« | 2 Chronicles 22 | » |
1 And the inhabiters of Hierusalem made Ahaziahu his young sonne king in his stead: For the men of warre that came with the hoast of the Arabians, had slayne all his eldest sonnes: And so Ahaziahu the sonne of Iehoram king of Iuda was made king.
2 Two & fourtie yeres old was he when he began to raigne, and he raigned one yere in Hierusalem: His mothers name was Athaliahu, the daughter of Amri.
3 And he walked also in the wayes of the house of Ahab: for his mother by her counsel enticed him to do wickedly.
4 Wherfore he dyd that which was euyll in the sight of the Lord, as dyd they that were of the house of Ahab: for they were his counselers after the death of his father, to his destruction.
5 And he walked after their counsel, and went with Iehoram sonne of Ahab king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth [in] Gilead: and the Syrians smote Iehoram.
6 And he returned to be healed in Iezrahel, of the woundes whiche were geuen him at Rama, whe he fought with Hazael king of Syria: and Ahaziahu the sonne of Iehoram king of Iuda, went downe to see Iehoram the sonne of Ahab at Iezrahel, because he was diseased.
7 At it came of God that Ahaziahu shoulde be dispised for his comming to Iehoram: for when he was come, he went out with Iehoram against Iehu the sonne of Nimsi, whom ye Lord had annointed to destroy the house of Ahab.
8 And so it came to passe, that when Iehu was executing iustice vpon the house of Ahab, and had founde the lordes of Iuda and the sonnes of the brethren of Ahaziahu that wayted on Ahaziahu, he slue them.
9 And he sought Ahaziahu: & they caught him where he was hid in Samaria, and brought him to Iehu, and when they had slayne him, they buried him: because said they, he is the sonne of Iehosaphat, whiche sought the Lorde with all his heart: And the house of Ahaziahu had no powre to kepe still the kingdome.
10 But when Athaliahu the mother of Ahaziahu sawe that her sonne was dead, she arose and destroyed all the kinges seede in the kinred of the house of Iuda.
11 And Iehosabeth the daughter of the king, toke Ioas the sonne of Ahaziahu, and stale him from among the kinges sonnes that were slayne, & put him and his nurse in a priuie chamber: and so Iehosabeth the daughter of king Iehoram the wyfe of Iehoiada the priest, and the sister of Ahaziahu hid him from Athaliahu, that he was not slayne.
12 And so he was with them hyd in the house of God sixe yeres: and Athaliahu raigned ouer the lande.
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.