Abstract
The Psalms is a collection of biblical poetry ascribed to one of Israel’s great heroes, David, the young shepherd of 1 Samuel 16 and the least of the sons of Jesse, who was called upon to comfort King Saul with his music. Having proven himself an outstanding musician, he then won a place in Israel’s history books by defeating the philistines single-handedly and subsequently becoming Israel’s Poet/Warrior and God’s chosen King.
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Fora discussion of this history see Kimerly Van Kampen. ‘Biblical Books and the Circulation of the Psalms.’ in Kimberly Van Kampen and Paul Saenger. eds. The Bible as Book: The First Printed Editions. London: British Library, 1999. 79–94.
Edgar R. Smothers. `The Coverdale Translation of Psalm LXXXIV.’ inThe Harvard Theological Review xxxviii. 4 (1945): 245269. 250
For a discussion of the authorship question, see R. Gerald Hobbs. ‘Hebraica Ventas and Traditio Apostolica: Saint Paul and the Interpretation of the Psalms in the Sixteenth Century.’ David C. Steinmetz. ed. The Bible in the Sixteenth Century. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1990. 83–99
See C.C. Butterworth and A.G. Chester. George Joye 1495?-1553: A Chapter in the History of the English Bible and the English Reformation.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962. and Orlaith O’Sullivan. `The Bible Translations of George Joye.’ Orlaith O’Sullivan. ed.The Bible as Book; The Reformation. London: British Library, 2000. 25–38.
F. Fry. A Description of the Great Bible 1539: and the Six editions of Cranmer’s Bible, /540 and 154/. London: Willis and Sotheran, 1865. JRL R3535.
The evolution of the Psalm woodcuts is an interesting study in itself. The introduction of the Psalms with David and Bathsheba woodcuts already glosses the text, but the way in which these figures are changed alters our attitude to David.
D. Norton. A History of the Bible as Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 107.
G. Hammond. The Making of the English Bible. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1982. 84.
W. G. Zeeveld. Foundations of Tudor Polity. Cambridge Ma.: Harvard University Press, 1948.113. 16The Matthew Bible Psalter of 1537 commences with a grand halfpage woodcut. Here the 1535 Psalms appear in verse form that the Geneva and A.V. versions will later number. The text is not therefore set solid or justified. If this new arrangement changes our perceptions about this text, there are copious notes, also, to reinforce that new approach. In the Matthew Bible there are 321 notes to the Psalms alone. This makes it the most heavily annotated book of the Bible, with twice the number of notes allocated to Isaiah, the second most heavily annotated book with 160 notes. Here in the Matthew Bible the Coverdale 1535 Psalms begin to look much more like poetry. There are very few
H. Smith. `English Metrical Psalms in the Sixteenth Century and their Literary Significance.’ Huntington Library Quarterly, 9 (1946): 249271. 271.
It should be borne in mind that Coverdale’s enduing reputation as the first translator of those books is due to the fact that they appeared together in a whole Bible, unlike George Joye’s translations. “.`Myles Coverdale unto the Christen reader.’Coverdale Bible. Antwerp,I535. JRL.4582.
R. Zim. English Metrical Psalms: Poetry as Praise and Prayer 1535–1601.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. gives some space to Coverdale’sGoost/y Psalmes,noting only that “Although the earliest surviving example of Metrical Psalms in the form of holy songs o be printed in England
Coverdale’s Goostly Psalmes and Spiritual Songs (e.1535), this work appears to have had little influence on the subsequent development and tradition of such holy songs in England“. 112. Coverdale’s Goostly Psalmes seem to have therefore been neglected once more because of the issue of `influence’. Since her study is primarily about metrical psalms, she barely touches on Coverdale’s 1535 Bible Psalms. She argues that ”many sixteenth-century psalmists, including Wyatt, Surrey, Sternhold and Sidney, made efforts to understand and interpret the meaning of biblical psalmists by consulting the latest scholarly parphrases and commentaries“. 204.
Rev. W.F. Moulton. The History of the English Bible, 5th ed. rev. J.H. Moulton., and W.F. Moulton. London: Charles H. Kelly, 1911. 116.
Rev. W.F. Moulton. The History of the English Bible, 5th ed. rev. J.H. Moulton., and W.F. Moulton. London: Charles H. Kelly, 1911. 116.
G. Hammond.The Making of the English Bible. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1982. 69. ‘8H.Bluhm. `Luther and the First Printed English Bible: Epistle to the Galatians.’ Anglican Theological Review 40 (1958): 264–294. 293.
J.F. Mozley. Mozley, J.F. Coverdale and his Bibles. London: Lutterworth Press, 1953. 83.
Edgar R. Smothers, `The Coverdale Translation of Psalm LXXXviii inThe Harvard Theological Review vol xxxviii. 4 (1945): 256.
R. Taverner. Epitome of the Psalms. Barker: London, 1539. BM,C.53.i.25,translated from, W. Capito, Precationes Christianae ad lmitationem Psalmorum Compositae Feb, 1536. 22The Second Great Bible. 1540. STC 2070. The first appointed to be used in churches and the first with Cranmer’s preface.
G. Hammond, The Making of the English Bible. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1982.73. 24ibid.,88.
The asterisk in this Bible, “*rebuke”, referred the reader to a crossreference to Psalm 38.a; and Jeremiah 10.d.
If we compare Joye’s Psalm 6 here, we can establish that Coverdale was not in fact following Joye, but had a style of his own. The 1530 Psalter. STC 2370. began Psalm 6 with: “O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: nether chasten me in thyn anger”. In 1534. STC 2372. Psalm 6 began like this: “O Lord, rebuke me not I praye thee in thy wrath: nether chastise me not in thyne anger”.
G.Hammond. The Making of the English Bible. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1982. 85.
Agayne, it shall greately helpe ye to understonde scripture yf thou marke not onely what is spoken or wrytten, but of whom, and unto whom, with what wordes, at what tyme, where, to what intent, with what circumstaunce, consyderynge what goeth before, and what followeth after, for there be some thynges which are done and wrytten, to the intente that we should do lykewyse: as whan Abraham beleveth God, is obedient unto his worde, and defendeth Loth his kynsman from violent wronge“. Coverdale Bible. 1535. JRL4582. Prologue.
When, in 1549, Crowley turned Juda’s Psalm 32 into a metrical psalm he left out the `brydel’ altogether, but he kept ‘bind’ to ryme with `hand’, and introduced an alliteration of his own in `stycke’ and `stande’. “Be not lyke to the horse or mule, that do nought understonde://Whose chawes thou must bynde wyth a bytte ere they folowe thyne hande.//The sorowes of the wycked men, are ryght many in dede://But he that doeth stycke to the Lorde shall never stande in nede”. STC 2725.
This Great Bible version is slightly closer to Joye’s 1534. STC2372. Psalm 38, which has at this point: “There is no helth in al my bodye. I am sore febled and broken”.
M. Coverdale. Goostly Psalmes and spirituall songes drawen out of the holy Scripture, for the comforte and consolacyon of soch as love to reioyse in God and his worde. STC5892. 1.r.
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Westbrook, V. (2001). Myles Coverdale’s English Psalter. In: Long Travail and Great Paynes. Studies in Early Modern Religious Reforms, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2115-8_2
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