<B CMPURVEY>
<Q M3 IR RELT WYCPROL>
<N WYCL PROL>
<A PURVEY JOHN>
<C M3>
<O 1350-1420>
<M 1350-1420>
<K NON-CONTEMP>
<D SL>
<V PROSE>
<T REL TREAT>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 40-60>
<H PROF>
<U X>
<E X>
<J X>
<I X>
<Z INSTR REL>
<S SAMPLE X>


[^PURVEY, JOHN.
TEXT:  THE PROLOGUE TO THE BIBLE.
THE HOLY BIBLE, CONTAINING THE OLD AND NEW
TESTAMENTS, WITH THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS,
IN THE EARLIEST ENGLISH VERSIONS
MADE FROM THE LATIN VULGATE BY JOHN
WYCLIFFE AND HIS FOLLOWERS, VOL. I.
ED. J. FORSHALL AND F. MADDEN.
OXFORD: UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1850.
PP. 56.1 - 60.14^]
 
<P I,56>
[}PROLOGUE.}]

Thou+g these reulis either keies of scripture bringen men to    #
greet vndirstonding thereof, +git
men moten taken heede, what is seid of Crist bi his godheed,    #
and what bi his manheed, for
Crist bi his manheed, is seid lesse than the fadir, and bi the  #
godheed he is seid euene with
the fadir; and for as myche as Crist is bothe God and man, we   #
graunten that God is 
deedly, and di+gede on the crosse, not bi his godheed, but bi   #
the manheed of Crist, that was
ioyned in oonhed  of persone with the godheed, and we graunte,  #
as the gospel doith, that
man, while he was deedly on erthe, was in heuene, for his       #
godheed was there, and he also
bi resoun therof. Also we moun graunte wel, that a man made     #
heuene and erthe, for Crist
bi his godheed, which Crist is and was man, dide thus. Also     #
hooly scripture tellith ofte
the thou+gtis of men, and ofte the wordis and deedis; and       #
whanne the thou+gtis, and wordis,
and deedis of men ben contrarie, oo gospeller tellith the       #
thou+gtis, and another tellith the
wrdis; and bi this eguiuocacoun, either diuerse speking, thei   #
ben acordid, +ghe, whanne
thei seemen contrarie in wordis; also ofte in storial mateer    #
scripture rehersith the comune
opynyoun of men, and affirmeth not, that it was so in dede. In  #
this maner the gospel seith,
that Joseph was the fadir of Crist, thou+g he neuere gendride   #
Crist; for Marie, Cristis
modir, was euere clene virgyne. Thus the gospel seith, that at  #
the biheeding of Joon
Baptist, Eroude was soory, and +git, as doctouris seyn, he was  #
ful glad thereof; but he
feynede him sory for the puple, and the puple gessid him sory.  #
Also thou+g scripture rehersith, 
hou hooly men lyueden, and comendith hem greetly, it appreueth  #
not alle hire
deedis, for many greete seyntis erriden foule in manye          #
poyntis; and thou+g scripture tellith
the stories of yuel men and dampned, it repreuith not herfore   #
alle thingis whiche thei
diden, for thou+g thei weren hemsilf ful cursid, thei diden     #
many goode deedis of kynde,
and sumtyme perauenture goode dedis of vertu, if thei weren in  #
grace for a tyme. At the
laste take +ge good heede, whanne scripture spekith bi          #
comaundement to all men, and
whanne it +geueth comaundement to certeyn persones of diuerse   #
statis. In the first poynt,
alle men moten do, as it seith; in the ij. tyme, the persoones  #
of staatis specified  moten
nedis obeye; whanne scripture speketh oonly bi counceil, men    #
moun be sauid, thou+g thei
do not the counceil, as ful many men and wymmen moun be sauid,  #
thou+g thei take not 
virginite, neither contynence, neither +geuen alle her goodis   #
to pore men, and +git these ben
heere counceils of Jhesu Crist in the gospel.

