[Notes from 2/5 to 35/20]

Notes to an edition of William Tyndale's

Exposition of the fyrste epistle of Seynt Ihon

by Donald J. Millus, copyrighted, etc.

2/5 crosserowe. Shortened form of "Christ-cross-row," a name given to the alphabet in Tudor schoolbooks or horn books because of the figure of the cross prefixed to it. (OED).

2/12-13 Mattheu in the .v. vj. and .vij. Tyndale's next published work after the Exposition was An exposicion vppon the .v. vi. vii. chapters of Mathew (STC 24439). It was published either late in 1532, after the publication of Luther's series of lectures on these chapters of Matthew or, as is more likely, in 1533. (see Hume, Bibliography, pp. 1082-1083.) For the Exposition of Matthew v-vii Tyndale borrowed some material from Luther's lectures on Matthew's gospel, adapting it freely to his own purposes. Tyndale's reference here to these particular chapters of Matthew may indicate that his plans for further elucidating the scriptures were already well advanced.

2/13 be. The subjunctive form of the third person singular of the verb "to be" occurs frequently throughout the Exposition. The subjunctive preterite "wolde" (13/13 etc.) is also common and there are other instances of identifiable subjunctive forms (e.g. "were" 13/13, 43/9, etc. and "sounde" 123/3). No attempt has been made to point out all such forms in this commentary or glossary.

2/13-15 loue . . . sake. Cf. Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:30, 33, and Luke 10:27. Tyndale's paraphrase is closest to the version in Luke, but he omits the phrase "and with all thy mynde."

2/16-17 love . . . teachythe. Cf. Rom. 13:10.

3/6 square. I.e., "guide." This is the first instance cited by the OED for the figurative use of this word. OED II. 4. fig. a "to regulate, frame, arrange, or direct."

3/9 pena and culpa. For the variations of this formula which occur throughout this work, see the Glossary. The guilt and punishment due to sin were closely associated in theological writings: "Sic igitur omne malum in rebus voluntariis consideratum est poena vel culpa" (ST, I, q. 48, a. 5).

3/10 the popes termes. In the Bull "De Indulgentiis" of Leo X, promulgated in 1518, a distinction is made among the various ways in which the "power of the keys" removes impediments from the faithful: "culpam scilicet et poenam pro actualibus peccatis debitam, culpam quidem mediante sacramento Poenitentiae, poenam vero temporalem pro actualibus peccatis secundum divinam justitiam debitam mediante ecclesiastica indulgentia" (Denzinger, p. 274).

3/11 to God warde. The OED does not list "ward" separately as an adverb, but its function here seems adverbial. For the adverbial used of "ward" in earlier periods, cf. J. Bosworth, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, ed. T. Toller (Oxford, 1954), p. 1176. Professor Fred Robinson suggested calling this a "split preposition." Cf. below, 115/19 and 150/11.

3/20-21 vn to . . . forgyvenes. I.e., "to the limit of his power, and if he doesn't have the means [to make amends], ask forgiveness."

5/21 hyr. I.e. "its." See below, 12/12, 14/10, etc. The modern form of the neuter possessive pronoun does not appear until the end of the sixteenth century. Professor Robinson pointed out that "doctrine" in Latin is feminine, but that an ambiguous pronoun reference is also avoided by using "hyr" rather than "his." Cf. Shakespeare's only occasional usages of "its" in place of "his" or "hers."

6/15 whiche. I.e., "who." See below, 6/17, 15/11, etc.

7/7 only the keye. I.e., "The only key."

7/10 compendiousnes. In the colophon "To the Reder" in the 1526 edition of the NT, Tyndale says that he "will brynge to compendeousnes, that which is nowe translated at the lengthe, and to geve lyght where it is requyred, and to seke in certayne places more proper englysshe . . ." (reprinted in NT, 1534, p. 612). Although the Cambridge edition of NT, 1534 refers to the first complete NT by Tyndale as the "1525" NT, the dating of it as 1526 as in Hume, Bibliography, p. 1068, will be followed in this commentary.

