« | 2 Chronicles 2 | » |
1 And Solomon determined to buylde an house for the name of the Lord, and an house for his kingdome.
2 And Solomon tolde out threescore and ten thousande men to beare burthens, and fourescore thousand men to hewe stones in the mountayne, and three thousand and sixe hundred to ouersee them.
3 And Solomon sent to Hiram the king of Tyre, saying: As thou diddest deale with Dauid my father, and diddest send him Cedar wood to buyld him an house to dwell in [euen so deale with me:]
4 Behold I buylde an house for the name of the Lorde my God, to offer vnto him holy thinges, & to burne sweete incense, and to set shewe bread before him continually, to offer burnt sacrifices of the morning and euening on the Sabbath dayes, in the firste day of euery newe moone, and in the solempne feastes of the Lorde our God: for it is an ordinaunce to be continually kept of Israel.
5 And the house which I buylde shalbe great: for great is our God aboue all gods.
6 But who is able to buylde him an house? when that heauen and heauen aboue all heauens is not able to receaue him, what am I then that should buyld him an house? nay, but euen to burne sacrifice before him [shall this buylding be.]
7 Sende me nowe therefore a cunning man, that can worke in golde and siluer, in brasse and iron, in purple, crymosin, yelowe silke, & that can skyll to graue with the cunning men that are with me in Iuda and Hierusalem, whom Dauid my father dyd prepare.
8 Sende me also Cedar trees, pine trees, and algume trees, out of Libanon: For I wot that thy seruauntes can skill to hewe timber in Libanon: and behold my men shalbe with thyne,
9 That they may prepare me timber enough: For the house whiche I am determined to buylde, shalbe wonderfull great.
10 And behold, for the vse of thy seruauntes the cutters and hewers of timber, I haue geuen twentie thousande quarters of beaten wheat, and twentie thousand quarters of barlye, and twentie thousande battes of wine, and twentie thousande battes of oyle.
11 And Hiram ye king of Tyre aunswered in writing, whiche he sent to Solomon: Because the Lorde hath loued his people, therefore hath he made thee king ouer them.
12 And Hiram sayde moreouer: Blessed be the Lorde God of Israel whiche made heauen & earth, & that hath geuen Dauid the king a wise sonne, and one that hath descretion, prudence, and vnderstanding, to buyld an house for the Lord, and a palace for his kingdome.
13 And now I haue sent a wise man, and a man of vnderstanding, whom my father Hiram dyd vse:
14 The sonne of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, and he can skil to worke in gold and siluer, in brasse and iron, in stone and timber, in purple and yelowe silke, in fine whyte and crymosin, and can graue sundry maner of grauinges, and to finde out diuers maner of subtill worke that shalbe set before hym, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lorde Dauid thy father.
15 Nowe therefore, the wheate and barlye, oyle and wine, which my lorde hath spoken of, let him sende vnto his seruauntes:
16 And we will cut wood in Libanon as much as thou shalt neede, and wil bring it to thee in flotes by sea to Iapho, from whence thou mayest cary them to Hierusalem.
17 And Solomon numbred all the straungers that were in the lande of Israel, after the number of them whom his father Dauid had numbred: And they were founde an hundred fiftie and three thousand, and sixe hundred.
18 And he set threescore and ten thousande to beare burthens, and fourescore thousande to hewe stones in the mountayne, and three thousande & sixe hundred officers to set the people a worke. The temple of the Lorde, and the porche are buylded, with other things thereto belonging.
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.