk of the book consists of the Fourth Gospel as translated by Wyclif, Tyndale, Cranmer, Geneva, Douay Rheims and the KJV between 1380 and 1611, in parallel columns, together with an early 19th century Greek text based on the Greek manuscripts then available. Intended for the Bible reader interested in comparing early English translations of one gospel. It is good to give an airing to the versions and translations that preceded the KJV if only to put it in context, to demonstrate textual variations and to show how a Hexapla can facilitate biblical study. The objective is a worthy one and externally it is a splendid production. Inside however the pages are somewhat cramped, making reading difficult, especially when it comes to ancient English words and spellings.