The Five Books of Moses (Full Size Edition): The Pentateuch of the New Matthew Bible

This is the Pentateuch - that is, the Five Books of Moses, being the first part of the Old Testament - from the 1537 Matthew Bible, and now gently updated for today by Ruth Magnusson Davis, editor of the New Matthew Bible Project. The cobwebs of obsolete language and grammar have been carefully dusted off while retaining the historic language of the faith, so that the full, rich truth of the original translations may be appreciated.

When the Matthew Bible was first published, early in the Reformation almost 500 years ago, God's word had for centuries been locked up in Latin, a language the people could not understand. But God worked mightily through three men to open his word to England again in her own tongue. These men were William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale, the translators of the Matthew Bible, and their friend John Rogers, who compiled the Bible, added notes and study aids, and oversaw its publication.

The Pentateuch was William Tyndale's original translation from the Hebrew, and Coverdale assisted him with the work. John Rogers' introductory chapter summaries and expository notes are included in this historical book.

The Matthew Bible is the only English Bible that was bought with blood, and was the world's first English study Bible.

The companion volume to this book is The October Testament, the New Testament of the New Matthew Bible (NMB).

Ruth Magnusson Davis is the founder and chief editor of the New Matthew Bible Project. Her work is to update the 1537 Matthew Bible, which will be called "The New Matthew Bible," or NMB for short. Her goal is not to make a modern bible out of an old one, but simply to make it understandable for today while keeping the truth and beauty of the original, inspired work. Ruth is a retired lawyer with an undergraduate degree in languages and grammar. In 2009 she retired from law to devote herself to the study of Early Modern English and to undertake the work.

The original translator of the Five Books of Moses in the 1537 Matthew Bible was William Tyndale. He was the first to translate this part of the Old Testament into English from the original Hebrew. He was martyred in 1536, dying in exile from his homeland England, for his work and labour to give his people the word of God in their own tongue.

John Rogers, also a martyr for God's word, was a friend and co-labourer for God's word with William Tyndale and, also, with Myles Coverdale. Rogers compiled the Scripture translations of Tyndale and Coverdale to make the Matthew Bible, added over 2,000 notes and other study aids, and published the complete work in 1537. King Henry VIII then licensed it, and the Matthew Bible was authorized for use in the churches. In 1555 Rogers was burned at the stake by Queen Mary.