7/17 that. I.e., "that which." The demonstrative is commonly made to do double duty in the Exposition.

7/21 Rabines. Tyndale uses the term in a figurative sense to apply to church authorities. The irony is in part due to his outspoken views on the lack of learning in the parish churches. See below, 154/1-12.

7/22 as the lay people. Both oure greate Rabines" (7/21) and the "lay people" are "all blinde generally" (7/20).

8/1-3 where . . . wronge taught. I.e., "Although large numbers of lay people are taught nothing at all, they ['oure greate Clerkes'] are all taught erroneously."

8/12-14 led of Robyn Goodfellowe . . . Cappes. Among the pranks Shakespeare attributed to Robin Goodfellowe was that he would "Misleade night wanderers, laughing at their harm . . ." (MND II.i.38). Goodfellowe was also known to the sixteenth century as Puck or Hobgoblin, and his mischief had other outlets which served Tyndale in another context: "The pope is kynne to Robyn goodfellow which swepeth the howse / washeth the disshes and purgeth off by nyghte. But when daye cometh ther is no thing founde cleane" (Obedience, sig. T₁). Most legends of "fairy leading" (or, more properly, misleading) involve lights or voices, but I have found no references to blinding lights. The use of a cap, pulled down over the eyes, however, seems a logical device to avoid being led astray by such a light. Tilley (p. 573) cites a 1584 reference to "Robin Goodfellowe, the Spoore [spectre, phantom]." See also Stith Thompson, Motif Index of Folk-Literature (Bloomington, Ind., 1955) sections F. 369.7, F. 491.1 and K. 1888.2. One of the other common names for the misleading spirits, "will o'-the-wisp," is not recorded until the early seventeenth century (OED).

9/1 cast . . . crowe. Two meanings of "cast" are operative here, one of "throwing," the other of "conjecturing" (OED 41). Another use of the proverbial theme of the blind man attempting to hit a crow is found in later sixteenth-century literature: "Ye cast and coniecture this muche like in show, As the blinde man casts his staffe, or shoots the crow" (J. Heywood, 1546, cited in ODEP, p. 51). Tyndale's use of the proverb is not noted by the ODEP.

9/1 cast . . . crowe. Two meanings of "cast" are operative here, one of "throwing," the other of "conjecturing" (OED 41). Another use of the proverbial theme of the blind man attempting to hit a crow is found later in sixteenth-century literature: "Ye cast and coniecture this muche like in show, As the blinde man casts his staffe, or shoots the crow" (J. Heywood, 1546, cited in ODEP, p. 52). Tyndale's use of the proverb is not noted by the ODEP.

9/2-6 an hundrethe . . . baptyme. More also emphasizes the problems involved in the interpretation of scripture. (See, for example, Selected Letters, "To Martin Dorp," pp. 33-34.) While Tyndale has just insisted that the "open" sense of scripture is accessible (see above, 8/18), it seems that he is not talking simply about the literal sense of scripture, for he insists that one must first have "the right knowledge of the profession of our baptyme" (9/5-6). In his letter to Dorp, More comments on the literal interpretation of scripture: "I definitely think that the literal interpretation carries with it so much difficulty that I do not see how anyone at all can grasp it. With regard to the words 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,' I do not think that their literal sense is clear to anyone except to him who understands them as being foretold by the Prophet concerning Christ Himself" (Selected Letters, p. 34).

9/17 as bare as Iob. I.e., "as poor as Job." "Bare" here means destitute or poor (OED 9, citing Bale, 1538, in its selective reading). Job's proverbial poverty is nicely summed up in the next line: "of all thinges wherof a man can be mouyd to pryde" (9/18). See below, 162/13.

