His translation of the Bible arose from his desire to appeal to the



8 GUIDE TO BIBLE EXHIBITION

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people against the clergy. By his institution of Poor Priests he en-
deavoured to evangelize the people, and to rouse their indignation against
current evils ; by his translation he desired to put into their hands the
most powerful weapon against ecclesiastical abuses, a knowledge of the
true Scriptures. The details of the translation are not known. He
was assisted by Nicholas Hereford, who translated the Old Testament
as far as Baruch iii. 20, and possibly by others. The New Testament
has been assigned to Wyclif's own hand, but there is no definite proof
of it. The New Testament was completed first, about 1380; the Old
Testament between 1382, when Hereford was summoned to London and
excommunicated in the middle of his work, and 1384, when Wyclif
died ; and thus the first English Bible was given to the world.
