« | 1 Samuel 21 | » |
1 Then came Dauid to Nob to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was astonied at the meeting of Dauid, & sayd vnto him: Why art thou alone and no man with thee?
2 And Dauid said to Ahimelech the priest: The king hath commaunded me a certaine thing, and hath sayd vnto me, Let no man know wher about I send thee, and what I haue commaunded thee: And I haue appoynted my seruauntes to suche and suche places.
3 Nowe therfore if thou hast ought vnder thyne hand, geue me fyue loaues of bread, or what commeth to hande.
4 And the priest aunswered Dauid, and sayd: There is no common bread vnder myne hand, but here is halowed bread: if the young me haue kept them selues, specially from women.
5 Dauid aunswered the priest, and sayd vnto him: Of a trueth, women hath ben separated fro vs this two or three days since I came out, & the vessels of the young men were holy: Howebeit, this way is vnpure, and howe muche more shall there be holines in the vessell?
6 And so the priest gaue him halowed bread: for there was none other bread there, saue the shew bread that was taken from before the Lord, to put freshe bread there the day that it was taken away.
7 (And there was there the same day a certaine man, of the seruautes of Saul, abyding before ye Lord, named Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of Sauls heardmen.)
8 And Dauid sayd vnto Ahimelech: Is not here vnder thyne hand either speare or sworde? for I haue neither brought my sword nor my harnesse with me, because the kinges busines required haste.
9 And the priest sayd: The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou sluest in the valley of Elah, beholde it is here wrapt in a cloth behind the Ephod: If thou wilt take that, take it: for ther is no other saue that here. And Dauid sayd: There is none to that, geue it me.
10 And Dauid arose, & fled the same day from the presence of Saul, and went to Achis the king of Gath.
11 And the seruauntes of Achis sayde vnto him: Is not this Dauid the king of the land? Dyd they not sing vnto him in daunses, saying: Saul hath slayne his thousand, and Dauid his ten thousand?
12 And Dauid put those wordes into his heart, & was sore afrayde of Achis the king of Gath.
13 And he chaunged his speache before them, and fained him selfe mad in their handes, and scrabled on the doores of the gate, and let his spettell fall downe vpon his beard.
14 Then sayd Achis vnto his seruauntes: Lo, ye see that this man is besyde him selfe, wherfore then haue ye brought him to me?
15 Haue I neede of mad men, that ye haue brought this felowe to play the mad man in my presence? Shall he come into my house?
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.