10/6-7 euery day . . . other. I.e., every day [become] more of a servant than the rest." Tyndale uses "other" with this plural meaning elsewhere in the Exposition (see below, 47/2 and 117/5 and n.). Also, cf. his translation of Rev. 20:5 "but the wother [i.e. "other," Vulgate: "ceteri"] of the deed men lyved not agayne, vntyll the. xM. yere were fynisshed."

10/15 it I.e., the scripture.

10/17 Iohn .i. John 1:5 NT, 1534 has "and the lyght shyneth in the darcknes, but the darcknes comprehended it not." Tyndale's NT, 1526 had "in darcknes" and "and the darcknes". Here, as throughout the Exposition, Tyndale's citation of scripture does not always correspond word for word with either of his complete published translations of the NT. (See the Introduction, pp. 169-172.)

10/20 owre lady Mattens. I.e., "our lady's Matins," the Little Office of the Virgin Mary. See G. Marc'hadour, "More's Book of Hours," Moreana, 9 (1966), 103-104, and also cf. Moreana, 2, (1964), 92, and 11, (1966), 47-48. The little office was a part of the "horae" or books of hours which were later called primers. (See the introduction to Thomas More's Prayer Book, Louis L. Martz and Richard S. Sylvester [New Haven and London, 1969], p. xxv.) The reformers, according to More, thought it too long to pray: "And yet the prymer they thynke to longe by all our lady matens" (Apologye, p. 8). Tyndale may simply be basing his charge that laymen "reade it with out vnderstandinge" (10/19-20) on the fact that they probably had to read it first in Latin. Not until shortly before 1530 was the first primer printed in English published. (See C. Butterworth and A. Chester, George Joye [Philadelphia, 1962], p. 53.) As late as November of 1531 a primer in English is included in a list of forbidden books (see C. Butterworth, The English Primers [Philadelphia, 1953], p. 14. For Tyndale's opinion of prayers in Latin, see below, 156/15-157/1.

10/21 Marlynes propheties. Merlin's frequently vague and difficult prophecies had become a literary topic in themselves even in the Middle Ages. A long and sometimes tedious prose work appeared late in the thirteenth century in France with the title Les Prophecies de Merlin (ed. L. A. Paton [New York, 1926]). In 1510 Wynken de Worde printed a "lytle treatyse of Marlyn whiche prophesyed of many fortunes or happes here in Englonde" (STC 17841, sig. G8v). A brief selection will perhaps indicate why the use of such prophecies was a comic commonplace.

In Englonde he sayd than

So grete an hoost sawe neuer man

And sayd one of you without lesse

Shall be slayne in that presse

And which of you that is

Shall have to mede heven blysse

But for no thinge wolde he sayen

Whiche of them sholde be slayne (sig. G7).

11/2-6 tale . . . conscience. The point of the story seems to be that the boy is torn between hunger and a guilty conscience at breaking his fast before the "belles sang vn to hym," i.e., signalled the end of the fast. The analogy with soothing a guilty conscience by using a passage of scripture for all it is worth (10/22-11/2) is tenuous, but does have a nicely comic touch. I have not been able to locate the source of the story of the boy and the bells. The "pastie of lamprese" (11/3) is a fish pie. The lamprey, a fish resembling the eel, was used in pies or pastries, thus also known as "lamprey bake" (OED).

11/10 texte of Paule. 2 Cor. 3:6.

11/21 hole & some. I.e., "The whole and sum," the whole matter and all its parts. Both the 1537 and 1538 editions of the Exposition have "The whole summe."

12/1 we had the kay. I.e., "we would have the key."

12/11 werish. The more likely meaning is "insipid" rather than "sickly-flavored." Both Tyndale and More use it in the former sense. Exposition of Matthew v-vii. has "all werysh and vnsauery ceremonyes which haue lost their significacions" (sig. d₃). The OED notes this instance and More's use of the word in Debell. Salem in a familiar passage from scripture: "If the salt wax ones freshe & werish, wherin shall ani thing be wel seasoned?" In More's Richard III the word is used in the sense of "shrivelled" (48/11-12).