[}CAP. XV.}]

For as myche as Crist seith that the gospel shal be prechid in  #
al the world, and Dauith
seith of the postlis and her preching, "the soun of hem +gede   #
out into ech lond, and the 
"wordis of hem +geden out into the endis of the world," and     #
eft Dauith seith, "the Lord 
schal telle in the scripturis of puplis, and of these princis   #
that weren in it," that is, in holi
chirche, and as Jerom seith on that vers, "hooly writ is the    #
scripture of puplis, for it is
"maad, that alle puples schulden knowe it," and the princis of  #
the chirche, that weren 
therinne, ben the postlis, that hadden autorite to writen       #
hooly writ, for bi that same that the
postlis writiden her scripturis bi autorite, and confermynge    #
of the Hooly Goost, it is hooly 
scripture, and feith of cristen men, and this dignite hath noo  #
man aftir hem, be he neuere
so hooly, neuer so kunnynge, as Jerom witnessith on that vers.  #
Also Crist seith of the
Jewis that crieden Osanna to him in the temple, that thou+g     #
thei weren stille stoonis
schulen crie, and bi stoonis he vndirstondith hethen men, that  #
worshipiden stoonis for
her goddis. And we Englische men ben comen of hethen men,       #
therfore we ben vndirstonden 
bi thes stonis, that schulden crie hooly writ, and as Jewis,    #
interpretid knowlechinge,
singnefien clerkis, that schulden knouleche to God, bi          #
repentaunce of synnes, and bi vois 
<P I,57>
of goddis heriyng, so oure lewide men, suynge the corner ston   #
Crist, mowen be singnefied bi
stonis, that ben harde and abydinge in the foundement; for      #
thou+g couetouse clerkis ben 
woode by simonie, eresie, and manye othere synnes, and          #
dispisen and stoppen holi writ, as
myche as thei moun, +git the lewid puple crieth aftir holi      #
writ, to kunne it, and kepe it,
with greet cost and peril of here lif. For these resons and     #
othere, with comune charite to
saue alle men in oure rewme, whiche God wole haue sauid, a      #
symple creature hath translatid 
the bible out of Latyn into English. First, this symple         #
creature hadde myche trauaile,
with diuerse felawis and helperis, to gedere manie elde         #
biblis, and othere doctouris, and
comune glosis, and to make oo Latyn bible sumdel trewe; and     #
thanne to studie it of the
newe, the text with the glose, and othere doctouris, and he     #
mi+gte gete, and speciali Lire on 
the elde testament, that helpide ful myche in this werk; the    #
thridde tyme to counseile
with elde gramariens, and elde dyuynis, of harde wordis, and    #
harde sentencis, hou tho
mi+gten best be vndurstonden and translatid; the iiij. tyme to  #
translate as cleerli as he 
coude to the sentence, and to haue manie gode felawis and       #
kunnynge at the correcting of 
the translacioun. First it is to knowe, that the best           #
translating is out of Latyn into 
English, to translate aftir the sentence, and not oneli aftir   #
the wordis, so that the sentence 
be as opin, either openere, in English as in Latyn, and go not  #
fer fro the lettre; and if
the lettre mai not be suid in the translating, let the          #
sentence euere be hool and open, for
the wordis owen to serue to the entent and sentence, and ellis  #
the wordis ben superflu 
either false. In translating into English, manie resolucions    #
moun make the sentence open,
as an ablatif case absolute may be resoluid into these thre     #
wordis, with couenable verbe,
(^the while, for, if^) , as gramariens seyn; as thus, (^the     #
maistir redinge, I stonde^) , mai be resoluid 
thus, (^while the maistir redith, I stonde^) , either (^if the  #
maistir redith^) , etc. either
(^for the maistir^) , etc.; and sumtyme it wolde acorde wel     #
with the sentence to be resoluid into
(^whanne^) , either into (^aftirward^) , thus, (^whanne the     #
maistir red, I stood^) , either (^aftir the 
maistir red, I stood^) ; and sumtyme it mai wel be resoluid     #
