« | 1 Samuel 16 | » |
1 The Lorde sayd vnto Samuel: Howe long wilt thou mourne for Saul, seing I haue cast him away from raigning ouer Israel? Fill thyne horne with oyntment, and come, that I may send thee to Isai the Bethlemite: for I haue prouided me a king among his sonnes.
2 And Samuel sayd: How can I go? For if Saul heare it, he will kill me. The Lord aunswered: Take an heyfer with thee, and saye: I am come to offer to the Lorde.
3 And call Isai to the offering, and I will shewe thee what thou shalt do: And thou shalt annoynt vnto me him whom I name vnto thee.
4 And so Samuel did as the Lord bade him, and came to Bethlehem: and the elders of the towne were astonyed at his comming, and saide: Commest thou peaceably?
5 He aunswered: Yea, I am come to offer vnto the Lorde: Sanctifie your selues, and come with me to the offering. And he sanctified Isai and his sonnes, and bade them to the offering.
6 And when they were come, he loked on Eliab, & saide: Surelye the Lordes annoynted is before him.
7 But the Lorde sayde vnto Samuel: Loke not on his fashion, or on ye height of his stature, because I haue refused him: For [God seeth] not as man seeth. For man loketh on the outward appearaunce, but the Lorde beholdeth the heart.
8 Then Isai called Abinadab, & made him come before Samuel, and he sayd: Neither hath the Lorde chosen this.
9 Then Isai made Samma come, and he sayd: Neither yet hath the Lorde chosen him.
10 Againe Isai made seuen of his sonnes to come before Samuel, and Samuel sayd vnto Isai: The Lorde hath chosen none of these.
11 And Samuel sayde vnto Isai: Are heare all thy children? He sayde: There is, yet a litle one behind, that kepeth the sheepe. And Samuel said vnto Isai, Sende and fet him: for we will not syt downe, till he be come hyther.
12 And he sent, and brought him in: And he was ruddie, and of an excellet beawtie, and wel fauoured in sight. And the Lorde said, Aryse & annoynt him: For this is he.
13 Therefore Samuel toke the horne with the annoyntment, and annoynted him in the middes of his brethren. And the spirite of the Lorde came vpon Dauid from that daye forwarde: And Samuel rose vp, and went to Rama.
14 But the spirite of the Lorde departed from Saul, and an euill spirite [sent] of the Lord vexed him.
15 And Sauls seruauntes said vnto him: Beholde, an euill spirite [sent] of God vexeth thee.
16 Let our Lorde therefore commaunde thy seruauntes (that are before thee) to seeke a man that is a cunnyng player with an harpe: that when the euill spirite of God commeth vpon thee, he may play with his hande, & thou shalt be eased.
17 Saul sayd vnto his seruauntes: Prouide me a man then that can play well, and bring him to me.
18 The aunswered one of his seruauntes and said: Beholde, I haue seene a sonne of Isai the Bethlehemite, that can play vpon instrumentes, and is strong, valiaunt, and a man of warre, and prudent in doing of feates, and well made, and the Lorde is with him.
19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers vnto Isai, and said: Sende me Dauid thy sonne, which is with the sheepe.
20 And Isai tooke an asse [laden] with bread, and a flacket of wine, and a kyd, and sent them by Dauid his sonne vnto Saul.
21 And Dauid came to Saul, and stoode before him, and he loued him very well, & he was made his harnesse bearer.
22 And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let Dauid nowe remaine with me, for he hath founde fauour in my sight.
23 And so when the [euill] spirite of God came vpon Saul, Dauid toke an harpe and played with his hand: and so Saul was refreshed, & did amende, and the euyll spirite departed from him.
The Bishop’s Bible (BB)
The Bishop’s Bible (BB) is a significant English translation of the Bible that was first published in 1568 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was commissioned by the Church of England as a revision of the Great Bible and as a response to the Geneva Bible, which was popular among the Puritans but contained marginal notes that were considered politically and theologically contentious by the Anglican establishment. The primary goal of the Bishop’ s Bible was to create a translation that would be more acceptable to the ecclesiastical authorities and suitable for use in Anglican churches.
One of the distinguishing features of the Bishop’s Bible is its effort to maintain a high level of accuracy and scholarly integrity while also ensuring that the language used was dignified and appropriate for public reading. The translation was undertaken by a team of bishops and other scholars, hence its name. The translators aimed to preserve the poetic and literary qualities of the original texts, drawing on previous translations such as the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, and the Great Bible, while also incorporating their scholarly insights and linguistic refinements.
The Bishop’s Bible was notable for its large, folio format, which was designed to be read from the pulpit. It included extensive marginal notes, though these were more restrained and less controversial than those found in the Geneva Bible. The translation also featured elaborate illustrations and maps, as well as a comprehensive introduction and various prefaces that provided context and guidance for readers. Despite its grandeur and scholarly merit, the Bishop’s Bible did not achieve the widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible among the general populace.
Although the Bishop’s Bible played an essential role in the religious and cultural life of Elizabethan England, it was eventually overshadowed by the King James Version (KJV), which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611. The KJV drew heavily on the Bishop’ s Bible, as well as other earlier translations, but ultimately surpassed it in both scholarly rigor and literary quality. Nonetheless, the Bishop’s Bible remains an important milestone in the history of English Bible translations, reflecting the theological and political currents of its time and contributing to the development of subsequent translations.