12/15-16 smellinge to. The use of the preposition "to" with a form of this verb was not uncommon. (See below, 146/6 and n.) Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose, has "To pulle a rose of al that route . . . And smellen to it where I wente" (ll. 1667, 1669).

12/17 thei . . . improue. All those who are "sounde in the faithe" (12/13) refute heresy with the scripture. The pronoun "thei" cannot refer to the heretics because the scripture is spoken of as "purging herself." For "improue," see below, 13/1 and n.

13/11 stoppinge oystre. A silencing retort, also called a "choking oyster." The OED cites Skelton's contemporary (1529): "I haue a stoppynge oyster in my poke" (The Bowge of Courte). It is interesting that Skelton assigns the phrase to the character "Dissimulation."

13/12 befor. Not in the sense of "previously" (i.e., in this particular work, the Exposition), but "already" or "beforehand. The following lines develop the theme of open corruption and misuse of the scriptures which disqualify any possible arguments because of their obviously suspect source. Hence, because we "wer madde to beleue" (13/16-17) their arguments, they "are answered already."

13/17 that. 1531 B and 1531 F have "the. The reading of 1531 R is clearly correct. 1537 and 1538 do not follow a corrected version of 1531. For a similar double-duty use of the demonstrative pronoun, see above, 7/17 and n.

13/17 .xvc. yer . . . say. More also uses the 1500 year figure, but in opposition to new heresies. Cf. the Confutation, 38/39 and n. "As ye say" is parenthetical, referring to just such a citation of the long history of the Church as More makes rather than to the next phrase, "in roten mawes (13/18), which is Tyndale's comment on that history.

13/20 perswade vs thynk ye. I.e., do you think you can convince us."

14/2 poetry. The word is used in its alternate sense (OED 2) of fable or fiction. See below, 43/16. In the Answer to More, Tyndale had asked "How be it .M. More hath so longe vsed his figures of poetrie / y^t (I suppose) when he erreth most / he now by the reson of a longe custome / beleueth him selfe / that he saith most true" (sig. A₇). More uses the word against Tyndale in the Confutation, speaking of an example of deception as a "pece of his poetrye" (91/14).

14/8 them. I.e., "the sacraments."

14/8-9 we must . . . hande. I.e. "we have to watch you closely."

14/18 a litle and litle. I.e., "gradually." The OED (7a and 7c) cites Wyclif as using the phrase occasionally.

14/22-15/17 Finally . . . therfor. The clauses beginning "Finally" (14/22). "And as moche" (15/9), and "And for as moche" (15/12-13) are not complete sentences despite the punctuation with a period, a practice not uncommon in the Exposition, but serve to introduce the conclusion "therfor are they faithfull seruantes of Christ" (15/17).

15/11-12 corrupte. "The wykyd" (15/10) is the subject of this verb. The corruption or misuse of the scriptures is an essential point in Tyndale's defense of his right to comment upon and translate them. See above, 10/19 and 13/6, 15.

15/16-17 frute of roten trees. Cf. Matt. 12:33 and Luke 6:43. Whiting, Proverbs, p. 608, cites a similar usage in Wyclif's How Men Ought to Obey Prelates: "Cursed fruyt springith out of a cursed tree."

15/22 translated . . . puerly. For a selection of Tyndale's arguments concerning vernacular scriptures, see Rainer Pineas, Thomas More and Tudor Polemics (Bloomington, Ind., 1968), pp. 50 ff. For a summary of another view in this controversy, see Richard C. Marius, "Thomas More's View of the Church," Introduction to the Confutation, pp. 1349 ff.

16/4 sowe to their gloses. I.e., attach their comments by stitching them (actually or figuratively) to the text. The OED ("sew"," 1b) cites a fifteenth-century document: "As it appeirs in a cedule to _yis [this] sewed."

