« | 1 Samuel 6 | » |
1 And the arke of the Lord was in the countrey of the Philistines seuen monethes.
2 And the Philistines called for the priestes and the soothsayers, saying: What shall we do with the arke of the Lord? Tell vs wherewith we shall sende it home againe:
3 They sayde: If you send away the arke of the God of Israel, send it not emptie: but rewarde it with sinne offeryng, and then ye shall be whole, and it shall be knowen to you, why his hand departeth not from you.
4 Then sayd they: And what shalbe the sinne offering, which we shall rewarde him with? They aunswered: Fiue golden emerodes, and fiue golden myce, accordyng to the number of the princes of ye Philistines: For one plague was on you all, and on your princes.
5 Wherfore ye shall make images lyke to your emerodes, & images like to your myce that corrupt the land, and ye shall geue glorie vnto the God of Israel, that he may take his hand from of you, and from of your goddes, and from of your land.
6 Wherfore do ye harden your heartes, as the Egyptians and Pharao hardened their heartes? Which when he wrought wonderfullie among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
7 Now therfore, make a newe cart, and take two melche kyne, on whom there hath come no yocke, and tye the kyne to the carte, and bring the calues home from them.
8 And take the arke of the Lorde, and lay it vpon the cart, and put the iewels of golde whiche ye rewarde him with for a sinne offering, in a coffer by the side thereof, and send it awaye, that it may go.
9 And if ye see that he go vp by the way of his owne coaste to Bethsames, then it is he that did vs this great euill: If no. we shall knowe then that it is not his hand that smote vs, but it was a chaunce that happened vs.
10 And the men did euen so: And toke two kyne that gaue milke, & tyed them to the cart, and kept the calues at home.
11 And they layde the arke of the Lorde vpon the cart, and the coffer with the myce of golde, and with the images of their emerodes.
12 And the kyne toke the strayght way to Bethsames, & went on the strayght way: and as they went, lowed, and turned neither to the ryght hande nor to the left: And the princes of the Philistines went after them, vnto the borders of Bethsames.
13 And they of Bethsames were reaping their wheate haruest in the valley: And they lyft vp their eyes, and spied the arke, and reioyced when they sawe it.
14 And the carte came into the fielde of one Iehosua, a Bethsamite, and stoode still ther. There was also a great stone: And they claue the wood of the carte, and offred the kyne a burnt offring vnto the Lorde.
15 And the Leuites toke downe the arke of the Lorde, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the iewels of golde were, and put them on the great stone: And the men of Bethsames sacrificed burnt sacrifice, and offered offeringes the same day vnto the Lorde.
16 And when the fiue princes of the Philistines had seene it, they returned to Acaron the same day.
17 And these are the golden emerodes which the Philistines gaue for a sinne offering to the Lord: for Asdod one, for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Gath one, and for Acaron one.
18 And golden myce, accordyng to the number of al the cities of the Philistines [belongyng] to the fyue lordes, both of walled townes, and of townes vnwalled, euen vnto the great [stone] of Abel, whereon they set downe the arke of the Lorde vnto this day, in the fielde of Iehosua the Bethsamite.
19 And he smote of the men of Bethsames, because they had loked in the arke of the Lorde, and he slue among the people fiftie thousand and three score and ten men: And the people lamented, because the Lorde had slaine the people with so great a slaughter.
20 Wherfore the men of Bethsames said: Who is able to stand before this holie Lorde God? And to whom shall he go from vs?
21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitaunts of Kiriathiarim, saying: The Philistines haue brought againe the arke of the Lord, come ye downe and fet it vp to you.
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.