« | 1 Samuel 18 | » |
1 And whe he had made an end of speaking vnto Saul, the soule of Ionathan was knit with the soule of Dauid, and Ionathan loued him as his owne soule.
2 And Saul toke him that daye, and woulde let him go no more home to his fathers house.
3 Then Ionathan and Dauid made a couenaunt, because he loued him as his owne soule.
4 And Ionathan put of the robe that was vpon him, and gaue it to Dauid, and thereto his garmentes, euen to his sword, and to his bowe, and to his gyrdel.
5 And Dauid went out whythersoeuer Saul sent him, and behaued him selfe wysely: And Saul set hym ouer his men of warre, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, & in the sight of Sauls seruauntes.
6 And as they came againe when Dauid was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dausing, to meete king Saul, with timbrels, with ioy, and with [instrumentes of] musicke.
7 And the women aunswered one another in their play, and sayde: Saul hath slaine his thousand, and Dauid his ten thousand.
8 And Saul was exceeding wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he sayd: They haue ascribed vnto Dauid ten thousand, & to me but a thousande: and what can he more haue, saue the kingdome?
9 Wherfore Saul had an eye on Dauid from that day forwarde.
10 And on the morow, the euyll spirite sent of God came vpon Saul, and he prophesied in the middes of ye house: And Dauid played with his hand, like as at other tymes: & there was a iauelyn in Sauls hand.
11 And Saul toke the iauelyn, and sayd: I will nayle Dauid to the wall with it. And Dauid auoyded out of his presence two times.
12 And Saul was afrayde of Dauid, because the Lorde was with him, & was departed from Saul.
13 Therefore Saul put him from him, and made him a captaine ouer a thousand, and he went out and in before the people.
14 And Dauid behaued him selfe wisely in all his wayes, and the Lorde was with him.
15 Wherefore when Saul sawe that he was so exceeding wise, he was afrayde of him.
16 But all Israel and Iuda loued Dauid, because he went out and in before them.
17 And Saul sayde to Dauid: Beholde my eldest daughter Merob, her I will geue thee to wife: Onely be a valiaunt sonne vnto me, & fight the Lordes battayles. For Saul thought: Mine hand shall not be vpon him, but the hande of the Philistines shalbe vpon him.
18 And Dauid aunswered Saul: What am I? and what is my lyfe or the kynred of my father in Israel, that I should be sonne in lawe to the king?
19 Howbeit, when the time was come that Merob Sauls daughter shoulde haue ben geuen to Dauid, she was geue vnto Adriel a Meholathite, to wife.
20 Howbeit, Michol Sauls daughter loued Dauid: and they shewed Saul, and the thing pleased him.
21 And Saul sayde: I will geue him her that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul sayde to Dauid: Thou shalt this day be my sonne in lawe in the one of the twayne.
22 And Saul comaunded his seruautes to come with Dauid secretely, & to say: Behold, the king hath a fauour to thee, and all his seruautes loue thee: be now therefore the kinges sonne in lawe.
23 And Sauls seruauntes spake those wordes in the eares of Dauid. And Dauid said: semeth it to you a light thing to be a kinges sonne in lawe? seeing that I am a poore man, and of smal reputation.
24 And the seruauntes brought Saul word againe, saying: Of this maner spake Dauid.
25 And Saul sayde, This wise shall ye saye to Dauid: The king careth for no other dowry, but for an hundred foreskinnes of the Philistines, to be auenged of the kynges enemies. But Saul thought to make Dauid fall into the handes of the Philistines.
26 And when his seruauntes tolde Dauid these wordes, it pleased Dauid wel to be the kinges sonne in lawe: And the dayes were not expired.
27 Afterward Dauid arose with his men, and went and slue of the Philistines two hundred men, and Dauid brought their foreskinnes, and they gaue them wholly to the king, that he might be the kinges sonne in lawe: Wherefore Saul gaue him Michol his daughter to wife.
28 And Saul saw and vnderstoode how that the Lorde was with Dauid, and that Michol his daughter loued him:
29 And he was the more afrayde of Dauid, and Saul became alway Dauids enemie.
30 The Lordes of the Philistines vsed to go foorth, and whe they went foorth Dauid behaued him selfe more wysely then all the seruauntes of Saul, so that his name was much set by.
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.