*********"yis" in previous line is spelled thorn-is*******

16/11 the self. I.e., "itself." The form "the self" was in use, mainly in Scotland, until the seventeenth century (OED "self," C 1c). 1537 and 1538 have "it selfe."

16/17-21 diuerse introductions . . . scripture. Tyndale's Introduction to the Romans (STC 24438) had been printed in 1526 or very early in 1527 at Worms. (See Hume, Bibliography, p. 1069.) An expanded version appears in the 1534 edition of the NT. "The pathe way in to scripture" was originally the prologue to the Cologne NT of 1525. An expanded version was known to More, but not its author (Confutation, 11/9-10). More there jokingly refers to it as a "Donat" or introductory grammar. The version known to More may have been printed within the year preceding the 1531 edition of the Exposition, but the earliest surviving edition of the revised Pathway (STC 24462) cannot be dated before 1535. See Hume, Bibliography, pp. 1090-1091.

17/3 may haue to answer. I.e., "may have the means to answer."

18/4-10 THat whiche . . . apered vnto vs. On the translation of the scripture in the Exposition see above, n. to 10/17 and the Introduction, pp. 169-172. Mozley's conclusion (p. 203) that Tyndale "translated it afresh" is probably correct, but we cannot be sure what text of the scriptures was used for this translation. Erasmus's 1516 Novum Instrumentum is a most likely candidate, according to David Daniell.

18/11 thinge. Neither NT, 1526 nor NT, 1534 has this translation of what appears in the Vulgate as "quod." Erasmus's Paraphrases for 1 John begin "Neque de rebus mediocribus, neque de levibus aut incompertis . . . sed de re nova" (Paraphrases, col 1141 A).

18/13 he. Refers to "The thinge . . . and the euerlastinge life."

18/14-17 The word . . . by it. Cf. John 1:1,3. Again, neither NT, 1526 nor NT, 1534 contains the paraphrase, "the thing."

19/3-4 belevithe . . . belevithe in. The distinction Tyndale is attempting to make is between acceptance of an apparent fact and the belief of one who puts his faith and trust in God. See below, 19/21 and n. and 33/22 and n.

19/6 Iohn the .1. John 1:12

19/7 belvyd in. Tyndale's translations (NT, 1526 and NT, 1534) have "beleved on," bearing out the OED contention that the forms "believe in," and "believe on" are almost indistinguishable in sixteenth-century scriptural translations, but "the latter was more frequent."

**************OED is not, repeat not, New Revised OED unless specifically stated****

19/8 Iohn the .iij. John 3:16

19/10 He that . . . condemnyd. John 3:15.

19/13-14 Iohn .vi. . . . not at al. John 6:64 (John 6:63 AV). Tyndale reverses the usual order of this verse and this makes for a smoother connection with his introductory comment on what it means "to beleue in the wordes of this article" (19/11) and his subsequent explanation of "fleshly eting" (19/15) as the meaning of the "fleshe profiteth not" (19/14).

19/18 God and Christ God and man. I.e., "God and Christ, [who is both] God and man."

19/21 beleue of the histories. I.e., "historical faith" or "historie faithe" (33/22). See above, 19/3 and n. and below, n. to 33/22, for Tyndale's possible contemporary sources for this idea. A similar distinction may be found in the scholastic philosophers: Aquinas (ST, II-II, q. 5, a. 2) discusses the faith of the devils, but points out that it is only based on what is self-evident.

*****check historicall in glossary to Ans. to More***

20/1 The rightwise. I.e., "The righteous man."

20/4-5 howe depe so ever. I.e., "no matter how deeply."

20/8 Moses. I.e., Moses as the law-giver whose law served only to show man how helpless he was to observe the law.

20/11 they. I.e., "all men." The sudden shift of subject, as here from a single individual to all men, is not uncommon as Tyndale rushes from one thought to another. Cf. also 20/17.

20/21 first . . . of his gospel. John 1:4.

