Last month, for Theological Libraries Month, we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible as well as the entire history of English Bible translation. As part of that celebration, we challenged you with our English Bible History Quiz, and the results have now been tallied…
Three people correctly answered all 10 questions: Tom Hart, Jacob Tedrow, and Aileen Tedrow. Congratulations to these English Bible History scholars.
Here’s the quiz with the correct answers noted:
The first English Bible manuscripts were handwritten and produced in the 1380s by
- John Wycliffe
- John Calvin
- Wyclef Jean
- Thomas Linacre
Answer: a. John Wycliffe.
The first English Bible to be published with verses was
- The Great Bible
- The Geneva Bible
- The King James Version
- The Revised Standard Version
Answer: b. The Geneva Bible.
This English Bible was also known as “Cromwell’s Bible”.
- The Great Bible
- The Geneva Bible
- The King James Version
- The Revised Standard Version
Answer: a. The Great Bible.
What is the oldest English Bible held by the Buswell Library (actual printing date, not translation date)?
- 1454 Gutenberg Bible
- 1560 Geneva Bible
- 1607 Geneva Bible
- 1611 KJV Bible
Answer: c. 1607 Geneva Bible. See our catalog.
The Great Bible was so known because of its
- Superior translation
- New, readable font
- Large size
- Splendid, tooled-leather covers
Answer: c. Large size. All the other choices were made up by the Library staff.
The name “Textus Receptus” was first attached to which edition of the Greek New Testament?
- Erasmus’ 1522 edition
- Stephanus’ 1550 edition
- Beza’s 1598 edition
- Elzevir’s 1633 edition
Answer: d. Elzevir’s 1633 edition. This was the trickiest question, with only 36% of respondents answering correctly. (The original question contributed by professor Hans Bayer was even trickier in our opinion!) The term “textus receptus” (received text) originates from the preface of the Greek text published by Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevir in 1633. It has only subsequently been used to refer to the lineage of published Greek texts beginning with Erasmus’ 1522 edition.
The first Bible printed in what became the United States was an English Translation.
- True
- False
Answer: b. False. It was an Algonquin language Bible published by John Eliot in 1663.
The first scholar to produce English translations from Hebrew was
- John Wycliffe
- William Tyndale
- John Elliot
- Barry Moser
Answer: b. William Tyndale.
The Treacle Bible (“Is there not treacle at Gilead?” [Jer. 8:22]) was usually known as
- The Sweet Bible
- The Bishops’ Bible
- The Queen’s Bible
- The Great Bible
Answer: b. The Bishops’ Bible -or- d. The Great Bible. “Treacle Bible” seems to be more often associated with the Bishops’ Bible, but the same translation of Jeremiah 8:22 is found in other versions from around that time—including the Great Bible, upon which the Bishops’ was based—so there is some ambiguity and disagreement. We accepted either answer. The word “treacle” today refers to a sweet syrup similar to molasses, but in Middle English it was a medicinal substance.
Printings of the KJV have been full of egregious (and funny) errors. Which of these is NOT an actual KJV printing error?
- “Go and sin on more” (John 8:11)
- “…being in subjection to their owl husbands” (1 Peter 3:5)
- “My ships hear my voice…” (John 10:27)
- “Thou shalt commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14)
Answer: c. “My ships hear my voice…” (John 10:27). The other three are documented printing errors: (a) the “Sin On” Bible of 1716 printed in Ireland; (b) the “Owl Husband” Bible of 1944 resulting from a damaged letter “n” in the printing equipment; and (d) the “Wicked” Bible of 1631 for which the printers were fined £300.
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