<P> The 14th century theologian John Wycliffe is credited with translating what is now known as Wycliffe's Bible, though it is not clear how much of the translation he himself did . This translation came out in two different versions . The earlier text is characterised by a strong adherence to the word order of Latin, and might have been difficult for the layperson to comprehend . The later text made more concessions to the native grammar of English . </P> <P> Early Modern English Bible translations are of between about 1500 and 1800, the period of Early Modern English . This, the first major period of Bible translation into the English language, began with the introduction of the Tyndale Bible . The first complete edition of his New Testament was in 1526 . Tyndale used the Greek and Hebrew texts of the New Testament (NT) and Old Testament (OT) in addition to Jerome's Latin translation . He was the first translator to use the printing press--this enabled the distribution of several thousand copies of his New Testament translation throughout England . Tyndale did not complete his Old Testament translation . The first printed English translation of the whole bible was produced by Miles Coverdale in 1535, using Tyndale's work together with his own translations from the Latin Vulgate or German text . After much scholarly debate it is concluded that this was printed in Antwerp and the colophon gives the date as 4th October 1535 . This first edition was adapted by Coverdale for his first "authorised version", known as the Great Bible, of 1539 . Other early printed versions were the Geneva Bible (1560), notable for being the first Bible divided into verses; the Bishop's Bible (1568), which was an attempt by Elizabeth I to create a new authorised version; and the Authorized King James Version of 1611 . </P> <P> The first complete Roman Catholic Bible in English was the Douay--Rheims Bible, of which the New Testament portion was published in Rheims in 1582 and the Old Testament somewhat later in Douay in Gallicant Flanders . The Old Testament was completed by the time the New Testament was published, but due to extenuating circumstances and financial issues was not published until nearly three decades later, in two editions, the first released in 1609, and the rest of the OT in 1610 . In this version, the seven deuterocanonical books are mingled with the other books, rather than kept separate in an appendix . </P> <P> While early English Bibles were generally based on a small number of Greek texts, or on Latin translations, modern English translations of the Bible are based on a wider variety of manuscripts in the original languages (Greek and Hebrew). The translators put much scholarly effort into cross-checking the various sources such as the Septuagint, Textus Receptus, and Masoretic Text . Relatively recent discoveries such as the Dead Sea scrolls provide additional reference information . There is some controversy over which texts should be used as a basis for translation, as some of the alternate sources do not include phrases (or sometimes entire verses) which are found only in the Textus Receptus . Some say the alternate sources were poorly representative of the texts used in their time, whereas others claim the Textus Receptus includes passages that were added to the alternate texts improperly . These controversial passages are not the basis for disputed issues of doctrine, but tend to be additional stories or snippets of phrases . Many modern English translations, such as the New International Version, contain limited text notes indicating where differences occur in original sources . A somewhat greater number of textual differences are noted in the New King James Bible, indicating hundreds of New Testament differences between the Nestle - Aland, the Textus Receptus, and the Hodges edition of the Majority Text . The differences in the Old Testament are less well documented, but do contain some references to differences between consonantal interpretations in the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint . Even with these hundreds of differences, however, a more complete listing is beyond the scope of most single volume Bibles (see Critical Translations below). </P>

When was the bible first published in english