Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

Select English works of John Wyclif; edited from original mss. by Thomas Arnold.

alle þingis wele, for he made deefe to heere and doumbe men to speke. It is seid comounly þat holy writt haþ foure undirstondingis. Þe first undirstondinge is pleyne, bi letter of þe storye. Þe secounde undirstondinge is clepid witt allegoric, whan men un|dirstonden bi witt of þe lettre, what þing shal falle here bifore þe dai of dome. Þe þridde undirstondinge is clepid tropologik, and it techiþ how men shulden lyve here in vertues. Þe fourþe undirstondinge is clepid anagogike, and it telliþ how it shal be wiþ men þat ben in hevene. We shulde knowe þis secounde witt of þe gospel, for it is bileve of Cristene men in erþe; we shulden bileve þat mankynde felle fro þe staat of innocence for Adams synne and Eve, and Jesus, God and man, bouȝte man|kynde fro þe fendis prisoun, as þis gospel telliþ. And so oure Jesus wente fro þe lond of Tirus, whan he wente fro þe bosim of þe fadir of hevene, for Tirus is makyng [Tzôr, the Hebrew name of Tyre, signifies a rock.] , and God made of noȝt boþe aungels and men and al þis brood worlde. He cam bi Sidon, þat is angel kynd, whan he grette oure Lady bi servise of angel, and þis angel Gabriel wiþ all oþirs stondinge heelden pees wiþ God, and leften þe firste synne, and Sidon is helþe or leevynge siche synne. But oure Lord Jesus wente out to þe water of Galile, for he took þe staat of man slydun from inno|cence; for Galile is a wheel [Galil, whence Galilee is derived, means in Hebrew, circle, or circuit. (Smith's Dict. Bib.)] whirlinge or passinge; and so dide mankynde aftir þat it hadde synned. Crist came þurȝ þe cuntre þat hadde ten citees, for he cam bi alle men þat weren segid wiþ þe fend; and þes men ensegid þus ben al þes citees, and mankynde þus ensegid bryngiþ to Jesus hir kynde, þat was deef and dombe by þe synne of Adam, ffor þei leften to heeren God and herden þe fend, and trowiden to þe fendis lore, and lefte þe lore of God, and so weren þei deef to heere of God what þei shulden do. Jesus took mankynde þat þus was syke, not in ech persone but singulerly in oon, and Crist putt his fyngirs in eres of þis dombe man, whan he appliede his virtue, sutili worchinge, for to teche man how he wente fro God, and wiþ his spotle he touchide his tonge, whan he ȝaf him virtue to herye God riȝtli. And so Crist hadde sorewe of þes two synnes of
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Title
Select English works of John Wyclif; edited from original mss. by Thomas Arnold.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 30
Publication
Oxford,: Clarendon Press,
1869-71.

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"Select English works of John Wyclif; edited from original mss. by Thomas Arnold." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/afb3713.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 15, 2025.
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