into a verbe of the same tens,
as othere ben in the same resoun, and into this word (\et\) ,   #
that is, (^and^) in English, as thus,
(\arescentibus hominibus prae timore\) , that is, (^and men     #
shulen wexe drie for drede^) . Also a
participle of a present tens, either preterit, of actif vois,   #
eithir passif, mai be resoluid into
a verbe of the same tens, and a coniunccioun copulatif, as      #
thus, (\dicens\) , that is, (^seiynge^) ,
mai be resoluid thus, (^and seith^) , eithir (^that seith^) ;   #
and this wole, in manie placis, make the
sentence open, where to Englisshe it aftir the word, wolde be   #
derk and douteful. Also
a relatif, which mai be resoluid into his antecedent with a     #
coniunccioun copulatif, as thus,
(^which renneth, and he renneth^) . Also whanne oo word is      #
oonis set in a reesoun, it mai be
set forth as ofte as it is vndurstonden, either as ofte as      #
reesoun and nede axen; and this word
(\autem\) , either (\vero\) , mai stonde for (^forsothe^) ,     #
either for (^but^) , and thus I vse comounli;
aud sumtyme it mai stonde for (^and^) , as elde gramariens      #
seyn. Also whanne ri+gtful construccioun 
is lettid bi relacion, I resolue it openli, thus, where this    #
reesoun, (\Dominum formidabunt 
adversarij ejus\) , shulde be Englisshid thus bi the lettre,    #
(^the Lord hise aduersaries 
shulen drede^) , I Englishe it thus bi resolucioun, (^the       #
aduersaries of the Lord
shulen drede him^) ; and so of othere resons that ben like. At  #
the bigynning I purposide, 
with Goddis helpe, to make the sentence as trewe and open in    #
English as it is in Latyn,
either more trewe and more open than it is in Latyn; and I      #
preie, for charite and for
comoun profyt of cristene soulis, that if ony wiys man fynde    #
ony defaute of the truthe of 
translacioun, let him sette in the trewe sentence and opin of   #
holi writ, but loke that he 
<P I,58> 
examyne truli his Latyn bible, for no doute he shal fynde ful   #
manye biblis in Latyn ful 
false, if he loke manie, nameli newe; and the comune Latyn      #
biblis han more nede to be 
correctid, as manie as I haue seen in my lif, than hath the     #
English bible late translatid;
and where the Ebru, bi witnesse of Jerom, of Lire, and othere   #
expositouris discordith fro 
oure Latyn biblis, I haue set in the margyn, bi maner of a      #
glose, what the Ebru hath,
and hou it is vndurstondun in sum place; and I dide this most   #
in the Sauter, that of alle 
oure bokis discordith most fro Ebru; for the chirche redith     #
not the Sauter bi the laste 
translacioun of Jerom out of Ebru into Latyn, but another       #
translacioun of othere men,
that hadden myche lasse kunnyng and holynesse than Jerom        #
hadde; and in ful fewe bokis 
the chirche redith the translacioun of Jerom, as it mai be      #
preuid bi the propre origynals of 
Jerom, whiche he gloside. And where I haue translatid as        #
opinli or opinliere in English 
as in Latyn, late wise men deme, that knowen wel bothe          #
langagis, and knowen wel the 
sentence of holi scripture. And wher I haue do thus, or nay,    #
ne doute, thei that kunne 
wel the sentence of holi writ and English togidere, and wolen   #
trauaile, with Goddis grace, 
theraboute, moun make the bible as trewe and as opin, +gea,     #
and opinliere in English 
than it is in Latyn. And no doute to a symple man, with Goddis  #
grace and greet trauail,
men mi+gten expoune myche openliere and shortliere the bible    #
in English, than the elde 
greete doctouris han expounid it in Latyn, and myche            #
sharpliere and groundliere than 
manie late postillatouris, eithir expositouris, han don. But    #
God, of his grete marci, 
+geue to vs grace to lyue wel, and to seie the thruthe in       #
couenable manere, and acceptable to 
God and his puple, and to spille not oure tyme, be it short be  #
it long at Goddis ordynaunce. 
