The entire New Testament (first published in 1526 and later revised in 1534), the Pentateuch, Jonah and in David Daniell's view,[1] the Book of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, and First and Second Chronicles, were the work of William Tyndale.

Tyndale consulted Luther's German Bible, Erasmus’ Latin version, and the Vulgate for the biblical text, prefaces, and marginal notes, and worked directly with the Hebrew and Greek.

[2][3][4][5][dubious – discuss] The use of the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew" resulted possibly from the need to conceal from Henry VIII the participation of Tyndale in the translation.

A theory exists from Dr. Harding that indicates the name Thomas Matthew, which in Greek means "A twin to the original gift from God", may have been chosen to indicate that the largest contributing author was indeed William Tyndale and that his writings were preserved by Coverdale and Rogers.

[7] Historians often tend to treat Coverdale and Tyndale like competitors in a race to complete the monumental and arduous task of translating the biblical text.

[11] Professor David Daniell recounts that, "New Testament scholars Jon Nielson[12] and Royal Skousen observed that previous estimates of Tyndale's contribution to the KJV 'have run from a high of up to 90% (Westcott) to a low of 18% (Butterworth)'.

Rogers began assisting the work around 1535, and married J. van Meteren's niece Adriana in the same year that the Matthew Bible was first published (1537).