21/2 Iohn in the .iij. John 3:36.

21/3 se no life. Vulgate: "non videbit vitam."

21/4 Ephe. ij. Eph. 2:3, "and were naturally the children of wrath."

21/9 vtter. Commonly used by Tyndale in the sense of "reveal" (OED "utter," 7). The Pathway has "they sley their brethrene for their faith they haue in our sauiour and therwith vtter their blody woluysshe tyrannye" (sig D₄v).

21/10 .Rom. iij. Rom. 3:20 is probably meant. Tyndale's NT, 1534 has the following marginal gloss printed next to Rom. 3:20: "The lawe justifieth not before god, but vttereth synne onlye."

21/13-14 grouge . . . commande. In The parable of the wicked mammon (STC 24454; see Hume, Bibliography, pp 1070-1071) there is a homely example of such griping: "When the mother commaundith her childe / but even to rock the cradell it grudgith" (sig. B2v).

21/18 But when. See below, 22/8-13, for the conclusion of this thought.

22/1-4 will not . . . lawes. I.e., "[God] will not judge us . . . but rather care for us . . . if we will only submit." The clause beginning "Only" (22/3) is dependent on the preceding clauses (21/18-22/3) which are not completed until "Then oure stubborn . . . hertys [etc.]" (22/8-9). Cf above, 14/22-15/17 and n., on incomplete sentences in the Exposition.

22/5-6 what so euer chaunseth. Parenthetical; "neuer" (22/6) modifies "takythe."

22/8 come . . . scole. I.e., "submit to discipline."

22/19 To bringe vnto. The absolute use of this verb is unusual. An object such as "men" should be understood.

23/6-7 felowshipe . . . damned deuells. Cf. 1 Cor. 10.20.

23/22 And thes tydinges. Again the author turns from the words of scripture to his own commentary without breaking stride. His assumption that the reader will be able to distinguish between what is Tyndale and what is scripture may well be due to his own intense familiarity with the scripture and he apparently expected much the same of his readers.

24/3-4 We preache . . . his sake. 2 Cor. 4:5.

24/8 fre & franke. The phrase usually occurs as "frank and free." It denotes political freedom or independence, i.e., as of an individual not a member of a dominated people. The OED cites a contemporary example (1530): "He was frank & free borne in a free cytee" (Tipcroft, Caesar). The Rev. OED cites More's Treatise on the Passion, 1286/2, "lands frank & free," i.e., "free from obligation of payments."

24/12 bugg. An imaginary object of terror. The OED (1a) cites More's usage in A Dialogue of Comfort (1529): "Lest there happe to be such black bugges in ded as folke call deuilles."

25/3-4 .c. and .xix. Psalme. Psalm 118 of the Vulgate. Tyndale ordinarily uses the numbering system of the Hebrew and what was to be the Authorized Version of psalms, but see below, 29/4 and n.

25/4-5 Thy word . . . pathes. Ps. 118:105 (Ps. 119:105 AV).

25/8 .Ephe. v. Eph. 5:8 reads "but now light in the Lorde." For Tyndale's frequent use of ellipsis throughout the Exposition, see the Introduction, pp. 189-190.

25/12-13 he that . . . darknes. 1 John 2:11. The complete verse is not given here. See below, 72/8-9.

26/3 knowlege. More was not happy with this word as a translation of the Vulgate "confessio": "And when yt ['knowledge'] is a verbe, or that yt is turned in to this word knowlegynge / yet sygnyfyeth yt rather the not denynge then the wyllyngley tellynge of oure owne faute, and namely of our own offer" (Confutation, 208/12-15). Tyndale's use, contrary to More's assertion, clearly implies a deliberate, voluntary action.

26/5 Roma. viij. Rom. 8:11.

26/18-19 & ether folowe. I.e., "And [we] either follow."

