“Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my congregation” Matthew 16: 18. Coverdale Bible. 1537
Matthew 16: 18 as translated in most Bibles is an over literal reading. Willaim Tyndale in his 1526 New Testament used the word ‘Congregation‘ in translation of of the Greek “Ekklesia“.
It is this exact term which is likely that Myles Coverdale employed this word and translation from Tyndale. The Greek ‘ekklēsia‘ holds the meaning of ‘assembly‘ and it is likely that Tyndale translated this word correctly, even more so than many other translations.
This wording is not contained in many translations, but it is in the Tyndale NT, The Coverdale Bible and the Bishops Bible.
Even in such texts as Revelation 2: 9, where the Greek ‘sunagoge‘ is used, Tyndale employs the same word ‘Congregation‘. Which no doubt has many complications for the established ‘Church’. For, in Tyndales understanding, the congregation is the Church and her leadership and not the established order of the Clergy or Kings.
Is there any wonder why the established ‘state’ church burned his translation?
Simon Peter Sutherland 