« | 1 Samuel 31 |
1 And the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled away from the Philistines, and fell downe wounded in mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines preassed sore vpon Saul & his sonnes, & slue Ionathan, & Abinadab, & Melchisua, Sauls sonnes.
3 And when the battaile went sore against Saul, the archers with bowes found him, and he was fore afrayde of the archers.
4 The said Saul vnto his harnesse bearer, Draw out thy sword, & thrust me through therewith: lest the vncircumcised come and thrust me through & mocke me. And his harnesse bearer wolde not, for he was sore afrayd: Therefore Saul toke a sword, and fell vpon it.
5 And when his harnesse bearer sawe that Saul was dead, he fell lykewise vpon his sword, and dyed with him.
6 And so Saul dyed, & his three sonnes, and his harnesse bearer, and al his men that same day together.
7 And when the men of Israel, that were on the other syde of the valley, and they of the other syde Iordaine, sawe that the men of Israel were put to flight, and that Saul and his sonnes were dead, they left the cities, and ran away, and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 On the morow when the Philistines were come to spoyle them that were slaine, they founde Saul and his three sonnes lying in mount Gilboa.
9 And they cut of his head, and stripped him out of his harnesse, & sent into the land of ye Philistines on euery syde, that they should puplishe it in the temple of their idolles, and among the people.
10 And they layed vp his harnesse in the house of Astaroth: but they hanged vp his body on the wall of Bethsan.
11 When the inhabitauntes of Iabes in Gilead heard thereof, what the Philistines had done to Saul:
12 They arose, as many as were strong men, and went all night, & toke the bodie of Saul, & the bodies of his sonnes, from the wall of Bethsan, and came to Iabes, and burnt them there.
13 And toke their bones & buryed them vnder a tree at Iabes, & fasted seuen dayes.
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.