Novum Instrumentum omne was the first published New Testament in Greek (1516). It was prepared by Desiderius Erasmus (1469–1536) and printed by Johann Froben (1460–1527) of Basel. Although the first printed Greek New Testament was the Complutensian Polyglot (1514), it was the second to be published (1522). Erasmus used several Greek manuscripts housed in Basel, but some a few verses in Revelation he translated from the Latin Vulgate.
Five editions of Novum Instrumentum omne were published, though its title was changed to Novum Testamentum omne with the second edition, and the name continued. Erasmus issued editions in 1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, and 1536. Notable amongst these are the second edition (1519), used by Martin Luther for his translation of the New Testament into German, the so-called "September Testament," and the third edition (1522), which was used by Tyndale for the first English New Testament (1526) and later by translators of the Geneva Bible and the King James Version. With the third edition, the Comma Johanneum was included. The Erasmian edition was the basis for the majority of modern translations of New Testament in the 16–19th centuries.
In 1512 Erasmus had been in negotiation with Badius Ascensius of Paris to publish the Vulgate of Jerome and a new edition of Adagia. It did not happen, and Erasmus did not continue contacts with Badius. At that time Erasmus did not think about a Greek New Testament. It is uncertain when Erasmus decided to prepare his edition of the Greek New Testament, but on a visit to Basel in August 1514 he contacted Johann Froben. Many scholars believe that Froben had heard about the forthcoming Spanish Polyglot Bible, and tried to overtake the project of Alcala (e.g. S. P. Tregelles). Some scholars doubt this motivation of Froben (e.g. Bruce Metzger), because there is no evidence to support it. Most likely he included the Greek text to prove the superiority of his Latin version.