But summe, that semen wise and holi, seyn thus, if men now      #
weren as holi as 
Jerom was, thei mi+gten translate out of Latyn into English,    #
as he dide out of Ebru and 
out of Greek into Latyn, and ellis thei shulden not translate   #
now, as hem thinkith, for
defaute of holynesse and of kunnyng. Thou+g this replicacioun   #
seme colourable, it hath no 
good ground, neither resoun, neithir charite, for whi this      #
replicacioun is more a+gens seynt 
Jerom, and a+gens the firste lxx. translatouris, and a+gens     #
holi chirche, than a+gens symple 
men, that translaten now into English; for seynt Jerom was not  #
so holi as the apostlis and 
euangelistis, whos bokis he translatide into Latyn, neither he  #
hadde so hi+ge +giftis of the 
Holi Gost as thei hadden; and myche more the lxx.               #
translatouris weren not so holi as 
Moises and the profetis, and speciali Dauith, neither thei      #
hadden so greete +giftis of God, as, 
Moises and the prophetis hadden. Ferthermore holi chirche       #
appreueth, not oneli the trewe
translacioun of meene cristene men, stidefast in cristene       #
feith, but also of open eretikis, that 
diden awei manie mysteries of Jhesu Crist bi gileful            #
translacioun, as Jerom witnessith 
in oo prolog on Job, and in the prolog of Daniel. Myche more    #
late the chirche of 
Engelond appreue the trewe and hool translacioun of symple      #
men, that wolden for no good 
in erthe, bi here witing and power, putte awei the leste        #
truthe, +gea, the leste lettre, either 
title, of holi writ, that berith substaunce, either charge.     #
And dispute thei not of the holynesse 
of men now lyuynge in this deadli lif, for thei kunnen not      #
theron, and it is reseruid 
oneli to Goddis doom. If thei knowen ony notable defaute bi     #
the translatouris, either 
helpis of hem, lete hem blame the defaute bi charite and        #
merci, and lete hem neuere 
dampne a thing that mai be don lefulli be Goddis lawe, as       #
weeryng of a good cloth for a 
tyme, either riding on an hors for greet iourney, whanne thei   #
witen not wherfore it is 
don; for suche thingis moun be don of symple men, with as       #
greet charite and vertu, as 
<P I,59> 
summe, that holden hem greete and wise, kunnen ride in a gilt   #
sadil, either vse cuyssyns 
and beddis and clothis of gold and of silk, with othere         #
vanitees of the world. God graunte
pite, merci, and charite, and loue of comoun profyt, and putte  #
awei such foli domis, that
ben a+gens resoun and charite. +Git worldli clerkis axen        #
gretli what spiryt makith idiotis
hardi to translate now the bible into English, sithen the       #
foure greete doctouris dursten
neuere do this? This replicacioun is so lewid, that it nedith   #
noon answer, no but stillnesse, 
eithir curteys scorn; for these greete doctouris weren noon     #
English men, neither 
thei weren conuersaunt among English men, neithir in caas thei  #
kouden the langage of
English, but thei ceessiden neuere til thei hadden holi writ    #
in here modir tunge, of here
owne puple. For Jerom, that was a Latyn man of birthe,          #
translatide the bible, bothe out
of Ebru and out of Greek, into Latyn, and expounide ful myche   #
therto; and Austyn, and
manie mo Latyns expouniden the bible, for manie partis, in      #
Latyn, to Latyn men, among
whiche thei dwelliden, and Latyn was a comoun langage to here   #
puple aboute Rome, and 
bi+gondis, and on this half, as Englishe is comoun langage to   #
oure puple, and +git this day
the comoun puple in Italie spekith Latyn corrupt, as trewe men  #
seyn, that han ben in 
Italie; and the noumbre of translatouris out of Greek into      #
Latyn passith mannis knowing,
as Austyn witnessith in the ij. book of Cristene Teching, and   #
seith thus, "the translatouris
out of Ebru into Greek moun be noumbrid, but Latyn              #
translatouris, either thei that
translatiden into Latyn, moun not be noumbrid in ony manere."   #
For in the firste tymes
of feith, ech man, as a Greek book came to him, and he semyde   #
to him silf to haue sum
kunnyng of Greek and of Latyn, was hardi to translate; and      #
this thing helpide more than 
lettide vndurstonding, if rederis ben not necligent, forwhi     #
the biholding of manie bokis
hath shewid ofte, eithir declarid, summe derkere sentencis.     #
This seith Austyn there.