26/21-22 vayle . . . Moses face. Cf. Exod. 34:33-35 where Moses wore a mask or veil. (But Tyndale"s Pentateuch has "he put a couerynge apon his face.") Tyndale had previously used the "veil" imagery at the conclusion of his prologue to the Cologne NT of 1525 and it remained in the later edition of the Pathway: "And oure great pyller[s] of holy churche / whiche haue nayled a vayle of false gloses on Moses face / to corrupte the trewe vnderstandynge of his law / can nat come in" (sig. D₄v).

27/3 before. I.e., "sooner" or "before we have that kind of love."

27/9 right vse. This represents a softening of Tyndale's previously strong opposition to auricular confession. (See Hume, Study, pp. 415-416.) Three years earlier, in the Obedience, he had said that "Shrifte in the eare is verely a worke of sathan" (sig. M₈v).

27/13 in his seede. Gen. 22:18.

28/1 .3. Reg. 8. 3 Kings 8:46 (1 Kings 8:46 AV).

28/3 scripture. I.e., "epistle."

28/9 amonge. Rev. OED (B 1) The preposition is used elliptically, "meanwhile" or "at the same time." It can also mean "from time to time," but the context, "never thorowe hole" (28/7) and "with al . . . frutes (28/8-9) points to "at the same time" as the more likely meaning.

28/10-11 When . . . . workes. A "bongler" is a clumsy or unskillful worker. The OED cites More's use of the word in his Answer to a Poysoned Book (1534): "He is even but a very bungler." "His gloriouse workes" are those made by the "connynge worke man" (28/11-12).

28/18 pater noster. In the Worms edition of Tyndale's Introduction to the Romans (see above, n. to 16/17-21), a work introduced as "a treates (to fill vpp the leefe with all) of the pater noster" (sig. C₂) follows the text on Romans. The treatise contains a three-page introduction, using many of Tyndale's favorite phrases such as "knowlegeth" [his sin], "to be put backe," "a sure conclusion," and "the lawe is only to vtter sinne" (sig. C₂). But it also has a dialogue between God and the sinner, which does not seem typical of Tyndale's mature style. For example, the "sinner" addresses God: "Oure father which art in heven / what a greate space ys betwen the and vs? Howe therfore shall we thy children here on erth / baneshed and exiled from the in this vale of misery and wretchedness / come home in to oure naturall countre? (sig. C₃v). But Hume (Study, p. 8) attributes this work to Tyndale.

28/21-22 Christ . . . shuld. I.e., "Christ also taught [us] to pray that [God] our father should."

29/4 .68. Psalme. Ps. 68:16 (Ps. 69:16 AV). The Vulgate identification of the psalm is used here. See above, 25/3 and n.

29/6-7 as who shulde saye. I.e., "as much as to say." The earliest example of this phrase cited by the OED is dated 1551 (OED "shall," 20 e).

30/4-5 and shuld synne Since this is a further explanation of what it means to "consent . . . vnto synne" (30/4), Tyndale may have thought it unnecessary to repeat the negative before "shuld synne." 1537 and 1538 also omit the negative. Thus the meaning is "that you not consent to sin, that is to say, sin out of lust and deliberately with malice."

30/9-10 Hebreus .vi. and also .x. Heb. 6:4-6, 10:26.

30/12 all way. I.e., "always," or, more precisely, "the whole way." The OED cites More's Richard III (1513): "Not alway for ill will, but oftner for ambition."

31/1 not improve . . . be true. I.e., "not prove false." Throughout the sixteenth century the use of the double negative for emphasis continued to be quite common.

31/1-2 but after . . . man. I.e., "but [if we sin] because of the weaknes of our nature."

31/7 Matth. I. Matt. 1:21.

31/9 .Hebre. 7. Heb. 7:24-25. "Hath Sempiternum sacerdotium (31/9-10) is the Vulgate's "sempiternum habet sacerdotium." Tyndale's rendering of "sacerdotium" as "office" (31/10) differs from both his translations for the NT where he uses "presthod."

