Publisher of the New Matthew Bible
We remember that which we first received,
and strengthen the things that are ready to die
(Revelation 3:2,3)
Our goals:
- To increase awareness and appreciation of the 1537 Matthew Bible, which contained the translations of William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.
- To publish the New Matthew Bible (“NMB”), a gentle update of the Matthew Bible.
- To publish the lost writings of Myles Coverdale. While Tyndale’s books are readily available, Coverdale has been unjustly overlooked.
Our books:
Our small, unique line of Christian books focus on the Matthew Bible and the men who made it. We also offer a limited number of discernment books by various authors.
Booksellers: contact us directly for bulk orders and discount information. We will give customized quotes.
The Matthew Bible:
The Matthew Bible was the work of three men who gave us the word of God in English when it was against the law to do so. It contains the combined translations of William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale. The third man, John Rogers, gathered their work together, added commentaries and study aids, and in 1537 published the whole Bible under the pseudonym “Thomas Matthew.” This is why it is called Matthew’s Version, or the Matthew Bible.
Both Tyndale and Rogers died for their work, making Matthew’s Version the only English Bible bought with blood.
More information about the Matthew Bible is here.
The New Matthew Bible Project:
This is the original 1549 Matthew Bible used in the New Matthew Bible Project.
The New Matthew Bible Project is dedicated to gently updating the Matthew Bible for today. The New Matthew Bible (“NMB”) will keep all the doctrine, dignity, and beauty of the original translations of William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale, with the historic language. That is one reason we call the New Matthew Bible the only “modern” Bible which is not. But it is important to recover the meaning of the original translations, which has been obscured due to linguistic changes over the centuries. In 2016 the NMB New Testament was published as “The October Testament,” gently updated by editor Ruth Magnusson Davis. The name “October” recalls Martin Luther’s September Testament and reminds us that, just as the month of October signals the approaching end of a year, so now the year of the Lord is drawing to a close. Work on the Old Testament of the NMB is underway.
Ruth Magnusson Davis:
Ruth Magnusson Davis in her study
Ruth Magnusson Davis is the founder of Baruch House Publishing and the New Matthew Bible Project. A Canadian, she is a retired lawyer. As a teenager she worked in France, where she learned that she loved to study language and grammar. She obtained an undergraduate degree in French and German, studying in Manitoba, Quebec, and Germany. Law school followed, and a successful professional career, before she retired to dedicate herself to the New Matthew Bible Project. She calls herself now a perpetual student of Early Modern English, the Reformation, and the Bibles of the Reformation.
The chief publication of Baruch House, after six years of work and study, was the New Testament of the New Matthew Bible, the October Testament, described above. This was followed by Ruth’s 2-volume book about the history of the Matthew Bible. Her next project was the Coverdale series, facsimile editions of the best of Myles Coverdale’s books and an ongoing project. For information about all our books, go to our store or see our Book List.
Ruth has also published academic papers covering a variety of topics about the Matthew Bible, the early English Reformation, and more — including a defence of Martin Luther against charges of antisemitism, which reached the top 1% of all papers on the Academia platform in May 2021. See her profile at Academia.edu. If you download a paper, be sure to leave a reason when prompted. We love to hear from people!