Therfore Grosted seith, that it was Goddis wille, that diuerse  #
men translatiden, and that
diuerse translacions be in the chirche, for where oon seide     #
derkli, oon either mo seiden
openli. Lord God! sithen at the bigynnyng of feith so manie     #
man translatiden into Latyn,
and to greet profyt of Latyn men, lat oo symple creature of     #
God translate into English, for
profyt of English men; for if worldli clerkis loken wel here    #
croniclis and bokis, thei shulden
fynde, that Bede translatide the bible, and expounide myche in  #
Saxon, that was  English,
either comoun langage of this lond, in his tyme; and not        #
oneli Bede, but also king
Alured, that foundide Oxenford, translatide in hise laste       #
daies the bigynning of the Sauter
into Saxon, and wolde more, if he hadde lyued lengere. Also     #
Frenshe men, Beemers, and
Britons han the bible, and othere bokis of deuocioun and of     #
exposicioun, translatid in
here modir langage; whi shulden not English men haue the same   #
in here modir langage,
I can not wite, no but for falsnesse and necgligence of         #
clerkis, either for oure puple is not
worthi to haue so greet grace and +gifte of God, in peyne of    #
here olde synnes. God for his 
merci amende these euele causis, and make oure puple to haue,   #
and kunne, and kepe truli
holi writ, to lijf and deth! But in translating of wordis       #
equiuok, that is, that hath
manie significacions vndur oo lettre, mai  li+gtli be pereil,   #
for Austyn seith in the ij. book of
Cristene Teching, that if equiuok wordis be not translatid      #
into the sense, either vndurstonding, 
of the autour, it is errour; as in that place of the Salme,     #
(^the feet of hem ben 
swifte to shede out blood^) , the Greek word is equiuoik to     #
(^sharp^) and (^swift^) , and he that translatide 
(^sharpe feet^) , erride, and a book that hath                  #
(^sharpe feet^) , is fals, and mut be 
amendid; as that sentence (^vnkynde +gonge trees shulen not     #
+geue depe rootis^) , owith to be
thus, (^plauntingis of auoutrie shulen not +geue depe rootis^)  #
 . Austyn seith this there. Therfore 
<P I,60>
a translatour hath greet nede to studie wel the sentence, both  #
bifore and aftir, and
loke that suche equiuok wordis acorde with the sentence, and    #
he hath nede to lyue a
clene lif, and be ful deuout in preiers, and haue not his wit   #
ocupied about worldli thingis,
that the Holi Spiryt, autour of wisdom, and kunnyng, and        #
truthe, dresse him in his werk,
and suffre him not for to erre. Also this word (\ex\)           #
signifieth sumtyme (^of^) , and sumtyme
it signifieth (^bi^) , as Jerom seith; and this word (\enim\)   #
signifieth comynli (^forsothe^) , and, as
Jerom seith, it signifieth (^cause thus, forwhi^) ; and this    #
word (\secundum\) is taken for (^aftir^) ,
as manie men seyn, and comynli, but it signifieth wel (^bi^) ,  #
eithir (^vp^) , thus (^bi +goure word^) ,
either (^vp +goure word.^) Manie such aduerbis, coniuncciouns,  #
and preposiciouns ben set
ofte oon for another, and at fre chois of autouris sumtyme;     #
and now tho shulen be taken
as it acordith best to the sentence. Bi this maner, with good   #
lyuyng and greet trauel,
men moun come to trewe and cleer translating, and trewe         #
vndurstonding of holi writ,
seme it neuere so hard at the bigynnyng. God graunte to us      #
alle grace to kunne wel,
and kepe wel holi writ, and suffre ioiefulli sum peyne for it   #
at the laste! Amen.



