Who was the Venerable Bede?
Answered from the commentary of Church History, A. J. Pollock and Morrish Bible Dictionary
Bede was a famous monk and priest, born in 673 at Jarrow in Northumberland, and regarded as England’s teacher; he was devout, learned, and a most laborious scholar. Hundreds of students came to Jarrow for his teaching, and his learning ranged across Greek and Roman literature, medicine, rhetoric, and astronomy. He took deep delight in the Bible and translated the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Gospel of John into Anglo-Saxon; his translation of John was among the first New Testament scripture rendered into the people’s language. He died in 735 while dictating that Gospel, and is said to have spoken words of praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as he passed away.
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The intellectual energy of Europe, it is said, was in a condition of gradual decay from the fifth to the middle of the eighth century, and though the condition of the British isles, and the labours of the venerable Bede, may seem to furnish some exception to the general rule, it was then that ignorance reached its widest and darkest boundaries. Bede, we may observe in passing, is spoken of as the man who most eminently deserves to be called England's teacher. He was born in the year 673, in the village of Jarrow in Northumberland; he was a monk and a priest, but a most devout, laborious, and godly man: the instruction of youth had been one of the great objects of his life, which he continued till his latest hours: he died in the midst of his beloved scholars, May 26th, 735.*
It was in the year 735 A.D. that the famous monk, Bæda (commonly called the Venerable Bede), died at an advanced age.
He was, perhaps, the most famous scholar of western Europe. To Jarrow-on-Tyne hundreds of students repaired to sit at his feet. He was learned in the literature of Greece and Rome, had written on medicine, rhetoric, astronomy, and many other things besides. But more than that, he took a deep delight in the Bible—the very Bible you have in your hands—only his was written in Latin.
We come now to the second event we purposed to notice, and that is the birth of Baeda, or the Venerable Bede, as he came to be called later in life. And this brings us back to the Book, for Bede was the first who endeavoured to translate a portion of Scripture into the native tongue. He had spent his life in the monastery of Jarrow, and was one of the most accomplished men of the age. Six hundred scholars attended his lectures, and his last days were occupied in translating the Gospel of John. Some say he died when he had reached the ninth verse of chapter six, others that he completed the book; then, with the words "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost" on his lips, passed to his rest. Anyhow, we know that he was the first Englishman who really set himself to this good work.
The Venerable Bede mentions a poem in the Anglo-Saxon tongue, bearing the name of Caedmon, which gives with tolerable fidelity some of the historical parts of the Bible, but owing to its epic character, it has not been ranked with the versions of the sacred writings. Still it was a commencement in this blessed work, for which we can be truly thankful. It may have given the idea to others more competent, and been the precursor of real translations.
In the eighth century, Bede translated the apostles' creed and the Lord's prayer into Anglo-Saxon, which he frequently presented to illiterate priests: and one of his last efforts was a translation of the Gospel of St. John; which is supposed to be the first portion of the New Testament which was translated into the vernacular language of the country. He died in 735.
Bede relates that Caedmon embodied a history of the Bible in Anglo-Saxon poetry; Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, translated the Psalms in the seventh century; and Bede translated the Gospel of John; he finished dictating it as he breathed his last, A.D. 735. King Alfred translated Ex. 20 — Ex. 23 as the groundwork of his legislation: he desired indeed that "all the free-born youth of his kingdom should be able to read the English scriptures."
A letter has come down to us from one of his disciples, Cuthbert, to a “fellow-reader,” Cuthwin, narrating to us what happened on the day he died; or, rather, passed away to be with Jesus. “Our father and master, whom God loved,” he writes, “had translated the gospel of St. John as far as ‘What are they among so many?’ “He began to suffer much in his breath, and a swelling came to his feet, but he went on dictating to his scribe. ‘Go on quickly,’ he said. ‘I know not how long I shall hold out, or how soon my Master will call me hence.’ “All night long he lay awake in thanksgiving, and when the ascension-day dawned he commanded us to write with all speed what he had begun.” So the letter goes on describing the work right through the day. When the shadows of evening were gathering, and the sun was casting its last rays of light into his cell, the dear old man was dictating the few remaining verses of the gospel. “There remains but one chapter, master,” said his anxious scribe; “but it seems very hard for you to speak.” “Nay, it is easy,” answered the Venerable Bede. “Take up thy pen and write quickly.” And so the affectionate scribe wrote amid his blinding tears, for he deeply loved his beloved instructor. “And now, father,” said he, as he wrote down the last words which fell from the feeble lips, “only one sentence remains.” Bede dictated it. “It is finished, master!” cried the young man. “Ay, it is finished!” echoed the dying saint. “Lift me up, place me at that window of my cell where I have so often prayed to God. Now glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.”
But while portions of the Scriptures, especially the Psalms and the Gospels, were frequently translated, as by the venerable Bede, King Alfred, and others, a complete copy of the Bible was a rare acquisition, and procurable only by the rich. In the reign of Edward I. of England, about 1272, the price of a complete Bible was from £30 to £37, and occupied a careful scribe in his scriptorium about ten months, while the day's wage of a working man only averaged 1.5 pence. When it is borne in mind that it only cost £25 to build two arches of London Bridge in 1240, while the price of a complete Latin Bible was considerably more, it will readily be allowed that only the rich and scholarly had access to the Word of God.
Here is a specimen of the language in which the Scriptures were read in the eighth and ninth centuries, during the time of the venerable Bede, King Alfred, St. Cuthbert, and probably for a considerable time after the Norman Conquest of England. It is from John's Gospel, and is scarcely readable in the 19th century. By comparing the specimens of early English, the gradual growth of the language into its present form may be more easily traced: —
As to the extent of the circulation of Mark's Gospel in the early Church, see Burkitt, p. 260 f. The earliest Greek commentary upon it which is extant was that of Victor and others of Antioch (about A.D. 400); the earliest Latin that of our venerable Bede. See, further, note 168.
It has always been the same. The first British martyr was Alban. He was a pagan, but by nature a kindly man, and sheltered a Christian named Amphibalus, who was being pursued. His contact with this Christian made a deep impression on him, and when finally the officers found where he was hiding, Alban changed clothes with him, in order to protect him. He was himself carried before the Governor, who commanded him to sacrifice to the idols. The brave Alban replied he was a Christian, and could not. The Governor first scourged, and then beheaded him. The venerable Bede states that the executioner, beholding, suddenly accepted Christ himself, and entreated permission either to die in Alban's place, or else to die with him. Both were beheaded by a soldier on the 22nd of June, 287, at Verulam, now St. Alban's. Many more similar instances might be quoted. See Foxe's Book of Martyrs.