Tyndale at 500: Part 6 – Shipwreck in Holland

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Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. (2 Cor. 11:25-26)

There are many parallels between the Apostle Paul and the prodigious Bible translator William Tyndale. Most notable are some of the extraordinary and distressful trials that they shared in common.

Paul knew what it was to be shipwrecked at sea. Scripture gives us significant information about just one of these episodes, which took place following his three missionary journeys—and after he had penned 2 Corinthians 11, quoted above—as he sailed to stand trial in Rome. That incident is recorded in Acts 27:1-28:10, and likely occurred around 58 AD.¹

Tyndale also understood such calamities. His shipwreck occurred in early 1529. The occasion was a trip from Antwerp, Belgium, to Hamburg, Germany, where Tyndale had intended to print his first efforts at an English translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. It was then that the disaster unfolded.

To set the stage, we remember that Tyndale sought out Martin Luther and spent time in Wittenberg, Germany, after leaving England for good in 1524.

Tyndale’s monumental publication of the New Testament in English, 500 years ago in 1526, was accomplished through its printing in Worms, Germany. That would, of course, be the beginning of the real persecution of Tyndale. Foxe summarizes the coming years as follows: “… especially Satan the prince of darkness, maligning the happy course and success of the gospel, set his might also to impeach and hinder the blessed labors of that man.”²

Tyndale’s next major strategic move, after investing time in Germany, would lead to the remainder of his tragically short life being spent in Belgium. Foxe records:

After he had continued a certain season there, he came into the Netherlands, and mostly lived in Antwerp till the time of his apprehension.³

By 1528, Tyndale had settled in Belgium, apparently focusing his time and efforts on the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into English. David Daniell provides insight regarding this period in Tyndale’s life, stating: “… he was working on the Pentateuch, his Hebrew now good enough for fine work of translation.”⁴

Remembering that Tyndale was about to sail from Antwerp to Hamburg, Adrian Stoutjesdyk’s words provide helpful background regarding the culture of Antwerp at this time:

By 1528, Protestants realised that life in Antwerp and the Low Countries was becoming more dangerous for them. … The increasing danger of arrest made it sensible for Tyndale to leave Antwerp and sail to Hamburg.⁵

Regarding the significance of Hamburg, Daniell adds:

Tyndale would also be drawn to the city by the presence of possibly an old acquaintance, Johannes Bugenhagen, Luther’s close associate …, who had been rector of the town church in Wittenberg when Tyndale could have been there learning Hebrew. In July 1528 Bugenhagen had been invited to supervise the reform of the Church in Hamburg; Tyndale would be going to a reforming city: by February 1529, the work of reform was complete. He would be safe there.⁶

Yet, sadly, Tyndale’s journey to Hamburg proved to be the very occasion when tragedy struck. Foxe records the details of the harrowing incident:

For when Tyndale had translated the fifth book of Moses, intending to print it at Hamburgh, he sailed for that place. But on the way, on the coast of Holland, he suffered shipwreck, by which he lost all his books, writings and copies, and was compelled to begin it all again. Thus having lost by that ship, his money, his copies, and his time, he came in another ship to Hamburgh. There Master Coverdale waited for him, and helped him in the translating of the whole five books of Moses, from Easter to December 1529.⁷

We see that as a result of the tragic loss, Tyndale obviously had to start the work all over from the beginning. With the assistance of Miles Coverdale, he accomplished this colossal task between Easter and Christmas—doubtless producing a superior translation compared to his first attempt—and published this new English version of the Pentateuch the following year, in 1530.

Are we tempted to complain about our circumstances, hardships or obstacles in life and ministry? The next time I am so inclined, I pray that the Lord will remind me of the sheer grit and determination, and godly perseverance, of this linguistic genius—the father of the English Bible—William Tyndale.

And I pray also, as we mark another Reformation Day, that God will infuse our minds with His truth until we, like Tyndale, are “singularly addicted”⁸ to it.