As they walk into the entry hall of the chapel at Hertford College in Oxford, England, visitors can spot a stained-glass window dedicated to one of the college’s prolific graduates: the English Bible translator and martyr William Tyndale (circa A.D. 1491-Oct. 6, 1536; see related story here).
In the early 1500s, Tyndale studied in Magdalen Hall, Oxford, which was later renamed Hertford College. The “Tyndale Window,” made in 1911, originally adorned the British and Foreign Bible Society’s headquarters in London. When the society moved out of London in 1985, however, it gifted the window to the college. Then, in 1994, the window was finally installed at the college to commemorate Tyndale’s birth, presumably 500 years earlier.
The window’s centerpiece is a stained-glass etching of Tyndale, who was the first to translate the Bible into English from the original languages. In the image, Tyndale has a short beard and wears a ruff around his neck, a close-fitting skull cap atop his head, and a black and red robe.
Unfortunately, the image isn’t Tyndale’s true likeness, since it was based on a 1620 woodcut that was based on an earlier image of the Scottish Reformer John Knox. In fact, we have no image of Tyndale from his lifetime. But, of course, as an exile needing constantly to dodge the authorities so he could produce his contraband English Bibles, Tyndale likely preferred it this way. Any pictures floating about may have compromised his mission and threatened his safety.
Bordering each side of the window, names are listed. These are the names of men who labored and suffered, throughout history, to bring God’s Word – as the window says – to “EVERY MAN IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE.” The names include:
• Jerome (342-345 A.D.), who translated Scripture for the Latin speakers of the Roman empire;
• Missionary brothers Cyril and Methodius (9th century A.D.), who made God’s Word available in Slavic languages of Eastern Europe;
• Protestant Reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546 A.D.), who translated Scripture into high German;
• Missionary John Eliot (1604-1690 A.D.), who translated God’s Word into Native American languages;
• Baptist missionary to India, William Carey (1761-1834 A.D.), who translated the complete Bible into seven languages, as well as sections of Scripture in nearly 30 other languages and dialects;
• Missionary Robert Morrison (1782-1834 A.D.), who spent some 25 years translating Scripture into Chinese;
• Missionary Henry Martyn (1781-1812 A.D.), who rendered God’s Word in Hindustani and Persian;
• and missionary Robert Moffatt (1795-1883 A.D.), who translated into the Southern African language, Setswana.
Many other men and women could be listed: For example, Francisco de Enzinas (1518-1552 A.D.), who suffered imprisonment and exile after printing the first Spanish translation of the Greek New Testament; or American Baptist missionaries Adoniram (1788-1850 A.D.) and Anne Judson (1789-1826 A.D.), who faced illness, hunger and imprisonment to bring God’s Word to the people of Burma.
Of course, the task of translating and distributing Scripture continues in our own day. According to Wycliffe Bible Translators, there are “at least 7,300 known spoken or signed languages” across the globe.
Moreover, according to Christian Daily International (CDI), “access to Scripture” around the globe reached a milestone in 2024: “99% of the global population has at least some portion of the Bible available in their language…. Only 544 languages—spoken by an estimated 36.8 million people—still lack a translation project.
“This progress is part of Vision 2025, a movement launched in 1999 to begin Bible translations in every remaining language within a generation,” CDI reported on Aug. 31. “Since then, more than 4,600 languages that once had no Scripture have gained access.”
These intense and sacrificial translation efforts, both past and present, should prevent us from taking God’s Word for granted. We should seek to reignite our passion for studying God’s Word and and living by its light.
In this way, we’ll stand out from many within the United States. After all, according to a recent study from the American Bible Society, 24 percent of U.S. adults “think the Bible is just another book of instruction,” and 18 percent think it “was written to control and manipulate people.”
We can’t, with a snap of the fingers, change how these people think about Scripture. But we can, with renewed fervor, devote ourselves to God’s Word again. If we do so, we’ll discover – as William Tyndale wrote 500 years ago – that Scripture is a “defense from all error,” a “comfort in adversity,” and “a light” that shows us “the true way, both what to do and what to hope.”