At the time, his friend William Tyndale was in prison for some of the scholarly work he had done in connection with translating the Bible. Tyndale was executed the following year.

A portion of Coverdale’s translation was based on Tyndale’s work.

In Hamburg, Germany, Coverdale stayed with William Tyndale. The two worked together in their shared desire to produce a Bible that could be read by the people. During this time, Coverdale learned much from Tyndale about the art of Bible translating.

Time for Change

Meanwhile, the scene in England was changing. In 1534, King Henry VIII openly defied the authority of the Catholic pope in Rome. He was also open to the idea of making the Bible available to the people in English. In time, Coverdale undertook the task. Coverdale was a master of English expression but lacked the linguistic skills of his friend and mentor, Tyndale, who was fluent both in Hebrew and in Greek. Coverdale revised Tyndale’s translation, working from Latin and German versions.