31/15-16 He toke . . . siknesses. Matt. 8. 17 and Isa. 53:4.

31/17-18 & for . . . . herd. Cf. Heb. 5:7 and Ps. 22:24, both of which Tyndale may have had in mind.

31/21 call vnto remembrance. I.e., "recall."

32/1 Christus . . .anoynted. For Tyndale's consciousness of root meanings, see next note.

32/20 sores. The meaning is quite strong, suggesting diseased flesh or a soreness cause by an ulcer (OED).

32/21-22 thence is borowyd. Note Tyndale's comment on the use of words by extension.

33/1 amendes makyng / a contentyng. "Amends making" is not noted by the OED before 1580: "Des dommagement, a repaying an amendes making" (Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong.). The earliest use of "contenting" cited by the OED is dated ten years after the Exposition first appeared.

33/2 for oures only whiche. I.e., "for [the sins of] those of us who." A similar use of the pronoun occurs in the following lines: "oures which" (33/6), "ours that" (33/7), "their sinnes which" (33/9), and "oures which" (33/10).

33/13 .1. Thimoth. 2. 1 Tim. 2:1-6.

33/19 gaue . . . redemption. I.e., "gave himself in redemption."

33/22 historie faithe. Although the distinction between "historical faith" and the virtue of faith was present in the writings of the scholastics (see above, n. to 19/21), it assumed major importance in the early sixteenth century in the writings of Melanchthon. He emphasized the uselessness of historical faith: "Moreover, this sophistic faith which they first call 'formless' and then 'acquired' and by which the impious give assent to the evangelical histories much as we are accustomed to do in the case of the histories of Livy or Salust, is no faith at all but merely an opinion" (The Loci Communes of Philip Melanchthon, trans. C. L. Hill [Boston, 1944], p. 175.) For a similar literary comparison, see below, 34/1-2 and n. For a summary of More's viewpoint, see R. C. Marius, Introduction to the Confutation, p. 1327.

34/1-2 gest . . . belefe. The gesta or great deeds of Alexander the Great were among the more popular subjects in the French medieval romances, but, with the exception of the thirteenth-century English "King Alisaunder," they were not a popular theme in England. "The oldes Romaynes" or "ancient Romans" would include, by extension, Aeneas and his Trojan contemporaries, such as Troilus. "Liuely faith and belefe" makes it very clear that what Tyndale means by faith is something more than feeling. Again he echoes Melanchton's thought: "Such faith is not a frigid opinion about the creation of things, but is a most lively knowledge both of the power and goodness of God . . ." (Loci Communes, p. 186). The earliest instance cited by the OED for "lively" as meaning "intense, strong," as here, is in Coverdale's 1535 translation of 1 Pet. 1:3, "a lyuely hope."

34/3 by & sel. I.e., "base important decisions" on something. Whiting (Proverbs, p. 65) lists this phrase as being quite common in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but with the predominant sense of trade or barter.

34/5-6 hold it . . . let it slip. "It" refers to one's faith and belief that Jesus saves his people (34/6-7).

34/11 Epistle to the Hebrues. Heb. 5:7.

34/15 oure holy fathers leue. See above, 3/10 and n.

34/16-17 theirs that . . . that. For similar constructions, see above, 33/4-5 and n.

34/17 come after. I.e., "follow." See below, 90/17 and 142/5.

35/2 .Math. 1. Matt. 1:22.

35/3 that he only. I.e., "he alone does that."

35/4-8 Actes .4. . . . Rom. 5. Acts 4:12 and 10:43. The reference to Ephesians is to two separate verses, Eph. 2:18 and 3:12. Rom. 5:2.

35/8-9 come before him. I.e., "take his place."

35/9 .Iohn .10. John 10:8, 10.

35/16 .Iohn .8. . . . Iohn 8:3-11 and 5:5-14.

35/20 inioyned. I.e., "prescribed." The word implies authority and emphasis, but in the sense of direction [continued next file]